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Old 07-25-2017, 09:18 AM
 
5,546 posts, read 6,835,111 times
Reputation: 3826

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamms View Post
When someone is making comparisons to Newark, Camden etc...it is about race. Sorry. Oh, and the crime issue in Philly is about race as well. Sorry.

Your post is confusing: people move from Philly because they live in old row homes, don't have $$, and crime is an issue; they move to an area around Atlanta for a yard, sprawl, and lower crime; then they miss the vibrant, walkable community they moved from?

Why is Atlanta so cheap to live in and around, as the vast majority of people live around Atlanta?
Race is a variable within socio-economics. But if you think every time someone is talking about comparisons between Newark and Camden, that they are thinking about race first/foremost, you are too caught up in the race game. People usually think about crime and blight first/foremost...something that is nationally recognizable in post-industrial cities across the USA. There are some racists out there, but not everyone is one.

And yes, I know multiple people who have moved to places like Richmond or Atlanta or other southern cities, living in older neighborhoods with a yard because they worked for Universities that moved them and they had that experience. While they didn't miss the crime, yes, they did miss the vibrancy and community.
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Old 07-25-2017, 09:28 AM
 
Location: Center City
7,528 posts, read 10,197,672 times
Reputation: 11018
Quote:
Originally Posted by tom77falcons View Post
Keep dreaming about how the whole country has the wrong idea about Philly. I go to lunch almost every day to Reading Terminal. I talk to tourists at conventions and from Europe, etc. Guess what? Sure they thought the city was nice enough, but when I ask if they will return, they usually reply with something like "I really want to go to DC or NY" blah blah.
I find it a bit implausible that you spend a lot of time seeking out tourists in Reading Terminal for their impressions of the city. Yet I do understand why you meet your of town guests somewhere other than Philly.

What I've taken from all this is that you are not the least bit happy with your life in Philly. I suggest you take all this energy you have put into this thread and concentrate it on moving to a city you can enjoy. Life is short, bud.
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Old 07-25-2017, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
12,623 posts, read 13,856,346 times
Reputation: 5883
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJNEOA View Post
You seem to know so much about Philly's offerings. Why don't you list out the things to do between Philly and Boston. We'd all love to gain a tangible understanding of how Boston has so much more than Philly to offer, and how those things are that much more attractive.

Start off by walking down Newbury street or Boylston in Boston and compare it to what in Philly? Walk down Commonwealth Avenue to Boston Common. Does Philly have a huge park like that right in the vibrant part of town? Go to Fenway Park and hang around there after a game and compare it to what in Philly? Go to their waterfront and look at all the boats and ferries moving tourists around and whale watching, etc. Take one of those Harbor trips around the beautiful islands in the Harbor with amazing homes on the cliff sides. Shall I go on?


Remind me again where this street has an equivalent in Philly?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3011...!7i5376!8i2688

Or this view?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3009...!7i5376!8i2688

The beautiful streets of Boston:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3496...7i13312!8i6656



https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3489...7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3528...7i13312!8i6656


Meanwhile Philly has Walnut Street which is nice enough but just not as nice as in Boston:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9500...7i13312!8i6656


Or Del River Waterfront. Again Philly has no equivalent to Boston, yet many a city has a riverfront like Philly.


https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9429...!7i8704!8i4352


Where are there homes with views like this in Philly?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3011...!7i5376!8i2688


Independence Mall is nice enough, particularly for US history buffs. For the rest of the world, not so much.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9491...7i10240!8i5120


Boston has the area around Old North Church:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3664...7i13312!8i6656


Meanwhile back to Boston Harbor. Does Philly have an equivalent?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3600...!7i4000!8i2000

Where is the Philly equivalent to Faneuil Hall Market Place?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3604...7i13312!8i6656
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Old 07-25-2017, 09:56 AM
 
Location: Boston Metrowest (via the Philly area)
7,251 posts, read 10,503,774 times
Reputation: 8758
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pine to Vine View Post

The Schuylkill will never be the Charles. On the other hand, there is no 20 mile trail to Valley Forge in Boston, is there?
Indeed. The waterfront in Boston is excellent and a huge asset for it; with some actual implementation of vision (big plans have been bandied about for years, although the Penn's Landing Park will be a fantastic step forward), the Schuylkill can play a very similar role.

But for countryside scenery and feel, Boston has nothing on the Philly area.
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Old 07-25-2017, 10:06 AM
 
Location: Boston Metrowest (via the Philly area)
7,251 posts, read 10,503,774 times
Reputation: 8758
Quote:
Originally Posted by tom77falcons View Post
Start off by walking down Newbury street or Boylston in Boston and compare it to what in Philly? Walk down Commonwealth Avenue to Boston Common. Does Philly have a huge park like that right in the vibrant part of town? Go to Fenway Park and hang around there after a game and compare it to what in Philly? Go to their waterfront and look at all the boats and ferries moving tourists around and whale watching, etc. Take one of those Harbor trips around the beautiful islands in the Harbor with amazing homes on the cliff sides. Shall I go on?
Again, for waterfront/ocean activities, Philly obviously doesn't compare to Boston, but it doesn't necessary have to. Why does the lens of comparison have to be to exactly emulate other cities? The rivers around Philly should be MUCH more leveraged, but it can provide a unique and awesome experience. For example, I once did a sailing "picnic" excursion in the Delaware looking at the Philly skyline, and it was quite fantastic and provided a view of the city that is extremely under-appreciated. There's no reason why activities like that cannot be so much more popular.

And while Rittenhouse and Washington Squares are much smaller than the Common, Boston has no Fairmount. This has been discussed in other threads.

I'll admit too that Boston does "grand" streets better than Philly, but that's never been Philly's forte. It's always been an intimate/human-scaled city, with very tight-knit/adorable and historic residential areas on an impressive scale. Boston obviously has those areas, too, but Philly dominates with them.

Here's a great lesson for ALL of us to learn: Different doesn't mean superior.

Also, true Bostonians HATE Quincy Market. And most would find Reading Terminal far more interesting and vibrant, anyway.
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Old 07-25-2017, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Center City
7,528 posts, read 10,197,672 times
Reputation: 11018
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duderino View Post
Also, true Bostonians HATE Quincy Market. And most would find Reading Terminal far more interesting and vibrant, anyway.
I lived near Boston briefly many years ago. Faueuill Hall is for tourists. Reading is for locals and tourists visit.
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Old 07-25-2017, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
12,623 posts, read 13,856,346 times
Reputation: 5883
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pine to Vine View Post
I find it a bit implausible that you spend a lot of time seeking out tourists in Reading Terminal for their impressions of the city. Yet I do understand why you meet your of town guests somewhere other than Philly.

What I've taken from all this is that you are not the least bit happy with your life in Philly. I suggest you take all this energy you have put into this thread and concentrate it on moving to a city you can enjoy. Life is short, bud.

I plan on leaving when I retire. I'm tied to a job here.

As far as the tourists, when you sit at the Dutch Corner you meet tons of out of towners. I don't seek them out, they are right there. Also I am extroverted. But it is not everyday I meet them, but I have been living here for years. I was here way before you moved here, trust me.
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Old 07-25-2017, 10:15 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
12,623 posts, read 13,856,346 times
Reputation: 5883
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pine to Vine View Post
I lived near Boston briefly many years ago. Faueuill Hall is for tourists. Reading is for locals and tourists visit.

Well of course cause Boston has way more tourists.
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Old 07-25-2017, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Boston Metrowest (via the Philly area)
7,251 posts, read 10,503,774 times
Reputation: 8758
Quote:
Originally Posted by tom77falcons View Post
Well of course cause Boston has way more tourists.
Tourists also very often seek out a predictable and corporatized experience. That's not necessarily a great thing for vitality and authenticity.
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Old 07-25-2017, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Center City
7,528 posts, read 10,197,672 times
Reputation: 11018
Quote:
Originally Posted by tom77falcons View Post
Start off by walking down Newbury street or Boylston in Boston and compare it to what in Philly? Walk down Commonwealth Avenue to Boston Common. Does Philly have a huge park like that right in the vibrant part of town? Go to Fenway Park and hang around there after a game and compare it to what in Philly? Go to their waterfront and look at all the boats and ferries moving tourists around and whale watching, etc. Take one of those Harbor trips around the beautiful islands in the Harbor with amazing homes on the cliff sides.
You want Philly to be Boston. It's not. Other than this, do you have more to add to the convo?
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