Philadelphia Revisited

There were a few things I liked about Philly when I visited it before my travels last summer. One of those things was the local color – as in: people. /Pauses, thinks about how that sounded./ As in: people with vibrant personalities. It made me LOL when drivers would lean out their windows and yell “stoopit!” at people blocking traffic. I liked how the men seemed to check me out just a little, and women would eye the men as well. Nothing creepy, just... a healthy interest in members of the opposite sex.

Easy to look at.

Another thing I liked was the physical surroundings. Downtown, especially, has some nice buildings and a decent amount of parks for sitting and people watching. The historical districts add to the beauty of the town as well. I could see myself living downtown and being pleased with what I saw as I walked to work every day.

The oldest residential street in Philly.

Having said that, there are some downsides to both of these factors. While I appreciate a populace that's not afraid to speak (or yell) its mind, it could get wearying listening to profanity everywhere. I might be embarrassed when people came to visit. It might make me feel negative, which I don't like feeling. (Despite me having a generally pessimistic view on a lot of things in life, I always find myself pleasantly surprised when life exceeds my expectations. Genuine meanness and coarseness really wears me down, though.)

Also hurting Philly on the friendliness assessment is that I don't know anyone at all in the city. Now, two of my closest friends grew up in the outer suburbs, and still go back home fairly regularly, so I could see them sometimes. But that's different from having friends already living there to show me around and advise me on stuff. I would be able to get to DC on a very easy and short train ride, but getting to Cleveland to see my parents would almost certainly require a flight.

Philadelphia at night.

And while downtown Philly is pretty nice, it's surrounded by a giant ring of ugly. Now, maybe in the heyday of Philadelphia, the parts of the city that were just outside of downtown might have ranged from very glamorous to charming to at least acceptably attractive. Now, though, the whole inner ring around downtown needs a bath and a serious spring cleaning. Which is too bad, as living a mile or two from downtown might provide the kind of home I'd otherwise like. But not if I'm in the midst of a heap of garbage (or worse, just a plain old bad part of town). I've spent some time in a few suburbs of Philly. Enough to know there are plenty of nice and attractive, and in some cases, older and architecturally interesting suburban neighborhoods. But at this point in my life, those are too far away from where I'd probably want to be.

Is this the norm, or is it garbage day?  I do not know.

Geographically, Philly doesn't stand out to me as particularly interesting. Its main perk is that it is only 1.5 hours to the ocean (which isn't all that close). Otherwise, it's flat and has a river.

Things I think I'd like about Philly:

• Wide variety of dining options. I've eaten out a lot in Philly, and liked almost everything. Many places have free live entertainment (music). Many restaurants are BYOB, with no corking fees. That means I can bring my $10 bottle of wine instead of paying $25 for the same bottle! (I forget why this is, by the way. Something about liquor laws, I think.)
• I sense a genuineness about the people who live there. Not a lot of putting on airs. I wouldn't say I found the people “friendly” like they are in the midwest. But I also think people would be frank and open; not overly reserved or fake friendly. I think I would meet people fairly easily.
• It's one of the few cities in the U.S. with older architecture. As in, pre-Revolutionary War. As you know, I like old buildings and ruins and graveyards, and there just aren't that many in the U.S. I could see myself going for walks or jogs through the old neighborhoods, and possibly living there as well, finances permitting.

Philly's Vietnam War Memorial (I think).

Things I think I would not like about Philly:

• While parts of Philly look really nice and would probably make a good home, a huge swath of the city just looks like a big dump.
• The sports fans. They are notoriously obnoxious. :(
• I think I'd always wonder why I traded one big East Coast city (DC) for an even bigger East Coast city. Only, one where I didn't know anyone, would have a hard time finding a job in my field, might not value education as much, and might not have as much stuff to do. As I went through times in my life where I wasn't as happy about something (say, lack of a job, or being ill, or just being in the doldrums) I think I'd grow to dislike my surroundings and more, dislike myself for not trying something different. This isn't really meant to be a knock on Philly. More of some speculation that, for what I'm hoping to do with myself at this point in life, Philly probably isn't the best move for me.

  

  The Eastern State Penitentiary.  Real cool to visit; wouldn't want to feel like I'm living there.