Philadelphia Culture

[Anonymous]

Go to Philly and you’ll be served the sane frozen pretzels you can get at Safeway. There’s nothing unique or interesting about the place anymore. DC must be such a cultural vacuum for some to think otherwise. Sorry, poseurs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I replied early but born and bred Philly here with tons of Philly roots.

The Jason Kelce speech where he's dressed as a Mummer, loosing his voice and yelling about hungry dogs run faster and the city of Philly is a hungry dog, an underdog? That's the essence of Philly right there.

https://youtu.be/rqLp4XdVk80

Yes! and of course, of course, of course, let us never ever forget Four Seasons Total Landscaping - the most philly thing ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an interesting city. We lived there briefly and my grandfather grew up in Philadelphia so we had cousins there as well, although everyone seems to have moved away by this point.

My observation of Philadelphia is that it's a city time passed. It hit its prime circa 1900, remained one of the great American cities into the 1950s, and ever since then it's faded into a rather overlooked, often forgotten city in a quiet part of the country (despite the location on the Bos-Was corridor), living primarily off past glories. As a consequence, it's fairly static and filled with the old social-cultural dynamics of the past. It seemed like everyone we met in our time in Philadelphia was from Philadelphia or the surrounding region, and already had entrenched social networks of family and friends and very few outsiders. And there are rigid social barriers between the different subcultural groups. The WASPS of Chestnut Hill and the Mainline live a world unto themselves, the South Philadelphia Italians also live a world unto themselves. There's a big working class Irish heritage presence as well. Even the "newcomers" seem to join the city's scene by repeating the same dynamics. The Vietnamese in South Philadelphia, the Russians and Latinos in the far Northeast. A lot of working class pride that was ridiculous at times but there's also tremendous cultural resources and quiet and aloof gentry pride too. Philadelphia is *old* in ways you don't even see in New York, which is nearly as old.

Center City is delightful and there are great neighborhoods with stunning architecture. My grandfather grew up in one of the big stone houses on the border between Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill and we used to cycle around Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy and Germantown, marveling at the great architecture, and as a child I remember visiting cousins who had restored a house in Society Hill, another fabulous area. There's also enormous stretches of deprived neighborhood too, including some sad once lovely neighborhoods with big old houses going to ruin.

All in all, it's a great city to live in, but it's also hard for someone from the outside to move in and find friends.

This is partially correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are a breath of fresh air compared to the uptight humorless people here.

+1

This.

[Anonymous]

In 2021, here is what Philadelphia actually looked like:

Is this what you imagined Philadelphia looks like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I replied early but born and bred Philly here with tons of Philly roots.

The Jason Kelce speech where he's dressed as a Mummer, loosing his voice and yelling about hungry dogs run faster and the city of Philly is a hungry dog, an underdog? That's the essence of Philly right there.

https://youtu.be/rqLp4XdVk80

Yes! and of course, of course, of course, let us never ever forget Four Seasons Total Landscaping - the most philly thing ever.

And : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0ePUlNWNsQ

World effing champions - chase utley about second 40

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from north Wilmington and my parents grew up in blue collar Philly neighborhoods (they always called it Philly, not sure why that is a no-no).
As noted above, wooder=water and quooder=quarter. There is also a weird long “o” in home or throne (or just the word Oh) - not sure how to type it, but it’s like “heooome”. We drop words. For instance, “I’m done my soup” is perfectly acceptable, whereas uptight DMV types insist on extra words I.e. “I’m done with my soup.” All of my relatives are far more direct than people typically are in the DMV. I get told a lot that I am “very genuine” - by which I suspect people here mean rude or blunt.

Tastykakes are the best! Wawa is the best!

both of which are readily available elsewhere.

Yeah, but there's a difference. It's like the people who work the counters at Wawa in the DC area take three times as long to do something as people at a Wawa counter in PA/NJ take, and are probably a different ethnicity, too. It's just not the same experience.

+1

True, in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from north Wilmington and my parents grew up in blue collar Philly neighborhoods (they always called it Philly, not sure why that is a no-no).
As noted above, wooder=water and quooder=quarter. There is also a weird long “o” in home or throne (or just the word Oh) - not sure how to type it, but it’s like “heooome”. We drop words. For instance, “I’m done my soup” is perfectly acceptable, whereas uptight DMV types insist on extra words I.e. “I’m done with my soup.” All of my relatives are far more direct than people typically are in the DMV. I get told a lot that I am “very genuine” - by which I suspect people here mean rude or blunt.

Tastykakes are the best! Wawa is the best!

both of which are readily available elsewhere.

Nope. I'm in Arlington. Closest Wawa is downtown DC or way out in Vienna. It's not the same as having them all over the place where you can pop in all the time.

Seems pretty close to me.

DP. Well it's not, LOL. In the philly area there's at least one in every town, if not more.

A point of reference: there are as many Wawas in Delware County (Delco) (42) as there are starbucks in Fairfax County, Va--and yet the population of Delco is half that of FFX. So it's a heck of a lot more Wawas per person. Plus many Dunking Donuts which seem pretty popular.

[Anonymous]

Op, read this: Green Grass Grace: A Novel https://g.co/kgs/UZpBVS. It will help you get. Also, watch Aunt Mary Pat on YouTube. -born Philadelphia that still has most family there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an interesting city. We lived there briefly and my grandfather grew up in Philadelphia so we had cousins there as well, although everyone seems to have moved away by this point.

My observation of Philadelphia is that it's a city time passed. It hit its prime circa 1900, remained one of the great American cities into the 1950s, and ever since then it's faded into a rather overlooked, often forgotten city in a quiet part of the country (despite the location on the Bos-Was corridor), living primarily off past glories. As a consequence, it's fairly static and filled with the old social-cultural dynamics of the past. It seemed like everyone we met in our time in Philadelphia was from Philadelphia or the surrounding region, and already had entrenched social networks of family and friends and very few outsiders. And there are rigid social barriers between the different subcultural groups. The WASPS of Chestnut Hill and the Mainline live a world unto themselves, the South Philadelphia Italians also live a world unto themselves. There's a big working class Irish heritage presence as well. Even the "newcomers" seem to join the city's scene by repeating the same dynamics. The Vietnamese in South Philadelphia, the Russians and Latinos in the far Northeast. A lot of working class pride that was ridiculous at times but there's also tremendous cultural resources and quiet and aloof gentry pride too. Philadelphia is *old* in ways you don't even see in New York, which is nearly as old.

Center City is delightful and there are great neighborhoods with stunning architecture. My grandfather grew up in one of the big stone houses on the border between Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill and we used to cycle around Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy and Germantown, marveling at the great architecture, and as a child I remember visiting cousins who had restored a house in Society Hill, another fabulous area. There's also enormous stretches of deprived neighborhood too, including some sad once lovely neighborhoods with big old houses going to ruin.

All in all, it's a great city to live in, but it's also hard for someone from the outside to move in and find friends.

My family has deep roots in Philadelphia - more than 150 years since arrival from Ireland and England - and I spent a lot of time there and OCNJ. I absolutely love Philly for everything that Washington is not - it's working class vibe, the old buildings, the food, Fairmount Park. I would even move there. It's a place I would choose to live rather than have to love b/c my job is there. I still have two cousins and an uncle there - Center City, Ambler and Lansdale. Sadly, all else have died or moved away.

+1

It's a "real" city with a ton of character. I still have a ton of family there. And go to OCNJ every summer.

Sadly, my uncle sold his OCNJ property two years ago. It was the last family-owned property on the island, which is now becoming gentrified. It was a nice family place for summer vacations. We would spend the whole month of August there. I have pictures of my great-grandparents and grandparents before my father was born at the house in OCNJ. I have nothing but very good memories.

Long live a Bob’s burger and their pretty waitresses...

[Anonymous]

My son and DIL live just outside Philly. They hate everything about it and are counting the days until they move. We have visited them several times and I have to say, I totally understand why they want to leave. It’s a pretty awful place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2021, here is what Philadelphia actually looked like:

Is this what you imagined Philadelphia looks like?

Kensington is a pretty raw place, but I am sure you can find such places in any large N. American post-industrial city. Just as you can go your whole life never venturing into Anacostia and never seeing its poverty and violence, you can do the same in Philadelphia. I've no reason to go to Kensington. I am sorry it is there, but its very existence says more about America and its disposable attitude towards people and things than it does about Philly.

[Anonymous]

And the condescending attitude here says more about the transplant a###holes who live in whitey DC than it does about the people they look down upon. I have to laugh when someone says there from DC, and then I ask where and they say Bethesda. Hahahah. That's a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 2021, here is what Philadelphia actually looked like:

Is this what you imagined Philadelphia looks like?

Kensington is a pretty raw place, but I am sure you can find such places in any large N. American post-industrial city. Just as you can go your whole life never venturing into Anacostia and never seeing its poverty and violence, you can do the same in Philadelphia. I've no reason to go to Kensington. I am sorry it is there, but its very existence says more about America and its disposable attitude towards people and things than it does about Philly.

The city is run by Democrats for generations now. They are interested to keep these people in this condition. There is no future there. It is much worse than any N. American post-industrial city.

[Anonymous]

Philly Firsts:

1. First planned city in America.
2. First stock exchange
3. First penitentiary
4. First Thanksgiving Day parade
5. Birthplace of the slinky
6. Oldest continually operating grand opera house in the USA - the Academy of Music
7. First Botanical Garden
8. First natural sciences museum
9. First medical school
10. First children's hospital
11. First soda
12. First Girl Scout cookies
13. First discovery of a genetic link to cancer
14. Firest computer
15. Oldest ice cream company in America
16. First telephone registration
17. First US capital
18. First Supreme Court
19. First Continental Congress

and it goes ohn and ohn and ohn....