If you are thinking about moving to Philadelphia... (California: crime rate, home)

[RightonWalnut]

If you are thinking about moving to Philadelphia visit the city and get a feel for the city for yourself. Safety is a point of view. This site is filled with plenty of city "bashers" who claim every area of every city is unsafe and it is clear to me that Philadelphia has a good handful of these "bashers".

You need to understand that these people who are bashing the city of Philadelphia and claiming it is a war-torn hellhole are the people who live in the suburbs or in NJ and fear cities and never visit Philadelphia. They watch the news and assume things about the city. There are plenty of Philadelphian's like myself who are genuinely trying to help people who want to or have to move to the area and then there are those posters who either have a grudge towards Philly, hate Philly, fear cities, are genuinely misinformed or use their opinions to either talk negatively about the city or dissuade people from moving here. This greatly overshadows us who are trying to help and suggest awesome locations where you should live.

Philadelphia certainly has some bad areas mainly in North and West Philadelphia but that doesn't mean it doesn't have awesome areas as well like those in Center City, South Philadelphia, Lower North Philadelphia, University City and the surrounding areas in West Philadelphia, Northwest Philadelphia and Northeast Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is a city of 1.6 million people crammed into 134 square miles, it is only natural for the crime rate to be higher than that of the suburbs where 134 square miles may have less than 200,000 people. Philadelphia has problems just like every major city and it just so happens that it struggles with crime and post industrial ghettos which in turn result in poor public schools. This doesn't mean there are NO good schooling options and NO good areas in Philadelphia.

If you want to or have to move to Philadelphia... visit the city first. Don't use people's opinions on this website.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

If you are thinking about moving to Philadelphia visit the city and get a feel for the city for yourself. Safety is a point of view. This site is filled with plenty of city "bashers" who claim every area of every city is unsafe and it is clear to me that Philadelphia has a good handful of these "bashers".

You need to understand that these people who are bashing the city of Philadelphia and claiming it is a war-torn hellhole are the people who live in the suburbs or in NJ and fear cities and never visit Philadelphia. They watch the news and assume things about the city. There are plenty of Philadelphian's like myself who are genuinely trying to help people who want to or have to move to the area and then there are those posters who either have a grudge towards Philly, hate Philly, fear cities, are genuinely misinformed or use their opinions to either talk negatively about the city or dissuade people from moving here. This greatly overshadows us who are trying to help and suggest awesome locations where you should live.

Philadelphia certainly has some bad areas mainly in North and West Philadelphia but that doesn't mean it doesn't have awesome areas as well like those in Center City, South Philadelphia, Lower North Philadelphia, University City and the surrounding areas in West Philadelphia, Northwest Philadelphia and Northeast Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is a city of 1.6 million people crammed into 134 square miles, it is only natural for the crime rate to be higher than that of the suburbs where 134 square miles may have less than 200,000 people. Philadelphia has problems just like every major city and it just so happens that it struggles with crime and post industrial ghettos which in turn result in poor public schools. This doesn't mean there are NO good schooling options and NO good areas in Philadelphia.

If you want to or have to move to Philadelphia... visit the city first. Don't use people's opinions on this website.

While I share your annoyance with respect to the haters, fearmongerers, etc, don't you find it just a tad bit ironic that you urge people to take your advice via the Internet while simultaneously telling them not to take advice from people on the Internet?

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

While I share your annoyance with respect to the haters, fearmongerers, etc, don't you find it just a tad bit ironic that you urge people to take your advice via the Internet while simultaneously telling them not to take advice from people on the Internet?

Hahaha why yes I do... but I'm not telling them to make life decisions because of what I say over the internet. Therefore... if you ask me where you should live I will give you my best possible suggestions where to look. I am trying to help people who have to or want to move to Philly but don't know the area. Then all my time and work gets crushed when someone blurts out false and opinionated info of the city.

I am not persuading them to move here or dissuading them... understand my frustration?

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

Hahaha why yes I do... but I'm not telling them to make life decisions because of what I say over the internet. Therefore... if you ask me where you should live I will give you my best possible suggestions where to look. I am trying to help people who have to or want to move to Philly but don't know the area. Then all my time and work gets crushed when someone blurts out false and opinionated info of the city.

I am not persuading them to move here or dissuading them... understand my frustration?

But you are giving them your opinion, an opinion that (understandably) tries to cast Philadelphia in as favorable a light as possible. I don't see anything wrong with that, nor do I take issue with (legitimate) criticisms toward the city. Also, when someone points out false information regarding the city, I hardly see how your work is automatically crushed, given that as a knowledgeable, longstanding native of the city, it shouldn't take much work for you to counter it.

Like I said, I agree with your general point. I just found the final tagline a bit odd.

[Phil A. Delphia]

Anyone would be a fool to move into a city or even a residence without seeing it in person, unless it is absolutely impossible to do so.

[BVitamin]

Eh, every state/city forum has its less endearing members although, from the ones I've partook in, California seems to have more than its share.

In regards to taking advice from CD forums, I usually gauge member's ability to use reason and if satisfactory I go on to ask them via private message. Even then, with a grain of salt. And one should always visit a place beforehand before moving there, if money and time permits.

That said, I will be moving there in about a month, right in CC.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

While I share your annoyance with respect to the haters, fearmongerers, etc, don't you find it just a tad bit ironic that you urge people to take your advice via the Internet while simultaneously telling them not to take advice from people on the Internet?

Ironic huh? In other words, listen to me and ignore everyone posts that say otherwise.. Here are actual stats generated by the Philadelphia police.. For those thinking about moving to Philly, read this. Make your own decisions.. These are the facts.. Oh and BTW- I spemnd almost 50 years in Philly, so the experiences I have is actual not TV news generated.. And you know.. You would be doing a HUGE disservice to people looking at Philly to move to if you only painted the city thru rose colored glasses and then when they got here it may not all teddy bears and daisies.. That would be plain wring and unfair to perspective residents.. Don't you think? Both sides should be presented..

http://phillypolice.com/assets/Uploa...YWIDEWK-53.pdf

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

Ironic huh? In other words, listen to me and ignore everyone posts that say otherwise.. Here are actual stats generated by the Philadelphia police.. For those thinking about moving to Philly, read this. Make your own decisions.. These are the facts.. Oh and BTW- I spemnd almost 50 years in Philly, so the experiences I have is actual not TV news generated.. And you know.. You would be doing a HUGE disservice to people looking at Philly to move to if you only painted the city thru rose colored glasses and then when they got here it may not all teddy bears and daisies.. That would be plain wring and unfair to perspective residents.. Don't you think? Both sides should be presented..

http://phillypolice.com/assets/Uploa...YWIDEWK-53.pdf

But frank.... come on man. About 80% of these crimes are committed in the run down areas of the city. Are there robberies and assaults in Center City? Of course... but tell me one major city that doesn't have this in their central business district. You could move to any other metro in the US and deal with the same issues... not one city/metro is void of run down crime ridden areas. There are wonderful areas of the city where crime is at a minimum and there are rough areas where there is a murder or two a week.

You can't live your entire life fearing you have a 1 in 8,000 (completely made that up, don't know the actual chances) chance of being mugged in a city. You're chances of being murdered in Philly are something like 0.00024 percent or something extremely minuscule like that but for some reason these fearful people think that they will be murdered indefinitely if you move to the city or even step foot in the city.

Most suburbanites fear they will be a victim of a random act of violence by a complete stranger. While robberies and assaults are usually from strangers, murders and rapes are not. A majority of the murders and rapes are committed by friends or acquaintances or enemies. A good majority of the murders in Philly have to do with the drug culture. These murders are occurring between drug dealers and gang members (although there are a relatively small number of gangs in Philly as opposed to other cities) and poor African American youth in North and West Philly who feel they have no other options in life.

And I show the good sides of Philly because there are so many of you who only talk about the negatives and refuse to see the positives. I enjoy Philly and I like to positively promote it but that doesn't mean I am unaware or neglect the issues the city deals with. These crime statistics are not a part of my life and I live in the city... crime issues rarely ever cross my mind in my everyday life because I don't deal with crime so why are you living in your suburban home in South Jersey so actively enforcing a crime ridden, murder filled version of Philly? All of us know you only paint a negative picture of the city because your precious Lower Northeast white enclave declined while other areas of the city blossomed and prospered... but now you view the entire city as negative.

Ghettos are not a cancer.

I find it hilarious that the strongest critics of the city of Philadelphia are those living in South Jersey. The majority of us living in the actual city limits have a different view however...

[frankgn87]

I have had two employees killed in Philly over the years and neither knew their murderer and neither were involved with anything illegal.. Truth.. It sure DOES happen to honest people doing nothing wrong.. If you believe anything else you are sadly mistaken

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

I have had two employees killed in Philly over the years and neither knew their murderer and neither were involved with anything illegal.. Truth.. It sure DOES happen to honest people doing nothing wrong.. If you believe anything else you are sadly mistaken

Frank, you know as well as I that most of that crime is concentrated away from the good areas. That is not to say that the city's current crime rate isn't problematic--it most certainly is--but a family living in Chestnut Hill, Fitler Square, Bella Vista, et al, won't really experience any of those issues.