"Philadelphians occasionally refer to their city - somewhat deprecatingly - as the "sixth borough" of New York, and with almost 8,000 commuters making the 75-minute train ride between the cities each weekday, the label seems not far off the mark. But Mr. Kreslins and Ms. Gaeta are a new breed of Philadelphia-bound commuters, those who come from New York by train or the popular Chinatown bus for a weekend and then come back, with a U-Haul, to stay."
--"Philadelphia Story." The New York Times 14 August 2005, accessible here.
It might be a dream, but the article talks about $800/month rent with utilities included right on Rittenhouse Square--one of Philadelphia's nicest and most "European" neighborhoods in a city known for being the blue collar middle man between ego-happy NY and DC. We don't even have a two letter shorthand name? PH? PHL maybe, if people do airport lingo...
Even though NY is not that far away (90 minutes), Philly has always been the closet thing to a home city I have as I live in the exurbs 25 minutes away (towards the NY direction). Still, it's taken me until my 21st or 22nd year to really fully discover the city outside the musuem belt on the Ben Franklin Parkway and a few odd sports games or jaunts out to the beautiful Fairmount Park. I've certainly seen more beauitufl, cleaner, and healthier cities, but Philly definitely has a gritty charm about it, and anyone that denies its historical or cultural legacy....well they haven't been reading their history books or ever wandered through the city.
Do I want to call it a long term home? Most likely not, I can't stand the weather for one. But I can see why the vibrant urban set is flocking Philly's way, because in the age of jets and fast trains, everything is *very* accessible, NY, Boston, DC, the Shore.... and the nightlife, music scene (both formal and clubby), restaraunt scene, and musuems are some of the nation's best. Add the green and rolling Pennsylvania foothills of the Mainline and ring suburbs, and you've got a rather nice location. The colonial flavor of old city with the urban-global mindset of center city's steel spires, crossed with a bustling bio-tech, high tech, and vaunted educational corridor.... and the city has a bit of energy to it. I'm glad to have spent my years here and finally discovered the charms of the Italian Market, Chinatown, the Reading Terminal Market, Old City, Rittenhouse Row, and Society Hill, among other areas and attractions. It's a rude, in your face city that doesn't try very hard to disguise it's mostly blue collar roots, but there is a definite tinge of high society and "class" as well, all for a fairly complex, not too arrogant fast paced East Coast lifestyle.
Quite interesting.
1 year ago
2 comments:
Well said.
Might I add that Philadelphia (while it has more than its share of municipal corruption), is a model for cities nation-wide in a couple of areas, one of them being caring for the poor and homeless. If I find the article from the Washington Post, I'll pass it along to you; it shows that a city much larger than DC can effectively care for its homeless.
Although it has a biggerr homeless, unemployed, and crime problems than NYC....which is rather larger. Still, good that it is a model for at least treating the wound even if it is not cured. And it might be worse in homelessness, but I don't know if some of the South Bronx buildings really qualify as homes anyway.
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