Negadelphians (Philadelphia, Norristown, Darby: transplants, rent, mobile home)

[templeu]

Originally Posted by rotodome

I think that a lot of the things people complain about in Philly seem to betray a lack of perspective.
!

I agree! I think this may be due, in part, because many folks in this area have lived here exclusively. Someone once told me that a Philadelphian's perspective of the world begins at Jersey shore and ends at the Schuylkill River. As rotodome points out, it's easy to be down on a place, when you really have no point of comparison. I developed a whole new appreciation for Philly after spending a few years in a small Midwest city.

[Pennsport]

Eh, they're just miserable people in general. They're the same folks who are discontented with their own lives and find it easier to drag others down to their level than pull themselves up to a better place.

In my opinion, income and education levels also seem to come into play somewhat. Sure, if you're an out-of-work union guy who can barely afford his NE rowhome, yeah, you're going to be pretty cranky. I hate to stereotype, but if you go back and read the posts from haters vs. those from supporters of our city, you can tell a distinct difference in the verbiage used.

[G Goo]

As a lifelong Philadelphian (living here or elsewhere....always a Philadelphian) I'm starting to feel a sea change in attitude. Less Negadelphians, more realistic and appreciative residents looking to better this city. That said, they are still about and I suspect it is a bit inbred. I fight it off constantly and have been able to relegate my negativity to the Eagles and the Eagles only. I'm ok with that b/c watching football as a rah rah cheerleader seems a bit alien to me.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Yeah, this is something that does bother me. If you think SEPTA is bad, move to almost anywhere in America besides New York (or maybe Chicago or Boston - I've never used their system, but it seems decent). I count my blessings everytime I have to take SEPTA.

Public transit is in a pretty bad state all over the country. So I have no doubt that transit may have been better here at one point. But having a real transit system that's something more than just a "charity" for poor people is an amazing thing after moving here from Minneapolis. Trains, trolleys, light rail that actually goes places...a regional rail system...a whole bunch of buses that run 24 hours a day. It's a wonderful thing. I don't care if I have to use a token instead of a computer-chip. Big deal. I care about what happens after I give them the token. SEPTA is one of the best things about Philadelphia.

Yup. But then of course, even people in New York constantly MOAN about the MTA, which is even more laughable in my book. Though I think a lot of the time it's coming from people who've basically never lived with public transit anywhere else (either because they just moved here from suburban iowa, or because they've never left the NY metro region).

[robkaos]

Most negadelphians are outsiders -- suburbanites or jersey folks who see the negative things going on in Philadelphia presented by the papers/local newscast; but have never actually taken the time to enjoy all that the city has to offer.

The only people in Philadelphia who have a right to be consistently negative are Eagles fans, but that's another thing entirely to itself. More along the lines of starvation.

[templeu]

Originally Posted by robkaos

The only people in Philadelphia who have a right to be consistently negative are Eagles fans, but that's another thing entirely to itself. More along the lines of starvation.

Yeah, it must really suck to be have to be a fan of a team who has made it to the playoffs in 8 of their last 10 seasons, 5 NFC Championship games in the last 10 seasons, as well as a Superbowl. What a bunch of losers!


List of Philadelphia Eagles seasons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MatildaLoo]

Full disclosure: I'm not from Philly. I'm from the northern part of the state (born and raised in Scranton area, lived for several years in the western Berks county area, currently live in the northern part of the Lehigh Valley) so my opinion may or may not count based on one's individual perspective. However, I've been visiting Philadelphia since I was five or six years old, via field trips and Phillies games. As a college student I'd visit a lot of people that I knew going to school in Philly, we'd take rides down to the bars or to South Street, or we'd just come down for the day. I've had many friends from various sections of Philly as well as the surrounding towns, and have visited them in their neighborhoods. One of the best New Year's Eve's I've ever had was when my friend and I stayed in his sister's apartment for the week and rang in the New Year at a Philly club.

Recently I have been researching internships for my master's degree, and since Philly is the closest large city (close enough to come home on weekends) I've been looking a lot at the city. Until a few months ago I hadn't really been in Philly proper for a few years, although I've certainly been to the surrounding areas.

In my opinion, if you haven't actually been IN PHILLY within the last five years, and your only experience is driving past on I-95 or I-76, you've never been to Philly. I was floored by how many POSITIVE changes the city has made in recent years. I hear a lot of people saying that Philadelphia is an up-and-coming city, and I believe it is true. Of course there are gritty sections, and of course the city still has its issues, but I think that people are started to take charge and change those things. I'm looking forward to spending a few months in the city next summer, and who knows -- if things go well and I am able to find a good job I may become a city resident.

Oh, and as for the Schuylkill Expressway being dangerous -- I would rather drive in stop-and-go traffic on the Schuylkill than in 80 mph, bumper-to-bumper, holy-cow-that-trucker-is-going-to-run-me-down traffic on I-80/I-81 anyday.

[Padugan]

I think a lot of it has to do with where you are in the city. For example if you only live / go to, center city, old city, bella vista, queen village, art museum area, then Philly is great. But those areas make up a very small part of Philly as a whole. The majority of Philadelphian's do not live in the areas I mentioned.

It's a different world in the rest of Philly. I loved this city when I lived in Old city for 10 years. Then I bought a house in South Philly and overnight this city changed. Obviously, it was me that changed because things that I didn't even think about before suddently were pushed in my face on a daily basis. After a while, you get beat down. And it's really hard to be positive. Just walking through South Philly and seeing garbage everywhere is enough to drive you insane. Sure when you make that trip to cheese steak vegas a few times a year you probably think nothing of it ( I never did) until you walk through it everyday.

Transportation is terrible here (if you live outside of the areas I mentioned above). Even getting from Old City to the sports complex is ridiculously slow and harder then it should be. If you are only staying to where the El runs (market and broad) then septa and public transportation isn't so bad. but again, that is such a tiny area in relation to the whole of the city.

You're always going to have people who complain, because that's who they are, but a lot of Philly's issues are QOL issues that consistently go unaddressed. Philly isn't a Mad Max wasteland, but it's no Pleasantville either. You have to work at being happy in this city which I think a lot of people (myself included) don't feel should be the case.

p.s. more important than the negativity in the Philly forum is the fact that most of the info posted about the city is pretty much incorrect 50% of the time. I'm not sure if it's because it seems a lot of those that post here don't actually live in the city (currently or ever) or are simply misinformed, but as someone who came here looking for info on the burbs I'm concerned that if half of what I'm reading about the burbs is as inaccurate as what is posted about the city proper.

[G Goo]

Originally Posted by Padugan

I think a lot of it has to do with where you are in the city. For example if you only live / go to, center city, old city, bella vista, queen village, art museum area, then Philly is great.

Uhhh, how about Mt Airy, Chestnut Hill, about half of Germantown, East Falls, Roxborough, Manayunk, University City, Graduate Hospital, Fishtown, Fox Chase, East Oak Lane. You either haven't spent too much time in these neighborhoods, or dropped them off your list to prove your point. All of these are vital neighborhoods that certainly adds to the vibrancy of Philadelphia. I'm in these laces most of my time and can't think of a single "Negadelphia" incident.

[Boompa]

At least the Cardinals have been eliminated and I can see the Iggles Games