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The undercurrent / hate emanating is unfortunate and obvious we have another problem to address going forward...But was the incident between two people who (appeared) know each other? Between homeless people?
Seeing crazy people on East Market Street is nothing new, unless it was a clear incident that involved or intimidated random civilians. Not that it's excusable though. It's been a while since I was in that area so I don't know what it feels like present day.
I will say, there has been an increase in crazy / disheveled people in Manhattan along with trash, BUT, I do not feel uneasy walking alone at night (9pm or later). I might be wrong, but I feel like walking around portions of Center City after 9pm would be an uneasy experience. I had a friend stay at the Le Meridian (15th and Arch) recently, and they were not impressed with the surroundings. They stayed at the same hotel in 2019 and said it felt like a different city this time around. I'll be in the city for work next week, I'll have to give myself a few extra hours to walk around to get a feel.
I think once the pandemic fades away the previous energy and vitality will come back to Center City, however, city leadership has a big crime problem to address going forward... (The Le Meriden example is just a result of the pandemic, but worth noting that even CC took a hit, and my friends are still happy to come back, it just caught threw them off).
Off topic, but increasing indoor dining capacity to 50% will help the pandemic recovery, the city needs to let things open, its overdue at this point.
The undercurrent of hate coming from the one demographic is going to cause the other demographic to get their backs up - for example - look what happened at the Capitol building. Not good for people to feel marginalized. I don't want to get into the "They did this" and "They caused this" here, but you now have two demographics that are angry ... it's not going to end well.
To me, Downtown has a dark feel to it right now because of the lack of normal people and from the crazy homeless who seem to have a greater presence because of the lack of normal people. Plus, the homeless get 'news,' also, and they seem to be all stirred by whatever they're hearing.
I shouldn't point the finger at the homeless causing all the trouble because there are those who make their way to Center City from other parts of the city and suburbs intent on finding trouble.
I don't know the specifics of the stabbing, but these things are usually between people looking for trouble. Although, I know there have been quite a few cases of regular people getting stabbed for no other reason that their appearance triggered some angry nut.
Remember, most all of your street people carry a knife. Best not to engage them and be aware of who's near/coming at you. We've all seen the videos.
I will remark here that, while SEPTA has closed off most of the South Broad Street concourse and shut down the connections between concourses in the rest of the system in order to keep this from happening, I note that the PATCO concourses under Locust Street at both 12th/13th and 15th/16th Street stations have become homeless encampments.
I use the first of these two concourses to reach certain destinations in the Gayborhood, and the second one I use occasionally right now if I need to go to the Pen & Pencil Club. The denizens seem to be well-behaved when they're at their tents of blankets, so I haven't avoided using the concourses as a result, but I can see where people would feel uncomfortable walking through them.
I will remark here that, while SEPTA has closed off most of the South Broad Street concourse and shut down the connections between concourses in the rest of the system in order to keep this from happening, I note that the PATCO concourses under Locust Street at both 12th/13th and 15th/16th Street stations have become homeless encampments.
I use the first of these two concourses to reach certain destinations in the Gayborhood, and the second one I use occasionally right now if I need to go to the Pen & Pencil Club. The denizens seem to be well-behaved when they're at their tents of blankets, so I haven't avoided using the concourses as a result, but I can see where people would feel uncomfortable walking through them.
I consider myself one of those people. I also invite friends over to visit. I do escort guests to the nearby bus stop if they so desire; most of the younger ones don't.
So far, none of my friends has had anything unfortunate happen to them save one, a friend who went out looking to score a controlled substance and ran into trouble instead. (He lived in Strawberry Mansion at the time, and he's a gay white guy in his early 30s who marches to the beat of his own drummer, so I don't think he was all that naive, but he may have been.) My boyfriend also left his bike chained to my porch railing after one visit; it remained there for four days until I came home from work one evening to find it and two of the railing slats missing.
But one thing I think a lot of the "defund the police" crowd ignore is that a lot of those good people would love to help the cops tamp down crime but don't trust the cops to behave decently towards them. This is a problem that should be fixable, and from what I've read, they've done a very good job of fixing it in Camden.
I sure hope so too.
I wish marijuana would be legalized so we don't have to risk our well-being to find it.
I've been thinking of leaving this city but not for another American city. I've been thinking of leaving America for either the Caribbean (either the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, or elsewhere) or Brazil. Life in America is becoming very hard, however if I go to those countries, the dollar stretches exceptionally well. I'll only come here strictly for business or family. As for Philadelphia, the last ten years have been mostly disappointing.
The local economy hasn't improved, companies such as Sunoco, Sovereign/Santander, Crown Holdings, and Lincoln Financial have moved wither to the suburbs or other cities and projects such as the American Commerce Center was cancelled due to NIMBYism and Schuylkill Yards have been greatly reduced. Nearby, Camden Waterfront was supposed to have camden's tallest tower and even that has been cut down to size.
When I first came to Philly in 1995 on a field trip as a high schooler, I was excited that Philadelphia reminded me in so many ways like NYC, and even though it wasn't perfect (SEPTA, trash, crime, schools, etc.), when I started coming here on my own starting in 2001, I fell in love with the city. I describe Philadelphia as that hot, gorgeous, voluptuous woman with a booty who I first met. I married her and now in 2020 the same woman who I first met in 2001 became fat, obese, and at the same time lost her booty.
That booty was supposed to be the ACC and the initial SY proposals and once both projects didn't fall through and the beauty was that it was a Top 5 American diverse city for 200+ years, it became even less enticing to stay in the relationship and we had to separate and it may be a divorce once I leave this country. This isn't to say that Philadelphia isn't an interesting city, but the fact of the matter is that it becomes a lot tougher to stay in this city not just because of skyscrapers, but the quality of life is skyrocketing, food costs are rising, and although the city is infilling at a rapid pace, what makes Philadelphia is slowly being whitewashed into mediocrity.
As a mid 20s individual from West Philly. I am leaving Philly for the suburbs of Texas.
The city has gotten outta control, its poorly ran and no longer safe, the school district sucks, Walnut St is almost dead. The only thing we have left are restaurants. Also, wanting to further my career, the job market here just isn't cutting it right now. I want room to explore more options and I see more variety in other places.
Ive felt very stagnant here and the kind of living Im looking for isn't offered here. Im not interested in Row home living, I grew up in one and I would like more space.
TX has exactly what im looking for which is walkability, nice sized affordable homes, community events and trails/places to walk, nice and friendly people and a better young professional scene.
TX has exactly what im looking for which is walkability, nice sized affordable homes, community events and trails/places to walk, nice and friendly people and a better young professional scene.
^ lol this might be one of the most weird fake realtor ads I have seen on here. Are you Jenny Becker the lady listing the house?
^ lol this might be one of the most weird fake realtor ads I have seen on here. Are you Jenny Becker the lady listing the house?
Like, are we supposed to believe that a first-time 21 year old poster from West Philly cares that a few high-end stores on Walnut street shut down? Okay....
I'm gonna say something that might be controversial amongst some of Philly boosters. I don't really care that Walnut lost some high-end retail. It sucks but the city's retail mix has improved drastically in the past couple of years in terms of actual livability. Target and grocery stores have doubled down and then some. I'd much rather have a Target (and I have two within easy walking distance!) and a bunch of grocery stores than one Tiffanys.
And BTW, I was in Uniqlo and H&M this weekend. Both stores had lines weaving their way through the aisles. Sales have to be crazy right now. I don't really care about the high end stuff but I admit I would be upset if H&M or Uniqlo closed given both stores make up most of my clothing. And I guarantee neither one of them is going away completely.
Like, are we supposed to believe that a first-time 21 year old poster from West Philly cares that a few high-end stores on Walnut street shut down? Okay....
I'm gonna say something that might be controversial amongst some of Philly boosters. I don't really care that Walnut lost some high-end retail. It sucks but the city's retail mix has improved drastically in the past couple of years in terms of actual livability. Target and grocery stores have doubled down and then some. I'd much rather have a Target (and I have two within easy walking distance!) and a bunch of grocery stores than one Tiffanys.
And BTW, I was in Uniqlo and H&M this weekend. Both stores had lines weaving their way through the aisles. Sales have to be crazy right now. I don't really care about the high end stuff but I admit I would be upset if H&M or Uniqlo closed given both stores make up most of my clothing. And I guarantee neither one of them is going away completely.
While I am still a booster for higher-end retail options, your post makes good sense, AND I find it odd that this "new" poster would point out Walnut Streets lack of options as a reason to leave Philadelphia, especially since they are locating to a "Texas suburb". I have visited every major city in Texas, and none of them offer a wide array of shopping. Yes, there are high-end options OUTSIDE of Dallas, and the Galleria in Houston, but that is no different than KoP. None of them have anything like 5th Avenue, Michigan Avenue or Newbury Street, or even Walnut Street (pre-Covid).
The job market can vary between each city, especially depending on the sector, but I wouldn't s*** on Philadelphia because there is a better option in Texas.
And the most laughable part is lauding Texas for its walk-ability.
That entire post appears fishy and actually kinda pathetic.
Like, are we supposed to believe that a first-time 21 year old poster from West Philly cares that a few high-end stores on Walnut street shut down? Okay....
I'm gonna say something that might be controversial amongst some of Philly boosters. I don't really care that Walnut lost some high-end retail. It sucks but the city's retail mix has improved drastically in the past couple of years in terms of actual livability. Target and grocery stores have doubled down and then some. I'd much rather have a Target (and I have two within easy walking distance!) and a bunch of grocery stores than one Tiffanys.
And BTW, I was in Uniqlo and H&M this weekend. Both stores had lines weaving their way through the aisles. Sales have to be crazy right now. I don't really care about the high end stuff but I admit I would be upset if H&M or Uniqlo closed given both stores make up most of my clothing. And I guarantee neither one of them is going away completely.
FWIW, Tiffany's didn't close, it moved to the 1800 block. It now occupies what used to be Zara. It probably didn't need all the space it had.
I don't really care if it's high-end, middlebrow or low-end, empty retail spaces send a bad signal to the public and other would-be retailers. The number of those on Walnut has grown of late. Chestnut, thankfully, not so much.
Uniqlo is cool, and like Target, its appeal extends well into the more affluent precincts. I refer to H&M as "the Ikea of fashion" (both chains originated in Sweden), and I find its clothing a little too young for my taste.
I guess I'd pull out the worry beads if the mid-market and off-price stores shuttered too, but I don't want to see the high-end retail disappear completely either.
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