Manayunk overrated? (places to live, safe, suburbs)

[ajb842]

I supposed you meant Main Street to be nice but everything else to be run down. Manayunk is small, so if it looks to be run down, then all of it is. However, East Falls and Roxborough border Manayunk and Roxborough has been pretty stable for years. East Falls is becoming another alternative for young professionals with developers seeing some potential there as well, so don't lose too much heart for Manayunk, I think you have to look long term.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by ajb842

I supposed you meant Main Street to be nice but everything else to be run down. Manayunk is small, so if it looks to be run down, then all of it is. However, East Falls and Roxborough border Manayunk and Roxborough has been pretty stable for years.

You can say that you don't like the look or feel of a neighborhood - certainly an old mill town like Manayunk isn't for everyone - but to say that it's "run down" is not at all an accurate assessment. I mean, maybe if you just hung out under the rail viaduct I could understand the sentiment but there's more to the neighborhood than that.

The reason that East Falls and Roxborough have seen a lot of investment in the last 5 years is because of the overflow from Manayunk and I would say that parts of EF and Rox still have a long way to go to catch up to Manayunk.

A 4-bedroom, well apportioned house in Manayunk goes for $500k+ As do new condos. That's hardly the hallmark of a rundown neighborhood. I can show you lots of rundown neighborhoods. Manayunk just isn't one of them.

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by john_starks

manayunk is cool. it just seems so disconnected from the rest of the city.

Perhaps I should pay it a visit then(not)

[solibs]

I'm a big soccer fan and have been looking into going to South Africa to catch some of the World Cup.

When I read messageboards like this one I'm immediately reminded of all the bitter, white South Africans who have left their country or are planning on leaving, exaggerate everything, and generally want the country to fail. They're generally declining middle-class to lower middle-class, don't have the best education and are generally downwardly mobile.

It's just amazing to me how many of those people there are in Philly and NYC and Baltimore. Just bitter, nasty people who have been left behind in a changing world and really want everyone to be as miserable as they are.

It's sad, really.

[maestro]

I went to Manayunk for the first time a few weeks ago and I thought it was a great place to grab a beer, eat dinner at a non-chain restaurant, and just enjoy a neat neighbhorhood. If I was in my early 20's and single, I'd think that would be a great place to be.

[ajb842]

Originally Posted by solibs

When I read messageboards like this one I'm immediately reminded of all the bitter, white South Africans who have left their country or are planning on leaving, exaggerate everything, and generally want the country to fail. They're generally declining middle-class to lower middle-class, don't have the best education and are generally downwardly mobile.


It's sad, really.

I hope I didn't come across as someone who just took a small look at one street and declared manayunk as "run down." I don't find myself to be bitter at all, but I think being realistic in saying that I would understand someone saying they walked up a few streets and thought it looked rundown. I personally live in the city, love the city,recognize it has a different look and a different vibe. If you live in the suburbs,there's really no comparison,Manayunk is so different than say Bucks County. However, to insinuate that people's honest observations are due to their bitterness is probably no 100% accurate. If someone has an opinion due to a lack of information or misinformation, I think they should be given the correct information and then the opportunity to reconsider. I'm careful with those statements,because I grew up differently than many people, and I don't think that maybe my "white suburban" friends who didn't grow up like me are at fault, they just have to learn and be educated to what a more urban lifestyle is.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by ajb842

However, to insinuate that people's honest observations are due to their bitterness is probably no 100% accurate. If someone has an opinion due to a lack of information or misinformation, I think they should be given the correct information and then the opportunity to reconsider. I'm careful with those statements,because I grew up differently than many people, and I don't think that maybe my "white suburban" friends who didn't grow up like me are at fault, they just have to learn and be educated to what a more urban lifestyle is.

It's not this thread that i'm finding fault with. It's a general pattern here. I'm not singling you or anyone else out.

People talk as if they're experts on neighborhoods when they don't even live within 100 miles of here, much less in the city. There's a general atmosphere of elitism (classism if you prefer) with a strong undercurrent of racism.

I like to think that education (beyond the abc's/123's) falls into the realm of personal responsibility. No one can be an expert on everything. It's exactly why one shouldn't pretend to be. It's not someone else's responsibility to do your research for you and to correct you when you're wrong. It's your responsibility to check the facts before you put pen to paper.

No adult with any sense of pride in intellect should type, for the world to review, that they walked a few blocks and have deemed themselves fit to judge a neighborhood and the people who live in it. If you run around Italy demanding that everyone speak english and talking about how filthy and grafitti covered everything is and generally insulting everyone you meet you probably won't find too many supporters. No one should defend prideful ignorance.

I find lots of suburban places to be soul-sucking, horrible places to live where half the teenagers are binge-drinkers and heavy drug users with STDs who haven't the slightest clue how to do life because they've been coddled by their hyper-protective parents . . . parents that are also completely oblivious to the weekly trouble that their kids are getting into. Don't even get me started on the thin economic threads out there that are now unravelling the entire country. I could literally go on for weeks but you don't hear me bad-mouthing the suburbs at every turn and telling inquirers that they should avoid otherwise acceptable suburban places because they're in the suburbs.

Part of my impatience with this stems from my work (dealing with a lot of suburbanites who are moving to the city but aren't interested in being a part of the city) and part of it is boredom. I've been through this before. I lived in and around New York in the 80's and 90's. You still hear the same nonsense up there. People saying some variation of:

"I lived in Brooklyn until I was 12 (so that makes me a current expert). That place is a dump and going downhill fast. Get out before it's too late. It's a warzone, wear a bullet-proof vest if you drive down XYZ St."

And people were still saying the same thing about Manhattan 10 years ago.

[ajb842]

Originally Posted by solibs

It's not this thread that i'm finding fault with. It's a general pattern here. I'm not singling you or anyone else out.

People talk as if they're experts on neighborhoods when they don't even live within 100 miles of here, much less in the city. There's a general atmosphere of elitism (classism if you prefer) with a strong undercurrent of racism.



.

I would definately agree with your post. I can see why anyone would be frusterated. Maybe I just misunderstood I would have to say that many people wouldn't want to recognize their own prejudice, whether it be to an ethnic group or any area, a particular practice,etc. Growing up in a biracial home, I had many friends who became instantly uncomfortable the second they came to a family gathering, because they realized I would not,nor would anyone else in the family, even address the issue that we had multiple ethinicities mixed into our family. Some people comment about how wonderful it is, but to even comment at all means you most likely don't find it to be "normal." And it's always been normal to me. It's a shame in 2008, that most of our opinions over a city that is about as diverse as they come, that our comments might be swayed over some things that are so trivial...

[orrmobl]

Solibs, you and I are on opposite sides of the coin. I feel people glorify the city and play down the filth, crime, rundown areas, taxes, bad schools etc.

And I feel they have an agenda - to have the city go back to its glory days.

Nostalgia is nice, but giving people a biased opinion to serve some subjective notion of how the world should be doesn't help anyone.

I love certain parts of the city and say so. I know certain parts are unpleasant or dangerous and say so as well, especially to women who want to know if they can go out after dark and people from the Midwest who have no clue what they may be getting themselves into.

I think people are fairly smart - they weigh the good and bad and make a decision based upon what they really want. If they aren't presented with all the information, how can they make an informed decision?

[solibs]

I live here. I've been here for for more than a few years. In my line of work I've seen almost every corner of this city. I know the difference between the places that look rough and the places that are actually rough.

I've never suggested to anyone (here or in real life) that they move to an "unpleasant or dangerous" neighborhood. In fact, i've explicitly told people "don't move there" or "I wouldn't do it".

I think most suburban posters (and posters from other states) have an agenda. They have large emotional and financial investments in where they live. A lot of it is multi-generational too. Most of them, especially in this part of the country, were raised to stay away from (or at least be scared of) the city and the people who live in it.

The city does have filth and crime in the rundown areas. The city does have bad schools. It also has some of the best schools. 75% of households in this country don't have kids so I'm not sure why schools would matter much to most people.

Taxes? Why would you think that it's something that people don't consider when they move to the city? Sorry, I've lived in the suburbs. I know what property taxes look like in Montgomery and DelCo. It's' not cheaper.