Philly Rant... (Philadelphia, York: sales, neighborhood, high school)

[calicali01]

I just wanted to get this off my chest. I currently live in the suburbs just outside of Philly and I came here 2 years ago from the west coast. I commute to Philly but I mostly stay around the burbs.

Well, after 2 years of living here I don't like it anymore and I have come to realize that I had a better quality of life living in the west coast despite all its problems (i.e, traffic, cost of living).


My main issue is the people. My god, the people in Philadelphia range from very rude to nice but depressed about something.

Old men, old women, young men, young women, it does not matter. Also, race does not matter, I have had rude people treat me bad from every race, but the one thing that stands out is that I know they have been living in Philadelphia for a while, or their whole life.

Basically it seems to me that this place is cliquish and if you're an outsider, you are not welcome, and you are looked at with suspicion. People have given me a cold stare even when I smiled and was being polite with them in return, and this was even if I was living in the same building as them; it gives me the creeps because there is something inhuman about that kind of interaction on THEIR part and I feel threatened.

If I smile and acknowledge you as a fellow human why would a person look back with a cold gaze and barely return a greeting? I'm your neighbor for crying out loud!!

I have tried to complement a sales clerk and she seemed bothered by it. I once saw this woman with horse riding attire on in the supermarket, and being a fan of horses, I tried to talk to her but she rudely brushed me off and went back to text messaging her phone and shopping. I'm not even going to get into my altercations with men.

I'm not the only one who feels this way, I befriended 2 Indian women who worked at a bank and they said that people were so rude to them; one quit because of it.


I'm just tired of it, I know the economy is bad but it was bad when I lived on the west and people were NOT rude like this.
I'm not necessarily looking to make friends nor am I a sensitive person, I'm just looking for some basic humanity as I go through day to day life and I'm not getting it from this state.

[maf763]

There are rude people and nice people everywhere. If strangers choose not to interact with others, that's their prerogative. No biggie to me.

[Clark Park]

Sorry you had those experiences, calicali ... I think you must have had a spell of just bad luck.

My experiences where just the opposite. The opposite! As a non-native (I was born in New York City) I was surprised by how friendly and even polite people seem here. Mind you, I live right in the city ... in West Philly. I am not trying to say New Yorkers are rude - au contraire - I always maintained New Yorkers are rather friendly but they are often in a hurry. Philly people, though, I find very easy to engage in conversation even if we're strangers.

I have noticed that the difference between the east coast and the west coast people is that west coast people do smile more and they seem to have a 'laid back' attitude: "So good to meet you," "Have a nice day," etc. which I find annoying because it seems so phony and insincere. We in the northeast say what we mean, and mean what we say. Period.

[G Goo]

Originally Posted by calicali01

Well, after 2 years of living here I don't like it anymore and I have come to realize that I had a better quality of life living in the west coast despite all its problems (i.e, traffic, cost of living).

I lived out west for 3 years and ultimately my reason for returning to Philly was for the people. In a nutshell I longed to be back where people say what they mean, aren't passive-aggressive and are able the actually show their true selves instead of hiding it under layers of vaneer.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Pretty weird.

Maybe it's more a problem with the suburban lifestyle? Are you talking about people you run into at mall and strip malls, or people in your neighborhood and community?

I was born in New York, grew up in Berks County (about 90 minutes from Philly), went to college in Minneapolis, and have lived in Philadelphia for about half a year now. Honestly, I think people are pretty friendly here, in an honest sort of way.

I lived in Minneapolis for 5 years. Since I was there for college, I met plenty of nice people on campus. But as far as my neighborhood, and my job, and that stuff...well, they have this Minnesota Nice thing out there, which means that people are superficially nice to your face if you absolutely have to come into contact with them, but on the whole are not really friendly to new people. It's a lot more frustrating than a person being rude just because they're rude...at least you know where you stand with them.

[frankgn87]

been here almost 50 years.. More rude people in Philly then the burbs.. No question about it.. But generally people around this area are very nice.. I think the op has other issues and she(he) is blaming it on a misguided reason

[mancat100]

I've lived several places and went to college with people from all over the country. Having lived in Philadelphia for 20 years I can say that most people here are perfectly nice. You don't get the sugary sweet greetings you get in the south which is fine by me. The exception to this is that there is a hardened inner city contingent that can occasionally be unpleasant. But even most of the inner city people are pretty darn nice as a general rule. Don't mistake a surface "gruffness" for meanness. It's just part of the culture here. Down deep those gruff people are usually Teddy bears.

[killakoolaide]

Why do you care if people are nice to you? Forget everybody else, just focus on hording as much money as possible.

[killakoolaide]

Keep in mind that the suburbs tend to be a less transient place. So yeah it's kind of cliquish. If you didn't grow up in the area it's almost impossible to break into a social circle. Suburban Philadelphia is not very cosmopolitan, you'll be asked where you went to high school till the day you die.

[Quiet_Storm]

There are extremely nice and extremely rude people everywhere you go, just take it in stride and don't let it get you down or allow it to take the smile off of your face. BTW, I've been in Philly for most of my life, and I'm not rude