My first time in Philadelphia......my thoughts (Reading, York: credit, neighborhoods)

[thinkertinker]

I spent three full days this past weekend, loved your city. It was different from what I expected, but nonetheless loved it. Here are my thoughts:

What I loved:
-Character: This city has so much character. It's gritty, dirty, blue collar while at the same time sophisticated, beautiful, historical and thriving. To me Philly is like a combination of NYC and Boston, with a sprinkle of Chicago. There were some parts I was walking around and could have swore that I was in NYC or Boston. But this city has personality and plenty of it.

-Vibrancy: I was not expecting Philly to be this vibrant. Always saw people out and about in the places I was. Lots of people on the streets all the time. After NYC, Chicago and SF I will have to say, that I think Philly has the fourth best downtown in the US. I actually prefer Philly's downtown over SF's.


-The neighborhoods: While I was there I saw a ton of neighborhoods. Chinatown, City Center, Rittenhouse Square, Queen's Village Society Hill, Logan Square/Fairmount, Italian Market, Old City, and University City. I absolutely loved Rittenhouse Square it was my favorite (and one of my top 5 favorites in the US). The vibe there was just so cool and it was so beautiful. I really felt each neighborhood had a different flavor that I really enjoyed. The only one that I didn't enjoy as much was Old City, it felt a bit touristy and I just wasn't feeling it, doesn't mean I didn't like it, but if I go back one day I could see myself skipping it.


What I didn't like:
-Grit: I was not expecting Philly to be so gritty. There were moments where it was a lot more gritty than I would like. Didn't ruin it for me, but just caught me off guard.

-Not the most scenic: I think one thing that Philadelphia does lack is natural beauty. The built environment is beautiful (including its parks) but the surrounding landscape leaves a lot to be desired from what I saw. In places like NYC and Boston you have Harbors, islands and some hilly parts within the city. Places like Chicago and Miami are flat as hell but you huge beautiful bodies of water. Then you go west and you have mountains. From what I saw Philly was pretty flat and the two rivers it sits on are not that really that pretty. Philly's setting reminds me of what one would find in Houston or Dallas.

-Homeless/Safety: This also caught me off guard. I was surprised by the amount of homeless there, and on top of that they seemed to be pretty mentally ill, which made me feel somewhat unsafe. The homeless population while not as much as what I experienced out west, does seem to have a lot of mental instability with erratic behavior. It made me feel uneasy at times. Part of it is coming from Chicago where I grew up and Miami where I live now, the homeless populations are much less and they are more subdued. I was thinking Philly would be more like Chicago and Miami in that regard but found it to feel more like LA/SD/SF in that regard.

Overall it's an amazing city I want to go back and visit! It's truly a gem that does not get the credit that is due! I could live in Philly and can't wait to go back!

[KansastoSouthphilly]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. Regarding Old City you might want to check the area north of Market Street. That area feels more like a real neighborhood. The area south of Market does indeed feel very touristy.


Overall I think your criticisms are all valid and fair. The City has struggled to balance its desire to respect the rights of the homeless with its desire to have a clean and comfortable downtown that all people are comfortable using. I also know what you mean by the City not being as scenic as some others. I have also noticed this when visiting other cities. It is something that could be improved, we massively underutilitize our two rivers. Every time I see how Chicago uses the Chicago river I get jealous. We also have a river running through the middle of our city but have done little with it other than a walking trail. Fairmount park is massive and very scenic but is not easy to access from center city without a car.

Plenty of wonderful neighborhoods still to check out. Hope you come back!

[Redddog]

Yeah, if your entire opinion of Old City is Market Street, you'll have that feeling for sure. I live right next to Christ Church and I can tell you that Old City is really two sections - Market Street and all the rest.

Glad you loved the City as much as we do. It really is a gem.

[thinkertinker]

I forgot to mention. Loved Reading Terminal Market (Is that what's it's called?). I loved it so much I went their twice to eat. I also thought Geno's was so damn good. I usually don't buy into the hype of those types of places and Philly cheesesteaks are just alright in my book, but I have to admit when I tried it, I was like damn this is damn good!

I had some pretty good dim sum in Chinatown, and we also ate at some very good places in Rittenhouse Square. One was Dandelion which was solid the other was called "The Love" I believe, and that place was extremely good.

There was only one place I have to admit the food was really bad. It was some random Mexican place on South Street. It was terrible. Then again, I have found good Mexican is hard to find outside of the SW, California and Chicago. Mexican places I have tried in Miami, NYC, DC (and now can add Philly to the list) just don't cut it for me.

It's one of the things I miss the most from Chicago.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by thinkertinker

Not the most scenic: I think one thing that Philadelphia does lack is natural beauty. The built environment is beautiful (including its parks) but the surrounding landscape leaves a lot to be desired from what I saw. In places like NYC and Boston you have Harbors, islands and some hilly parts within the city. Places like Chicago and Miami are flat as hell but you huge beautiful bodies of water. Then you go west and you have mountains. From what I saw Philly was pretty flat and the two rivers it sits on are not that really that pretty. Philly's setting reminds me of what one would find in Houston or Dallas.

Glad you enjoyed visiting the city and your criticisms are fair. I just wanted to offer some context to your observations quoted above.

Philadelphia does indeed have some hilly areas but they are far from downtown. The Northwest part of the city in particular gets hilly and has its picturesque areas, particularly Wissahickon Valley Park and the neighborhood of Chestnut Hill on the edge of town. A bit closer to downtown is Fairmount Park which isn't quite as hilly but still rather pretty to walk or bike through.

I'll grant you that the rivers bookending downtown may not be as scenic as some other major cities but Philadelphia has come a long way in the last decade or two in providing amenities along both waterfronts.

Underutilized rivers notwithstanding, seeing some of Philadelphia's natural beauty requires getting out of the city core.

[AshbyQuin]

Originally Posted by thinkertinker

I forgot to mention. Loved Reading Terminal Market (Is that what's it's called?). I loved it so much I went their twice to eat. I also thought Geno's was so damn good. I usually don't buy into the hype of those types of places and Philly cheesesteaks are just alright in my book, but I have to admit when I tried it, I was like damn this is damn good!

I had some pretty good dim sum in Chinatown, and we also ate at some very good places in Rittenhouse Square. One was Dandelion which was solid the other was called "The Love" I believe, and that place was extremely good.

There was only one place I have to admit the food was really bad. It was some random Mexican place on South Street. It was terrible. Then again, I have found good Mexican is hard to find outside of the SW, California and Chicago. Mexican places I have tried in Miami, NYC, DC (and now can add Philly to the list) just don't cut it for me.

It's one of the things I miss the most from Chicago.

Did you try Bassett's?

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by thinkertinker

There was only one place I have to admit the food was really bad. It was some random Mexican place on South Street. It was terrible. Then again, I have found good Mexican is hard to find outside of the SW, California and Chicago. Mexican places I have tried in Miami, NYC, DC (and now can add Philly to the list) just don't cut it for me.

The Mexican food you had on South Street was probably touristy. More authentic Mexican can be found further down in South Philly in the area of the Italian Market (which is more like the Mexican/Vietnamese/Italian Market as of late). Actual Mexican/Hispanic people dine at the establishments in this neighborhood as it is near where the growing Mexican population lives.

For those who might venture out to West Philly, Don Barriga's is pretty good too. It serves a university-related crowd but the staff appears to be authentic.

[cpomp]

What part did you find gritty? Or Center City in general? How did that compare to New York or Chicago. I know a lot of Philadelphia is gritty, but I find Center City to be similar to Manhattan in terms of grit.

But glad you had an overall great time!

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by FindingZen

Glad you enjoyed visiting the city and your criticisms are fair. I just wanted to offer some context to your observations quoted above.

Philadelphia does indeed have some hilly areas but they are far from downtown. The Northwest part of the city in particular gets hilly and has its picturesque areas, particularly Wissahickon Valley Park and the neighborhood of Chestnut Hill on the edge of town. A bit closer to downtown is Fairmount Park which isn't quite as hilly but still rather pretty to walk or bike through.

I'll grant you that the rivers bookending downtown may not be as scenic as some other major cities but Philadelphia has come a long way in the last decade or two in providing amenities along both waterfronts.

Underutilized rivers notwithstanding, seeing some of Philadelphia's natural beauty requires getting out of the city core.

Center City and Manhattan are very similar in this respect. They are both relatively flat and are bordered by rivers on both the west and the east. They are also both inward-looking cities, with the center of activity having migrated away from the waterfront over the centuries. In both cases, the waterfronts are more utilitarian in nature, as opposed to say Boston or Baltimore or DC.

[Duderino]

Thanks for sharing, OP. It's always illuminating to read fair/unbiased perspectives.

Regarding natural scenery, I think what you see in Philly is a lack of taking more advantage of the riverfronts, or historic underinvestment in making them much, much more appealing. The Schuylkill River Trail is actually quite lovely (especially along Kelly Drive), but can certainly understand if you didn't make it up that way. But yes, investment in more of a vibrant/beautiful waterfront is in the works but will take years to achieve what you find in many other large cities. It can be done!

As others have alluded to, while much of Philly proper is indeed coastal plain, the broader Philly area is hilly and lush--a far cry from Texas. When you do come back, it's worthwhile to take a visit to Fairmount Park/Wissahickon Valley. Both are undoubted natural gems for the city.