CaesarH

So, I was born in this section of town, and have been living here for 16 years. It's an okay place to live, but don't get me wrong, it has its problems. To start off, I would much rather live in this section of North Philly than I would the rest (excluding East Oak Lane). Compared to most of North Philly, West Oak Lane is God in terms of your overall quality of life. There's a fairly small presence of crime (yeah, someone gets shot here and there, but overall I feel safe leaving my house during the day), there's good public transportation (the 6 bus takes you to Olney/Cheltenham and Ogontz loop and comes every 12 minutes, the K can get you Germantown & Roxborough, and the XH can get you to Germantown also). I like the fact that I can get to just about any section of the city within 45 minutes on public trans when leaving my house, not to mention the fact that Chestnut Hill/Mt. Airy is only a drive/bike ride/bus ride away.

The neighborhood is primarily working class African-Americans, although there are some "thug" types from North Philly that move up here because of the abundance of public housing. I will admit the fact that I do not like going below Andrews Ave because of this. In this place it's pretty safe during the day because everyone is usually out and about. There's a strong community presence here - everyone knows their neighbors on a personnel level. Everyone's fairly nice here and you can expect some people saying "hey, how ya doing?" while walking down the street. There's always something to do around here due to the fact that OARC (Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation) has been opening several shops along "downtown" Ogontz (the area by the plaza and the area by the fire house).

Speaking of thugs, there are a lot of them below Andrews Ave because it's cheaper there, so be warned!!!

Recently this place is starting to become a little more diverse. Now, I see maybe 1-2 whites, 2-3 Asians, and 3-4 Hispanics when I leave my house. The whites (and I hate to say this) seem really tense because they think the people here are rude-racist-blacks (like some of the other reviewers pointed out) and they seem to almost have this ambiance of fear whenever they interact with "us", but after a while of living here they realize that the people here are friendly and won't rob or hurt them (most of us anyway). Heck, I've even seen some interracial couples here!!!

It's still a majority black area, though. So don't think you're gonna come here and find a bunch of people of different races - and yes, there are young black guys that will occasionally drive down your street blasting music - I went to my Aunt's house in very white rural Maryland and had white kids do it.

All in all, I like living in this place. Crime is the only thing that bothers me, but even then it's not so much crime that I am fearful to leave my house during the day (during the evening, though, I like to be cautious). The people here are nice, there's plenty of public trans, some of the best neighborhoods in the Northwest are only 10 minutes away, and it's slowly beginning to see a change (like most neighborhoods in the city are).

Once you learn to avoid driveways, certain streets, and make sure you use your street smarts during the evening, it's actually an okay place to live. I know that seems like a lot, but trust me, if you follow those tips you should have a good experience living here - DON'T go below Andrews Ave!

EDIT: Here's some more stuff.

-Ogontz Ave can have heavy traffic during the morning and evening rush.
-There's plenty of parking on most residential streets.
-In some homes (primarily the ones above Andrews Ave) you have a front and backyard along with a deck and driveway.
-It is quiet during the day, although there can be some noise around the late afternoon (kids get out from school, neighbors yell at each other).