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I can't wait to contribute to the tide of change! I'm saving money, and plan to move to Philadelphia by the end of the year! I'm tired of living in Delco, as I would MUCH rather live in the city than the suburbs. Plus, I turn 21 this month, so it is time for me to move out of my mom's place (I lived in college dorms previously; however, since I don't have enough money to move as of yet, I'm back at her place temporarily).
When I do move to the city, I plan to stay as long as possible. As someone who was raised in the city and suburbs, I believe that there are distinct advantages to raising a child in a city. Some of my happiest childhood memories occurred when I lived in the Mill Creek neighborhood in West Philly back in the early-to-mid 2000s. I'm also not as concerned with schools as other people. Some of the elementary schools in the city are excellent, such as the one in Queen Village. When it comes time for high school, I'll have my children try to get into Masterman, Central, or one of the successful charters in the city. If that doesn't happen, then they can go the route I went as a teenager: Catholic high school.
Even if I or the future wife do desire a bigger house and larger yard, we could always move to Mount Airy, sections of East Falls, Chestnut Hill, Roxborough, etc. They are transit-accessible and still within the city. I just hope to spend many years in the city that I love the most!
I'm 24 and have the same plan. Still relatively new to the city, and it's only temporary right now. But I have one year of law school left out of state and plan on applying for any job I'm qualified for in the city. I was born and raised in the city of LA. The life lessons and street smarts you learn as a child in a real city are invaluable. The diversity you are surrounded with and getting to experience every ethnic food and culture imaginable is something I'm grateful for every day. I'm Jewish, and I know a lot of Jewish parents in urban cities send their kids to private Catholic schools when public schools are bad. LA did that some, but the SF Russian Jews I knew did that a lot. Most of them went to the private Catholic schools. They've never lived anywhere but the city.
The personalities of someone born and raised in a city v. suburb are often very different, though there is overlap with the two. Some city kids crave open spaces while some suburban kids are dying for the urban life, with goals of settling back in the burbs once they have kids. My friend in NYC from middle America was just telling me how she loves living in NYC at our age (mid 20s), but will move somewhere else when she wants kids. I believe Denver was mentioned as an option? Idk. But for me, I plan on living within the city limits of a big city till the day I day. I've never lived in a suburb for a single day of my life and have no intentions of doing so. Your idea of doing Mt Airy, Chestnut Hill, etc. is the idea that I'd have too. In the city limits with transit access to CC.
As for following the crowd mentality? No. I've always, since I was young kid, wanted to live in the middle of everything. When most of my friends wanted to hang out in the burbs or at the beach or in the park, I wanted to take the LA Metro to Downtown LA or Hollywood or hang out in downtown Santa Monica surrounded by all the people. My first time in NYC was when I was 9 and I've been hooked on urban city living ever since. After that trip, I knew LA was never going to be for me. Ever. I loved working in DTLA, going out in Hollywood and West Hollywood. I went to college in SF. Even though I disliked the people in SF, the feeling of being in an urban city was amazing. I lived in Madrid, one of the densest cities in the world, and I've never loved anything in my life as much as I love Madrid. Now being in Philly, it's solidified the idea that the city is where I belong. The constant buzz of city life invigorates me. Seeing people walking all over, the dense built environment, the narrow streets, the local restaurants/bars/shops on nearly every corner, etc. And I actually despise the act of driving. I hate when I wake up too late to take SETPA to work and end up having to drive. I truly dislike the act of driving and would much rather sit on a bus or subway. Even if I was the richest man on earth, I would never drive. I would just take Uber everywhere then. Maybe I'll marry a guy who enjoys driving. I'd love to be chauffeured places in a black BMW M3 with red leather seats by my husband, but I wouldn't want to actually drive it except for fun once in a while. If he wasn't around, I'd probably just walk or take the bus anywhere else. It's not a fad to be in love with city living. I started loving it from a very young age when I found out what NYC and SF and London and other cities were. When you're young, you only know your city. LA is not for urbanites, and I instantly put together my exit plan when I found out about other cities that were way more urban.
Like I said, using public transport sucks. Especially now with the hot and humid weather. And in the few weeks it will be freezing cold when waiting for your ride.
I sure hope these millennium kids moving to Philly can take this crap.
Like I said, using public transport sucks. Especially now with the hot and humid weather. And in the few weeks it will be freezing cold when waiting for your ride.
I sure hope these millennium kids moving to Philly can take this crap.
The reverse commute trains (which has growing ridership) are pretty young person heavy.
Very anecdotal, but way more youngish professional-types on the Chestnut Hill East and West trains than on my alternate commutes (23, H, or L buses to the BSL).
Something I've wondered a ton about, as I've been a pretty regular bus and subway traveler out of NW Philly for over 4 years. It's completely normal for me to be the only white person on the bus or a subway car - yet the regional rails going through the same neighborhoods are way more demographically representative of the neighborhood. It must be a race and/or class thing.
There have even been times my trains are cancelled, the next one not coming for 30 minutes or longer, and I've left the station to catch the bus and everyone else just sits there waiting for the next train. The bus and subways have way better headways, and pretty comparable travel times.
There's a lot wrong with the regional rail. My train was consistently late for the 3+ years I sort of relied on it. Not only was it late for observable reasons (passenger boarding, waiting for signals, equipment roblems etc), but it would consistenly show up to its first stop after leaving the train yard 5+ minutes late - something completely in SEPTA's control. Yet they were never concerned about getting there on time, and they would never change the schedule to reflect reality. The lateness problems would often compound when reaching Amtrak territory (we'd miss our slot to enter Amtrak, so we'd have to wait at ZOO, and then we'd miss our next slot to exist so we'd have to wait at N PHL). It was a really frustrating experience to be having everyday - eventually I just completely wrote of the CHW and would only take the East.
The funny thing about reading that article where they blamed Amtrak is that one time I emailed them about the outbound CHW showing up late everyday to Jefferson Station and they blamed Amtrak. Which if you know anything about the regional rail system, you know is completely bogus. It's like they use it as a scapegoat.
The reverse commute trains (which has growing ridership) are pretty young person heavy.
Very anecdotal, but way more youngish professional-types on the Chestnut Hill East and West trains than on my alternate commutes (23, H, or L buses to the BSL).
Something I've wondered a ton about, as I've been a pretty regular bus and subway traveler out of NW Philly for over 4 years. It's completely normal for me to be the only white person on the bus or a subway car - yet the regional rails going through the same neighborhoods are way more demographically representative of the neighborhood. It must be a race and/or class thing.
There have even been times my trains are cancelled, the next one not coming for 30 minutes or longer, and I've left the station to catch the bus and everyone else just sits there waiting for the next train. The bus and subways have way better headways, and pretty comparable travel times.
My experiences on the BSL, MFL and NHSL has been more varied; I see all kinds of people on all three.
MarketEl, I think, posted a link about a study which stated that there's a definite bias that more affluent people have against riding buses. So yes, it is a race/class thing. There only place where it's different is NYC. All classes of people ride buses there.
My experiences on the BSL, MFL and NHSL has been more varied; I see all kinds of people on all three.
MarketEl, I think, posted a link about a study which stated that there's a definite bias that more affluent people have against riding buses. So yes, it is a race/class thing. There only place where it's different is NYC. All classes of people ride buses there.
Definite class divide everywhere. Even in NYC, my friends almost never ever ever take the bus. They always take the subway or walk. After taking public transit in LA, SF, Chicago, NYC, and Philly so far, I've definitely noticed white people have a bias against buses. I take buses and I'm white, but I'm often one of very few whites on a bus. A lot of (white) people I met in Philly wouldn't even take a SETPA anything, let alone a bus. My friend from NYC had lived in Philly for 6 years and never been on SEPTA.
It's great to see so many young people looking forward to move to Philly city. I'm in my mid-30s and just in the process of buying a house in West Philly area. Although I've only lived in the city for 4 years, I'm in love with this city
City living isn't as bad as many people seem to think it is; specially if you live in places close to trolley stops or subway stops. I work in Center City and live in W Philly. Commuting to and fro work is extremely stress free, even on SEPTA; not to mention time saving. I own a car but I use it only to get to the beach, visiting someone in the suburbs or if I had to do some major shopping outside of my neighborhood grocery stores which are within walking distance. Motorcycle helps me get around for most other things and I love that the PPA and citizens have started to accept motorcycles and scooters as a part of the city's traffic landscape
Living in the city affords me the option of not having to deal with the traffic on 76 or 95 every morning or evening and being able to find a 24 hour grocery store within walking/transit distance, Chinese takeout that is open until 2 AM and a transit system that is reasonably dependable at most times in the night and bars and restaurants within 15 minutes transit or driving that people actually like going to
And the most wonderful thing for me about the city is the diversity. Everyday I meet people with varied occupations, origins, economic background and life experience and each of these people have taught me something new about life that makes my life a tiny bit better. When I lived in the suburbs, all I ever met were people who had jobs like me and had thoughts and background that were very similar to me. I felt like I never learnt anything about the world, except I was "comfortable" because I didn't have to deal with a few unpleasant people in a day. But now, the things I learn by living in the city makes any of the unpleasantness from city living highly ignorable
My experiences on the BSL, MFL and NHSL has been more varied; I see all kinds of people on all three.
I imagine it has to do with me taking the BSL express northbound past the gentrified neighborhoods, and skipping Temple, most of the time. I know a lot of these Northern Liberties and South Philly kids like the subways - and when I go over to Baltimore Area the trolley seems pretty acceptable to a lot of people too.
Yet Broad and Erie and Broad and Olney, despite being in neighborhoods with very few white people, offer bus connections to some of the whitest areas of the city and suburbs, including Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy, Fox Chase, Warminster, Lansdale,Doylestown, and so on. The standing on the corner for a few minutes probably adds another psychological barrier.
When I lived in the suburbs, all I ever met were people who had jobs like me and had thoughts and background that were very similar to me. I felt like I never learnt anything about the world, except I was "comfortable" because I didn't have to deal with a few unpleasant people in a day. But now, the things I learn by living in the city makes any of the unpleasantness from city living highly ignorable
Meh. I've lived in the suburbs a good chunk of my life. "Thoughts and background" have been all over the place, which you discover when you take the trouble to get to know people beyond the surface. I've never met anyone who had a job like me, and have lived next door to factory workers, artists, grocery store clerks, barbers, truck drivers and milkmen (you might not know what those are ... ) in addition to teachers, engineers, and accountants. Your generalizations about the suburbs are just as erroneous and eyeroll-worthy as any generalizations about city life.
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