New Yorkers Are On The Move - To Philadelphia? (Levittown: middle-class, transfer)
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SEPTA has the rep for being a joke. Typically if you live or work in Philly and you can afford it, you drive. Mass transit here, unlike NYC, is generally for poor people.
So that's my take on being here for 3+ years. I think it has potential to be a really great city, but there are so many anchors right now holding it down. It is really a shame.
Sorry, but that statement makes it really apparent that you've only been here 3+ years. As someone who has lived in the Philadelphia area for his entire life (and will continue to live within city limits well into the future), your statement couldn't be further from the truth.
To start, the Regional Rail is not for poor people. Take a ride along the Lansdale/Doylestown, Media/Elwyn, either Chestnut Hill line, and/or the Paoli/Thorndale and you'll see a train full of professionally-dressed people. The Paoli/Thorndale Line passes through one of the most prominent enclaves of wealth in the nation, the Main Line, and it is #1 in Regional Rail ridership. The only reason that the Cynwyd Line still operates is due to the fact that a group of wealthy people convinced their PA congressperson to add the continued operation of the Cynwyd Line as a legislative precondition for SEPTA to receive its funding.
Secondly, have you ever passed through 69th Street Transportation Center in the morning? Stand in the middle of it at 7AM, and you'll see a ton of professionally-dressed people transferring from the Norristown High Speed Line to the El to get to Center City. Move over to the West Terminal and you'll see the same thing occurring from the 101 and 102 trolleys. Even some of the buses fill up with suburban workers looking to get to the city. I see it every morning as a city person trying to get to work in the suburbs.
Lastly, have you ever taken the 7, 9, 17, 21, 27, 32, 33, 42, or 48 within the city? People who live in Fairmount and Brewerytown take the 7 or 48 to go to and from Center City. Ditto for people taking the 33 from Francisville and Spring Garden, those who take the 9, 27, and 33 from Northwest Philly, and those who take the 21 and 42 to arrive at their grand homes in West Philly's Spruce Hill. The city trolleys, El, and BSL also transport a large number of people who aren't poor. People who live in Northern Liberties, South Kensington, and the River Wards aren't picking where they choose to live based on driving distance; instead, it's based on proximity to the nearest El stop.
I know SEPTA may have that rep, but it's time for that to die. Plenty of people with money choose SEPTA over driving. I'm doing financially well for someone my age (23), and all I own are my SEPTA Key and my bike.
Maybe as an outsider I just don't "get it". I never set foot in Philadelphia until 2010, long after it began the turnaround. I never really saw it in the "bad years", so maybe I'm missing something the locals aren't. That still doesn't change the fact that native Philadelphians are Philadelphia's own worst enemy. Again, it takes transplants and a healthy rotation of people in and out of the city to make it truly cosmopolitan and worthy of being a heavy hitter. While that is definitely changing for the better in the city, it is still lagging in comparison.
The city was built by immigrants and transplants(like my grandparents). Having people come here from somewhere else isn't a new phenomena.
Sorry, but that statement makes it really apparent that you've only been here 3+ years. As someone who has lived in the Philadelphia area for his entire life (and will continue to live within city limits well into the future), your statement couldn't be further from the truth.
I've been here 3 years, I have nothing to hide. OK I should have been more clear. Having a co-worker who swears by SEPTA since he refuses to put money aside to buy a car let alone get his license re-instated, the stories he says about trains and busses loaded with certain "elements". I guess it is more convenient for people who live in Center City, but I don't know anyone who lives in my area in the suburbs and takes the train or bus into the city for work. They drive. When my girlfriend started her new job, she explored all the options and decided the best thing was just to drive, especially considering the place has its own parking lot. It's almost two hours from Levittown to CC relying completely on mass transit. Just driving it's like an hour when you factor in the traffic during commute times.
I said SEPTA has the rep for being a joke, not that it IS a joke. Mind you this is all second-hand information that I have heard from friends, neighbors etc. I personally drive everywhere and have used mass transit maybe twice in my entire life, and never in Philly.
Yeah, I've never been to a city so full of negative-nelly locals. It's a big reason I tend to stay away from them. I come from a family of New Yorkers, and the pride they all take in being from there is immense. Philadelphia is like the total opposite. You need transplants who actually want to be here and came by choice to improve the city. A city full of natives is a dull and stale place.
Just wondering. Did you ever ask any of those natives why they feel like they do?
Have you ever factored in the totality of loss here that is within the memories of many natives over 50?
De-industrialization had a hand in the demise of local banks, insurance companies, advertising agencies, publishing. The list goes on.
You are demanding that natives "just get over" that kind of loss.
Transplants have a huge opportunity to change so many things. You have already.
But it really isn't fair to just suppose that you are the only ones who have intense feelings about Phila. and that you are the only ones who are motivated.
I never heard anyone rave about the mass transit here either apart from what I see in this thread. SEPTA has the rep for being a joke. Typically if you live or work in Philly and you can afford it, you drive. Mass transit here, unlike NYC, is generally for poor people.
Buses in general have a more negative stigma than trains do and buses are associated more with the poor. If we were to look at how the different types of mass transit are perceived, I think it would be
Inter-city rail (Used by the middle to upper class)
Commuter rail/Regional rail (Used mostly by the middle class)
Subway/Metro (Used by everyone)
Light rail (Depends on the location but usually lower to middle class)
Bus (Lower class)
Last edited by gwillyfromphilly; 10-05-2018 at 12:54 PM..
Just wondering. Did you ever ask any of those natives why they feel like they do?
Have you ever factored in the totality of loss here that is within the memories of many natives over 50?
De-industrialization had a hand in the demise of local banks, insurance companies, advertising agencies, publishing. The list goes on.
You are demanding that natives "just get over" that kind of loss.
Transplants have a huge opportunity to change so many things. You have already.
But it really isn't fair to just suppose that you are the only ones who have intense feelings about Phila. and that you are the only ones who are motivated.
You are right to an extent. It makes sense that so many natives would be bitter about the decline they witnessed through the latter 20th century. It just frustrates me to no end how they can't or refuse to see the tremendous growth this city has experienced in the 21st century. I have so much passion and drive for this city, and when others don't share it to the same level, it frustrates me to no end. I've mentioned it before, but I consider Philadelphia my adopted hometown. It gave me, a small town gay kid with dreams of the big city, a completely new lease on life. Even if I don't stay here forever, Philadelphia will forever be that special place to me. So, that in part explains why so many natives frustrate me to no end. There are exceptions, but I don't think they constitute the majority.
Philadelphia is amazing, and it's about time the world sees that.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MB1562
You are right to an extent. It makes sense that so many natives would be bitter about the decline they witnessed through the latter 20th century. It just frustrates me to no end how they can't or refuse to see the tremendous growth this city has experienced in the 21st century. I have so much passion and drive for this city, and when others don't share it to the same level, it frustrates me to no end. I've mentioned it before, but I consider Philadelphia my adopted hometown. It gave me, a small town gay kid with dreams of the big city, a completely new lease on life. Even if I don't stay here forever, Philadelphia will forever be that special place to me. So, that in part explains why so many natives frustrate me to no end. There are exceptions, but I don't think they constitute the majority.
Philadelphia is amazing, and it's about time the world sees that.
Try talking to older natives. Ask them what it's been like. For you to walk in as the city is turning around & make judgments on the natives, particularly the older natives, is unfair. Particularly older Boomers had to fight to stay. Ask them what it was like. You just might learn something & you might learn to respect them.
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