<p>JHS, you’re right. I should have specified that I was thinking of the past few years. I hope that 2007 is the year when the murder rate starts to decline. One person per day, or more as it was last year, is not good, regardless of whether or not you know any of the victims. It makes me sad that my old hometown has 406 murders compared to Toronto, where I now live, which is more than twice the size and had 69 murders in 2006. There has to be a solution, I wish someone would start working towards it.</p>
<p>Downtown New Haven is the Green and the surrounding streets: not much more. Still looked better than Walnut Street over Christmas to me; although, maybe I just caught it on a bad night? I cringed because the Four Seasons area is not even clean. Normally my husband and I would be heading to Philly for dinner on our upcoming anniversary, but after seeing the trash in front of Le Bec-Fin, and the roach in the bathroom of the upscale restaurant we went to at Christmas, we’re not even heading in. I’m a city person and at one point even considered retiring with my husband to Philly when the time comes. No longer–unless the next mayor really does something major.</p>
<p>Growing up in Connecticut, Philly always had the rep of being the pits, so I was pleasantly surprised when my husband took a job here in the early '90’s. I took my kids in often and really enjoyed what the city had to offer.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to pick on you, JHS; I’m just kind of angry about the mess Philly has become. As I said, there is no reason for it in my eyes, since it’s a manageable sized city.</p>
<p>P.S. Oh, I see: you think this is all politically motivated, LOL. You couldn’t be more wrong.</p>
<p>Toronto isn’t twice the size of Philadelphia. Toronto’s population is about 2.4 million, and Philadelphia’s 1.6 million. I think that as of the 1990 census they were almost exactly the same size, but Toronto has had a lot of growth and Philadelphia somewhat the opposite. The Philadelphia metropolitan area is still actually a little larger than Toronto’s, population-wise (6 million vs. 5.5 million). But, no question, Toronto feels like a larger, nicer, and safer city.</p>
<p>hereshoping: I didn’t mean “red vs. blue” politics. I did mean “just kind of angry about the mess Philly has become” politics. I’ve been here every day since the mid-80s, and the early 90s was kind of the low point. If you enjoyed it then, there is no reason at all not to enjoy it now, notwithstanding its inept and corrupt leadership.</p>
<p>Such intense feelings. Well, it just goes to show that it is all in the eye of the beholder. I’m compelled to respond in favor of my adopted hometown. Phila. is being touted as the next great city for a reason. Center City has flourished and the combination of baby boomers with wealth and young artistic types opening up businesses, galleries, and entertainment venues has helped. Yes there is a horrific murder rate that occurs primarily due to drug trafficing in specific sections where this has shamefully been a norm for many yrs. However, the up and coming neighborhoods that are peaking or will be such as Old City, Northern Liberties,the Art Museum area and Rittenhouse Square are incredible. As stately mansions get turned into upscale lofts and condos and new modern high rises are being built in droves the downtown area has been revitalized. It may not be as clean as Boston but it looks clean enough to me especially for an urban environment. People that have visited once or gone into the city annually may have hit it on a bad day or ended up in a less than stellar area.</p>
<p>While the waterfront is getting developed Society Hill and Chestnut Hill are alive and well along with countless ethnic neighborhoods. I agree with all these national magazines and see it as a somewhat affordable and manageably sized gem. So get a few theater tickets, stop for green tea and a gallery tour or waltz into any one of the new gourmet shops and you’ll feel the vibrancy. Fairmount Park is the largest urban park system in the US and it’s Wissahickon area is unique with pedestrian walkways, horses, runners, nature lovers and mountain bikers coexisting along an historic creek with waterfalls and covered bridges all inside the city limits. The restored Water Works adjacent to the Art Museum and Boat House Row, such views, has just been turned into a sensational restaurant along the river. As PENN pushes its campus toward the center of town look for more growth and an unbroken line into the center of things. And while you are visiting check out the current King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute. Philly is one of about 3 US cities hosting this once in a lifetime event. Ahhh…there’s my travelogue…</p>
<p>Philly under Street is better managed/maintained/cleaner/safer than Philly was under Rendell? Really? Wherever does that 20% approval rating come from I wonder?</p>
<p>You get the last word, JHS!</p>
<p>Ugh, no. Rendell is one of the best politicians and best public executives I’ve ever seen; he changed my view of what a politician should be. Rendell took office in 1992, and things were pretty bad, and they didn’t turn around overnight. Hence my “the early 90s were a low point”. What I think is that Rendell did such a good job, and effected enough change in the way people did things, that even John Street couldn’t do that much damage. </p>
<p>And Street is a very ambiguous figure – divisive, a practitioner of corrupt politics, but not remotely corrupt personally, and both intelligent and ambitious to do good, albeit sometimes in weird ways. I won’t be sorry to see him go, and he led me to cast some of the few Republican votes I have ever cast (and to donate the only money I have ever given to a Republican candidate), but he hasn’t been nearly as bad as I thought he would be.</p>
<p>(Disclaimer: I am closely related to a political appointee in the Rendell Administration, so you may want to take that into account in assessing my views of him.)</p>
<p>Charles and Camilla particularly wanted to come to Philadelphia, as he is a proponent or innovative urban renewal. Or claims to be. Say what you want about the royal family, but Philadelphia has put significant effort and resources into reviving many of its urban neighborhoods. I for one could stand one less mural – I believe at last count there are more than 2,000 in the city – but the Mural Arts Program has done a tremendous amount of good in bringing together community groups for common purposes. I am involved with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which runs the world-famous Philadelphia Flower Show each March. Personally, the Flower Show is not my thing, though thousands travel here to see it. But the money that it raises is astounding – and the Horticultural Society has done amazing work in terms of greening the city and sponsoring community gardens. Philadelphia was one of a handful of American cities featured in a recent PBS series, “Eden’s: Lost and Found,” which highlighted the work of the Horticultural Society and the Mural Arts Program. </p>
<p>I think it’s pretty surprising that in just one day, a forum used to discuss the college admissions process and brought forth a number of Philadelphia boosters in a discussion that has nothing to do with our amazing educational institutions. For my money (which goes a lot further here than it would in any other major East Coast metropolis), it’s a great city – the sense of history is palpable in many neighborhoods, yet manages to coexist with the vibrant energy of a modern urban environment.</p>
<p>Another city that’s high on my list is Chicago. I used to live there and like most things about it except the winter and the fact that it’s all alone by itself…</p>
<p>Hey, Chicago is only 4 hour from Detroit, and it’s even closer to Gary, Indiana.</p>
<p>Thanks, Tourguide…you made me laugh, pointing out Chicago’s proximity to other “desirable” locales… As a city, I’d always pick Chicago, but you can’t beat Philly’s location. We lived near there for 4 years, and loved being so close to NYC, driving distance to DC, and the historical influence was awesome. Philly has all the “stuff” you expect with a large city, but I always appreciated that it was so manageable (not overwhelming like I always found NYC to be), and the museums and historical sites really give it some unique angles, too. And, a friend of ours would also agree with the gay-friendly descriptions given here, too.</p>
<p>I just found the best website: <a href=“http://www.phillyblog.com%5B/url%5D”>www.phillyblog.com</a>. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Philadelphia will always have a great future and a mediocre (at best) present. It is probably the most poorly managed major city in the country. There is pathetically little cooperation among the various levels of government and many of the local civic organizations. It is true that Philly has great potential, but it almost never misses the opportunity to squander it. For example, while Philly has lots of colleges, it struggles to retain many of its graduates. With a place like Penn in its Center City, you would expect more to stay in town, but unless they were raised locally, they leave in droves for New York and elsewhere. And as for the mindset of the locals, Philly sports fans are ignorant and provincial and proud of it. JHS does have it right in that the city has made great strides in some areas in the past decade, but I’m guessing that Philly will always be a great city…in the future. </p>
<p>Chicago is a great town now. It has had its share of government problems as well but the city is much more vibrant than Philly. Young people are everywhere and the city is fun, fun, fun. Culturally Chicago is more developed and supported by the locals and while it is no longer Second City, it has nowhere near the inferiority complex of Philadelphia. The biggest negative for Chicago is the weather which you already know plenty about. If you can handle that, then Chicago is the better choice.</p>
<p>Sorry, I can’t resist posting this thread about trash in So. Philly (which, in my view, is about as bad in Center City):</p>
<p><a href=“TheUSA.net - America's Internet Site”>TheUSA.net - America's Internet Site;
<p>I have only visited Philadelphia and Chicago as a tourist even though I live less then two hours away from Philadelphia. I like Philadelphia much more, it’s got history, great restaurants, culture and it’s very lively. It has quirky parades and festivals. A friends daughter graduated from St. Joe’s and chose to get a job and live in very nearby Manayunk. As for the sports, my husband has been an Eagles season ticket holder for over 10 years and he’ll tell you that it’s a great sports town too. I’ve been to Chicago half a dozen times and it doesn’t seem nearly as interesting to me.</p>
<p>kathiep:</p>
<p>Not to compare the two cities. I really don’t know much about Philly. I will say, though, that Chicago has great restaurants, stunning cultural attractions, and it seems that rarely a day goes by when some ethnic part of the city isn’t having a festival of some sort. On St. Patrick’s Day, they dye the river green! As for sports town, it would be very difficult, I think, to find a town more into baseball, Da Bears, Da Bulls, and just about every other sport than Chicago.</p>
<p>Philadelphia is older. No question. But Philly can’t touch Chicago’s architectural offerings. Not even close. Rebuilding a city that burns down has its advantages.</p>
<p>Oops. I just compared. Sorry.</p>
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<p>I was living in University City during the Rizzo years, also the Penn Final Four year. I remember the whole charter change effort in an attempt to keep Rizzo in office beyond two terms. While Rizzo’s administration was pretty shady, you always felt safe on the streets. He was definitely a no-nonsense, law and order kind of guy.</p>
<p>Philly is also within a 90 min. drive of ocean beaches in NJ and DEL. and ski slopes in the Poconos and Lehigh Valley. Chicago has that amazing lake but with it that lake effect brittle cold.</p>
<p>A commentary in today’s (2/22/07) Philadelphia Inquirer:</p>
<p>A transplant who still finds Philly a winner
By Dolph Ward Goldenburg</p>
<p>Many say my decision to become a Philadelphian was unusual. They note that most transplants move here for work and only then fall in love with the city, but I took a different route before driving my U-Haul along Broad Street.</p>
<p>I had often thought about leaving my native state of Georgia, and I decided the time was right to find another city to call home shortly after my father and best friend died unexpectedly.</p>
<p>I sought vibrant street life, a walkable commute, cultural opportunities, an urban lifestyle, a sense of living history, a fun nightlife, and greater career opportunities. I wanted all this while maintaining my decent standard of living.</p>
<p>I listed about a dozen major U.S. cities on a spreadsheet and rated them on many factors, including the vibrancy of the gay community, pedestrian accessibility, aesthetic appeal, cost-of-living indices, demographic statistics, nonprofit employment opportunities, number of cultural institutions, and number of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gyms.</p>
<p>My research included visiting the top two cities on the spreadsheet, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and I absolutely fell in love with Philadelphia during my first visit. The public art, active sidewalks, friendly residents and overall vibrancy swept me off my feet. I made four more trips to Philly to learn about the city and discern whether I should move.</p>
<p>Knowing that I had to be a Philadelphian, I applied for the executive director position at the William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center. I remember thinking, “I certainly won’t get this job, but an interview might start my professional network in Philly.” A few weeks after they brought me up for an interview, I placed my Atlanta home on the market and rented a U-Haul bound for Philadelphia.</p>
<p>The last four years in Philadelphia have been among my best, and I look forward to many more in my adopted city. As a Philadelphian, I can now verify my spreadsheet’s claim that Philadelphia offers the highest quality of urban life at the most reasonable cost of living.</p>
<p>After going head to head with New York City, Boston, Washington, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, and many others, Philadelphia won my heart and still has it!</p>
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<p>I had a cat named Rizzo (yes, after the mayor). I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and my family is still in the area. My son goes to college in Philadelphia. I have mixed feelings about the city, but I have to confess I am really a southerner at heart and find the Philadelphia “way” somewhat harsh and abrupt. I also think there is a huge crime problem, despite the intense efforts to clean up the city. I like to visit, but could never live there again. (I am a huge Eagles fan, though)</p>
<p>I just saw a great one-act play yesterday (at S’s school) called “The Philadelphia” by David Ives. Two men are at a trendy bistro in Manhattan, and one complains that all of a sudden he can’t find anything he wants, no matter how common or logical it is. The other tells him that he’s fallen into “a Philadelphia” - a corner of the universe where whatever it is you want you can’t get, except by asking for its opposite. A theory the first man proceeds to test in a hilarious exchange with their hot waitress. (She, it turns out, has been stuck in a Cleveland – “It’s like being dead, but without any of the advantages.”)</p>