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I'm kinda surprised this is a title for a thread. Philadelphia is a big city. If you don't like it, that's one thing. If you think it's boring, then you're probably the one that's boring and way too particular. It's too big for the word "boring" to even come up.
I had a date that thought Philadelphia was boring and went to visit DC and NYC at least once a month on two separate weeks. He was living in Philadelphia cause of med school.
I feel there's an overly pretentious, classist attitude implied from questioning the excitement Philadelphia has to offer to things that are and should be looked at as just simply different. I certainly felt the same of that date too.
I wondered if we dated the same person?
I had two dates in the past few months who both seemed to resent living in Philadelphia instead of New York or Washington. They were here for academia/work and were both accomplished professionals but also seemed to spend every weekend on the train to NYC or DC.
There's no question that in terms of intellectual capital Philadelphia can't match NYC nor even DC and some people do seem to thrive or measure personal satisfaction by proximity to a greater concentration of intellectual capital. But I also found their attitudes childish, wasting their life yearning for something else instead of discovering the advantages and benefits of where they are. There's plenty of educated, accomplished people from all walks of life in Philadelphia and a tremendous variety of cultural institutions and activities. Frankly, if you are going to be bored in Philadelphia, you will be bored in New York too.
I certainly didn't when my wife and I visited in summer 2018. So far, Philadelphia has been our favorite city hands down, and we can't wait to go back.
But I get the sense that many people don't second that sentiment.
I live in Florida. I don't know that many people who have ever visited Philly, and it's a shame given the myriad of things to do there.
We stayed in Old City, and it felt like all the key historic sites we wanted to visit (Ben Franklin Museum, Liberty Bell, etc.) were a short walk away.
I realize that not everyone is a big history buff like I am, so they may have little to no interest in, say, Independence Hall.
And although I loved the fact that Old City had a quiet, relaxing vibe (compared to the hustle and bustle of NYC, which I came to dislike), I imagine that many people would get bored of that atmosphere quickly.
I recognize that Philly is sandwiched between D.C. and New York, which doesn't help its cause. Beyond that, though, does Philly get overlooked in part because their biggest selling point (history) isn't necessarily something many people are drawn to?
Philly reminds me of Boston in a way (another city we liked, just not as much as Philly). I haven't come across anyone who has expressed interest in (or even knows of) the Freedom Trail. Boston, like Philly, has tons of colleges and museums. To be sure, they both seem like highly intellectual cities, but is this enough to get people to visit?
We visited the busier part of Center City one night (where the Rocky statue/art museum is) and it seemed like the statue was a bigger draw than many of the city's museums.
Well, you only visited Philadelphia but I wonder if your feelings would change if you had the chance to live in Philadelphia for a few years. That said, I believe a city can be both boring or exciting at the same time it just depends on the person, age bracket and income level.
Personally I feel as though Philadelphia is indeed boring but that's simply because what the city has to offer doesn't interest me and I have some perspective to draw upon as I have traveled (and lived) across the country as well as traveled overseas.
Philadelphia is primarily a blue collar drinking town full of bars and taverns and has just a few main nightclubs (Down and Noto). During the winter is the worse as maybe only one day a week do people go out and have fun otherwise the city is dead. Back in the 1990s and early 2000 Roxborough, South Street, and Deleware Ave use to really jump but those places aren't what they use to be.
Philadelphia gets a lot of attention for its museums and historic buildings but in all honesty how many times can you go to a museum and look at historical buildings before it gets boring? Although I appreciate the past, what's missing from Philadelphia is the organic inspiration to develop something new and exciting for everyone and I don't see that changing in my lifetime because the youth in Philadelphia are tied up in the opioid epidemic and there is lots of poverty in Philadelphia. In fact, Philadelphia is the poorest largest city in America.
Personally I prefer Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris or Amsterdam... The real fun is overseas...
Well, you only visited Philadelphia but I wonder if your feelings would change if you had the chance to live in Philadelphia for a few years. That said, I believe a city can be both boring or exciting at the same time it just depends on the person, age bracket and income level.
Personally I feel as though Philadelphia is indeed boring but that's simply because what the city has to offer doesn't interest me and I have some perspective to draw upon as I have traveled (and lived) across the country as well as traveled overseas.
Philadelphia is primarily a blue collar drinking town full of bars and taverns and has just a few main nightclubs (Down and Noto). During the winter is the worse as maybe only one day a week do people go out and have fun otherwise the city is dead. Back in the 1990s and early 2000 Roxborough, South Street, and Deleware Ave use to really jump but those places aren't what they use to be.
Philadelphia gets a lot of attention for its museums and historic buildings but in all honesty how many times can you go to a museum and look at historical buildings before it gets boring? Although I appreciate the past, what's missing from Philadelphia is the organic inspiration to develop something new and exciting for everyone and I don't see that changing in my lifetime because the youth in Philadelphia are tied up in the opioid epidemic and there is lots of poverty in Philadelphia. In fact, Philadelphia is the poorest largest city in America.
Personally I prefer Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris or Amsterdam... The real fun is overseas...
Um, guess you didn't bother to learn the geography of the neighborhoods during your time here.
Nobody partied on "the Ridge" then, and nobody does now. Ridge Avenue, Roxborough's main drag, is a decent but pretty quiet neighborhood shopping street.
If you were partying in "Roxborough," you were most likely on Main Street, which is down the hill in Manayunk.
Can't say I've heard of either of those clubs, but then again, I didn't party in Manayunk, on South Street or on Delaware Avenue; I pretty much stuck to the Gayborhood.
I think I do agree with you that people don't party like that in Philadelphia, but the city's not dead at night anymore. At least not based on all the people I see strolling on Walnut Street when I'm in Center City after dark, either during the week or on weekends. Generally, they're out drinking or dining. And they're not all blue-collar anymore either.
Well, you only visited Philadelphia but I wonder if your feelings would change if you had the chance to live in Philadelphia for a few years. That said, I believe a city can be both boring or exciting at the same time it just depends on the person, age bracket and income level.
Personally I feel as though Philadelphia is indeed boring but that's simply because what the city has to offer doesn't interest me and I have some perspective to draw upon as I have traveled (and lived) across the country as well as traveled overseas.
Philadelphia is primarily a blue collar drinking town full of bars and taverns and has just a few main nightclubs (Down and Noto). During the winter is the worse as maybe only one day a week do people go out and have fun otherwise the city is dead. Back in the 1990s and early 2000 Roxborough, South Street, and Deleware Ave use to really jump but those places aren't what they use to be.
Philadelphia gets a lot of attention for its museums and historic buildings but in all honesty how many times can you go to a museum and look at historical buildings before it gets boring? Although I appreciate the past, what's missing from Philadelphia is the organic inspiration to develop something new and exciting for everyone and I don't see that changing in my lifetime because the youth in Philadelphia are tied up in the opioid epidemic and there is lots of poverty in Philadelphia. In fact, Philadelphia is the poorest largest city in America.
Personally I prefer Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris or Amsterdam... The real fun is overseas...
Another person who thinks its 1980 and treats Philadelphia like a small city in Appalachia... Everyone here gets it, you don't like Philadelphia, but give the vast generalizations and falsehoods a rest, please...
Honestly, I don't get how anyone could find this city "boring."
Philly is the second largest city on the East Coast, and boasts a metro area of over 6 million people. We have an abundance of quality retail, renowned restaurants, a thriving arts scene, a fun nightlife scene, and so much more. There is a little something for everyone here, no matter which part of the city one happens to live in. Along with all that the city has to offer, one can also go out into the region for additional entertainment.
Personally, I'm a 24 year old man who lives in Francisville. I frequent the bar/club scene (alone), which used to be my biggest source of entertainment, a lot less frequently due to the fact that I've been dating my beautiful girlfriend for nearly a year. Despite the aforementioned, I can always find something to do on any given day. If I want to indulge in the arts, I can take my pick as to which museum I'd like to patronize--the Art Museum, PAFA, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, etc. When I want to grab a quality craft beer, I can pretty much head in any direction and land inside of an excellent brewery. If I want to experience the beauty of nature and be active, Wissahickon Valley Park usually beckons. If I want to explore what the region has to offer, I can take the Regional Rail or PATCO and head to Media, Doylestown, Ardmore, Wayne, New Hope, or Haddonfield, among other destinations.
Before I met my girlfriend back in February of this year, I was making frequent weekend trips up to NYC--mostly to see women if I wasn't heading up there to see a good friend of mine who lived on the Jersey side of the metro. After a while, I started to feel drained due to what I thought I may have been missing in Philly. As exhilarating and lively as NYC is, I wanted to be in Philly. That statement really speaks to the way that I view Philly, which is anything but boring.
I had two dates in the past few months who both seemed to resent living in Philadelphia instead of New York or Washington. They were here for academia/work and were both accomplished professionals but also seemed to spend every weekend on the train to NYC or DC.
There's no question that in terms of intellectual capital Philadelphia can't match NYC nor even DC and some people do seem to thrive or measure personal satisfaction by proximity to a greater concentration of intellectual capital. But I also found their attitudes childish, wasting their life yearning for something else instead of discovering the advantages and benefits of where they are. There's plenty of educated, accomplished people from all walks of life in Philadelphia and a tremendous variety of cultural institutions and activities. Frankly, if you are going to be bored in Philadelphia, you will be bored in New York too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl
Um, guess you didn't bother to learn the geography of the neighborhoods during your time here.
Nobody partied on "the Ridge" then, and nobody does now. Ridge Avenue, Roxborough's main drag, is a decent but pretty quiet neighborhood shopping street.
If you were partying in "Roxborough," you were most likely on Main Street, which is down the hill in Manayunk.
Can't say I've heard of either of those clubs, but then again, I didn't party in Manayunk, on South Street or on Delaware Avenue; I pretty much stuck to the Gayborhood.
I think I do agree with you that people don't party like that in Philadelphia, but the city's not dead at night anymore. At least not based on all the people I see strolling on Walnut Street when I'm in Center City after dark, either during the week or on weekends. Generally, they're out drinking or dining. And they're not all blue-collar anymore either.
I stand corrected, yes, I meant Main Street in Manyunk. However, back in the 80s Ridge Ave in Roxborough use to be a happening place in terms of shopping. Ridge ave along with Main Street isn't the same anymore.
As far as nightclubs, club NOTO is a new nightclub whose core mission was to have a premier nightclub right here in Philadelphia. The owners said people from Philadelphia tend to travel all the way to NYC or Alantic City NJ just to have a good time because there isn't anything of similar experience in Philadelphia.
Another person who thinks its 1980 and treats Philadelphia like a small city in Appalachia... Everyone here gets it, you don't like Philadelphia, but give the vast generalizations and falsehoods a rest, please...
Philadelphia is a small city. I could drive all around Philadelphia in a few hours where as I couldn't do that in Los Angeles. Philadelphia is even smaller when you consider that you have to stick to the areas that are safe and clean to even walk freely in.
Philadelphia is a small city. I could drive all around Philadelphia in a few hours where as I couldn't do that in Los Angeles. Philadelphia is even smaller when you consider that you have to stick to the areas that are safe and clean to even walk freely in.
Philadelphia is primarily a blue collar drinking town full of bars and taverns and has just a few main nightclubs (Down and Noto). During the winter is the worse as maybe only one day a week do people go out and have fun otherwise the city is dead. Back in the 1990s and early 2000 Roxborough, South Street, and Deleware Ave use to really jump but those places aren't what they use to be.
I disagree with most of what you said, but this is absolutely true. As someone big on nightlife, Philadelphia's isn't all that great, and IMO, has gotten worse. The Gayborhood, which used to be great, has been watered down as straight people have realized it isn't so scary to be around the gays anymore. When I started going to Woody's in 2012, it was 90% a gay male bar. Now, it's become nothing more than a drunken bachelorette stop with rainbow flags outside. The same goes for Voyuer. It used to be a great late-night club to go dancing in. It always had a few straight people, but it was always mostly gay. Now it's mostly straight, and sorry, but the care-free attitude that makes dancing in a club fun is always ruined by straight people who come in with an entirely different attitude then the gay guys who made the club great in the first place.
In the 1990s, Philadelphia used to be home to one of the biggest circuit parties in the world, the Blue Ball. That fizzled out in the early 2000s, and it wasn't until the last few years that Boys of Summer began bringing circuit parties back to the city for days like OutFest and Pride. Philadelphia doesn't really have any kind of party scene, which is really unfortunate. That is not to even mention the fact that Philadelphia has none of the rave culture, techno/EDM scene, and underground party culture that exists in a place like New York or LA. I mean, no one would expect Philly to have the magnitude that those cities do, but it should at least have something.
After 5 years of continuously going out in Philadelphia, it just got old and stale. There wasn't the variety that you find in New York, and not much really changed. It all just stayed the same, or in many cases, got worse. People can talk about the death of New York nightlife all they want, but on any given weekend there are a million different options of all varieties to choose from. That's not true at all of Philadelphia.
If you just like bars, then Philly is your city. If you want a unique, dynamic, ever-changing scene to be a part of, Philly is way down the list.
Philadelphia is a top notch city is many respects, and they've been mentioned here, but nightlife is not one of them.
Another person who thinks its 1980 and treats Philadelphia like a small city in Appalachia... Everyone here gets it, you don't like Philadelphia, but give the vast generalizations and falsehoods a rest, please...
The "blue collar town" remark is just so cringe-worthy and old-fashioned.
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