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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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.

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