I went to Temple, lived off campus, and it's fine. Try to get dorm housing the first year or two if possible.

And when living off campus, live as close to the campus core as possible - it's safer and makes it easier to get to class. Also, look into the areas where Temple Police patrol - they are infinitely more responsive than PPD.

Alternatively, the BSL and Regional Rail run through campus so they could commute from another area as well. A lot of my classmates rented in South Philly, for instance.

EDIT: spelling