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Two, two hours on mass transit from Levittown to Center City? You must live some distance away from Levittown Regional Rail station. Travel time from there to Jefferson Station (the last of the Center City stations it serves) is 54 minutes on a local train and less than that on a peak-hour express.
I'm in Village of Pennbrook at Falls Twp off Mill Creek Rd across from the big park. The train station is on 13 across from Walmart. The parking lot there is so full many people park in the Church and walk across the street to get on the train. You could walk down Mill Creek Rd and then walk down that trail that runs alongside the creek and come right out by the train station, but that in itself is 1/2 hr walk. I also told her that isn't the only station and there are several others along the way - Bristol, Croydon, Cornwells Heights etc - but I do not know what the deal is as far as parking goes at any of those stations.
Google Image pics of it look quite nice. I know it's pretty much in Chinatown. Today we actually paid a visit to the Art Museum off Kelly Drive and had a lovely time. Very impressive and we didn't even get to see all of it so we will eventually be back for more.
I'm in Village of Pennbrook at Falls Twp off Mill Creek Rd across from the big park. The train station is on 13 across from Walmart. The parking lot there is so full many people park in the Church and walk across the street to get on the train. You could walk down Mill Creek Rd and then walk down that trail that runs alongside the creek and come right out by the train station, but that in itself is 1/2 hr walk. I also told her that isn't the only station and there are several others along the way - Bristol, Croydon, Cornwells Heights etc - but I do not know what the deal is as far as parking goes at any of those stations.
Cornwells Heights is a park-and-ride station. The huge lot there is direcctly accessible from I-95 southbound, and the station took its current form because of the ongoing reconstruction project on that highway.
Philly is actually amazing. I lived there for 5 years before moving up to NYC for work, and whenever Philly comes up in conversation its almost unilaterally just shat upon... whenever I ask if they’ve been there I usually get a no.
It’s not a perfect city by any stretch of the imagination but its not Detroit. Generally speaking you have similar access to amenities, food, and culture if you live anywhere in Center City (what they call downtown). The central core of the city is very vibrant but yet compact. There’s a subway system but honestly you can probably walk on end of center city to the other in 30 minutes at brisk pace so its usually not necessary unless you’re trying to get to another part of the city... which is good since the subway runs much less frequently than it does here. Just missing your train is devastating.
Home ownership is a reality for most people. I remember working in a Mexican restaurant early in my time in Philly and it was mind boggling how many people that were line cooks at that restaurant were home owners. If you don’t want to buy renting is incredibly affordable compared to NYC. No frills studios were less than $1k/mo. In 2014 I had a friend who lived in the historic district in a converted loft building who had a gorgeous new studio loft for $1200/mo... easily double or more if that was in NYC and the location was amazing.
Though I will have to say there was just generally more crime in Philly and it can strike like lightening anywhere in the city. I remember walking around even in “safe” neighborhoods being hyper vigilant about whats happening around me constantly.... when I moved up here I was able to let me guard down a bit.
Overall if you’re not tied to NYC through work or other obligations I’d check philly out... You get MUCH MUCH more bang for your buck and honestly day to day life is pretty comparable in most ways. And if you want to come up to the city... you can jump on a $8 Chinatown bus and be in lower manhattan in under 2 hours.
Philly is actually amazing. I lived there for 5 years before moving up to NYC for work, and whenever Philly comes up in conversation its almost unilaterally just shat upon... whenever I ask if they’ve been there I usually get a no.
It’s not a perfect city by any stretch of the imagination but its not Detroit. Generally speaking you have similar access to amenities, food, and culture if you live anywhere in Center City (what they call downtown). The central core of the city is very vibrant but yet compact. There’s a subway system but honestly you can probably walk on end of center city to the other in 30 minutes at brisk pace so its usually not necessary unless you’re trying to get to another part of the city... which is good since the subway runs much less frequently than it does here. Just missing your train is devastating.
Home ownership is a reality for most people. I remember working in a Mexican restaurant early in my time in Philly and it was mind boggling how many people that were line cooks at that restaurant were home owners. If you don’t want to buy renting is incredibly affordable compared to NYC. No frills studios were less than $1k/mo. In 2014 I had a friend who lived in the historic district in a converted loft building who had a gorgeous new studio loft for $1200/mo... easily double or more if that was in NYC and the location was amazing.
Though I will have to say there was just generally more crime in Philly and it can strike like lightening anywhere in the city. I remember walking around even in “safe” neighborhoods being hyper vigilant about whats happening around me constantly.... when I moved up here I was able to let me guard down a bit.
Overall if you’re not tied to NYC through work or other obligations I’d check philly out... You get MUCH MUCH more bang for your buck and honestly day to day life is pretty comparable in most ways. And if you want to come up to the city... you can jump on a $8 Chinatown bus and be in lower manhattan in under 2 hours.
I always found that odd, especially when a snobby comment comes from a "New Yorker" who moved to New York a year ago from some s*** town in Iowa, funny how fast the pretension kicks in...
Also, DC which was a largely a hell hole for the 20th century is suddenly looked at in this golden light and most flaws are brushed over.
But generally when I mention Philadelphia to my New York friends they have positive things to say, I rarely run into someone who is a snob, and if they are I let them have it.
What upsets me the most though is how Philadelphia needs to constantly defend itself as to why its an amazing city for the simply fact that everyone compares it New York. And I tell people all the time its not a logical comparison. Yes the two cities are very old and compact and share history, but New York is arguably the worlds greatest and most powerful city. People need to appreciate each city for what it offers, but that idea only works on paper.
I think the catalyst for Philadelphia to fully shine is the poverty rate which also correlates to crime. Its near universally agreed that Philadelphia has an excellent downtown, great food, architecture, history, etc. but those startling poverty numbers and income disparity will always show unless the city improves on it. Which leads me to the horrible leadership.... none of those tasks will be accomplished until most of current council and mayor are gone, hopefully replaced with intelligent forward thinkers.
Overall if you’re not tied to NYC through work or other obligations I’d check philly out... You get MUCH MUCH more bang for your buck and honestly day to day life is pretty comparable in most ways. And if you want to come up to the city... you can jump on a $8 Chinatown bus and be in lower manhattan in under 2 hours.
You get what you pay for, it is naive or presumptuous to claim otherwise. The big discount comes from the fact Philly is a far less desirable of a place to live to the majority of people compared to NYC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp
I always found that odd, especially when a snobby comment comes from a "New Yorker" who moved to New York a year ago from some s*** town in Iowa, funny how fast the pretension kicks in...
It takes someone from a **** town to recognize what a **** town looks like, someone who is willing to move is usually seeking for better alternative than what they had previously.
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