Dangerous Stations

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:How safe is the neighborhood around Holmesburg and Tacony Stations, and between those stations and Frankford Ave? thanks.

No need to fear anything if you use common sense.

The walk from either station northwest to Frankford Avenue in Mayfair is fairly long. I'd make my way to the 70 for that.

If you intended on taking the 56 to MFSE Erie-Torresdale, the southwestern end of Torresdale Avenue between Bridge and Frankford isn't so great. The 84 direct to FTC would be the preferred choice.

I agree that stretch of Torresdale Ave, and even those stretches of Kensington, Frankford and Bridge, aren't that great, but I have walked, biked, driven, and ridden SEPTA on them. I'm either fearless, foolish, lucky, aware of my surroundings, or all of the above.

I was born and raised in the Lawndale section of Philly and a trip on the N bus to Frankford Ave. to shop was a real treat. I went to high school close to the Holmesburg station and and have family living in Mayfair today. I go into the city several times a week, frequently to railfan. Twenty years ago all of thes areas were perfectly safe, day or night. I have been astonished by the recent changes in those areas with respect to crime, violent crime, with store hold ups, shootings, often fatal, muggings etc. I find it distressing to drive through those neighborhoods, once the scene of many a boyhood adventure, now quite dangerous by day, let alone night. Fortunately my personal negative experiences in the lower Northeast have been minor but sufficiently upsetting to warrant changes in my railfanning habits including even the Septa stations mentioned on this board. I frequently go into North Philly, South West Philly, Nicetown, Germantown and other dicey areas, including Camden on the other side of the Delaware and what I learned from visits to those neighborhoods I now apply to the lower Northeast as well. Recently the Phila. Inquirer published a map of the city showing where serious crimes were being committed. Not surprisingly neighborhoods long known for their high crime rate were highlighted. Surprisingly, the Frankford section was as dangerous as the Badlands of West Kensington and the region around Frankford pretty bad as well. Will I stop going into those areas to railfan? No, but I do urge other railfans to be as cautious there as they would be in parts of the city that they know could be problematic for someone carrying around a thousand dollars worth of camera equipment.

Speaking of carrying expensive camera equipment, I remember once at the end of a train show at the Civic Center, the old convention facility that used to be near what is now the University City train station, while we were disassembling our layout one of my friends put down his $700, in 1980's money, camera. He said he turned around for less than a minute and when he went to pick the camera back up it was gone.

So my friend was less than cautious in a setting many would have considered safe, at least from violent crime. kevikens closing remark would probably involve characters who would bonk your head in order to snatch the expensive camera from your hands, and chances are in those settings you would not set your camera down anywhere for a moment.

Is the area around the Bridesburg station dicey? thanks.

As I've most likely mentioned on here before, whenever I drive to Philly to do my "trackside" railfanning (as well as visit a few friends), I always bring my dog with me for a little extra security. If a thug was to target someone to hold up or mug, very unlikely they would pick someone with a large dog in tow!

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:How safe is the neighborhood around Holmesburg and Tacony Stations, and between those stations and Frankford Ave? thanks.

The area around Tacony isn't that bad, and neither is Holmesburg. When you get further down Torresdale (south of Bridge St, really), that's when I start getting a little nervous.

Anyway, it's probably about a 15 minute walk from the Tacony train station to Frankford Ave (not sure about Holmesburg, but I'm guessing it's a similar distance). The Tacony/Mayfair/Holmesburg area is pretty safe compared to other parts of the city.

I'm sure someone has mentioned Fern Rock. The subway platform isn't too bad, but the RR station is very shady at night. I was actually robbed there at gunpoint about a year and a half ago. "Fortunately", the robber had also robbed another girl, taken his picture with her phone, and it was then automatically uploaded to her account online. The police took that picture to the media and he eventually turned himself in. He plead innocent but after a grueling day in court, the judge found him guilty, so he's gonna be locked away for quite a while.

http://temple-news.com/2009/11/03/tsg-c ... t-address/
http://temple-news.com/2010/03/23/cops- ... to-upload/

alewifebp wrote:I didn't notice that Suburban was so bad. The last times I have been there it seemed pretty good, although can be a little lonely during some parts of the day, and I also have not been there at night.

i hav been at suburban once during the day and once during the night. i was harassed by people both times. i refuse to get off at that station. even the cops dont do anything they jst walk around and pretend they care.

Have you ever gotten off at Suburban Station at night, so much worse. The place is so quiet and empty and full of weird people. 30th is so much better at night because of Amtrak and their police.

rbreslow wrote:Have you ever gotten off at Suburban Station at night, so much worse. The place is so quiet and empty and full of weird people. 30th is so much better at night because of Amtrak and their police.

absolutely. suburban at night scares me. i refuse to ever get off their. i do feel much safer at 30th street and even at market east. also i heard cornwells heights is a little iffy at night

I actually choose to go through Suburban Station on my way from Trenton to 69th Street. Sure, there are some crazy people there, and I once had to endure being repeatedly poked by a guy as I was purchasing tickets at the ticket counter - nothing the ticket agent can do but tell the guy to get lost - but the subway platform there is well lit, crowded, and I always feel safe. The subway platform at 30th is dim and people are often smoking pot there, at least around 9pm.

Here's a helpful suggestion as well. Never and I mean NEVER ride the Norristown Line at night past Ivy Ridge. There are so many drunk people every night from Manayunk. The Quiet Ridge car is really the drink beer and scream car.

It's pretty funny to see people strung out about being in Suburban Station's concourse level after dark or riding in the drunk tank (what else do you expect on a weekend night?). I'd say waiting for the subway at Susquehanna-Dauphin at 10 PM alone was one of the dumber things I've ever done.

septadude wrote:It's pretty funny to see people strung out about being in Suburban Station's concourse level after dark or riding in the drunk tank (what else do you expect on a weekend night?). I'd say waiting for the subway at Susquehanna-Dauphin at 10 PM alone was one of the dumber things I've ever done.

If you want tales of some real adventures, go to the NJT board and search on the adventures of riding out of NYC on a weekend late night. It gives Saturday Night Live a whole new meaning.