A crazy thing happened on Dec. 2. I closed on my first home, quite an end to a decade of transition from childhood to adulthood. Something worthy enough to update a bit on.

I’m in the heart of the Fishtown neighborhood of the riverward section of Philadelphia, once a place exclusively for working-class (white) families that has the hipster and artistic communities now that often lead to gentrifying. It’s two El stops, a 15-minute bicycle ride or a 40-minute walk from Old City, full of Dietz and Watson delis, modest rowhomes and pickup trucks with ladders. Now I’m there, too.

While I’m up to my ears in housing repairs, I am ecstatic with the house, the block ,the neighborhood and my neighbors. I’ve lived in three different neighborhoods over five years in Philadelphia but never has one truly been so walkable.

I mentioned after Christmas that I left Frankford, where I had lived for more than a year after returning to Philadelphia from a post-graduate internship covering state government in Harrisburg following my time at Temple University.

With help, I squeezed by with my self-employment to qualify for a $100,000 mortgage and bought a well-worn home on a fantastic block. I’ve been focusing on updating, painting and mending the three-bedrooms, one of which I’m making my home office. I’ll be looking to rent the last room out to help with my mortgage payments — interested? contact me here — though I have some work to do before I put the offer out fully.

Of the 20 items I listed when I first announced in July that I was looking for a home, I can safely say this house has 14. Not too bad, I think.

Below see a brief driving tour of Fishtown someone else put together