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Old 04-25-2015, 04:24 PM
 
1,140 posts, read 1,392,530 times
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I walked down 69th Street the other day and was saddened at all the empty stores, litter, etc. And Millbourne right behind 69th Street Station is perhaps the most depressing village anywhere in Greater Philly. Drexel Hill, Westbrook Park, Clifton Heights, Aldan, Lansdowne, East Lansdowne, and Yeadon (all of which overlap with Upper Darby somehow) all were really nice at one time (I believe at least two of these were once made up of "country estates", alas no more) but now the charm any of them once had is overshadowed by the drugs, muggings, graffiti, eyesore buildings, etc. It infuriates me that these once-pristine neighborhoods are now among the most economically depressed, out of date, hopeless villages anywhere in the vast, vast Philly metropolis. Drexel Hill is the only part of Upper Darby Township that still has any charm whatsoever, and even then, the "nicest" part of it (the area surrounding Pilgrim Gardens Shopping Center) of course is somehow in the Haverford School District. That's probably for the best though, because I've never been a student there but have heard Upper Darby High School has really gone down the crapper - basically it's a haven for bullies who grow up to be thugs - and I really, really hate to stereotype anyone but the folks surrounding Barclay Square, 69th St, etc set the tone for the school more than the folks from Drexel Hill, if you get my drift (I have to censor what I'm really saying to keep this thread from getting shut down). And to add insult to injury, guess who just got a brand new high school building? WEST PHILADELPHIA, yet I'm sure it wasn't built to hold the future sons/daughters of today's University City hipsters.
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Old 04-25-2015, 04:52 PM
 
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Montgomery and Bucks counties are both everything either Delco or Philly could and should ever be. And then Chester County is kind of a contradiction - plenty of money is there, and thus Exton and Downingtown are meccas of shopping centers, but Coatesville and Kennett Square both have lots of crime (and poverty) that seems to not get the attention it should. Also, much of eastern Chesco (Devon, Berwyn, Paoli, Malvern, Frazer, Treddyffrin, etc) gets lopped in with the Main Line, but only the Eastern Main Line (which I do have to say badly needs a facelift, and I feel should try to do more to attract the young people moving from all over the world into the new and improved, "hip" districts of Philadelphia County such as Manayunk) has a clear reputation as "rich". There's plenty of money in the horse country of the Western Main Line, but the rest of eastern Chester County (such as Frazer... yuck) isn't necessarily poor but lacks charm.

Last edited by toobusytoday; 04-25-2015 at 05:31 PM.. Reason: removed deleted quote
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Old 04-25-2015, 05:19 PM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,663,690 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by motownewave View Post
I walked down 69th Street the other day and was saddened at all the empty stores, litter, etc. And Millbourne right behind 69th Street Station is perhaps the most depressing village anywhere in Greater Philly. Drexel Hill, Westbrook Park, Clifton Heights, Aldan, Lansdowne, East Lansdowne, and Yeadon (all of which overlap with Upper Darby somehow) all were really nice at one time (I believe at least two of these were once made up of "country estates", alas no more) but now the charm any of them once had is overshadowed by the drugs, muggings, graffiti, eyesore buildings, etc. It infuriates me that these once-pristine neighborhoods are now among the most economically depressed, out of date, hopeless villages anywhere in the vast, vast Philly metropolis. Drexel Hill is the only part of Upper Darby Township that still has any charm whatsoever, and even then, the "nicest" part of it (the area surrounding Pilgrim Gardens Shopping Center) of course is somehow in the Haverford School District. That's probably for the best though, because I've never been a student there but have heard Upper Darby High School has really gone down the crapper - basically it's a haven for bullies who grow up to be thugs - and I really, really hate to stereotype anyone but the folks surrounding Barclay Square, 69th St, etc set the tone for the school more than the folks from Drexel Hill, if you get my drift (I have to censor what I'm really saying to keep this thread from getting shut down). And to add insult to injury, guess who just got a brand new high school building? WEST PHILADELPHIA, yet I'm sure it wasn't built to hold the future sons/daughters of today's University City hipsters.
I lived near Barclay Sq for a long time. I left 20 years ago. It was dying then.
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Old 04-25-2015, 05:25 PM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,663,690 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motownewave View Post
Montgomery and Bucks counties are both everything either Delco or Philly could and should ever be. And then Chester County is kind of a contradiction - plenty of money is there, and thus Exton and Downingtown are meccas of shopping centers, but Coatesville and Kennett Square both have lots of crime (and poverty) that seems to not get the attention it should. Also, much of eastern Chesco (Devon, Berwyn, Paoli, Malvern, Frazer, Treddyffrin, etc) gets lopped in with the Main Line, but only the Eastern Main Line (which I do have to say badly needs a facelift, and I feel should try to do more to attract the young people moving from all over the world into the new and improved, "hip" districts of Philadelphia County such as Manayunk) has a clear reputation as "rich". There's plenty of money in the horse country of the Western Main Line, but the rest of eastern Chester County (such as Frazer... yuck) isn't necessarily poor but lacks charm.
I grew up on the Main Line(Haverford). Nothing could get me to move back there and I'm a geezer now. Lol
Unless you're talking about younger people with children, there is no reason for any young person to move to the Main Line.
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Old 04-25-2015, 06:02 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
9,309 posts, read 12,898,873 times
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Originally Posted by kyb01 View Post
I grew up on the Main Line(Haverford). Nothing could get me to move back there and I'm a geezer now. Lol
Unless you're talking about younger people with children, there is no reason for any young person to move to the Main Line.
My mother, who grew up in Havertown, would speak of the days when 69th Street was like South Street, South Street was like Manayunk, and Manayunk was like Roxborough. Based on what I've gathered from your posts, she was probably about ten years younger than you. My uncle, who probably splits the difference between your ages, bought a house in Upper Darby in the early '80s and lived there until 1998. He lost a lot of his equity but managed to at least not lose money. After a brief stop in Newtown Square, he's been renting in Drexel Hill ever since.

And while there are far better places for young people to live than the Main Line, it's still quite good as far as suburbs go (though that's saying very little). If you work further out to the western suburbs and don't want a hellish commute to work, the Main Line isn't a bad place to be. There's a still a young people's scene in Ardmore in Bryn Mawr (mostly by virtue of the local colleges and universities). My mom lived off Cricket Avenue in the early-mid '80s as a young, single woman. It wasn't a bad place for a young person working at Villanova but not making a lot of money. I wish I could ask her more about it (among other, far more important things ).

My brother and his partner, who are in their early/late twenties, will actually be living in Wynnewood next year for work reasons. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I'm confident that they'll make it work.

Last edited by ElijahAstin; 04-25-2015 at 06:15 PM..
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Old 04-25-2015, 07:51 PM
 
Location: Philly
10,220 posts, read 16,722,169 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motownewave View Post
Montgomery and Bucks counties are both everything either Delco or Philly could and should ever be. And then Chester County is kind of a contradiction - plenty of money is there, and thus Exton and Downingtown are meccas of shopping centers, but Coatesville and Kennett Square both have lots of crime (and poverty) that seems to not get the attention it should. Also, much of eastern Chesco (Devon, Berwyn, Paoli, Malvern, Frazer, Treddyffrin, etc) gets lopped in with the Main Line, but only the Eastern Main Line (which I do have to say badly needs a facelift, and I feel should try to do more to attract the young people moving from all over the world into the new and improved, "hip" districts of Philadelphia County such as Manayunk) has a clear reputation as "rich". There's plenty of money in the horse country of the Western Main Line, but the rest of eastern Chester County (such as Frazer... yuck) isn't necessarily poor but lacks charm.
What know earth are you talking about? Kennett square was ranked one of the best small towns anywhere and is absolutely booming right now. Crime? Did you mean Oxford maybe? Malvern is a nice little town that I doing well and west chester certainly doesn't lack charm.
Anyway, now that all night el service is a thing upper darby should try to attract young people who might want to avoid the 2 age tax yet have access to the city's nightlife. They need to bring the commercial area back. It's decent now in terms of stability but has some problems
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Old 04-25-2015, 07:57 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
9,309 posts, read 12,898,873 times
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Originally Posted by pman View Post
What know earth are you talking about? Kennett square was ranked one of the best small towns anywhere and is absolutely booming right now. Crime? Did you mean Oxford maybe? Malvern is a nice little town that I doing well and west chester certainly doesn't lack charm.
Anyway, now that all night el service is a thing upper darby should try to attract young people who might want to avoid the 2 age tax yet have access to the city's nightlife. They need to bring the commercial area back. It's decent now in terms of stability but has some problems
If we ignore him, maybe he'll go away.

And I think it's only a matter of time before Upper Darby's great transit access, low rents, and international flavor begin attracting hipsters en masse.
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Old 04-25-2015, 08:42 PM
 
1,140 posts, read 1,392,530 times
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Originally Posted by ElijahAstin View Post
If we ignore him, maybe he'll go away.

And I think it's only a matter of time before Upper Darby's great transit access, low rents, and international flavor begin attracting hipsters en masse.
Now just WHY do you want ME to go away? I'm sensible, unlike that user (troll?) who recently tried to assassinate the character of Swarthmore (and succeeded, it seems) when someone from California, looking to move, asked about it.

And your prediction for Upper Darby is baloney. First of all, "great transit access?" I've ridden all three forms of public transit that feed into 69th Street, and have found all of them pitiful compared to the public transit provided by Septa on the Media-Elwyn and Paoli-Thorndale lines, both of which to begin with go through much more desirable areas than what surrounds 69th Street Station for miles. Anytime I've ever ridden something to or from 69th Street, the vehicle was WAY too crowded, there were several scary people on board, there were obnoxious people playing music too loud, or cursing loudly, or being just plain obnoxious by not willing to move over to let someone have a (what might be the only) seat, or not moving even to let a person off in time. And I've ridden the trolley and sometimes the driver HAS NOT stopped for me even though I pulled the cord on time.

As for the "low rents", gee I wonder why the rents in Upper Darby are so low?

And as for the "international flavor", I personally don't feel safe walking in Terminal Square or Millbourne partly because so many of the other folks speak no English, and therefore couldn't communicate with me if I needed directions, needed emergency help (and muggings are common down there), et cetera. Besides, most of the other people on public transit to/from Upper Darby are African American, which might be really exotic to someone visiting from North Dakota, but this isn't "international flavor". And I wonder... do the impoverished immigrants who come to Upper Darby (or Philly's worst areas) realize just how much crime goes on in those areas, and realize that crime is deeply ingrained in the local culture? On top of this, Hispanic gangs (if you think of Russian thugs or the Mafia as horrific, Hispanic especially Mexican gangs are even worse) do exist in Upper Darby, and in fact a stabbing recently happened at a Honduran bar in Upper Darby. And guess what? The perpetrator was here illegally, as I'm sure a lot of other foreigners (especially Chinese) tend to be.

I used to work at the Shop N Bag in Lansdowne on the Upper Darby border, and at the Chinese restaurant across the street, the owners seemed to speak no English whatsoever except for their own item names. Literally. They clearly didn't even know "hi", "hello", "please", "thank you", etc. And I also once tried a Chinese restaurant on Garrett in Drexel Hill (that I could also walk to from Shop N Bag) where I had the same experience. I never went back.

Let me ask this: if these Chinese folks (both of the restaurants I speak of were in mostly white, English-speaking neighborhoods) spoke zero English and had no plans to learn any (at the restaurant across from the Shop N Bag, the teenage son and daughter of the owner both seemed to understand no English at all either), what can I reasonably expect to find at an ethnic business in the "urban" part of Upper Darby?
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Old 04-25-2015, 09:40 PM
 
Location: Villanova Pa.
4,927 posts, read 14,156,008 times
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Originally Posted by motownewave View Post
Will Upper darby ever be nice again?(
Not in your lifetime.
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Old 04-26-2015, 08:31 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,663,690 times
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Originally Posted by ElijahAstin View Post
If we ignore him, maybe he'll go away.

And I think it's only a matter of time before Upper Darby's great transit access, low rents, and international flavor begin attracting hipsters en masse.
You're joking, right?

It's had a kind of international flavor for ages given that there's a mini Koreatown on Terminal Sq. If acts at the Tower Theater can't draw various hipster people to live nearby nothing's going to. It's not hip. Never will be edgy and no one is going make it that way. Garrett Rd is an ugly mess. Long Lane is an ugly mess. Marshall Rd is an ugly mess.

The white hipster kids you are talking about are not going to travel through western W. Philly to get to Upper Darby. lol
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