Philadelphia

Before starting my trip, I picked Philadelphia as one of the cities that I would spend time in with an eye towards moving there.  Unlike the other cities on my list, I'd been to Philly before.  Twice in fact, once for a long weekend downtown and once for a weekend split between downtown and the northern suburbs.  So on this stop I felt less pressure to see everything because I already knew I basically liked the city.

Downtown Philadelphia

I'll cut to the chase and say that, I still liked Philadelphia, and if life forced me to live there, I could do so and I think it would be fine.  But it didn't call to me the way some other places have/do.  Here's the rundown:

Like with Des Moines, I had a vague plan about how I'd see the city.  I started at the main branch of the public library to read local papers and browse housing and job ads.  I avoided touristy stuff, or any place I wouldn't attend on a more than infrequent basis (like the symphony, the art museum, etc.)  (Besides, I've seen those already.)  I spent several hours wandering around downtown (where I'd most likely want to live) and driving around more distant residential neighborhoods.

On this visit, I split my nights between the New Jersey suburbs, where I stayed with a friend's family, and downtown, where I stayed at a hotel.  The suburbs were nicer than I expected (I didn't expect anything terrible, just less interesting than what I actually got) and they gave me a chance to ride some of Philly's public transportation.  I took some sort of suburban light rail, then a Camden subway into the city.  Neither is connected to Philly's main subway system (that I could tell, at least) so Philly has some integration to do to make commutes faster and easier.  (Philly is not the only city that needs to better blend its various public transportation systems, so I'm not specifically knocking Philly.  *cough* DC *cough*)

Philly's newest building (I think).

I already knew Philly had good food -- one of the reasons I liked it -- but I tried a few more places in various parts of town and liked them all.  Sushi, pizza, a dingy bar that offered reasonably priced beer, and some healthy-leaning cafe.  Oh, and I had my first cheesesteak sandwich.  I still don't know what cheese is supposed to be on cheesesteaks (I've been told different things) but I discovered I like mine with Cheese Wiz.  If this is the wrong preference, you can let me have it in the comments section.  :P

So what else did I like about Philly?  It has character.  Like the interesting architecture, and the city's love of Ben Franklin and William Penn.  I think most people who live there grew up there.  And drivers who yell "stoopit!" when cars pause in front of them for too long.  (To me, that would be charming while I felt like a visitor, then would feel ugly once I felt like Philadelphia was my home.)  Philly is old and has a lot of history, and there is a lot of culture.  Art, live music of all varieties, dance, museums.  There are colleges.  There are sports teams, which are of minor importance to me, but I count them as a plus.  (Although from what I gather, Philly sports fans have a very bad reputation.)  Living downtown would probably be really cool, and there are several neighborhoods to choose from.  Philly's not as stuck-up or pretentious as some cities, which are vibes that annoy me about some other places I've been.

A fantastic mural on a building in downtown Philly.

What didn't I like?  Living anywhere other than downtown would stink.  Either because the home would be in the inner ring, which is affordable but is pretty much one giant hood that completely circles downtown (I drove through a random selection of neighborhoods, and indeed the entire ring around the city center was run down and shabby).  Or I'd be way out in a suburb, and that would slowly kill me from the commute to work (assuming my job would be downtown, of course, but it probably would) and possibly from frustration with not being able to walk anywhere.  Philly is cheaper than DC, but not that much cheaper, especially for the nice parts of town.  And it's neither as big or as crowded/traffic'd as DC, but it's still a big city with too many people in it.  So if I'm going to deal with big city crowds and expense anyway, I might as well stick to a city that already has my friends in it, right?

I would gladly visit Philadelphia again.  All of the museums and bars and cultural events make it a fun place to be for a few days.  And like I said, if live took me there for some reason, I think I would fit in OK.  But when the time comes for me to choose where to look for a job and a place to live, I doubt Philly will be on my short list.  Sorry Philly!  I still like you, I just don't like you like you.

A colonial-era cemetery.  Its gravestones are not like those in the  northern cemeteries from the same era.