July 4th in Philadelphia (York, Washington: mover, homes, neighborhoods)

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Or flashmobs on Newbury Street?.... I agree with all of your points.

I do still think Philadelphia is unfairly overlooked though.

Yeah, I can only imagine the surprise on Newbury Street, haha. Agreed on Philadelphia being overlooked.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Or flashmobs on Newbury Street?.... I agree with all of your points.

I do still think Philadelphia is unfairly overlooked though.

It IS unfair. Period.

[dylan_505]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

This plays into another theory I have about why native Philadelphians don't realize how great their city is. Living in Manhattan's shadow is pretty humbling. But those of us who moved here from elsewhere don't see Philadelphia in comparison with NYC. We see it in comparison to the places we moved here from, precisely because it offers more than where we were living. In fact, it offers so much more than where we were living than we packed up everything we own and made ourselves Philadelphians. Birthright Philadelphians should be impressed to know that about their city.
.

Only a small portion of this city is great though. And it's a very small portion.



Family and friends who come to visit my wife and I love walking around Society Hill, Queen Village and Filter Square but most other areas of the city are an eye-sore and not very appealing.



I took my friends on a bike ride last a couple of weekends ago through South Philly and they couldn't believe how dirty and unattractive a lot of the city is. It wasn't a great experience showing them around the city and seeing trash stuck in drains and boarded up houses just a mile away from beautiful homes in Society Hill.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by dylan_505

Only a small portion of this city is great though. And it's a very small portion.



Family and friends who come to visit my wife and I love walking around Society Hill, Queen Village and Filter Square but most other areas of the city are an eye-sore and not very appealing.



I took my friends on a bike ride last a couple of weekends ago through South Philly and they couldn't believe how dirty and unattractive a lot of the city is. It wasn't a great experience showing them around the city and seeing trash stuck in drains and boarded up houses just a mile away from beautiful homes in Society Hill.

Did you take your friends to the Italian Market? How about East Passyunk? Queen Village or Bella Vista? Did you take them to University City? The Parkway and Boathouse Row? Manayunk? How about Northen Liberties or Fishtown? Did you take them to Fairmount, East Falls, Germantown, West Mount Airy or Chestnut Hill? How about Wissahickon Park or the Morris Arboretum? If not, then why the hell did you drag your friends through a neighborhood with boarded up houses?

[dylan_505]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Did you take your friends to the Italian Market? How about East Passyunk? Queen Village or Bella Vista? Did you take them to University City? The Parkway and Boathouse Row? Manayunk? How about Northen Liberties or Fishtown? Did you take them to Fairmount, East Falls, Germantown, West Mount Airy or Chestnut Hill? How about Wissahickon Park or the Morris Arboretum? If not, then why the hell did you drag your friends through a neighborhood with boarded up houses?

We took them to almost all the places you mentions. Skipped Manayunk and East Falls because I really think they are average neigborhoods. And not one single person I know enjoys visiting Fishtown. That is such an overrated neighborhood in my opinion.



I didn't purposely take them to a neighborhood with boarded up windows, we were actually on our way to East Passyunk. Don't get me wrong, there are some great bars and restaurants in East Passyunk but you go a few blocks either way and you're back surrounded by run down row homes and trash covered streets.


I'm not trying to bash Philly, I do enjoy living here. I just don't think its a great city like some people make it out to be.

[Lenses & Lights.]

Originally Posted by dylan_505

We took them to almost all the places you mentions. Skipped Manayunk and East Falls because I really think they are average neigborhoods. And not one single person I know enjoys visiting Fishtown. That is such an overrated neighborhood in my opinion.



I didn't purposely take them to a neighborhood with boarded up windows, we were actually on our way to East Passyunk. Don't get me wrong, there are some great bars and restaurants in East Passyunk but you go a few blocks either way and you're back surrounded by run down row homes and trash covered streets.


I'm not trying to bash Philly, I do enjoy living here. I just don't think its a great city like some people make it out to be.

Gotcha.

Back on topic though, last year's celebration with Mary J. Blidge as the headline entertainment was a hands down "NO" in my opinion. I left early but watched the rest at home and looked at how much of the initial audience left also and Mary gave the usual depressing show she's given over the past 25 years. It turned into more of a neighborhood block party. I then watched the shows from D.C. and New York and they a bigger variety of talent, and also in NYC they did live and recorded performances from rooftops and side streets, and they even had (What I noticed) extras like they do at the award shows and the Superbowl... They were the one's looking "Extra Cute" with smile straight out of Central Casting.. lol It worked. Philadelphia/NBC-Comcast needs to step it up in that regard. It could have long ago, but it seems that some of the folks in the mix of this still see themselves and the region as a whole, as a secondary market.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by dylan_505

We took them to almost all the places you mentions.

Well, this statement doesn’t match this one very well:

Originally Posted by dylan_505

Only a small portion of this city is great though. And it's a very small portion.

Family and friends who come to visit my wife and I love walking around Society Hill, Queen Village and Filter Square but most other areas of the city are an eye-sore and not very appealing.

Ok if you don’t like the city. But if you really took your friends to all the places I listed, then I think you should have noticed that there are some quite nice and interesting areas beyond CC.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Did you take your friends to the Italian Market? How about East Passyunk? Queen Village or Bella Vista? Did you take them to University City? The Parkway and Boathouse Row? Manayunk? How about Northen Liberties or Fishtown? Did you take them to Fairmount, East Falls, Germantown, West Mount Airy or Chestnut Hill? How about Wissahickon Park or the Morris Arboretum? If not, then why the hell did you drag your friends through a neighborhood with boarded up houses?

Come on. That was a troll post and trying to provoke us.

Hell, that "poster" could have gone to Overbrook Park or Wynnefield, for example, and not seen any boarded up houses. Overbrook Farms is gorgeous. Girard Estates has fabulous houses that would cost close to $1 million elsewhere.

East Falls, Fox Chase? We shouldn't forget those. And Pennypack Park. It's a gem.

Folks like that won't explore the 142 sq miles of the city.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by dylan_505

Only a small portion of this city is great though. And it's a very small portion.



Family and friends who come to visit my wife and I love walking around Society Hill, Queen Village and Filter Square but most other areas of the city are an eye-sore and not very appealing.



I took my friends on a bike ride last a couple of weekends ago through South Philly and they couldn't believe how dirty and unattractive a lot of the city is. It wasn't a great experience showing them around the city and seeing trash stuck in drains and boarded up houses just a mile away from beautiful homes in Society Hill.

People usually ride their bikes on the river drives. It's attractive.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Lenses & Lights.

Gotcha.

Back on topic though, last year's celebration with Mary J. Blidge as the headline entertainment was a hands down "NO" in my opinion. I left early but watched the rest at home and looked at how much of the initial audience left also and Mary gave the usual depressing show she's given over the past 25 years. It turned into more of a neighborhood block party. I then watched the shows from D.C. and New York and they a bigger variety of talent, and also in NYC they did live and recorded performances from rooftops and side streets, and they even had (What I noticed) extras like they do at the award shows and the Superbowl... They were the one's looking "Extra Cute" with smile straight out of Central Casting.. lol It worked. Philadelphia/NBC-Comcast needs to step it up in that regard. It could have long ago, but it seems that some of the folks in the mix of this still see themselves and the region as a whole, as a secondary market.

If Comcast can make multiple billion dollar bids for Fox Entertainment they sure as hell could pay more attention to this market. It's lack of will I suppose.