My duplex doesn't cashflow, but compared to owning a house down the block, it lowers my cost of living by $4K per month.

As you might have heard philly is very block by block with even the best neighborhoods having worse areas, while you can find gems in the bad areas.

@Alberto Medina I think you may be running into an unintentional road block.

Especially if I can find one on a nice block in an opportunity zone, so I can get 50k streamline/limited instead of the usual 35k. 

New businesses are opening on Britton in the 900 west block (coffee shops, art galleries, barbers, etc).

When I first moved to Miami at the end of 2004, I used to get my hair cut about a block west of 95 on 62nd.

Driving through the neighborhood I felt safe and fell in love with the block this house was on.

I bought it at the perfect time and found the right block to invest in (very important in this neighborhood).

@Matthew Cassidy My city added parking spaces to a branch library using concrete grid looking blocks filled with gravel...looked kind of like thin breeze blocks or cinder blocks with an x pattern (I think) laid like pavers and filled with gravel.

Depending on the neighborhood it might mean within 1-2 blocks.