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Center City has been improving every season for the past 10 years, it gets better and better. More people shopping, dining, sightseeing etc. Come springtime if you blindfolded a person who has never been to the east coast and dropped them off on Walnut Street, when you took the blindfold off them and ask them where they are, I'll bet 90% would say Manhattan. Its incredible to see the amount of people walking the streets, the vibrancy of center city is just tremendous.
Its exciting to see Center Citys renaissance and I try to keep a positive focus on the good things that are happening, but I understand that there are huge issues that this city is having trouble dealing with.
Most of the people who 'write off' the city on this forum don't live in the city. Also, most of the people on this forum are extremely paranoid and illogical about crime. (Newsflash: your kid is more likely to die in a car crash in suburbia than by the hand of a criminal in the city).
Location: New Holland, PA (20 minutes from lancaster)
71 posts, read 353,908 times
Reputation: 32
the question shouldn't be does anyone love philadelphia, it should be why are the negative people so loud-mouthed. i live in lancaster county and either you love philadelphia or you hate. i am in love w/philadelphia. i travel to philadelphia often, and i have been to the ghetto. someparts are bad and filled with crime, but that's the name of the game. the people that live there are the ones who decide if their neighboorhood is good or bad. since the 70s, philadelphia changed the face of it's skyline and restored center city, and now center city is probably a mini manhattan. south philly has changed and is now a big time tourist attraction. population decline has been a problem, but here are some cities that have had declining issuse for over a decade; san francisco, chicago, pittsburgh, boston, milwaukee, new york city, baltimore, memphis, atlanta, portland and seattle are just a couple of the major cities that have had population problems. since 1990 population decline has slowed up, upper class condominiums have been built and the government has been making more money. this is creating new jobs, hence the 975ft. comcast skyscraper being bulit in downtown philadelphia. so is philadelphia really that bad or are you just another doomsday sayer.
Most of the people who 'write off' the city on this forum don't live in the city. Also, most of the people on this forum are extremely paranoid and illogical about crime. (Newsflash: your kid is more likely to die in a car crash in suburbia than by the hand of a criminal in the city).
I live in the city (Roxborough/Manayunk); have all my life. Those that are pumping up Philly on this forum are the ones that don't live here. They keep talking about how the city is a great "tourist attraction" but they have no clue what it's like to LIVE here. There's a reason they don't live here.
Last edited by MoonlightMadness; 02-12-2007 at 11:16 AM..
the question shouldn't be does anyone love philadelphia, it should be why are the negative people so loud-mouthed. i live in lancaster county and either you love philadelphia or you hate. i am in love w/philadelphia. i travel to philadelphia often, and i have been to the ghetto. someparts are bad and filled with crime, but that's the name of the game. the people that live there are the ones who decide if their neighboorhood is good or bad. since the 70s, philadelphia changed the face of it's skyline and restored center city, and now center city is probably a mini manhattan. south philly has changed and is now a big time tourist attraction. population decline has been a problem, but here are some cities that have had declining issuse for over a decade; san francisco, chicago, pittsburgh, boston, milwaukee, new york city, baltimore, memphis, atlanta, portland and seattle are just a couple of the major cities that have had population problems. since 1990 population decline has slowed up, upper class condominiums have been built and the government has been making more money. this is creating new jobs, hence the 975ft. comcast skyscraper being bulit in downtown philadelphia. so is philadelphia really that bad or are you just another doomsday sayer.
Come LIVE here. It's a whole different story. The gov. says it is broke. Services (& jobs) are being cut. As for the gov. making money off those condos, they won't see anything for 10 years after those condos go up b/c of tax abatements. Who knows where this city will be in 10 yrs.? Will those owners want to stay in the city after they get hit with their first tax bill? Will anyone want to buy into those places when they see the taxes due on them? Or will those buildings end up empty - a bust? Ten years will tell. As for Comcast, they got big tax breaks just so they would stay in the city. Otherwise the city would have lost more jobs. As for the neighbors deciding whether their neighborhood is good or bad, we try our darndest to clean our neighborhoods up. But it doesn't help when the gov. and police won't back up our efforts. NO ONE WANTS TO LIVE LIKE THAT. That's why those that can leave, do. The rest of us hope that if we are loud enough, maybe others will hear us and force change on a corrupt gov. that won't change. I"m not a domsday sayer, just telling it like it is.
Last edited by MoonlightMadness; 02-12-2007 at 10:33 AM..
Reason: spelling
Philly can be a great place to live... if you have the $$$
I believe that if you're in a middle-to-upper-income household, Philly is a better value than other major Northeastern cities like New York, Boston and DC.
Center City's housing success has spilled over into other surrounding neighborhoods like Northern Liberties, Fishtown and Brewerytown that some people wouldn't have considered living in as recently as ten years ago. Penn's employee incentives set the stage for nearby University City's comeback. It doesn't hurt that both Center City and University City were able to convince neighborhood business to fund Special Improvement Districts.
Other neighborhoods such as Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy (west and east) and and East Falls to the Northwest; lower South Philly and the Far Northeast have always been stable communities to my knowledge. And even though there seems to be some concern on this forum about Manayunk, it's certainly a more fun and interesting place to visit than it was 20-25 years ago.
Unfortunately, the flipside of this gentrification is that it makes life tougher for the lower-to-working class Philadelphian. Rising rent or property taxes would be pushing you out of the neighborhoods listed above, if you could ever afford to live in any of them at all. Also, despite all the condo conversions, the Cira Center and the impending Comcast tower, most jobs are being created in office parks out on the Main Line, in Blue Bell, Horsham and especially in King of Prussia. If you're one of the significant number of city residents who don't own a car because of - or in spite of - the SEPTA transit system and high car insurance rates, then trekking out to these job centers is difficult if not impossible. Even if you wanted to live closer, the asking price may be out of your reach.
And then there's the crime problem. While an above-average incidence of violent crime is an unfortunate reality in larger cities, the recent surge in Philly has received a lot of local and national press. However, it's my understanding that little to none of it is happening in the "successful" communities. Unfortunately, many of the more challenged neighborhoods are dealing with the fallout.
My mother taught for over twenty years ago at what was once considered one of the best high schools in the city. In that time, the social and physical infrastructure of the school each began to crumble. When she retired two years, it didn't seem to come a moment too soon for her. Despite what I consider to be an honest effort by School Commissioner Paul Vallas to make improvements, there is still a lot of competition to get into the relatively few schools that are considered to have positive reputations. Ironically, we have what is arguably the best concentration of colleges and universities in the country. (No disrespect to Boston Common.)
I lived in and around Philadelphia for thirtysomething years, I'm a loyal sports fan and I always enjoy my visits home. However, I did feel compelled to leave town a couple years ago. While the desire to deepen a relationship had something to do with it, I also wanted a better chance to further my career that, sadly, I did not feel I could to here... at least not within the city limits. I had no desire to trek out from what was then my University City home to King of Prussia and such.
I'm no politician but I think perhaps part of the solution would be to continue to lower the wage and business privilege taxes. I believe that would encourage businesses to make or maintain a home and the city and take advantage of the Generation X and Y -aged workforce. Of course, I'm conscious of the pain it may cause in challenged neighborhoods in terms of reduced services. I don't know how to solve that problem but, even though I considered myself a social progressive, I think there's probably more room for fiscal discipline in city government.
I actually voted for Republican Sam Katz in the last mayoral election because I felt he was at least socially moderate while interested in bringing jobs into the city. As an African-American male, Mayor Street's infamous quote makes me want to paraphrase Chris Rock's comedy routine about OJ Simpson: "I'm not saying he should have said it... but I understand."
What the nation discovered over the last six years, Philadelphians could have told them about beforehand: one-party rule is not beneficial in the long haul. I believe it's good to keep a significant enough minority of one party to keep the majority party honest.
OK, that's enough of my spiel! LOL I found this site thanks to someone in a travel advice site who was getting tired of people asking relocation questions. I have a geographically curious mind so it's been interesting to learn about different places... but I felt compelled to defend, albeit with a dose of reality, what I feel are the successes and challenges of Philadelphia.
Over the past few days I've been missing Philadelphia, though I lived there for just under a year. So I went surfing to see what people were saying. And I found this.
Philly's got its problems, no doubt. When I first moved there just over a year ago I couldn't believe the disrepair. For full disclosure, I'm Canadian, which means that I'm prejudicial towards America in general. And Philadelphia seemed to outdo itself in that respect. Never had I seen the poverty, the racism, the crime, and the downright uncivic attitude, particularly of those who lived in the suburbs surrounding the city, but benefited from the employment they found because of the metropolis.
But over time I came to realise that the sadness and despair I found was not the whole story. The coin-op laundry on 51st and Walnut was where I began to understand this, since that's where I had most of my contact with native Philadelphians. You can interact with people in Philadelphia more than any other city I've been to in NA. However much you sometimes hate each other, you still live together, and that makes you a city and a people. Divided, yes. Stupidly suspicious of each other sometimes, yes. Rude, hey I'm just sayin' . . . . But you're real. All you've got to do is spend some time in southern California or rural Indiana (no insult intended) to realise what you've got: a real city.
And I miss that real city. I think to myself what I would do if I came back. Work for more community gardens. Get out my broom and cause a scene, maybe sweep some trash from Oxford and 25th down into Center City. I would do those things, because I care. But I'm gone after only a few months. So please, for me, do a favour for your, once my, let's say 'our city.' MOVE SOMETHING!
I've lived and worked in this town for 48 years. I work for SEPTA as bus transportation manager. I know every neighborhood in and out. Yup, I do LOVE this city...but it's ingrained into my gritty Philly mentality. Philly is a tough sell for sure. Hot and humid in the summer. Short springs. Long falls and down right ugly in the winter. "Entertaining" city government. Surly cops, gruff Center-City workers and a waterfront that just can't seem to get anywhere. BUT, the people are the BEST!
I've lived and worked in this town for 48 years. I work for SEPTA as bus transportation manager. I know every neighborhood in and out. Yup, I do LOVE this city...but it's ingrained into my gritty Philly mentality. Philly is a tough sell for sure. Hot and humid in the summer. Short springs. Long falls and down right ugly in the winter. "Entertaining" city government. Surly cops, gruff Center-City workers and a waterfront that just can't seem to get anywhere. BUT, the people are the BEST!
Sure I'm biased. But I do LOVE Philly.
You make some good points phase 4 but I think you are selling the better parts of the city way short. Its not all gritty. This is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the usa.Center City isn't such a tough sell anymore, there is a great lifestyle going downtown and in the surrunding neighborhoods. You do need a little bit of money to enjoy it but thats what makes cities great.Its not all grit and gruff.
I would like to see the city jumpstart dreadful Market East and then I think Philadlephia turns another corner
Over the past few days I've been missing Philadelphia, though I lived there for just under a year. So I went surfing to see what people were saying. And I found this.
Philly's got its problems, no doubt. When I first moved there just over a year ago I couldn't believe the disrepair. For full disclosure, I'm Canadian, which means that I'm prejudicial towards America in general. And Philadelphia seemed to outdo itself in that respect. Never had I seen the poverty, the racism, the crime, and the downright uncivic attitude, particularly of those who lived in the suburbs surrounding the city, but benefited from the employment they found because of the metropolis.
But over time I came to realise that the sadness and despair I found was not the whole story. The coin-op laundry on 51st and Walnut was where I began to understand this, since that's where I had most of my contact with native Philadelphians. You can interact with people in Philadelphia more than any other city I've been to in NA. However much you sometimes hate each other, you still live together, and that makes you a city and a people. Divided, yes. Stupidly suspicious of each other sometimes, yes. Rude, hey I'm just sayin' . . . . But you're real. All you've got to do is spend some time in southern California or rural Indiana (no insult intended) to realise what you've got: a real city.
And I miss that real city. I think to myself what I would do if I came back. Work for more community gardens. Get out my broom and cause a scene, maybe sweep some trash from Oxford and 25th down into Center City. I would do those things, because I care. But I'm gone after only a few months. So please, for me, do a favour for your, once my, let's say 'our city.' MOVE SOMETHING!
Why did you move to philly. I lived there for years. I wanted to move to toronto cause of all the problems philly had, but wanted a real city. Toronto seemed too expensive though. Dunno if I can go now as funds suck
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Philly can be a great place to live... if you have the $$$
LOL I found this site thanks to someone in a travel advice site who was getting tired of people asking relocation questions. I have a geographically curious mind so it's been interesting to learn about different places... but I felt compelled to defend, albeit with a dose of reality, what I feel are the successes and challenges of Philadelphia. 
