Bella Vista tops new ranking of Philly neighborhoods by food options

Are you a big enough foodie that where you live depends on the culinary lay of the land?

A new rating system showing Philadelphia's best neighborhoods for food delivery options released last week is trying to make your next move an easier decision.

Apartment rating site Rentenna.com released a "Philadelphia Food Delivery Heatmap" color-coding neighborhoods based on the number and variety of food delivery options available.
The unveiling of the map coincided with Rentenna's launch of a "food delivery score" grading rentals on a 5-point scale that takes into account dining delivery density and diversity.

"Our goal is to give renters a variety of data points to make an educated decision," site co-founder Alicia Schwartz said.

Based on the data gathered, Rentenna crowned Bella Vista the top neighborhood for couch-dwelling Philly foodies, followed by Graduate Hospital, Midtown Village and Society Hill.

Rittenhouse Square clocked in at number five, while Market East -- which the site alternately refers to as "the financial district" -- Queen Village, Chinatown, Fitler Square and Powelton Village rounded out the top 10.

"What's interesting is that [Philadelphia's] financial district is a top area for delivery," Schwartz said, contrasting it to the relative food desert that is New York City's Wall Street region.

"It's not surprising that Philly's college area, where Drexel and UPenn are, has a huge amount of delivery options for students in the area. And, obviously, South Philly is just a mecca for a vast variety of restaurants."

The New York City-based Rentenna, a startup that uses algorithms to aggregate data about and rate rentals in major U.S. cities, expanded to Philadelphia in July.

Schwartz said the concept behind the site — providing information about apartments' nearby amenities, as well as their values — was driven by economic forces that have caused people to live in rentals for longer periods of time and later into their lives.

"People are really into other aspects besides value, especially if there's a property at a similar price point within 20 blocks," she said. "They care more about, 'what else can this offer me?' They're not planning on being there for 1 to 2 years, but more like 4 or 5 years, because they don't see themselves buying anytime soon, especially because of mortgage rates. I think the average renters are still in their mid-20s, but they're expanding tremendously into their 30s and even 40s."

Schwartz found as ages change, so too do the priorities renters take into account when deciding where to live.

"When you're 22, you might want to be near the best bar scene, but then in your late 20s, you might want access to other things like food, parks and pet friendly environments," she said. "There are a variety of different things people look at when they're picking a home or looking at a sale, and I think that information is now translating to rentals."

With that in mind, Rentenna is amassing as much Philly-centric data as possible so prospective renters can measure their options against a variety of metrics.

"In the next coming months for Philadelphia, specifically, we are going to be doing a transit score, a green score and a fitness score rating proximity to various gyms, basketball and tennis courts," Schwartz said. "The goal is to give renters as much data as they have access to when they're picking homes. Rentals tend to be for the duration now, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, especially with prices and particularly in urban areas."

Philadelphia's "green score" rating neighborhoods based on proximity to open spaces and produce markets will be the next feature the site rolls out, slated for release later this month.