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Yeah, that's quintessential Philly charm. Those that get it, find it charming. Which is how it's meant to be taken. Those that don't, often take offense. Many-to-most people that don't live in the immediate region won't get it. It's a good natured jab meant to break the ice or otherwise start and/or keep a friendly state-of-joust going. Believe it or not, that type of quip starts and builds relationships in this city. The trick is to view the quip in the relatively good-natured context in which it was intended. However, this approach is not for rookies. Tell someone from the wrong neighborhood in Philly that "you're sorry to hear that they are from there" and you may get the opposite of the above described intended effect. However, own your frame like the bartender did, in the before referenced anecdote, and you may be able to get away with it in most cases. If you do, you'll have gone native. If you don't, you may have done it wrong or you may be dealing with a legitimate a-hole. The city is chock-full of 'em, both those that are justified in being-so by their life experiences (growing up and living in the lower class culture here can be rough) and fake tough-guys. Confused? It's a confusing deeper culture as far as the social function of aggressive banter is concerned. You know your not doing it right if you or someone else gets mad.
I met a guy whose friends said he was from Philly (this was in DC). I asked him where and he corrected them to say he's from Reading. I almost said sorry to hear that, but stopped myself. I don't have a problem with Reading, but it's not Philadelphia.
Drewcifer: are there any parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul that look like those pictures of Stillwater you have? I was really impressed by the urbanity of Stillwater--never even heard of the place before looking at those pictures.
Not really, but it is only 20 miles from St Paul. Stillwater started out as an important town in its own right but now it is a suburb.
I have to weigh in on the the university city police force - they aren't the reason why the area remains somewhat safe
they definitely aren't a visible presence
Drexel security is a long running joke with some top level politics that have gone for a long time ....... the police force at Penn is a lot more serious
There definitely is "spill over" but nothing too bad .... some property crime and the like
Keep in mind that most students aren't exactly great targets - electronics are going to be your big score from them - it's just not that easy to hit
Also keep in mind that students tend to live & move in packs and keep odd hours
Both campuses keep pretty tight security of their buildings - they are both getting safer as the areas around them develop - a lot of which is students staying in the area, expansion of the student population, people moving in due it's location, etc.
If you look at Drexel in the early 90s you didn't want to go much above powelton .... in the early 00s you didn't want to go much above Baring - now people are living fine all the way up and beyond Spring Garden
I used to live by the art museum and would cross the spring garden street bridge to get to campus and immediately cut down 31st by a fairly nasty vacant lot - which is now a nice attractive, well lit park ...... they've even added some lighting and cleaned up the "rape garden"
I had a buddy at 38th and baring who pretty much hated life ....... I had another buddy who had a home invasion within the safe zone .... I had a friend who was grabbed while walking up lancaster .... it's all fairly rare stuff though and I've been on a ton of college campuses and it's nothing unique to the philly schools
heck, when I was there we had a student get assaulted with a machete or some other type of large blade while waiting by the el at 30th street ...... students are definitely the minority of passengers there, but things happen sometimes when you live in a city
The one incident I was involved in was taking a night class in the computer lab .... some vagrant snuck in and tried to assault a girl in the bathroom ........ hearing the initial scream our entire class pretty much charged towards the noise - we secured her and the guy took off, a few students took chase - drexel security was at the main door and couldn't get out of the way fast enough - eventually some students tackled the guy and held him in the quad until the police could show up (which took a bit of time) from there he was processed .... that was my closest brush with crime and it wasn't "spill over" from the neighborhoods
The issues we had really weren't people coming from other neighborhoods - it was with some of the existing residents, some with particular challenges - a lot of it was student crime, drunk people doing stupid things, etc
There were neighborhoods that you typically didn't go into .... at times walking over to the athletic fields was a questionable decision - but that's not even the case anymore
The universities have pushed the buffer zone out quite a ways .... when I was there my roomate parked his car a little off campus and had a note from the police basically saying it's a high theft zone so you may not want to move your car .... but generally the police didn't worry about campus stuff - they definitely didn't form a wall at the campus boundary to keep all riff raf out or to provide constant contact with the students
As stated, Penn was a little more heavy and visible than Drexel - but neither had a presence that was unusual from what I'd see out at Penn State, up at Syracuse, out here at ASU or pretty much any place i've been
At this point I'd probably even say that the neighborhood in Tucson that hosts the UofA is every bit as bad, if not worse, than the immediate area surrounding Penn & Drexel
Philly has a lot of good block/bad block/worse block to it ....... i remember driving along lancaster out to 'nova a couple of times ... you go through some pretty quick transitions along that route as well, yet you don't hear people screaming to not live in some of those adjacant neighborhoods or that they are dangerous by proximity
Most crime is not random - even that which is without an intended individual target is often driven by opportunity .... it's much easier to stay in your own neighborhood and cause issues, no need to travel for the most part
Philly and Minneapolis are built on different scales and are in different weight classes as cities but the one thing they have in common is that both are horribly underrated by the country at large.
when I moved out all my coworkers and friends understood why i'd want to move out of philly, but thought I was absolutely nuts to go to the cities
Understanding why people would want to get away from Philadelphia was the norm from the 70s through ~07. The city is changing faster than I thought a city could change. Gotta love it.
Understanding why people would want to get away from Philadelphia was the norm from the 70s through ~07. The city is changing faster than I thought a city could change. Gotta love it.
Changing for the better in Center City and the neighborhoods that surround it, I can see the day where everything south of Spring Garden will be gentrified all the way down to the stadiums.
Changing for the worse in what used to be solid middle class sections of North Philadelphia and Northeast Philadelphia. Talking Olney,Ogontz,Lawncrest,Oxford Circle. This is where the populace that used to live in Center City , Graduate Hospital, Fairmount,Northern Liberties are being forced out to.
Superior neighborhoods in NW are untouchable and status quo- Chestnut Hill. West Mount Airy,Andorra,East Falls. Manayunk and Roxborough are undergoing a lot of new development. In short its a fluid situation in Philadelphia with wealthier people moving in closer to the core and the poorer people who used to live in the core being pushed further outward.
Philly and Minneapolis are built on different scales and are in different weight classes as cities but the one thing they have in common is that both are horribly underrated by the country at large.
Absolutely agree.
Minneapolis has the reputation of being an arctic tundra. Philly has many stereotypes, as well. The truth is: they're both wonderful.
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