<p>^ Definitely agree with Poeme on Philly being a great city, especially for college students. The vast majority of Penn undergrads–and alumni–view Philly as a major POSITIVE aspect of their Penn experiences. They love the 300 (actual number–NOT an exaggeration) sidewalk cafes in Center City, the incredible BYO scene, the breadth and depth of great ethnic restaurants both in the immediately surrounding University City neighborhood and in and around Center City, the Reading Terminal Market (largest and oldest indoor food market in the country), and the Italian Market. And that’s just the food scene. :rolleyes: Then there are the incredible art museums (putting Philly among the top 2 or 3 cities in the country in that regard); and great neighborhoods like Old City, Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill, South Street, Northern Liberties, Fairmount, and of course Penn’s own University City, in addition to many more. And oh yeah, the largest urban park system in the world (again, actual fact–no exaggeration). Not to mention more murals and public art than any other city in the world (even Paris, France sent folks to Philly to learn more about its world-renowned Mural Arts program, as something they might be able to copy in Paris). And then there’s the classical and live music scene, the more than 50 professional theater companies (only bested by NYC and Chicago in terms of its professional theater scene), etc., etc., yada, yada, yada.</p>
<p>To put it bluntly, you’d have to be a complete cultural troglodyte, an unabashed Philly-hater, or a superficial know-it-all who refuses to explore what Philly REALLY has to offer, to view Philly as “quite a negative.” And no, most students and alums DO NOT see Philly as a negative, iamanapp’s persistent trash-talking about it notwithstanding. Try asking some of the 31,000 yearly applicants, 10,000 current undergrads, or hundreds of thousands of alumni what they think of Philly and its impact on the Penn experience, and you’ll quickly learn that.</p>