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Old 10-30-2014, 01:30 PM
 
4 posts, read 5,552 times
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I used to live at 5013 Pulaski Avenue between Manheim and Seymour. Regrettably, I had to go to Theodore Roosevelt Junior high. It was the worst most violent experience of my life I am lucky to be alive. I had lived in Baltimore, inner city, and later San Jose, California, inner city, all bad areas but Philly was the worst of all. I could not believe how violent and dangerous it was and, yes, I was in law enforcement later on. Some good things, food, culture, good accents, and thank God for the Italians who saved my life on a few occaisons. I hated Philly because of what was done to me and the few other white kids too poor to escape the horrible schools. But there were some bright sides I suppose. Can't get a good hoagie out here. Anyway, I was wondering if they cleaned up their act? I am going to retire in a few years and have been looking at various states. PA will always be near the top of my list.
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Old 10-30-2014, 01:38 PM
 
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Parts of Philly have improved since the 70's, other parts have gotten worse.

Generally speaking, all the neighborhoods in and around Center City have gotten better, often much better. A bunch of other areas are worse, though. South Philly is worse. NE Philly is definitely worse.
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Old 10-30-2014, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
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I live in the neighborhood you used to live in- Germantown and grew up in the neighborhood of Mount Airy next door (but was born in 1986).

I would say the NW part of the city-Germantown, Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, Manayunk, Roxborough, Andorra and East Falls have drastically improved but Gtown is the one neighborhood in the NW that still has a little ways to go as far as crime and poverty.

As was mentioned above Center City and neighborhoods that surround it have drastically improved. A lot of The Northeast has declined but that is not true in entirety. Most of Southwest Philly has declined while West Philly, North Philly and South Philly are mixed bags-some areas are seeing huge investment never seen before while other areas are pretty stagnant. I wouldn't say any area in South or West Philly is declining today though.
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Old 10-30-2014, 03:17 PM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,663,690 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2e1m5a View Post
I live in the neighborhood you used to live in- Germantown and grew up in the neighborhood of Mount Airy next door (but was born in 1986).

I would say the NW part of the city-Germantown, Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, Manayunk, Roxborough, Andorra and East Falls have drastically improved but Gtown is the one neighborhood in the NW that still has a little ways to go as far as crime and poverty.

As was mentioned above Center City and neighborhoods that surround it have drastically improved. A lot of The Northeast has declined but that is not true in entirety. Most of Southwest Philly has declined while West Philly, North Philly and South Philly are mixed bags-some areas are seeing huge investment never seen before while other areas are pretty stagnant. I wouldn't say any area in South or West Philly is declining today though.
Additionally if the OP hasn't been to Philly since the 70s would he or she even recognize Center City given that no building was taller than City Hall back then?
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Old 10-30-2014, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kyb01 View Post
Additionally if the OP hasn't been to Philly since the 70s would he or she even recognize Center City given that no building was taller than City Hall back then?
True-probably not. Hard to imagine places like Society Hill and Fitler Square being kind of slummy too in the 1970's.
Center City did not seem to be the focal point it is today back then.

I wonder where the OP has been living all these years..
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Old 10-30-2014, 05:34 PM
 
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It depends who you talk to and what your version of "improved" is . . .
I lived most of my life in the Philly area and prefer the Philly of the 70's and 80's.
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Old 10-30-2014, 07:32 PM
 
Location: back in Philadelphia!
3,263 posts, read 5,620,608 times
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I think it's important to note here that the overall violent crime rate in Philly as well as in other cities nationwide IS much lower now than it was in the 1970's, whether or not this or that neighborhood has economically improved.

This is well documented, though the jury is still out on the reason why.
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Old 10-30-2014, 07:44 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
8,700 posts, read 14,603,844 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101 View Post
Parts of Philly have improved since the 70's, other parts have gotten worse.

Generally speaking, all the neighborhoods in and around Center City have gotten better, often much better. A bunch of other areas are worse, though. South Philly is worse. NE Philly is definitely worse.
South Philly is worse???? What?! Lol.

South Philly is much improved from the 70s. G-Ho, Bella Vista, Queen Village, East Passyunk, etc. Center City is leagues better. Lower North Philly from Center City to Temple University is much better, University City and surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhoods are leagues better. The Riverwards are better. Northwest Philadelphia is better. Some of Southwest is worse, some of lower Northeast Philadelphia is worse, but much of it is just the same as it was.

Not to mention the overall violent crime rate is probably about half of what it was in the 70s.
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Old 10-30-2014, 10:40 PM
 
Location: Bella Vista
2,471 posts, read 3,997,118 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101 View Post
Parts of Philly have improved since the 70's, other parts have gotten worse.

Generally speaking, all the neighborhoods in and around Center City have gotten better, often much better. A bunch of other areas are worse, though. South Philly is worse. NE Philly is definitely worse.
In what possible way is south Philly worse than it was in the 70s? Crazy.
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Old 10-31-2014, 08:34 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,663,690 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2e1m5a View Post
True-probably not. Hard to imagine places like Society Hill and Fitler Square being kind of slummy too in the 1970's.
Center City did not seem to be the focal point it is today back then.

I wonder where the OP has been living all these years..
Nope, Society Hill was not slummy back in the 70s. Dunno about Fitler Sq.

The OP mentioned California.
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