Why is Philly so often overlooked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one posted any example images of Philadelphia (other than the Liberty bell)

Granted, DC has a few rough patches too, I am sure.

OMG is that video for real? That's not some movie set????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a dump.

Can’t say the whole city is. Anascotia isn’t exactly lovely.

Have you even been to Anacostia? A lot of it *is* lovely.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:How do the nicest neighborhoods in DC and Philly compare?

There is not a single acceptable zoned public high school within Philly itself.

This is not true. My sister and I went to Girls' high and my brother went to Central

I don’t think either of those schools are what they once were. Did you go before Central was coed?

Philly has terrible public schools, but there are some decent schools systems in the suburbs. And many of the schools in the suburbs are run by the townships, rather than the gigantic county systems we have here. The problem is, even if you’re in the suburbs with good schools to send your kids to, you are still close to the city and it’s many problems. The city’s problems will affect your quality of life, even if you are outside the city lines.

Lol those “decent” suburban schools are some of the top ranked publics in the nation and all rank higher than anything in DCA public schools. Two or three of the nations top districts are on the main line.

+1. I went to one of the suburban public systems myself as a kid, and the education was truly excellent. I haven't been able to find something similar in the DMV.

+2 another Philly suburban public school grad here who got an excellent education and have not been able to find something similar for my kids here.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We lived there briefly. It's very race and class divided. The race part is common to most cities but it's easy to forget certain cities are also very socio-economically segregated. You'll be pigeonholed into your niche pretty quickly. Nitty gritty is fun for a while then it becomes tiresome because the nitty gritty population is just too large. A lot of crap happens in Philadelphia that rarely happens in DC. Center City is wonderful and there are a few other gorgeous neighborhoods but much of the city is dreary and much of the new infill housing is shockingly ugly. Transportation by car around the whole region is a nightmare, including the suburbs.

Philadelphia is still living off past glories and no number of modern new developments hides that it's one of the great 19th century cities still living in the shadows of its history. It's not where the energy or innovation is these days. Its claim to fame is being cheaper than NYC. But I will also say the dining scene is excellent, both high and low. It's perhaps the only thing I miss about Philadelphia.

You can’t be serious.

Because transportation by car around the DC area is so much better

We live in Baltimore after living in Philadelphia. It takes a lot longer to get around Philadelphia as the roads aren't as efficiently connected and some of the key links out of Center City are limited like the Schuylkill Expressway, which is backed up most of the time. Driving from Center City to the Main Line or back is time consuming because there is no direct expressway, just the train. Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill aren't easily connected outside trains either. By contrast, Baltimore is easy to navigate with the beltway and I-83 from the city to the northern suburbs. The world isn't just Philadelphia and DC, you know

i agree, i don't understand how philly can have so few direct highways to the places people want to go (are they still using goat paths from the colonial times??) But, I think the lack of an efficient highway system pushes people to public transit so that's a good thing. from many suburbs it is way easier to take the train than to drive into center city.

From NW Philly (Chestnut Hill/Mt Airy/East Falls/Manayunk), we often (if not usually) avoid the expressway by taking local neighborhood roads to East River/Kelly Dr to get to Center City. Of course there are traffic challenges at times, which is the case with any city, but it’s not always a big headache at all. Going to Center City should take about 20 mins using one of the drives during non-rush hour times. Most people I know don’t ever use the Expressway to get from NW Philly to downtown.

I grew up in a suburb west of Philly, and would always drive into Center City through West Philly. All the lights are timed on Walnut and Chestnut streets, so once I got on, it was usually a straight shot in (so long as you were in the center lane and didn't run into a double-parked truck).

[Anonymous]

That video is shocking I don't get how this the USA.

[Anonymous]

Chester County is growing very fast.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We lived there briefly. It's very race and class divided. The race part is common to most cities but it's easy to forget certain cities are also very socio-economically segregated. You'll be pigeonholed into your niche pretty quickly. Nitty gritty is fun for a while then it becomes tiresome because the nitty gritty population is just too large. A lot of crap happens in Philadelphia that rarely happens in DC. Center City is wonderful and there are a few other gorgeous neighborhoods but much of the city is dreary and much of the new infill housing is shockingly ugly. Transportation by car around the whole region is a nightmare, including the suburbs.

Philadelphia is still living off past glories and no number of modern new developments hides that it's one of the great 19th century cities still living in the shadows of its history. It's not where the energy or innovation is these days. Its claim to fame is being cheaper than NYC. But I will also say the dining scene is excellent, both high and low. It's perhaps the only thing I miss about Philadelphia.

You can’t be serious.

Because transportation by car around the DC area is so much better

We live in Baltimore after living in Philadelphia. It takes a lot longer to get around Philadelphia as the roads aren't as efficiently connected and some of the key links out of Center City are limited like the Schuylkill Expressway, which is backed up most of the time. Driving from Center City to the Main Line or back is time consuming because there is no direct expressway, just the train. Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill aren't easily connected outside trains either. By contrast, Baltimore is easy to navigate with the beltway and I-83 from the city to the northern suburbs. The world isn't just Philadelphia and DC, you know

i agree, i don't understand how philly can have so few direct highways to the places people want to go (are they still using goat paths from the colonial times??) But, I think the lack of an efficient highway system pushes people to public transit so that's a good thing. from many suburbs it is way easier to take the train than to drive into center city.

From NW Philly (Chestnut Hill/Mt Airy/East Falls/Manayunk), we often (if not usually) avoid the expressway by taking local neighborhood roads to East River/Kelly Dr to get to Center City. Of course there are traffic challenges at times, which is the case with any city, but it’s not always a big headache at all. Going to Center City should take about 20 mins using one of the drives during non-rush hour times. Most people I know don’t ever use the Expressway to get from NW Philly to downtown.

I grew up in a suburb west of Philly, and would always drive into Center City through West Philly. All the lights are timed on Walnut and Chestnut streets, so once I got on, it was usually a straight shot in (so long as you were in the center lane and didn't run into a double-parked truck).

Why would you drive instead of taking regional rail?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I live in NYC and would choose Philly over DC in a heartbeat. It has character and a soul. DC not so much.

+1.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That video is shocking I don't get how this the USA.

This has been in USA for years in the cities like Philadelphia, San Francisco, Baltimore. Funny that videos like this was part of the Russian's IRA reports, but a lot of Americans are clueless what is going on in their own country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That video is shocking I don't get how this the USA.

This has been in USA for years in the cities like Philadelphia, San Francisco, Baltimore. Funny that videos like this was part of the Russian's IRA reports, but a lot of Americans are clueless what is going on in their own country.

Yes, High income inequality does contribute to such conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one posted any example images of Philadelphia (other than the Liberty bell)

Granted, DC has a few rough patches too, I am sure.

This is how Philly looks within a few blocks of Penn & Drexel too by the way.







OMG is that video for real? That's not some movie set????

[Anonymous]

My uncle grew up in Philly! Went to Friends Select.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one posted any example images of Philadelphia (other than the Liberty bell)

Granted, DC has a few rough patches too, I am sure.

Reminds me of West Baltimore.

[Anonymous]

This video is of one of the worst streets in the entire city.

It’s a huge city with some large poor parts and also some very nice parts.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:How do the nicest neighborhoods in DC and Philly compare?

There is not a single acceptable zoned public high school within Philly itself.

This is not true. My sister and I went to Girls' high and my brother went to Central

Central isn’t zoned.

So you don't deny it is a good school.