I swear, Girard Ave. is like Philly's own Mason-Dixon line (Philadelphia: crime, townhouses)

[NSX1990]

I'm visiting Philadelphia, and my local friend took me to Northern Philly and Manayunk yesterday.

When we were near the Art Museum, we went to Girard Avenue and he told me to stand in the middle of the street when there was no traffic.

Apparently no where else in the city can you stand with one foot in "the hood" and one foot in a gentrifying yuppie neighborhood. Now I understand why this city has some of the crime problems it does...

[bruce20020]

well, you are standing on Girard Avenue in the middle of the fifth largest city in America. Did you expect something different? Every city has its dividing line no matter where you are. FYI, the mason dixon line is not in Philadelphia, look up your history.

Originally Posted by NSX1990

I'm visiting Philadelphia, and my local friend took me to Northern Philly and Manayunk yesterday.

When we were near the Art Museum, we went to Girard Avenue and he told me to stand in the middle of the street when there was no traffic.

Apparently no where else in the city can you stand with one foot in "the hood" and one foot in a gentrifying yuppie neighborhood. Now I understand why this city has some of the crime problems it does...

[NSX1990]

Yes, I know the Mason-Dixon Line is not in Philadelphia. READ the title again, slowly. It's called analogy bub.

[StuckPA]

They should really rename parts of Philadelphia because there seems to be a huge discrepancy as to what the 'real' Philadelphia is. It's like there are different Philadelphias.

[Torresdale]

Originally Posted by NSX1990

I'm visiting Philadelphia, and my local friend took me to Northern Philly and Manayunk yesterday.

When we were near the Art Museum, we went to Girard Avenue and he told me to stand in the middle of the street when there was no traffic.

Apparently no where else in the city can you stand with one foot in "the hood" and one foot in a gentrifying yuppie neighborhood. Now I understand why this city has some of the crime problems it does...

First off, why would he tell you to stand in the middle of Girard Ave? Is this Philly Mason-Dixon line supposed to apply to all of Girard Ave?

Secondly, gentrification and "the hood" go hand in hand. That yuppie neighborhood was probably once part of "the hood" until it gentrified. The rest of the hood didn't move, so it's not that shocking that you can stand with one foot in a bad neighborhood and the other in a yuppie one.

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by NSX1990

Apparently no where else in the city can you stand with one foot in "the hood" and one foot in a gentrifying yuppie neighborhood. Now I understand why this city has some of the crime problems it does...

Actually Philly is filled with situations like that. They can be found everywhere. On the other hand the bulk of the crime does tend to remain in the hood, thug on thug.

[juniperbleu]

Um....have you been to DC lately? You can have a gentrified neighborhood with townhouses starting at $750k and then have projects/bombed-out rowhouses across the street. Check out U Street, Columbia Heights, "NoMa", H Street, Shaw, areas of SE, parts of NE,.......or really anywhere outside of downtown, Georgetown, and Dupont Circle.

Typically, that's just what you get with gentrification in urban areas. There'll be a dividing line for a long time (if not always), although this line will tend to move over time.

[Nouvelle Villa]

Ummm, ok. So, sometime in the 1970's, there was a huge exodus of residents in Philadelphia to the suburb (population going from 2.3 million or so at its peak to approximately 1.5 million today). The move has the dubious name of "White Flight" which is largely blamed for the urban decay suffered in the city...

No problem, being urban is hip again, so a large number of professional suburbanite decided to move back to the city...after all, they may have been tired of being blamed for the urban decay of their beloved city. But now you have gentrification and displacement of the poor...umm, what are we to do?

[herenia]

I have to say there's a clear cut line between center city and north philly. I tend to think of it as spring garden but i have friend who lives 2 blocks above spring garden and believes she lives downtown. Her zip code tells me otherwise but mostly, girard and upwards is north philly and i'm glad you got to see that area because the highest i've been is green street which is still below girard but about 2 little blocks from spring garden. I'll tell you downtown is a pretty safe area. I go by stay south of spring garden.

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by herenia

I have to say there's a clear cut line between center city and north philly. I tend to think of it as spring garden but i have friend who lives 2 blocks above spring garden and believes she lives downtown. Her zip code tells me otherwise...

That's the reason most people want to live in Philly in the first place...the 'prestige' of just saying you live here. I know a couple people also who also lie about where they actually live when their zip code says different.