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It's probably that you grew up in a different time - but openly gay people are not a strange thing anywhere in America anymore.
I grew up in a different time. I sometimes return to the small town I grew up in with my husband. In all those visits, I can’t say I encountered other gay people. Nevertheless, when making introductions, I make sure my husband is introduced as my husband, despite some of the discomfort that instills in others.
Just because gay people have become more “familiar” across America due to external media normalization doesn’t mean that they are no longer strange in many corners of the country. Dismissing this is a privilege some straight people may tell themselves so they can move onto other matters of more pressing interest to them.
Thanks, and couldn't have said it better myself. Tolerance for nonsense behavior. Mt. Airy just isn't friendly for kids in the way we expected. Even the playground has some people that aren't so friendly and it's not maintained well. It's just not the right place for us. And the real estate is still not so cheap compared to some great suburbs like Glenside or even Jenkintown. The taxes are different (higher), although rising in the city. At least schools are paid for and murder isn't so likely.
I like Mt. Airy, but won't miss it. Best of luck to you!
It's too late now but you should have moved to Fairmount/Spring Garden (and not Mt Airy )where there is very little of that "nonsense behavior", tons of small children, great playgrounds , a beautiful new dog park, a bunch of amenities that I can't really do without nowadays but it does lack a lot of trees which I know most people prefer.
School/property taxes, at least in the burb I know the best, will rise every year so be aware of that possibility.
Apparently a lot of people do not understand why we have so many rows houses many, of which, were built to house an enormous work force.
Very true, but what's more disconcerting is that some folks write-off entire urban neighborhoods if they don't look like Society Hill. Ironically, these are some of the most vibrant and fascinating parts of the city.
It's an insult to the immense significance and important role that neighborhoods outside of Center City have had since they were built.
Very true, but what's more disconcerting is that some folks write-off entire urban neighborhoods if they don't look like Society Hill. Ironically, these are some of the most vibrant and fascinating parts of the city.
It's an insult to the immense significance and important role that neighborhoods outside of Center City have had since they were built.
Agree. For example, the person who claimed GH and Fairmount are ugly. Really? And the dense rowhomes of South Philly, as evidenced by your pix, are built to last. South Philly provides many people, including millennials and immigrants, with their first opportunity to own a home and live in a vibrant urban neighborhhood. East Passyunk sure is buzzing whenever I’m down there.
As I’ve expanded my journeys outside CC, I’ve been impressed with East Falls, Roxborough, Mt Airy, Overbrook, Andorra, parts of Germantown and of course, Chestnut Hill. Many of these neighborhoods feature single family homes with green yards, belying the claim that Philly is solely a city of rowhomes. I’ve even seen nice single family homes when I visit a friend in a nursing home in Somerton. But I also enjoy the vibrancy of the gritty river wards and the many hopping restaurants there.
As you state, there are many more residential neighborhoods more vibrant and interesting than Society Hill, which is actually one of the deadest areas of the city.
Just because gay people have become more “familiar” across America due to external media normalization doesn’t mean that they are no longer strange in many corners of the country. Dismissing this is a privilege some straight people may tell themselves so they can move onto other matters of more pressing interest to them.
Ever since I was a teenager, I have never not known gay people. I knew them growing up in a small town of 4,000 in high school. I worked with them after high school. I met gay people as soon as I started working in the town I am now. Meaning as soon as I started meeting other people. Nothing to with the media - I have very little media exposure.
I'm not trying to make any kind of a political statement.
After 5 years in the city, I moved out last summer for a significant other and the chance to live in the most dynamic city in the world. There are certain things that Philadelphia just doesn't offer that are important to me, and I was getting tired of traveling almost every weekend up to New York. I absolutely love the nightlife, and my kind of nightlife is pretty lackluster in Philly. The city is mostly a bar city, and the one good club neighborhood got ruined when straight people largely took over the Gayborhood spots. It is what is, and it doesn't make Philadelphia bad, just not what I'm looking for right now. I also got the chance to take a very specialized job in my field at a considerable pay bump, and that's an opportunity only afforded to me in a place like New York.
I still love Philadelphia as a city, and could absolutely see myself moving back there when I get older and live a more calm existence. The rent isn't insane like it is here, the restaurant scene is pound-for-pound better than New York, and everyday life isn't as stressful. This city feels like it is a never ending series of competitions, and sometimes it can be exhausting.
Even though I left, Philly always felt like my adopted hometown that gave me my start in life. I'll forever love it in that way regardless if I return or not.
I can't believe its been almost 5 years since I left Philadelphia. At the time I moved for the same reasons, the big ones being...
1. I was from the suburbs of Philadelphia, went to school in Philadelphia, never lived in another city. New York was and still is everything I want in a city.
2. Career opportunities by and large are better in New York.
3. Philadelphia (at the time) started to feel suffocating, especially in the gay community. Same bars, same snotty friend groups, everyone did the same thing every weekend and always ran into one another. New York is probably the only city in the world where this problem doesn't exist and I love it, lol.
4. The energy, lifestyle, shopping, over the top atmosphere is what I like, and New York offers it the most.
But, fast forward to present day...
1. I am much more stable in my career.
2. I am in a longterm relationship.
3. I don't go out "partying" that much, I love to eat and grab a drink and thats about it.
4. The constant madness and people everywhere does get to me, I miss my walks in Philadelphia.
I am not ready to leave New York, but I think its inevitable that I will return to Philadelphia, whether its in 1 year or 5 years, I'm not sure, but I think the city offers so much more now than even 5 years ago.
Still my biggest hesitations would be getting a job in my industry that matches my earnings in New York, and the whole social scene, I worry that I will enjoy my social life in Philadelphia... Plus, Philadelphia leadership infuriates me, I would certainly become actively involved in the community, at the expense of my sanity...
Ever since I was a teenager, I have never not known gay people. I knew them growing up in a small town of 4,000 in high school. I worked with them after high school. I met gay people as soon as I started working in the town I am now. Meaning as soon as I started meeting other people. Nothing to with the media - I have very little media exposure.
I'm not trying to make any kind of a political statement.
Just because some gay people have opened up to you doesn’t mean we have entered a post-homophobia world. I am sure some of these people are not open with all people. As well, there are other lgbt people in your world who do not feel comfortable sharing their full selves with you. I’m unclear why you refuse to acknowledge 2 gay people in this very thread who are telling you that not all corners of this country feel safe to lgbt people. Your experience does not define mine. The fact that you keep trying to do so is insulting and offensive.
As for politics, I live with the reality that I am only one 5-4 Supreme Court ruling away from having my marriage annulled. This evidences (to me) that there is a sizable slice of this country that still sees me as “strange,” your experiences notwithstanding. While you may not wish to make a political statement about this, that is a threat you and your wife don’t face. And that, to me, is an example of heterosexual privilege.
I can't believe its been almost 5 years since I left Philadelphia. At the time I moved for the same reasons, the big ones being...
1. I was from the suburbs of Philadelphia, went to school in Philadelphia, never lived in another city. New York was and still is everything I want in a city.
2. Career opportunities by and large are better in New York.
3. Philadelphia (at the time) started to feel suffocating, especially in the gay community. Same bars, same snotty friend groups, everyone did the same thing every weekend and always ran into one another. New York is probably the only city in the world where this problem doesn't exist and I love it, lol.
4. The energy, lifestyle, shopping, over the top atmosphere is what I like, and New York offers it the most.
But, fast forward to present day...
1. I am much more stable in my career.
2. I am in a longterm relationship.
3. I don't go out "partying" that much, I love to eat and grab a drink and thats about it.
4. The constant madness and people everywhere does get to me, I miss my walks in Philadelphia.
I am not ready to leave New York, but I think its inevitable that I will return to Philadelphia, whether its in 1 year or 5 years, I'm not sure, but I think the city offers so much more now than even 5 years ago.
Still my biggest hesitations would be getting a job in my industry that matches my earnings in New York, and the whole social scene, I worry that I will enjoy my social life in Philadelphia... Plus, Philadelphia leadership infuriates me, I would certainly become actively involved in the community, at the expense of my sanity...
Yeah, I feel you. I'd visited New York countless times before I moved, and in the year before I moved here, I was coming up almost every single weekend to visit my boyfriend and other friends. I really only got the feel of weekend New York, which was always exciting, dynamic, and fun. I never really felt the grind of weekday life here before moving. I had a job lined up before moving, largely through a personal connection and good word from my old boss. When that job didn't work out and I resigned, it was a vicious competition to get a similar position at a new place. That was a wake up call. The grind of commuting on a subway that makes even the worst days of SEPTA look like nothing can really get to you. Monday-Friday here is (most days) worse than it was in Philadelphia. It really is the unbeatable life on those other two nights of the week that makes me love this place above all others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pine to Vine
Just because some gay people have opened up to you doesn’t mean we have entered a post-homophobia world. I am sure some of these people are not open with all people. As well, there are other lgbt people in your world who do not feel comfortable sharing their full selves with you. I’m unclear why you refuse to acknowledge 2 gay people in this very thread who are telling you that not all corners of this country feel safe to lgbt people. Your experience does not define mine. The fact that you keep trying to do so is insulting and offensive.
As for politics, I live with the reality that I am only one 5-4 Supreme Court ruling away from having my marriage annulled. This evidences (to me) that there is a sizable slice of this country that still sees me as “strange,” your experiences notwithstanding. While you may not wish to make a political statement about this, that is a threat you and your wife don’t face. And that, to me, is an example of heterosexual privilege.
This. I can't stand when people who don't know try to tell us "that's not how it is."
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