10 Reasons Why Pittsburgh is Better than Philadelphia (York: crimes, neighborhoods)

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by pman

Tower records is long gone and the stations are no longer filthy, they've been cleaning them regularly since approximately 2008 when the new CEO took over. occasionally the stairwells will smell but i don't think you can say the stations themselves are dirty anymore. I really can't say I've ever noticed cleanser on broad st.
unfortunately Philadelphia, like NY,has steel wheeled subways and they're loud. newer systems can use rubber wheeled vehicles to cut noise...otoh, I don't think I'd trade subway service for the incredibly slow T. I'd rather see noisy spine line than the T, IMO.

IDK, I've found most of the MFL stations to be incredibly dirty. The BSL isn't as bad.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by pman

Tower records is long gone and the stations are no longer filthy, they've been cleaning them regularly since approximately 2008 when the new CEO took over. occasionally the stairwells will smell but i don't think you can say the stations themselves are dirty anymore. I really can't say I've ever noticed cleanser on broad st.
unfortunately Philadelphia, like NY,has steel wheeled subways and they're loud. newer systems can use rubber wheeled vehicles to cut noise...otoh, I don't think I'd trade subway service for the incredibly slow T. I'd rather see noisy spine line than the T, IMO.

Of course, Tower and Borders have both closed down, so I'm not sure when I last gave my regards to Broad Street (if I had to guess, it'd be 2007 or 2008), but again, if they've cleaned up (without stinking up Broad Street), excellent.

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

IDK, I've found most of the MFL stations to be incredibly dirty. The BSL isn't as bad.

MFL?

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by jay5835

MFL?

Market Frankford Line.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

Hahaha but it gets you to where you need to go. On the upside, it does get you there.

Originally Posted by pman

so you think that Philadelphia should replace its subways with buses because they're noisy? they're a lot cleaner than they used to be. the el is sometimes dirty but it's very rare the bsl is particularly dirty.

But then again.....Riding Philadelphia's subway at night..hmmmm...lets just say I'll take a Pittsburgh bus over it, you stand a better chance of getting home alive. And now I'm hearing even the Market Frankford EL has become the Wild Wild West @ Night, that used to be immuned from the violence you found on the Broad-Street Subway. The latest I heard was a Shooting on the EL @ 56th from a couple of kid arguing and a woman getting pushed onto the track of the 8th/Market subway station in Chinatown.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

But then again.....Riding Philadelphia's subway at night..hmmmm...lets just say I'll take a Pittsburgh bus over it, you stand a better chance of getting home alive. And now I'm hearing even the Market Frankford EL has become the Wild Wild West @ Night, that used to be immuned from the violence you found on the Broad-Street Subway.

Proof you haven't lived in Phily for a while. The MFL is fine after the evening rush hour and/or dark if you're in a small group S-H, and on Fridays and Saturdays there's enough of a crowd that you can go it alone. Just don't go too far past 40th or above NoLibs (there isn't much reason to anyway). The BSL I haven't taken much at night, but from what I know, it doesn't get too dicey until you're above Temple.

[Debbie1125]

I would rather take a bus, even though it takes longer, than the Broad Street subway. Also, many of SEPTA's commuter rail lines stop at Temple and North Broad.

The BSL isn't as bad as it used to be but I still wouldn't take my chances.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

Proof you haven't lived in Phily for a while. The MFL is fine after the evening rush hour and/or dark if you're in a small group S-H, and on Fridays and Saturdays there's enough of a crowd that you can go it alone. The BSL I haven't taken much at night, but from what I know, it doesn't get too dicey until you're above Temple.

Really! This is what you call Fine in the evening?...

No Thanks! I want a trip home not the ER

Again this was in Chinatown, below Temple

SMDH

I don't need to live in Philly to know what's going on, and I get back to Philly probably twice a month, so it's almost like I never left. One thing I love about Philly it nice and close to my current residence of NYC so it commutable.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

Really! This is what you call Fine in the evening?...

No Thanks! I want a trip home not the ER

Again this was in Chinatown, below Temple

SMDH

I don't need to live in Philly to know what's going on, and I get back to Philly probably twice a month, so it's almost like I never left. One thing I love about Philly it nice and close to my current residence of NYC so it commutable.

I didn't say violence never happened, but it's still pretty uncommon. I'm a medium-sized, thoroughly unintimidating white male who has never had an issue. Exercise common sense and you're fine. It's probably good the trains stop running after midnight though. Otherwise I could see there being a lot of chaos on the weekends.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

I didn't say violence never happened, but it's still pretty uncommon. I'm a medium-sized, thoroughly unintimidating white male who has never had an issue. Exercise common sense and you're fine. It's probably good the trains stop running after midnight though. Otherwise I could see there being a lot of chaos on the weekends.

Right now...until recently the EL was pretty immune from the Violence that takes place on the Subway. But now I'm starting to wonder, with this shooting and the random mob flashes a year ago with a bunch of ghetto kids beating up a elderly man at 13th Street.

Is the EL starting to suffer the same fate as that the Broad Street Subway with these random acts of Violence, at least at night? As petite light skin AA female, I can tell you that taking the Subway after dark was a NO NO in my book from the time I lived in Philly, but I would still have no problem with the EL....Now I won't take either after 8pm.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

Right now...until recently the EL was pretty immune from the Violence that takes place on the Subway. But now I'm starting to wonder, with this shooting and the random mob flashes a year ago with a bunch of ghetto kids beating up a elderly man at 13th Street.

Is the EL starting to suffer the same fate as that the Broad Street Subway with these random acts of Violence, at least at night? As petite light skin AA female, I can tell you that taking the Subway after dark was a NO NO in my book from the time I lived in Philly, but I would still have no problem with the EL....Now I won't take either after 8pm.

There's no doubt that Philly had (and continues to have) a significant crime problem, which has spiked in the past couple years (as it has across the nation). I agree that either of us going alone would not be the best idea, but if you're in a group, people will leave you alone. It's like anything else in life. You can live in perpetual anxiety, be incredibly brave but stupid, or take a middle ground approach and exercise appropriate precautions without living your whole life cowering under your bed. The nice thing is that Philly is an extremely walkable city below the fall line and I usually prefer getting fresh air and exercise. But sometimes I do take the subway, and it's really no biggie.

The one thing I won't do is take the MFL out to Millbourne for bowling league every week, especially coming back at midnight. Plenty of my fellow pampered Penn Law students do so and there's never been an incident, but I draw the line past the 40s.