Why is Philly so often overlooked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a dump.

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

[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

THIS person cities. What do you think about safety in both cities, PP?

Lots of comments about roads. You can absolutely live without a car in Philly and its inner suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Threads like these are stark reminders that this website is full of old white lady fuddy dudies. The grit! The crime! The schools! It's always the same old thing. Your world is every bit as insular as you claim the life of the average Philadelphian is.

[Anonymous]

I like Philly, but there are not comparable job opportunities for either my husband or I there. It's not a knock on the city, it is an issue of which industries are where.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

THIS person cities. What do you think about safety in both cities, PP?

Center City is safer than downtown Baltimore but it's also apples and oranges. Philadelphia's virtue is that it is large enough to have a critical population mass in Center City, making it a lively and, frankly, a special place that has no peer in Baltimore. On the other hand, Baltimore's waterfront neighborhoods like Canton and Fells Point and Federal Hill are about as safe as places like Queen Village and Northern Liberties in Philadelphia, and University City/West Philadelphia is comparable enough to Charles Village in safety. Roland Park = Chestnut Hill in terms of QOL and safety. And Baltimore has the harbor, which is what makes Baltimore special. Philadelphia only has ugly rivers.

Philadelphia has all the problems Baltimore does, on a bigger scale. Philadelphia has all the same demographics and drug problem and crime and murders. It's the bigger city so it has the bigger of everything, good and bad, which makes sense, and this includes more inconveniences. Neither are booming cities and when you've lived in cities that have genuine economic growth and dynamism, it's an entirely different proposition. One definitely sees it in the big city politics of the old cities, which is petty and driven by machines grouped around identities along with clueless progressives chanting defund the police while half the city is an urban wasteland dominated by rival gangs.

[Anonymous]

Cause eff the Eagles!!! Go skins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s a hellhole full of Eagles fans.

And Flyers fans. I remember parking lot post game brawls at US Air Arena back in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like Philly, but there are not comparable job opportunities for either my husband or I there. It's not a knock on the city, it is an issue of which industries are where.

This, though I would have entertained moving there for our semi-retirement (I will continue to work remotely as a consultant as long as I still enjoy it). Cost of living is lower than DC and it would be pretty affordable to get a small condo or row house in a good walkable neighborhood compared to DC where that is getting so ridiculously expensive. Restaurants are also less expensive. Plenty of culture in the city itself, but it's also so well located between NYC and DC, plus lots of outdoorsy things within a short drive.

I think it can be a tough city to build a career in unless you fit well within the city's niche industries, but I could imagine living there very happily outside of the career stuff. If I were a writer or academic, Philly would be really appealing because it offers a lot of this stuff I like about other major cities at a lower price point and on a smaller, sometimes more accessible scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Philly, but there are not comparable job opportunities for either my husband or I there. It's not a knock on the city, it is an issue of which industries are where.

This, though I would have entertained moving there for our semi-retirement (I will continue to work remotely as a consultant as long as I still enjoy it). Cost of living is lower than DC and it would be pretty affordable to get a small condo or row house in a good walkable neighborhood compared to DC where that is getting so ridiculously expensive. Restaurants are also less expensive. Plenty of culture in the city itself, but it's also so well located between NYC and DC, plus lots of outdoorsy things within a short drive.

I think it can be a tough city to build a career in unless you fit well within the city's niche industries, but I could imagine living there very happily outside of the career stuff. If I were a writer or academic, Philly would be really appealing because it offers a lot of this stuff I like about other major cities at a lower price point and on a smaller, sometimes more accessible scale.

Oh, but I meant to add: the biggest thing in the "con" category when we discuss making this move is living in a city of Phillys fans as Nats fans!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Violet crime. Filthy-Delphia.

Agree. The streets are a mess- we visit friends there every year or so and the same streets have had the same cracks and potholes for at least seven or eight years now.

It is also extremely insular. People hang out with their families or their friends from high school and have very little interest in incorporating new people into their friend groups. If you didn’t get out of the area when you went to college (and, no, going to Penn State Main Campus doesn’t count. Because half the students there are from Philadelphia.), you will never break away.

So many people who live there never lived anywhere else. About as far as they will go is New York City, but they tend to come running back to Philly after five or ten years or so. I just can’t imagine living that way.

I grew up in Philly. PP is right in that it’s very insular. Anyone with huge ambition left the city, because there’s a sort of ceiling there. People don’t like change and don’t want to change. Also, the mafia/gov corruption side of things is much more present there— it’s why streets remain torn up for decades. If you lived in a city like Chicago, you’ll know what I mean.

I used to believe this trope until becoming a resident of Maryland. See Philly may be the capital of illegal corruption a place like Maryland is near the top for something much more insidious and widespread: legal corruption. Kind of wish I had stayed in the city, especially after experience with a place like MCPS - the apotheosis of legal corruption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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

THIS person cities. What do you think about safety in both cities, PP?

Center City is safer than downtown Baltimore but it's also apples and oranges. Philadelphia's virtue is that it is large enough to have a critical population mass in Center City, making it a lively and, frankly, a special place that has no peer in Baltimore. On the other hand, Baltimore's waterfront neighborhoods like Canton and Fells Point and Federal Hill are about as safe as places like Queen Village and Northern Liberties in Philadelphia, and University City/West Philadelphia is comparable enough to Charles Village in safety. Roland Park = Chestnut Hill in terms of QOL and safety. And Baltimore has the harbor, which is what makes Baltimore special. Philadelphia only has ugly rivers.

Philadelphia has all the problems Baltimore does, on a bigger scale. Philadelphia has all the same demographics and drug problem and crime and murders. It's the bigger city so it has the bigger of everything, good and bad, which makes sense, and this includes more inconveniences. Neither are booming cities and when you've lived in cities that have genuine economic growth and dynamism, it's an entirely different proposition. One definitely sees it in the big city politics of the old cities, which is petty and driven by machines grouped around identities along with clueless progressives chanting defund the police while half the city is an urban wasteland dominated by rival gangs.

Re-posting my link from above. Both DC & Baltimore had higher murder rates than Philly, per this study. Again, crime stats are probably similar among all three cities (and other big cities).

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

THIS person cities. What do you think about safety in both cities, PP?

Center City is safer than downtown Baltimore but it's also apples and oranges. Philadelphia's virtue is that it is large enough to have a critical population mass in Center City, making it a lively and, frankly, a special place that has no peer in Baltimore. On the other hand, Baltimore's waterfront neighborhoods like Canton and Fells Point and Federal Hill are about as safe as places like Queen Village and Northern Liberties in Philadelphia, and University City/West Philadelphia is comparable enough to Charles Village in safety. Roland Park = Chestnut Hill in terms of QOL and safety. And Baltimore has the harbor, which is what makes Baltimore special. Philadelphia only has ugly rivers.

Philadelphia has all the problems Baltimore does, on a bigger scale. Philadelphia has all the same demographics and drug problem and crime and murders. It's the bigger city so it has the bigger of everything, good and bad, which makes sense, and this includes more inconveniences. Neither are booming cities and when you've lived in cities that have genuine economic growth and dynamism, it's an entirely different proposition. One definitely sees it in the big city politics of the old cities, which is petty and driven by machines grouped around identities along with clueless progressives chanting defund the police while half the city is an urban wasteland dominated by rival gangs.

I would love your take on DC. I've always thought it sad that there is no little Italy section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:500+ shootings

Confined to a couple neighborhoods

Well dang! Are there any people left who are alive if there have been 500+ shootings in those "confined couple neighborhoods"?

[Anonymous]

*Neither are booming cities and when you've lived in cities that have genuine economic growth and dynamism, it's an entirely different proposition. One definitely sees it in the big city politics of the old cities, which is petty and driven by machines grouped around identities along with clueless progressives chanting defund the police while half the city is an urban wasteland dominated by rival gangs.*

This is interesting. Say more. Or do I need to finally watch the wire to understand what is going on?