Philadelphia Perception (Been there vs Not) (York, Bryn Mawr: crime rates, houses, neighborhoods)

[kidphilly]

Well as you can tell I am from Philly and honestly love it, but am partial and this is where my roots are.

To that end I travel often and love to explore new cities. Why for a city of it's size/history/culture/vibrancy does Philly get such a bad wrap. Please lets go beyond the NY/DC comparison.

Mainly I am curious to differentiate between peoples perceptions who actually visited versus those that did not.

And I am not really looking to say it is better or worse than anywhere.

I have my favorites because of what I like but typically find good aspects on most anywhere I have traveled (well one bad experience at the Houston Galleria - please do not try to walk accross the street, not sure people were expecting a pedestrian so I will chalk that up to a learning experience)

Thanks!

[MechanicalSoft]

What do you mean it gets a bad wrap exactly? I've only driven through Philly once and didn't get off the freeway, so I'll say I've not been there but my perception is very positive. My perception is that due to its history and age, Philadelphia is vibrant and very rich in character.

[savraliv]

I went to Philly when I was in High School with my dad and loved it. I had wished I went with friends, or was 21, but I seriously would move there just based on the vibe I got from it. I honestly know next to nothing about the city, but we stayed in this cute little boat-like house and I'd just walk down the streets to see what was there. I liked the record stores, the coffeeshops, the quaint brick streets, and I even saw this experimental theatre performance that ilterally blew me away. It seems somewhat gritty, which I like. I was there for St. Patrick's day and the bar scene seemed awesome downtown. After getting turned down by many places, we finally found an awesome Irish owner that let me in and drink some ale. Great food in general, and the farmer's market was spectacular. So, yeah, thumbs up from me.

[Iconographer]

I think it's a great place to visit, and full of great neighborhoods. Eastern PA is gorgeous, on top of that.

[robbobobbo]

DC area resident here.

I have been to Philly 3 times. I realize all big cities have their good parts and bad parts, and depending on what you see can influence your perception of a place. Unfortunately, my experiences in Philly left me with less than a positive view, but I know my experiences don't mean all of the city is this way and I don't write off all of Philly just from what I saw.

First time (20-some years ago), and went into Philly to perform at Club Revival, near Independence Hall. Wasn't there long, one impression was how many abandoned cars there were on the highway, which you don't see along 95 in DC or Baltimore. Even saw people ripping parts off of abandoned cars. Had a good time while there, though.

Second time (1990s) went to a friend's wedding. Not sure what part of Philly we went to, it was at some country club, but we had to drive through parts of town where trash cans set out by the street were knocked over, trash in the streets, and lots of boarded up row houses. This brought to mind the term "Filthadelphia" which I had heard before.

Third time (2005), went to visit someone near Bryn Mawr, then drove down 30 into the city to get onto 95 to come home. Drove by blocks of restaurants, people hanging out, generally a positive vibe. An ok impression, just nothing special to make me want to go back and check it out more.

My sister has visited Philadelphia specifically for tourism, has stayed in the city, and she really likes it.

[machiavelli1]

Philly is pretty cool I guess... I always had fun visiting

[DeaconJ]

Philly was okay the one time I visited...I had a nice time there. The negative perceptions that I have developed since then have all come from the bad attitudes of some Philly posters on city-data and other sites like it.

[jayp1188]

I personally love Philly. One of my favorite cities. It is just a fun place to be, and it has so much to offer. Also, it has some of the best urban neighborhoods in this country.

[PhillytoCincy]

It will always be home. Philly is a hard city to beat. It has so many qualities. It often gets over looked because of New York of D.C. being so close. People always comment on how dirty it is and the crime. But what big city does not have these problems?

[bryson662001]

I don't understand how the urban myth about crime ever got started. The 1st question always seems to be is it safe? Many cities have higher crime rates then Philly and there always were but they aren't known 1st for their crime problems. How many people about to visit Las Vegas ask "where is it safe to go" but LV is one of the many cities that has more crime than Philly. To me it is one of the mysterys of life.