car insurance woes

okay, i need some guidance here. my mother warned me that, if i move to the philly area, car insurance gets crazy the closer to the city you are. now, i haven't paid for car insurance in almost 8 years, because i've had a company car all that time. so, to check it out, i went to geico's website (they're supposed to be some of the lowest rates)... pretended i got a small car, like a new VW beetle, and drove it only 12,000 miles a year... and ran the numbers for both manayunk (considered part of philly) and bala cynwyd (across the highway from manayunk, but not considered part of philly).

the quotes?

about $1600 for 6 MONTHS in bala cynwyd...
about $1900 for 6 MONTHS in manayunk!!!

am i insane, or does $250-300 a month sound WAY too high for car insurance??? ACK!!!!!!!!!