Living in Fox Chase

Yes, Fox Chase is widely considered one of the most livable corners of Northeast Philadelphia. Residents describe it as quiet, peaceful, and suburban-feeling, with tree-lined streets, a high share of longtime homeowners, and a low-key, family-friendly pace. It has little of the hustle of Center City, which is exactly why many people choose it. Police visibility is good, neighbors look out for one another, and the neighborhood feels stable and settled. If your priority is safe streets, nearby parks, and a short rail ride into downtown, Fox Chase is a strong fit. For buyers and sellers alike, it is also an area where homes tend to hold their value well because so many residents stay for decades.

The train ride from Fox Chase Station into Center City takes roughly 25 to 30 minutes, which is one of the best transit commutes in Northeast Philadelphia. SEPTA Regional Rail service on the Fox Chase Line runs throughout the day, and the train drops you near the heart of downtown at Jefferson Station or Suburban Station, both a short walk from most office, dining, and entertainment destinations. Driving adds the variable of Philadelphia traffic but is still workable, and the neighborhood also sits a short distance from Interstate 95 for quick trips toward Montgomery and Bucks counties. For commuters headed to Center City, the Regional Rail connection makes Fox Chase unusually convenient for Northeast Philadelphia.

The Fox Chase Station is the terminus of SEPTA Regional Rail, and it sits right in the neighborhood on Rhawn Street near the intersection with Oxford Avenue. Trains on the Fox Chase Line run on roughly 30-minute headways for most of the day and carry you into Center City, serving Jefferson Station and Suburban Station downtown. Because the route ends at Fox Chase, trains start and finish here and keep a dependable schedule. Many residents walk or take a short car or bus ride to the station, ride the train downtown, and leave the car at home for the workday. It is the single biggest reason people describe the Fox Chase commute as unexpectedly easy.

The 19111 ZIP code covers a broad swath of the Far Northeast of Philadelphia that includes Fox Chase, Rhawnhurst, Burholme, and parts of Lawndale, together about 4.8 square miles with a population north of 60,000. Fox Chase is the most well-known name, anchored by the train station, Fox Chase Farm, and Burholme Park. Rhawnhurst, organized around Rhawn Street and Castor Avenue, is dense, walkable, and home to some of the area’s best small shops and eateries, heart of the Polish and Korean communities. Burholme, centered on the large park of the same name off Cottman Avenue, is quiet and green. Lawndale, running along the neighborhood’s western edge, shares the same brick-row-home and rowhouse character. Together they form one of the most established, self-sufficient residential areas in the city.

Housing in Fox Chase and the wider 19111 area is dominated by 1950s-era single-family homes, brick twins, and long rows of rowhouses, many with small front lawns, basements, and driveways or garages. There are also modest apartment buildings and duplex properties, especially in Rhawnhurst and Lawndale. Home prices in Fox Chase typically run from the low $300,000s into the mid $400,000s, with single-family homes making up most of the market and townhouse and rowhome styles often a bit more affordable, though prices move with condition, lot size, and proximity to the train. Because so many residents buy and stay for decades, inventory in the traditional sense can be limited, which is why well-priced, well-marketed homes tend to draw interested buyers quickly.

The 19111 area is served by the School District of Philadelphia. Students in the immediate Fox Chase area attend Fox Chase School for elementary grades, and public high school students in this part of the Northeast typically feed into Northeast High School, one of the larger and more established high schools in the city. A number of families also choose local private and charter options, including St. Cecilia Elementary School, a Catholic school on Rhawn Street, and charter programs like MaST Community Charter and New Foundations Charter School that serve the surrounding area. For parents weighing neighborhoods, the combination of a neighborhood elementary school plus strong nearby private and charter choices is one reason Fox Chase and Rhawnhurst appeal to families.

Fox Chase Farm is a working 112-acre livestock and educational farm at 8500 Pine Road run by the School District of Philadelphia, and it is a genuine hidden gem inside the city. The land was once a large holding traced back to a 1683 William Penn land grant, and it later operated as a dairy farm before the City took ownership of part of it in the 1970s. Today the farm keeps animals, serves as an outdoor classroom for field trips and student programs, and opens to the public for tours and seasonal events, giving kids and adults a rare slice of farmland in the middle of Northeast Philadelphia. For residents, it is a favorite weekend outing and a big part of the neighborhood’s character.

Outdoor space is one of the great strengths of the 19111 area. Pennypack Park is a roughly 1,600-acre, nine-mile linear park that runs along Pennypack Creek through Northeast Philadelphia, with about nine miles of paved multi-use trail plus unpaved sections that continue north into Montgomery County. It is popular for running, biking, walking, and birding, and the easy, shaded Pennypack Trail is a favorite loop for families. Closer to home, Burholme Park offers open lawns, sports fields, and a pool, and Fox Chase Farm sits right there too. If you want a neighborhood where you can be on a trail or in a park within minutes, Fox Chase, Burholme, Rhawnhurst, and Lawndale all deliver.

The 19111 area has a real small-main-street dining scene rather than chain-heavy sprawl. Oxford Avenue is the heart of it, with an especially strong showing around Fox Chase and Rhawnhurst. Neighbors regularly recommend Joseph’s Pizza Parlor on Oxford Avenue, John’s Sushi House, Bishos, Ernie’s Pizza, and the long-running Quaker Diner on Rising Sun Avenue, plus local taverns and delis like Curran’s and Chubby’s Fox Chase Deli that give the area its distinctly local, no-frills welcome. Beyond the food, the feel is what draws people: longtime residents, block parties, sports fields full on weekends, and a strong sense of community that spans Fox Chase, Rhawnhurst, Burholme, and Lawndale. It is Philadelphia through and through, just calmer and greener.

You do not strictly need a car if you plan your life around the train, but having one makes Fox Chase more convenient. The Fox Chase Regional Rail Station puts Center City within a 25 to 30 minute train ride, and SEPTA bus service reaches many neighborhood destinations. However, grocery shopping, school drop-offs, and errands across the sprawling Northeast are easier with a vehicle, and most households here own at least one. Many residents use a car for everyday life and the train for work commutes, getting the best of both. If you are weighing a move here, plan for a car for daily errands and treat the Regional Rail as your fast lane into downtown.

Yes, and it has been improving measurably. As part of SEPTA's Regional Rail Reliability Program, crews upgraded the Fox Chase Line during 2025, replacing wooden poles with steel and roughly six miles of overhead catenary wire, and the line's on-time performance climbed from about 77 percent to 87 percent. In early 2026 the work continued on the tracks themselves: from January 5 through April 3, shuttle buses replaced midday trains between the Fox Chase and Wayne Junction stations, adding about 40 minutes to those trips, while crews laid new track. That kind of investment matters for commuters who count on the train to get downtown, and it is one of the reasons the Fox Chase commute has an unusually strong reputation for a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood.