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What I find amusing about all the city vs city threads is that when it is a sunbelt city against a more "urban" city it always stirs great debate. And the comments, views and perspectives from both sides are quite sharply contrasted. Just about every single category is immeasurably debated, from amenities to weather to education to history to poverty to skylines and crime rates. It's ludicrous! But go take a look at Seattle vs San Diego thread and its hardly a debate. It's people just making smiley faces. Or put Philadelphia vs Seattle, Philadelphia vs Boston, or any city of that sort and its hardly a debate. I wonder why that is.
No one said it was safe. That has nothing to do with saying the area suffers from extreme poverty, which it does not.
jm has made his point clear. Philly's poverty level is on par with Houston's. It is hard for me to believe that he has spent any time in these areas because being in Houston for 25 years, he should know these areas are not as bad as Philly's. Like I have said before, those neighborhoods are basically minority dominated working class areas with some tough blocks/apartment complexes here and there. I cannot imagine how someone is afraid of Sharpstown at night but they live/work close and drive through some of the roughest hoods in the United States without fear.
For the record, I have nothing against Philly and I like the grit in some ways because it is different. But I do have a problem with people labeling places like Philly as some type of urban oasis and labeling Houston as a dump or a suburb. Anyone that has spent considerable time in both cities ghettos will know that Philly is rougher, not only visually, but statistically. In addition, the high density of impovished neighborhoods make everything worse in the form of housing, oppurtunities, and chances of being mugged or worse. Density is good if everyone is well off but can be bad if everybody is looking to rob you!! Houston DOES NOT HAVE THAT TYPE OF DESPERATION! and for me that is a good thing. But I guess as long as you pass up those bad areas(probably at least half the city-correct me if wrong) and ignore their existance, than I guess Philly is an urban oasis that stands as an example of what an American city has to be.
....what a slum. It sounds like you might just be pulling these names from nowhere.
You pull out one exception in one part of one neighborhood and then pretend like the rest of the post is suspect - which it isn't. Are any of those good areas? No. Are there still other areas that could be mentioned? Yep.
Besides, Sharpstown is far from being a nice area, and the areas surrounding it are garbage - I certainly wouldn't live there.
jm has made his point clear. Philly's poverty level is on par with Houston's. It is hard for me to believe that he has spent any time in these areas because being in Houston for 25 years, he should know these areas are not as bad as Philly's. Like I have said before, those neighborhoods are basically minority dominated working class areas with some tough blocks/apartment complexes here and there. I cannot imagine how someone is afraid of Sharpstown at night but they live/work close and drive through some of the roughest hoods in the United States without fear.
For the record, I have nothing against Philly and I like the grit in some ways because it is different. But I do have a problem with people labeling places like Philly as some type of urban oasis and labeling Houston as a dump or a suburb. Anyone that has spent considerable time in both cities ghettos will know that Philly is rougher, not only visually, but statistically. In addition, the high density of impovished neighborhoods make everything worse in the form of housing, oppurtunities, and chances of being mugged or worse. Density is good if everyone is well off but can be bad if everybody is looking to rob you!! Houston DOES NOT HAVE THAT TYPE OF DESPERATION! and for me that is a good thing. But I guess as long as you pass up those bad areas(probably at least half the city-correct me if wrong) and ignore their existance, than I guess Philly is an urban oasis that stands as an example of what an American city has to be.
Well if ever I choose to live in a ghetto I will give strong consideration to Houston, until that time...
Also if i want to travel and see better ghettos I will also add houston to that list, until that time...
Some of this is perspective, poverty is poverty
And perspective can be different just as preference
Just curious if you think this area looks like a ghetto or impoverished?
I will tell you I have spent a considerable amount of time in WV and honestly while visually some areas dont look as bad personally I feel more scared there than a Philly ghetto - I think a lot of that has to do with what you are used to and what is your comfort zone.
Last edited by kidphilly; 05-24-2011 at 01:16 PM..
What I find amusing about all the city vs city threads is that when it is a sunbelt city against a more "urban" city it always stirs great debate. And the comments, views and perspectives from both sides are quite sharply contrasted. Just about every single category is immeasurably debated, from amenities to weather to education to history to poverty to skylines and crime rates. It's ludicrous! But go take a look at Seattle vs San Diego thread and its hardly a debate. It's people just making smiley faces. Or put Philadelphia vs Seattle, Philadelphia vs Boston, or any city of that sort and its hardly a debate. I wonder why that is.
And this is why I said I don't know why Southern cities are mentioned here in the city vs city forum.
What I find amusing about all the city vs city threads is that when it is a sunbelt city against a more "urban" city it always stirs great debate. And the comments, views and perspectives from both sides are quite sharply contrasted. Just about every single category is immeasurably debated, from amenities to weather to education to history to poverty to skylines and crime rates. It's ludicrous! But go take a look at Seattle vs San Diego thread and its hardly a debate. It's people just making smiley faces. Or put Philadelphia vs Seattle, Philadelphia vs Boston, or any city of that sort and its hardly a debate. I wonder why that is.
Ignorance. It is hard for people from dense urban cities to believe that many of the same amenities can exist in Sunbelt cities and it is hard for people from Sunbelt cities to believe that there is a certain vibrancy that cannot be duplicated when a city is car-centric.
It's a great misconception. But here in San Francisco I can honestly tell you that the ghettos by far are more gritty than Houston's ghettos. And the homeless here are more overwhelming just the same.... that being said, San Francisco being an urban city, I'd assume Philly has same characteristics.
However, I am not praising Houston's ghettos. It certainly does have quite the ghetto neighborhoods and there certainly are dangerous areas you should avoid.
Ignorance. It is hard for people from dense urban cities to believe that many of the same amenities can exist in Sunbelt cities and it is hard for people from Sunbelt cities to believe that there is a certain vibrancy that cannot be duplicated when a city is car-centric.
True. It certainly does go both ways.
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