Diane Lilli in Philadelphia, where she recently bought a new apartment after years of living in New Jersey and New York. Hannah Yoon for The New York Times

In 2022, Diane Lilli was living in a condo in Nutley, N.J., when she fell to the ground in a heap. “My stomach basically perforated. It felt like an explosion,” Ms. Lilli, 67, said. She was rushed into surgery, then spent months in recovery. The experience left her with a new sense of urgency about making a change in her life.

Ms. Lilli had moved to Nutley, the Essex County town about 15 miles west of Manhattan, in 2019 to be closer to her daughter’s high school. But despite it being “a great town for the arts,” she knew it wouldn’t be her forever home.

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“I bounced back and forth between New Jersey and New York City for many years,” she said. Before her near-death experience, she’d been searching for a new apartment in the city, where her two older children were living, but couldn’t find anything she liked with her $350,000 budget.

After she recovered, she “broke up with New York” and refocused her search. “I wasn’t afraid to move to a place I didn’t know by myself,” she said. “A lot of older women seemed to get stuck in place, and we shouldn’t.”

Her initial rebound was Paris, where she toyed with the idea of buying a small place. She stayed in the Marais for six weeks in 2023, but realized she couldn’t remain that far from her children, who were now all living in New York City. “I needed to be within two hours of the city by train, so Paris was out,” she said.

Perhaps the Hudson Valley would fit the bill? Ms. Lilli visited listings in Beacon and Hudson, but with countless New Yorkers also scouring the area for pandemic deals, she ran into the same budget issues. “I was really at a loss at where I was going to go,” she said. “And then people started telling me to check out Philadelphia.”

She knew her budget could go a lot further there, and it was a short Amtrak ride from her children.

“Our mother is a creative, independent force,” said Danny Greenberg, Ms. Lilli's son. “She didn't need much help in the process. We told her to do this move for herself. She moved to New Jersey for us, and it felt like her staying in Nutley was like leaving a bright light in a small closet."

A year ago, Ms. Lilli took the train down to Philadelphia and immediately fell in love with Old City, the waterfront neighborhood known for its 18th-century rowhouses and Colonial-era attractions.

“It’s built like a small, gorgeous, historic town,” said Ms. Lilli, a writer and journalist. “There were these little alleys everywhere covered in cobblestone and they were covered in twinkling lights. And I thought, it might not be Paris, but it’ll do just fine.”

Her specifications were fairly simple: a one-bedroom or two-bedroom home with some character, close to the historical sites the city had to offer. “I’m one of those people that loves Benjamin Franklin, loves Constitutional history,” she said.

Among her options:

No. 1

Renovated Rowhouse One-Bedroom

Hannah Yoon for The New York Times

This renovated one-bedroom, one-bath, 900-square-foot condo was in a turn-of-the-century rowhouse near the Delaware River in Old City. The apartment had 12-foot ceilings, an open floor plan with a breakfast bar, exposed brick, a walk-in closet and in-unit laundry. The building was directly across the street from the I-95 retaining wall, but the apartment faced the back, reducing the highway noise. It was within walking distance of bookstores, galleries, restaurants and Independence Hall. The asking price was $300,000, with a $396 monthly HOA fee and annual property taxes of about $4,300.

Keller Williams Jersey

No. 2

One-Bedroom in Condo Building

Hannah Yoon for The New York Times

This one-bedroom, one-bath condo with 507 square feet in Old City featured exposed brick and wood ceiling beams. The open living space had two big windows and a breakfast bar, and the lofted sleeping area had short walls that were open to the space below. The six-story building was surrounded by historic churches and was a block from the six-lane entrance to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. It offered a shared roof deck with views of the city. The unit was listed at $229,000, with a monthly HOA fee of $457 and annual property taxes of about $3,100.

Coldwell Banker Realty

No. 3

Two-Bedroom Townhome in Pennsport

Hannah Yoon for The New York Times

This updated two-story rowhouse, with two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms, was tucked on a narrow street in Pennsport, about a mile south of Old City. The 1,000-square-foot house had bamboo floors, exposed brick and original wood ceiling beams, a big kitchen, a finished basement and a small backyard. The primary bedroom suite took up the entire second floor and had several skylights, though the other rooms were a bit cramped and dim. The house, which sat a block from I-95, was listed at $289,900, with annual property taxes of about $3,900.

Coldwell Banker Realty

Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:

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