The Rest of PA's opinions on Philly? (Philadelphia, Erie: live, restaurant)

[JakeinChina]

I'm originally from North Jersey but lived in Asia for the past 20 years. I recently moved back to the U.S. and stayed with my wife and two young kids in an AirBNB in Philly's Center City on the east side.

I found Center City to be excellent. Obviously very walkable, with some really nice restaurants and bars along with nice people and a good variation of different groups of people and their culture and way of life. It's also affordable compared to other big cities on the east coast ie NYC, Boston and Wash DC.

I would live in Philly Center City forever, however my wife and kids out voted me as they wanted a bigger home with a backyard and grass.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Pike320

You forgot to mention the deep, deep corruption in Philadelphia government and the judicial system.

Echoing cpomp here:

I've said on numerous occasions that Philadelphia's politics resemble those of no other American city's as much as they do Chicago's.

And downstate Illinoisians seem to hold Chicago in the same regard as outstate Pennsylvanians regard Philadelphia.

But the parallel continues to hold in that both of these metropolitan centers anchor their respective states' economic engines.

It breaks down here: Chicago also dominates politics in Springfield. Philadelphia doesn't in Harrisburg — the state has too many other urban centers outside its orbit. Illinois has Rockford, Springfield, the Illinois half of the Quad Cities, and the east side of Metro St. Louis. We have Pittsburgh, Erie, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, Lancaster, York and Reading.

But from what I can tell, Harrisburg produces its own corruption independent of Philadelphia's. Yes, more Philadelphia state representatives and senators get hauled off to jail than elected from any other part of the state, but parts of the rest of the state are far from squeaky clean.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by fat lou

Are those 2% forced to live in that place?

There are endless reasons people could be stuck somewhere they feel uncomfortable: Poverty. Family business. Caring for sick parent. Waiting for children to graduate. Interracial couple. Temporary worker. Adopted. In nursing home.

Perhaps you can think of more?

The real tell is that only 2% remain. Many more may have long ago decamped the area for greener pastures.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

There are endless reasons people could be stuck somewhere they feel uncomfortable: Poverty. Family business. Caring for sick parent. Waiting for children to graduate. Interracial couple. Temporary worker. Adopted. In nursing home.

Perhaps you can think of more?

The real tell is that only 2% remain. Many more may have long ago decamped the area for greener pastures.

Sorry but this post, and others on this thread, are unfair, and actually rather arrogant. Perhaps non-whites never moved to these places to begin with. Is that a crime? I’m all for diversity, but diversity for the sake of saying “my town is more diverse than yours” is stupid.

[Kent70]

Originally Posted by cpomp

The intentions of your post were probably not meant to be constructive, but this point is probably the #1 issue that holds the city back, and the catalyst for several other problems.

A positive tide has started to shift due to the growth of many neighborhoods, but still a ways to go.

If a positive tide is electing someone like Larry Krasner, then no thanks. Or, electing these alleged progressive politicians like the Working Families Party or the philly state rep who accosted women and teenage girls in that bizarre video.

Philly's a nice city on paper but the mentality sure can come across a bit more than 3rd World City at times.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

Sorry but this post, and others on this thread, are unfair, and actually rather arrogant. Perhaps non-whites never moved to these places to begin with. Is that a crime? I’m all for diversity, but diversity for the sake of saying “my town is more divers than yours” is stupid.

I never claimed anything that remotely posits the following as some desirable end point: “. . . diversity for the sake of saying ’my town is more divers than yours’”. If some other poster is making that argument, please take it up with them.

I was merely asserting that there are reasons why people feel more comfortable in some places than others. You raised the following point: ”Perhaps non-whites never moved to these places to begin with.” That’s, in fact, the crux of the matter. Why would minorities concentrate in some parts of the state and avoid others?

I’m not going to answer that for you. I just think it’s something you might take some time to mull over in your head. I will give you a hint, however: It helps to imagine yourself in the shoes of a person of color rather than those of a white person. If you can’t think of a single reason why a person of color would be hesitant to live in a rural community that is 98% white, then I don’t think you’re trying very hard.

If you find this an “arrogant” post, I can live with that.

[Kent70]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Well, to be clear, you seem to be purposefully excluding the Northern New England states, in that case. New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine are much whiter than PA. I don't know that many people would describe racial demographics as "awkward." It just "is" as a result of migration and settlement patterns.

That being said, Pennsylvania actually has one of the fastest declining white populations in the US in both raw numbers and percentage terms, with minority populations making up all of the state's growth moving forward. So, it's certainly getting more diverse over time.

It's pretty funny that socialist/communist yet is also a millioniare Bernie Sanders is from Vermont. Vermont being the 2nd ''whitest'' state in the union (95% white) with about 625,000 people total. No griping though about the lack of diversity there though as comrade Sanders tried to portray himself as the peoples' candidate with his lackluster Senate career representing a white state reliant on covered bridges, montain streams, and ben & jerry's ice cream.

PA's demographics are changing but, as you state, slowly. Philly's pulling in asians and hispanics, with lots of the former coming down from NYC. Other than that, PA is not really diversifying as much as some would like.

However, if a 95% white state like Vermont can put up a Sanders for President, diversity isn't all that important after all it seems.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

I never claimed anything that remotely posits the following as some desirable end point: “. . . diversity for the sake of saying ’my town is more divers than yours’”. If some other poster is making that argument, please take it up with them.

I was merely asserting that there are reasons why people feel more comfortable in some places than others. You raised the following point: ”Perhaps non-whites never moved to these places to begin with.” That’s, in fact, the crux of the matter. Why would minorities concentrate in some parts of the state and avoid others?

I’m not going to answer that for you. I just think it’s something you might take some time to mull over in your head. I will give you a hint, however: It helps to imagine yourself in the shoes of a person of color rather than those of a white person. If you can’t think of a single reason why a person of color would be hesitant to live in a rural community that is 98% white, then I don’t think you’re trying very hard.

If you find this an “arrogant” post, I can live with that.

You’re jumping to conclusions as to what I think. Clearly it would be tough to be the only Black/Hispanic/Asian family in town (or one of very few). Even in a diverse area, it’s tougher being a person of color; of that I have no doubt. And I believe strongly that the areas in this country with high racial diversity are usually those areas where there are concentrations of high-paying jobs that lure people in. I don’t need to try prove my views here, to you.

You made a comment that looked down on an area because it is not diverse. You suggested that minorities left for greener pastures. How about this view: minorities didn’t move to areas that are still very white ever because those areas didn’t offer enough jobs to lure in new blood to begin with?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Kent70

It's pretty funny that socialist/communist yet is also a millioniare Bernie Sanders is from Vermont. Vermont being the 2nd ''whitest'' state in the union (95% white) with about 625,000 people total. No griping though about the lack of diversity there though as comrade Sanders tried to portray himself as the peoples' candidate with his lackluster Senate career representing a white state reliant on covered bridges, montain streams, and ben & jerry's ice cream.

PA's demographics are changing but, as you state, slowly. Philly's pulling in asians and hispanics, with lots of the former coming down from NYC. Other than that, PA is not really diversifying as much as some would like.

However, if a 95% white state like Vermont can put up a Sanders for President, diversity isn't all that important after all it seems.

The part I bold-faced goes into my mental file labeled "Evidence that Southeastern Pennsylvania is a different state from the rest of Pennsylvania."

Though you might want to draw "Southeastern Pennsylvania" broadly, for some of what you describe is happening in the Lehigh Valley as well. Reading is also heavily Hispanic, and while rural Lancaster County more closely resembles the rest of the state from a cultural and demographic standpoint, Lancaster City looks and feels more like part of the Greater Southeast.

As for Bernie: I don't know if this made it onto your radar screen, but there was a generational split among African-American Democrats: The younger ones (not unlike younger white Democrats) viewed Sanders very favorably, while Sanders had a serious problem gaining traction among older ones. It was those older black voters who resuscitated Joe Biden's campaign in South Carolina.

Though I was at pains to point out throughout the early primaries that whenever Democrats were given a choice between Bernie Sanders and Someone Else, 70 to 75 percent of them chose Someone Else.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

You made a comment that looked down on an area because it is not diverse.

I did? Which comment? I think you have me confused with another poster.