Suburbaners who never visited the city their whole life (Philadelphia: movers, school district)

[Cnote11]

If I ever had to move back to the suburbs of Detroit, I'd probably kill myself. It is that boring. Arthur Schopenhauer once said that boredom was worse than suffering. This always reminds me of authors and Philosophers such as Isaac Asimov and the Religious Naturalist Donald Crosby who say, to quote Asimov, "Whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse." This, to me, is existence in the sprawl suburbs in most of America. I wouldn't say the same thing for some of the very lovely towns in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

[LibraGirl123]

Originally Posted by phillies2011

hahahaha.

So in the first sentence you're tired of the old city vs suburbs debate. Then in the second sentence you portray living in the suburbs as the "best of both worlds" (read: better than living in the city).

You have a really odd way in showing your lack of interest in a city vs suburb debate, considering your second sentence is a tired old argument made in this very debate by suburbaners.

I think you misunderstood what I meant by the "best of both worlds". I didn't mean that living in the 'burbs is better than living in the city. What I meant was I get to enjoy the amenities of BOTH. I think my post shows that I am obviously not one of those who lives in the 'burbs who stays away from the city.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by phillies2011

hahahaha.

So in the first sentence you're tired of the old city vs suburbs debate. Then in the second sentence you portray living in the suburbs as the "best of both worlds" (read: better than living in the city).

You have a really odd way in showing your lack of interest in a city vs suburb debate, considering your second sentence is a tired old argument made in this very debate by suburbaners.

It seems what you're really tired of is not the debate itself, but rather frequently losing said debate.

I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but the people I meet from the suburbs are consistently less worldly, more self centered, and more conservative than those coming from the city, in other words, not my type of person.

I can't imagine living in the suburbs and never even coming into the city. what a bland existence.

It's cute that you think city dwellers are inherently better people. The only fundamental difference between people living in ritzy city neighborhoods and their fancy suburban equivalents is that most suburbanites don't deny they've made the conscious decision to live in a bubble. The rich families who live in Rittenhouse and Society Hill but send their kids to private schools, rarely venture beyond Center City, and only mingle with other rich families who send their kids to private schools, yet still see fit to have some kind of superiority complex, are the absolute worst. Not saying you're necessarily one of them, though you may very well be spouting a slightly different brand of arrogance. Posting about "giving everybody a chance" and then making insulting blanket statements is an odd way of demonstrating your enlightenment.

Why do people feel they have to put down others in order to justify their preferences? I have particular likes and dislikes myself, but they're just that--a matter of personal opinion--not a moral code people should be using to trash their others.

Vey iz meer.

[Blinx]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

You must be from a long way back, because my grandparents all call it Center City.

Why you young whippersnapper! This sounds like the old arguments I used to have with my boyfriend. I'd say "Let's go down the shore" and he'd try to correct me "It's 'going to the beach' ". GACK!

There was a rumor that my one grandmother (whom I've never met) used to say "Let's go the town down and look the windows in." But I think that was an old family joke.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Blinx

Why you young whippersnapper! This sounds like the old arguments I used to have with my boyfriend. I'd say "Let's go down the shore" and he'd try to correct me "It's 'going to the beach' ". GACK!

There was a rumor that my one grandmother (whom I've never met) used to say "Let's go the town down and look the windows in." But I think that was an old family joke.

But just like we say we're "going down the shore," most Greater Philadelphians do call our central business district "Center City." You can call it whatever you want. It's just not the preferred Philadelphia term.

And the three grandparents that are/were alive when I was old enough to know them were born in 1936, 1935, and 1920.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

A few days ago? When's the last time you even set foot in Pennsylvania?

Last summer, even went to K&A to see friends. I brought up the El because once upon a time a group from my work got tickets to a football game. I suggested we meet at 69th Street take the El and Broad Street to the Stadium. I was shocked at how many suburbanites in their 30s and 40s had never been on either. The expression on their faces was priceless

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Boompa

Last summer, even went to K&A to see friends. I brought up the El because once upon a time a group from my work got tickets to a football game. I suggested we meet at 69th Street take the El and Broad Street to the Stadium. I was shocked at how many suburbanites in their 30s and 40s had never been on either. The expression on their faces was priceless

I never had any reason to take the El growing up, but now that I live in the City, I certainly use the subway system (and occasionally, even the trolley! ). Between undergrad and law school, I've learned how to handle myself just fine in urban settings.

As far as the El goes, I think a lot of it is a class thing. Last summer, one of my coworkers, who spent her entire childhood in Fitler Square, had never taken the subway--not once. So I, the Main Line kid, had to show her how.

[Cnote11]

I rarely take the train unless I'm going to Upper Darby to grocery shop and sometimes I'll take it up to NoLibs for tea, and I'll take it again to get down to the stadiums. It can be useful for getting to classes at Penn around 34th/Walnut if I'm in a hurry since I live near Suburban Station, although the trolley works just as well and even better for classes near 37th. Typically, I just walk back and forth or take the PennBus. Everything in Center City I can just walk to. The regional rail is my favorite mode of transportation here because walking all the way through Wissahickon from Center City and then attempting to walk back isn't all that convenient. Same with trips on the mainline.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by phillies2011

hahahaha.

I can't imagine living in the suburbs and never even coming into the city. what a bland existence.

Its not as bad as you are trying to make it.. lol.. Peace and quiet, safety, open space, clean air, green grass and trees and farm fresh food ain't so bad! We rarely venture into the city and don't want to! Had our fill of it

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

I know this is an exaggeration but I have a neighbor down stairs who says she lived in NYC until she was 9 and then lived around wayne almost entirely since then. Then I tried to talk to her about how impressive downtown Philly was and she said "oh I've barely been down there, only back like 40 years ago when I was young we went on south st a few times". She could not tell you pretty much anything about downtown philly.

I also talked to a girl in the gym and mentioned another person's rambling and I said "well I guess it is philadelphia after all" and she got pissed and said "this isn't philadelphia! this is broomall!". Having lived in Orlando this blew my mind because we consider the farthest reaches of the suburbs of Orlando to still be Orlando... Not just the small downtown area.

It seems like a lot of suburban philly people think they belong to a different city which is a little sick minded. It's like someone who thinks they are too good to be american and refer themselves as not american even though they've never left the country and would probably soil themselves before they did.

I think this split mentality hurts the region... Do they really think they'd be better off as just some patch of suburbs?

I visit Philadelphia much more often now that I live an hour away from it then I ever did when we lived in Delaware and Chester counties and our kids were small. I didn't like the idea of going into the city by car and didn't really understand how easy it was to use regional rail. Dealing with strollers and keeping an eye on multiple kids makes for a stressful instead of a fun outing. Also, our lives were filled with kids activities and friends, you know that bland boring stuff.

Now that we live further away, I find it enjoyable to go into the city by train with a friend or two or one of my kids. I'm not scared of visiting the city but do take normal precautions.

In my area, you have to designate which city you are going to because we're almost equidistant to NYC and Philadelphia.

Something that I always find interesting is people from the city bashing people that live outside of the city as if there isn't a whole life outside of they city. For us, our lives revolve around friends, family and our community. It keeps us pretty busy. Our small town is over 200 years old. It was not built to be a suburb. It's a small town. I'm happy to go to the city for a day but don't feel that I'm missing anything by not living there.