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Philadelphia proper is approximately one hour from ocean. That's not "far" by the vast majority of the population's understanding of that word.
Skiing is irrelevant to about 98% of the American population, myself included. It's really a niche activity limited to the very affluent.
Never put a pair of skis on in my life and don't really care if I ever do.
but it was cool that at my middle school and high school, you could join the Ski club and leave at like 3pm on a bus and go to Blue, snowboard a few hours and come back home and go to school the next day.
What's funny actually is I'm pretty sure a mountain with a 1000-ft vertical drop and 40 trails, is just as far away from Boston as Blue is from Philadelphia lol. If we are throwing around "pathetic" Blue Hills fits the bill much better. Hell, the actual one closest to Philly, Bear Creek Resort is almost twice the size of Blue Hills.
What's funny actually is I'm pretty sure a mountain with a 1000-ft vertical drop and 40 trails, is just as far away from Boston as Blue is from Philadelphia lol. If we are throwing around "pathetic" Blue Hills fits the bill much better. Hell, the actual one closest to Philly, Bear Creek Resort is almost twice the size of Blue Hills.
Yes, for sure. The "best" skiing is not exactly right down the road from Boston.
The area is obviously a lot closer to Vermont and Northern New Hampshire, where there are some of the highest elevations in the Northeast, but at that point, it becomes a long weekend--not within a quick drive.
Public school systems are incredibly localized in performance. I don't necessarily buy that they can be compared easily across state lines. Generally speaking, any district located in upper-middle class suburbia will be fine in any of these metros.
The point I was making in my article — which is also one that Integrated Schools makes from a slightly different angle — is that those upper-middle-class kids will probably do just fine in a "mediocre" school as well.
I wrote that article mainly because two such parents — both white women who live in Germantown's more affluent northwest quadrant — buttonholed me during the after-services coffee hour at First Presbyterian Church in Germantown* to tell me how well their kids were doing at Anna Lingelbach Elementary School, located on Wayne Avenue on the Germantown side of the Germantown/West Mount Airy border.
*FPCG points with pride to its congregation, which is about 50% Black, 50% white — an extreme rarity among Christian churches in America of any denomination or sect. An old college buddy of mine is its associate pastor.
but it was cool that at my middle school and high school, you could join the Ski club and leave at like 3pm on a bus and go to Blue, snowboard a few hours and come back home and go to school the next day.
What's funny actually is I'm pretty sure a mountain with a 1000-ft vertical drop and 40 trails, is just as far away from Boston as Blue is from Philadelphia lol. If we are throwing around "pathetic" Blue Hills fits the bill much better. Hell, the actual one closest to Philly, Bear Creek Resort is almost twice the size of Blue Hills.
Many of the high schools in eastern Massachusetts have ski teams. We had one, and were just minutes from Nashoba. Pathetic is a fair word to describe it, but it was a ton of fun as an after school program or on weekend nights for families.
Certainly an advantage for both Philadelphia and Boston over, say, St. Louis.
I can walk to the beach and to my boat slip in the harbor. My house is at 50 feet MSL. What liability are you talking about?
In my town, none of the beaches have public access other than one not-so-great state park. It’s invisible as a tourist destination but it has some great beaches. The boating is also really good. As an adult, I always had a sailboat on a mooring in the harbor. There are a dozen places to go for the weekend.
My part of Massachusetts has similar climate to Cape May NJ. The ocean temperature is typically a couple of degrees cooler. Almost no snow in the winter. A sea breeze all summer so it doesn’t get hot. Boston is an hour and there’s commuter rail. Providence is 30 minutes.
I had a girlfriend for a bunch o’ years with a beach condo in Brigantine. I have ski friends around Point Pleasant Beach. Aunt/uncle/cousins in Red Bank but they’re long gone. I’m familiar with the Jersey Shore. I prefer the combination of beach & boating and skiing as a winter activity is a heck of a lot closer. I did a ton of business at Comcast in Philly so I’ve done rental car or the Atlantic City train to Brigantine lots of times. It’s fine. Cape May is nice.
My mom was from Pennsylvania Dutch country. My parents both went to Penn. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time working in Philly. I like center city. Salt water is a bit far but not ridiculous. I got roped into night skiing at the mighty Blue Mountain a few times. That’s pathetic compared to what I’m used to.
It’s really just apples and oranges as we go down this road.
People who don’t live on the ocean, won’t see it - or, talk about it - as an advantage. People that do, will.
Again, I would choose to have it vs not. Or, I’d choose to live close or it, rather than further. Water/boat culture is very big for many in Massachusetts. It’s daily convenience and function. It’s not just a casual trip to the beach when it’s nice out, or a summer home, for many.
Even when we lived in Reading, the ocean felt accessible. I loved it. When we moved a bit further out, it became less relevant. And I missed it. The best we could do was the 40 minute ride to downtown Newburyport or a day on Plum Island. It was lovely, but not convenient. I imagine for many suburban Philadelphia residents, the ocean is a luxury, not a way of life. It’s a very obvious difference.
Yes, I will always stump for the rolling hills and greenery of Philadelphia's country side.
Very pretty, no doubt. But I wouldn’t know if this was Massachusetts or PA or NY. Only the last picture, to me, is clearly not Massachusetts. It’s too lush/lacks the heavy forestation you’d see in MA.
I’ll post some pictures of Eastern Massachusetts that I’ve taken. On the flip side, you tell me if it could be in the Philadelphia metro.
If you love a downtown on a waterfront, only Milwaukee and Boston qualify. Boston is on an ocean, Milwaukee on Lake Michigan. Well, Cleveland does too, but Milwaukee's is beautiful.
So is Chicago's, but neither Cleveland nor Chicago are in the running here.
As for the relative merits of skiing: I'm with Duderino on the relative merits/importance of skiing, but it is nice to hear that not-that-rich kids in Greater Boston can join ski clubs or ski teams at school. I suspect, however, that once you leave northern New England (Massachusetts is in the middle, but it counts too), you won't find too many of those at schools elsewhere save maybe Colorado. And you do have to travel for a bit from Denver to get to the slopes there as well. Growing up where I did in the Central Plains, it certainly wasn't something lots of people talked about — not even my affluent classmates in high school, who could certainly afford heading off to Aspen or Vail in the winter. (You should have seen the "Ski Kansas" posters produced when I was in high school. They were a hoot. One depicted someone ski-jumping over a cow; another showed a guy slogging a pair of skis through a field of sunflowers.)
But I am aware that ski buffs tend to look down their noses at Pennsylvania's ski runs. I've heard the acronym "MASH" ("Mid-Atlantic Ski Hell") tossed out once or twice.
So is Chicago's, but neither Cleveland nor Chicago are in the running here.
As for the relative merits of skiing: I'm with Duderino on the relative merits/importance of skiing, but it is nice to hear that not-that-rich kids in Greater Boston can join ski clubs or ski teams at school. I suspect, however, that once you leave northern New England (Massachusetts is in the middle, but it counts too), you won't find too many of those at schools elsewhere save maybe Colorado. And you do have to travel for a bit from Denver to get to the slopes there as well. Growing up in the Central Plains, it certainly wasn't something lots of people talked about — not even my affluent classmates in high school, who could certainly afford heading off to Aspen or Vail in the winter. (You should have seen the "Ski Kansas" posters produced when I was in high school. They were a hoot. One depicted someone ski-jumping over a cow; another showed a guy slogging a pair of skis through a field of sunflowers.)
But I am aware that ski buffs tend to look down their noses at Pennsylvania's ski runs. I've heard the acronym "MASH" ("Mid-Atlantic Ski Hell") tossed out once or twice.
Obviously, Chicago has a stunning shoreline downtown. I guess I forgot Cleveland wasn't in the running. So, Milwaukee and Boston for a beautiful downtown setting.
Obviously, Chicago has a stunning shoreline downtown. I guess I forgot Cleveland wasn't in the running. So, Milwaukee and Boston for a beautiful downtown setting.
I think Madison is also very competitive in terms of its downtown setting, being on an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona. They aren't the Great Lakes but still substantial bodies of water and very accessible from throughout the city.
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my choice of words was just a play on what GeoffD said
