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And it can travel with a person as well….if an Ivy or Stanford educated, well traveled and cultured individual moves from a highly regarded sophisticated city to a lesser one do they suddenly become dumb and unsophisticated?
There is certainly no guarantee of any kind of real education at an Ivy League school either. Certainly, it could be argued that those schools do not tend to produce any great critical thinkers. And it is very likely just people who were a bit overly-obsessed with indoctrination.
Nothing wrong with that if you're looking to fit a certain, prefabricated "mold". That will prepare you for it, of course.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rrampage
There is certainly no guarantee of any kind of real education at an Ivy League school either. Certainly, it could be argued that those schools do not tend to produce any great critical thinkers. And it is very likely just people who were a bit overly-obsessed with indoctrination.
Nothing wrong with that if you're looking to fit a certain, prefabricated "mold". That will prepare you for it, of course.
Other than Nobel Laureates, Presidents, SCOTUS, Secretary of States, Business Leaders, Authors, Journalists, and more along with the usual professionals and invaluable connections made with above average successful people—though there is no guarantee of success for everyone.
Other than Nobel Laureates, Presidents, SCOTUS, Secretary of States, Business Leaders, Authors, Journalists, and more along with the usual professionals—though no guarantee of success for everyone.
I'm not even talking about adding any conditions. I agree, no guarantee of success. One day, it just doesn't fit anymore.
I'm not even talking about adding any conditions. I agree, no guarantee of success. One day, it just doesn't fit anymore.
Spurious comments, aside from their irelevance to the topic at hand.
As far as Philadelphia goes, the city’s late reputation as a 'rough on the edges,’ gritty place has basically overshadowed its genteel past and present. It is a sophisticated city; dozens of colleges/universities; at the crossroads of history, renowned museums, art, etc. The Main Line has a storied history of wealth and exclusivity. But I’d argue, for example, that residents of those communities today try harder to separate their identity from Philadelphia itself, which has struggled to shake off its associations with crime/poverty, however untrue. At least in my anecdotal experience, that is very different from say a place like Boston where people of all walks of life mostly embrace city itself wholeheartedly. Am I wrong here?
Spurious comments, aside from their irelevance to the topic at hand.
As far as Philadelphia goes, the city’s late reputation as a 'rough on the edges,’ gritty place has basically overshadowed its genteel past and present. It is a sophisticated city; dozens of colleges/universities; at the crossroads of history, renowned museums, art, etc. The Main Line has a storied history of wealth and exclusivity. But I’d argue, for example, that residents of those communities today try harder to separate their identity from Philadelphia itself, which has struggled to shake off its associations with crime/poverty, however untrue. At least in my anecdotal experience, that is very different from say a place like Boston where people of all walks of life mostly embrace city itself wholeheartedly. Am I wrong here?
I think you're correct as far as a broader perception nationally, but it's a bit more nuanced than that.
In local terms, the Main Line crowd is actually very vested in the city. They're generally much more likely to be buying condos in Rittenhouse, taking in a show at the Kimmel Center, patronizing the museums, etc. They've been a key facet of the revitalization of Center City.
The social class disconnect tends to come from outside of the region, whereby the non-Northeast Corridor upper class in the rest of the US doesn't seem to have Philadelphia's offerings anywhere on their radar (at least, that's my observation). This is certainly not the case for NYC, Boston or DC.
There's a lot of efforts being made to rectify that disconnect in terms of marketing (which was really building pre-pandemic but was completely upended). But I do have faith that the city is earnestly refocusing its efforts again. Philly is nothing if not resilient.
Spurious comments, aside from their irelevance to the topic at hand.
As far as Philadelphia goes, the city’s late reputation as a 'rough on the edges,’ gritty place has basically overshadowed its genteel past and present. It is a sophisticated city; dozens of colleges/universities; at the crossroads of history, renowned museums, art, etc. The Main Line has a storied history of wealth and exclusivity. But I’d argue, for example, that residents of those communities today try harder to separate their identity from Philadelphia itself, which has struggled to shake off its associations with crime/poverty, however untrue. At least in my anecdotal experience, that is very different from say a place like Boston where people of all walks of life mostly embrace city itself wholeheartedly. Am I wrong here?
Spurious lol. You just never know what you'll get on here, but I'll take that as a compliment.
Anyway, being clouded by too much "inside the box" thinking does have it's limits. What we are talking about is highly subjective. You ask 10 people, you might get 10 different answers on Philadelphia.
You may have someone telling you that Philadelphia is sophisticated and they may have a very solid argument for it that doesn't come from the typical frameworks.
I think you're correct as far as a broader perception nationally, but it's a bit more nuanced than that.
In local terms, the Main Line crowd is actually very vested in the city. They're generally much more likely to be buying condos in Rittenhouse, taking in a show at the Kimmel Center, patronizing the museums, etc. They've been a key facet of the revitalization of Center City.
The social class disconnect tends to come from outside of the region, whereby the non-Northeast Corridor upper class in the rest of the US doesn't seem to have Philadelphia's offerings anywhere on their radar (at least, that's my observation). This is certainly not the case for NYC, Boston or DC.
There's a lot of efforts being made to rectify that disconnect in terms of marketing (which was really building pre-pandemic but was completely upended). But I do have faith that the city is earnestly refocusing its efforts again. Philly is nothing if not resilient.
I agree with this. Philadelphia is such a large and dynamic place, economically and socially/racially diverse that I can't really say it's true that the upper class would be distancing itself from it. The upper class knows places like Chestnut Hill/Mt. Airy and the Center City (and adjacent) neighborhoods exist, their friends and their children live there....they patronize all the fine arts establishments, go to the Union League and other clubs, go to all the Starr/Vetri/Garces restaurants, use Penn and CHOP services, etc. Many still see the city and a night out on the town as cool (if you're rich and young) or sophisticated (if you're rich and old).
Oddly enough, it's the upwardly mobile working class (usually white) that in their transition to "middle class" are more likely to disparage the city than the upper class. The type of people that left as their neighborhood was diversifying and (maybe) declining...they left for the suburbs (mostly Jersey, DelCo and BucksCo) under "duress". LOL! It makes sense though, those populations are closer to the worst of Philadelphia's offerings. Like most cities, the well off can shield themselves from the worst stuff and can have a rather positive Urban experience.
Also true, that the northeast knows but the rest of the country is usually ignorant to the nuances of Philadelphia. But isn't that true of all cities?
Los Angeles feels extremely working-class outside of only a few places like Hollywood, Malibu and Beverly Hills.
Far more cosmopolitan than sophisticated, even if “Tinseltown” is the branding.
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