Is there that much crime in Philly?? (McDonald: parking, places)

[pgm123]

Originally Posted by UDResident

No, it isn't. Maybe Frankford is as bad as parts of North Philly but no way the rest of the Northeast is, not even the "bad" parts like Oxford Circle.

Oxford Circle is a bad part? That's where my grandmother used to live and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Did it get a lot worse? I know she always talked about it getting worse, but she had pretty severe dementia and she thought a black person moving into a neighborhood meant that the cleaning staff had tied up the old lady who used to live there and put her in the basement. But yeah, anyway, I didn't feel all that unsafe as a kid. I didn't go wondering around, but I'd go outside at night and sit on the porch and talk to her neighbors.

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

I don't know about you, but I'm 23 and plan on living quite a long time.

I'm not implying that a "downfall" of the Main Line is imminent, but it's not at all beyond the realm of possibility that its denser, pedestrian-friendly parts could start to change. Probably won't happen anytime soon, but it certainly could in theory.

Oh I completely agree, it's certainly not impossible, just highly unlikely. Too much wealth on the Main Line.

Originally Posted by pgm123

Oxford Circle is a bad part? That's where my grandmother used to live and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Did it get a lot worse? I know she always talked about it getting worse, but she had pretty severe dementia and she thought a black person moving into a neighborhood meant that the cleaning staff had tied up the old lady who used to live there and put her in the basement. But yeah, anyway, I didn't feel all that unsafe as a kid. I didn't go wondering around, but I'd go outside at night and sit on the porch and talk to her neighbors.

It's not terrible, and certainly not as bad as some people on this forum will want you to believe, but crime did rise in the area. Any single/ young professional would be fine in the area but I agree it's not the place for a family.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

Oh I completely agree, it's certainly not impossible, just highly unlikely. Too much wealth on the Main Line.

There was just as much wealth in Wynnefield.

[pgm123]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

There was a time I could walk 15 blocks in any direction in OC and go to the mom and pop stores, take our children for walks in a wagon, see friendly neighbors who kept their sidewalks and homes spotless. now some 15+ year later, all those people are moved out or dies and in its place are loud booming rap music homes with broken swung open screen doors, dirty streets where the people throw their trash on the sidewalks, our cars being broke into and even our home broken into.. Crime now has skyrocketed in OC and all the mom and pop stores are Bodegas with food stamps signs in the windows selling water pipes behind the counter.. OC is the ghetto now..

I don't recall ever saying the NE is like North Philly either. That was someone putting words in my mouth

We sold my grandmother's place in 2005-ish. I've been back exactly once and there was trash everywhere, so I can see what you're saying.

[UDResident]

Originally Posted by pgm123

Oxford Circle is a bad part? That's where my grandmother used to live and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Did it get a lot worse? I know she always talked about it getting worse, but she had pretty severe dementia and she thought a black person moving into a neighborhood meant that the cleaning staff had tied up the old lady who used to live there and put her in the basement. But yeah, anyway, I didn't feel all that unsafe as a kid. I didn't go wondering around, but I'd go outside at night and sit on the porch and talk to her neighbors.

I put "bad" in quotation marks for a reason... but yes, relative to the rest of the Northeast, Oxford Circle is bad.

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

There was just as much wealth in Wynnefield.

But Wynnefield is in Philly. That means Philly schools, Philly taxes, and eventually Philly problems. That does make a difference.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by UDResident

But Wynnefield is in Philly. That means Philly schools, Philly taxes, and eventually Philly problems. That does make a difference.

That's fair; it definitely isn't a 1:1 comparison. I just think that in general, people need to be mindful that their own little "slice of paradise" is probably more amenable to decline than they'd like to think.

[Urban Spaceman]

You'll be less paranoid and have an easier time in traffic here than in LA. I lived in Santa Monica for a few decades. Philly is much easier than LA, unless you live in a bad or inconvenient neighborhood.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

Much of my father's family lived in the Great Northeast as well, and my Dad bounced around Oxford Circle/Rhawnhurst/Bustleton, before "moving on up" to Cheltenham (parts of which are now starting to see some decline as well). Even the eastern terminus of Montgomery Avenue in Lower Merion is starting to see a pawn shop/cash for gold store or two. Wynnefield fell from grace. What makes the Main Line so special?

Neighborhoods, especially urban ones, are in a constant state of flux. Sometimes they change for the better. Sometimes they change for the worse. There will always be externalities. My Uncle purchased a rowhome in the far eastern corner of Upper Darby in the late 70s. Fast forward 20 years and his entire block is filled with for-sale signs. He held on as long as he possibly could--to his ultimate detriment--when by the time his house sold, it was only able to fetch a fraction more than its Carter administration-era price, leaving him in an extremely precarious financial state from which it took years to recover (he now lives in Drexel Hill). For every working/lower middle class person like my Uncle who is the victim of urban decay, there are working poor families who become victims of gentrification as their rent skyrockets beyond figures even remotely manageable.

Blame gets cast. It's those damn yuppies, those damn ghetto rats. Whites, blacks, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Gentiles. People are always on the move. If you've had family in Philadelphia (or any urban area) long enough, you've probably heard family members complain about what happened to the "old neighborhood," no matter what your background.

We all like to think we're something special, whether on an individual, familial, or group sense (ethnic or otherwise). But there are really no unconditional entitlements in life, and sometimes the things we cherish so dearly slip from our fingers and disappear entirely.

Hold on to the good memories, because it's really the people who make up the neighborhood--not the neighborhood itself--that give it life and character. Much of the Northeast may no longer be "ours," Frank, but the new people who inhabit our old neighborhoods are creating something of their own, and even if the end product doesn't suit our fancy, hopefully it will suit theirs.

Very well said.. I like that...

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by pgm123

Oxford Circle is a bad part? That's where my grandmother used to live and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Did it get a lot worse? I know she always talked about it getting worse, but she had pretty severe dementia and she thought a black person moving into a neighborhood meant that the cleaning staff had tied up the old lady who used to live there and put her in the basement. But yeah, anyway, I didn't feel all that unsafe as a kid. I didn't go wondering around, but I'd go outside at night and sit on the porch and talk to her neighbors.

Sadly, yes. OC severely declined over the last 15 or so years bad... We were there from 87 to 09. .. My poor in laws are still there and we visit em just about every day.. So sad, no one on the old block is there anymore and in their places are section 8 homes and loud rap music playing, kids in diapers walking around all all times of the night.. It rips our hearts out to see what happened. We used to see the old residents scrubbing the darn sidewalks now we see the new residents throwing McDonalds bags on the sidewalks

[FBJ]

Well Action News only discussed the "movie shooting" in colorado today so if there was crime in philly you would have to find out in the newspaper

Unless it was mentioned on CBS3, NBC10, or Fox29