Why is Philly so often overlooked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was there over Christmas. I found it beautiful and it had an energy I really connected to. I kept thinking I could live there, easily. My son is considering Drexel, and this thread has me wondering a bit.

Don’t overthink it. My son is a college student there and he loves it so much he plans to stay there after graduation. He was offered a job at his employer’s DC office, but he would make the same salary. His goal is to buy a house there three years after graduation.

Please dissuade him. He is too young to settle down like that <2 hours away from where he grew up.

PP back. No worries. He definitely plans to settle back in DC. His whole gaggle of HS friends include a bunch of long time Washingtonians, so they'll be back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've visited Philly twice with my kids. Once in January 2020 and once in May 2022. I could not believe the difference between those visits. Maybe they were one off experiences but 2020 was such a pleasant experience and 2022 was so bad I'm reluctant to return. So much trash everywhere. Syringes. Aggressive panhandlers. ATVs and dirt bikes all night, every night. It was like a post apocalyptic wasteland.

Have you been on Capitol Hill recently? All cities took a nosedive in the past two years.

This. Pandemic effects still being felt. Way more people out in downtown Philly than in downtown DC. Probably because the Philly downtown is far more concentrated and includes several hospitals - no working from home for medical staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I disagree. Maybe if you're just outside the city lines but my family and relatives all live outside Philly, most in the Malvern/Paoli/Berwyn area with some in Royersford/Collegeville, and they don't seem affected by anything that goes on in the city. None work in Center City, and they don't go in except for a very occasional show.

I find the township-run school systems to be superior to the massive countywide systems here.

This is how I feel about D.C. We live in Fairfax County and we never go down into D.C. itself (why would anyone?).

But just because the city has become a crime-infested, dangerous homeless encampment, which isn't safe after dark, in no way means its not great out here in the suburbs.

OMG. I don't understand people who don't take advantage of all that great cities have to offer. So boring to be out in shopping center suburbia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm totally ignorant what is the folding over thing that you can see people doing in the video they are standing but acting like they are touching their toes what is that??

That looks like a zombie apocalypse.

Synthetic opioids literally turn these people into zombies. There’s also some other synthetic street drugs circulating that have horrible effects.

The synthetic drugs seem to get worse and worse. Natural heroin is no longer found on the street, as it is too expensive and can’t compete with the synthetic narcotics.

This is why I’m a big proponent of heroin legalization. Let the government sell and regulate it. Addicts are going to turn to other stuff as we see in this video.

Wait - what?

Legalize heroin ???

Seriously???? Anyone else have an opinion on heroin legalization ??

Maybe this topic deserves its own thread. PP - mind creating a new thread on heroin legalization?

My 9th grade English teacher had a mini discussion about this one day. His belief was that heroin could be a perfectly safe drug to take if used in s controlled manner. As long as you got the base level maintenance dose every day one could lead a perfectly productive, long and happy life.

He acknowledged that it was best not to use drugs and develop an addiction but posited that once addiction occurred it would be a life long habit so at that point it was better to learn how to manage it. And that unlike crack one needn’t end up isolated from friends and family in an abandoned crack house just because of an addiction “medical” issue.

Sort of the point of methadone I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm totally ignorant what is the folding over thing that you can see people doing in the video they are standing but acting like they are touching their toes what is that??

That looks like a zombie apocalypse.

Synthetic opioids literally turn these people into zombies. There’s also some other synthetic street drugs circulating that have horrible effects.

The synthetic drugs seem to get worse and worse. Natural heroin is no longer found on the street, as it is too expensive and can’t compete with the synthetic narcotics.

This is why I’m a big proponent of heroin legalization. Let the government sell and regulate it. Addicts are going to turn to other stuff as we see in this video.

Wait - what?

Legalize heroin ???

Seriously???? Anyone else have an opinion on heroin legalization ??

Maybe this topic deserves its own thread. PP - mind creating a new thread on heroin legalization?

My 9th grade English teacher had a mini discussion about this one day. His belief was that heroin could be a perfectly safe drug to take if used in s controlled manner. As long as you got the base level maintenance dose every day one could lead a perfectly productive, long and happy life.

He acknowledged that it was best not to use drugs and develop an addiction but posited that once addiction occurred it would be a life long habit so at that point it was better to learn how to manage it. And that unlike crack one needn’t end up isolated from friends and family in an abandoned crack house just because of an addiction “medical” issue.

Sort of the point of methadone I suppose.

Your 9th grade English teacher should stick to Shakespeare. The likelihood of a maintenance dose working long term is almost non-existent. Heroin changes your brain’s chemistry, you build tolerances, etc.

https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/heroin/what-are-long-term-effects-heroin-use