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Old 10-30-2019, 08:36 PM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,700,624 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patmcpsu View Post



It's the low cost of living. If you make $100k in Philadelphia, you can get an average house in the suburbs where you have to pinch your pennies to make ends meet, but $100k/yr in Texas can get you a McMansion with a pool and you can afford to eat out multiple times a week. If you like pools and chain restaurants, a city like Houston is heaven.

Yeah, I know. A lifestyle, except for Miami, that has no appeal for me. Houston has had serious flooding recently. How is that heaven? Same thing with CA and the ever increasing fire danger. Insurance companies are going to stop insuring thousands of homes there. Heaven? No.

 
Old 10-30-2019, 08:42 PM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,700,624 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pine to Vine View Post
Lol. The op should go to the sunbelt cities if he thinks Philly isn’t living up to its potential as a big city (a concept he hasn’t been able to clearly articulate, btw).
Some of his first posts were directed at a young woman who wanted to move here from Houston, I believe, because she wanted to experience a life different than what she had.

His advise was move some place cheap so she could save money. He basically ignored her desire to live a more fulfilled life.
 
Old 10-30-2019, 11:17 PM
 
Location: SW Florida
5,586 posts, read 8,366,357 times
Reputation: 11210
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp View Post
I have been stuck in Dallas for 2 weeks (work related), and times like these always remind me how truly wonderful cities like Philadelphia (and New York) are.

Dallas is a rather depressing mess of highways, strip malls and tightly packed mcmansions. There are a few sections of downtown and some other areas that are pleasant, but the area is overwhelmingly bland.

I may be a Northeastern snob (), but Philadelphia is truly one of the America's greatest cities, although it still has a lot of work to do from a political and business standpoint.
That is a gorgeous photo, but it has me confused. Everything is in a mish-mash, you don't see any street grids or rowhouses.
 
Old 10-31-2019, 05:01 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
14,013 posts, read 8,885,431 times
Reputation: 10352
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avalon08 View Post
That is a gorgeous photo, but it has me confused. Everything is in a mish-mash, you don't see any street grids or rowhouses.
Given the position and distance of the Center City office towers in the photo, it was taken from a vantage point north or northwest of Center City, most likely somewhere in the northern 'burbs - Glenside, perhaps? I don't recognize the six-way intersection in the foreground.

Philadelphia's street grid does not extend beyond the city limits - and it bends in several places within the city itself, in particular the Northwest, Northeast and Southwest parts of the city.

But once you leave the city, it disappears completely, and the street networks in the suburbs follow a pattern closer to that of New England cities and towns - or, for that matter, the Northeast in general.

You will find rowhouses in some Main Line communities - but only in small pockets, and generally south of Lancaster Avenue (US 30). You'll also find them scattered here and there in other suburban communities, and in Delaware County, to the west and southwest of Center City, they are quite plentiful in parts of Upper Darby Township, Darby Borough, Eddystone Borough, Chester City and Chester Township.

The Instagrammer who took that photo clearly loves Philadelphia and its environs. If you do too, I suggest you follow him.
 
Old 10-31-2019, 05:29 AM
 
Location: Center City
7,528 posts, read 10,209,230 times
Reputation: 11018
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyb01 View Post
Some of his first posts were directed at a young woman who wanted to move here from Houston, I believe, because she wanted to experience a life different than what she had.

His advise was move some place cheap so she could save money. He basically ignored her desire to live a more fulfilled life.
Mostly it seem to be poorly connected anecdotes and assertions about the city’s appeal to visitors that theoretically linked to Philly not meeting some unexpressed big city ”expectations” (whose? his?). If he had a coherent point in there, it got lost along the way.
 
Old 10-31-2019, 06:46 AM
 
745 posts, read 451,689 times
Reputation: 1201
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl View Post
Given the position and distance of the Center City office towers in the photo, it was taken from a vantage point north or northwest of Center City, most likely somewhere in the northern 'burbs - Glenside, perhaps? I don't recognize the six-way intersection in the foreground.

Philadelphia's street grid does not extend beyond the city limits - and it bends in several places within the city itself, in particular the Northwest, Northeast and Southwest parts of the city.

But once you leave the city, it disappears completely, and the street networks in the suburbs follow a pattern closer to that of New England cities and towns - or, for that matter, the Northeast in general.

You will find rowhouses in some Main Line communities - but only in small pockets, and generally south of Lancaster Avenue (US 30). You'll also find them scattered here and there in other suburban communities, and in Delaware County, to the west and southwest of Center City, they are quite plentiful in parts of Upper Darby Township, Darby Borough, Eddystone Borough, Chester City and Chester Township.

The Instagrammer who took that photo clearly loves Philadelphia and its environs. If you do too, I suggest you follow him.
Wait, are we talking about the same picture? Glenside? That's Fishtown. The intersection you are seeing is Norris-Susquehanna-Cedar. This is right where the grid shifts to orient to the river going north which is why it looks like a mish-mash as opposed to Philadelphia's typical grid.
 
Old 10-31-2019, 07:41 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
14,013 posts, read 8,885,431 times
Reputation: 10352
Quote:
Originally Posted by PHL10 View Post
Wait, are we talking about the same picture? Glenside? That's Fishtown. The intersection you are seeing is Norris-Susquehanna-Cedar. This is right where the grid shifts to orient to the river going north which is why it looks like a mish-mash as opposed to Philadelphia's typical grid.
We are, and I misread the photo. I was thinking it was further away to the northwest.

And that six-way intersection makes sense in Fishtown, where two grids collide.
 
Old 10-31-2019, 09:51 AM
 
712 posts, read 697,556 times
Reputation: 1258
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patmcpsu View Post
I used to travel to Houston for work... a lot. The thing that stuck out to me was how few supermarkets there were, but a Chili's-type restaurant everywhere.



It's the low cost of living. If you make $100k in Philadelphia, you can get an average house in the suburbs where you have to pinch your pennies to make ends meet, but $100k/yr in Texas can get you a McMansion with a pool and you can afford to eat out multiple times a week. If you like pools and chain restaurants, a city like Houston is heaven.
I spend a lot of time in Texas and know a lot of people who live there. The cost of living is lower but not that much lower in the major TX metros. Real estate prices in particular are pretty similar with the exception of Austin where real estate is significantly more expensive than in the Philadelphia metro. 100k income is not going to allow you to buy a McMansion with a pool in a good school district in the major TX metros. In Amarillo? Probably, but then you have to live in Amarillo.

Last edited by BR Valentine; 10-31-2019 at 10:00 AM..
 
Old 10-31-2019, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Chadds Ford
409 posts, read 366,680 times
Reputation: 441
Quote:
Originally Posted by BR Valentine View Post
I spend a lot of time in Texas and know a lot of people who live there. The cost of living is lower but not that much lower in the major TX metros. Real estate prices in particular are pretty similar with the exception of Austin where real estate is significantly more expensive than in the Philadelphia metro. 100k is not going to get you a McMansion with a pool in a good school district in the major TX metros. In Amarillo? Probably, but then you have to live in Amarillo.
I was referring to $100k a year of income, not $100k in the sales price of a house.

Let's say that somebody making $100k/yr can afford a $400k house. A $400k house in the Philly suburbs will probably be pretty average. Check out what a $400k house consists of in Houston.
 
Old 10-31-2019, 10:12 AM
 
712 posts, read 697,556 times
Reputation: 1258
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patmcpsu View Post
I was referring to $100k a year of income, not $100k in the sales price of a house.

Let's say that somebody making $100k/yr can afford a $400k house. A $400k house in the Philly suburbs will probably be pretty average. Check out what a $400k house consists of in Houston.
I understand that. 400k will get you a 3,000 sq ft house (maybe a little small for McMansion status) in Katy but it won’t have a pool. And if you don’t work in the far western Houston suburbs you’ll have a soul crushing commute. The major TX metros are cheaper than Philly area but the difference isn’t that large. It’s not like moving to any major TX metro from LA or Bay Area where people can realize a gigantic difference in CoL.
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