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<p>Or maybe you have learned to behave with and appreciate a little dignity and reserve. </p>
<p>Before you get on your high horse, consider whether it was really necessary for you to take a swipe at us, and how you’d feel if someone threw in a gratuitous comment about Texans.</p>
<p>I came here a zillion years ago for college and have stayed.</p>
<p>I want to advocate for University City. It was an early streetcar suburb and has amazing resources.</p>
<p>No private 5-acre lots, but a large public park (Clark Park) that is well-used and maintained. Every summer we have a free Shakespeare play for several nights. The Philadelphia Orchestra has played here. Local groups present various art and music festivals and craft fairs during warmer weather.</p>
<p>More community gardens than you ever could work in. Farmers’ markets, too.</p>
<p>Great Victorian houses with enough bedrooms to satisfy you. People who come from New York and get priced out of Center City have been moving here and feeling that they’ve gotten a steal. Our realtors would love to talk to you. (Many live here, too.)</p>
<p>Two carshare companies that make car trips easy. Several bike shops and bike racks all over the place. But also some of the best public transit in the city.</p>
<p>Oodles of young artists and activists that make a living as caregivers for pets and small people. (We have an epidemic of babies, toddlers, and grade school children.) Even a private dog park with a waiting list for membership.</p>
<p>Longtime residents now retired but still active in community organizations. The monthly Neighbots’ Night at a local restaurant offers a $15 buffet and a chance to see people you know and meet others. Voting, too, is a social activity.</p>
<p>The resources of Penn, Drexel, and University of the Sciences. Also the Restaurant School and a cosmetology school.</p>
<p>Oh, and venues that feature poetry.</p>
<p>I spent last winter and spring revising a community directory, which is online. Look for Close at Hand (the title), University City District, and University City Review to see the fantastic benefits of living here. Eating here. Playing here.</p>
<p>This is not a paid endorsement.</p>
<p>Word worker- University City is about the exact opposite of what the OP is wanting. Good try!</p>
<p>Consolation- Dignity and reserve? I spit out my drink with that one. And people take shots at Texas and Texans all the time. When I first moved to Dallas my east coast friends thought I was going to the Wild West!</p>
<p>Well, I would say that woodworker is describing a place which would have sounded great in my early 20s.</p>
<p>I don’t mind brusque northeasterners, and I love texans, too. </p>
<p>I do recall that when I went to visit my mother when we were living in NYC in the early years and I went out to run an errand (she was living outside of houston at the time), she ran after me and caught me before I got into the car and said, “It’s not like New York here. Do not under any circumstances honk your horn at another car! You might get shot.” She wasn’t kidding, AND she loved both places.</p>
<p>It’s good to have a map! </p>
<p>You guys have been great. I feel well equiped to head out and take a look around next week. thank you so much.</p>
<p>Swarthmore should be considered. Great college town, easy commute via train or driving, 12 minutes to the airport. Much more centrally located than Bucks County or Chester County.</p>
<p>No ideas about where to live, but if you need window treatments in the new place, there is a wonderful fabric district with workrooms on 4th Street just south of South.</p>
<p>I personally love Chicago and everything being within reach you don’t ever see really large estate, lot of apartments/condos in the city, the west side of Chicago in the Pilsen area has become a really desirable place for young families and artsy college students. South side still remains as a ghetto in most areas,.but has some nice historical buildings. North side tends to look like an upper class lgbt haven for professionals and businesses. besides the crazy weather sometimes, I love this city! When I get a secure full-time job I plan to jump on board the tiny house movement! less is more and for some a minimalistic lifestyle is very rewarding.</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-VM696 using CC</p>
<p>MOWC, your regional prejudices are as well known on CC as the obsession a certain other person has with Miami of Ohio.</p>
<p>I don’t know what your friends said to you when you moved to Texas. I’m talking about what people say on CC, and on CC it is incredibly common for southerners and midwesterners to make rude and gratuitous comments about people from “the north east,” all the while congratulating themselves on their supposedly superior manners.</p>
<p>I love the stone Chestnut Hill house. The “Belgian” one looks like it was nice until the current owners got a hold of it. The interior finishes look rather garish to me.</p>
<p>Consolation- the south and Texas get plenty of digs on CC. Didn’t you know that everyone in Texas is too conservative so Rice shouldn’t be considered and everyone at the SEC schools is a bigot?</p>
<p>I grew up in the Phila area and have lived in a number of cities. There are wonderful things about every part of the country, and there are drawbacks. I have dear friends and family in Phila, and none of them would claim that the prevailing demeanor of the general population there is gracious and polite. We’ve recently been dealing with hospital staff and medical offices there and it has been an absolute nightmare- and that is from the viewpoint of my lifelong Phila resident sister!</p>
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<p>I don’t believe I’ve seen either of those things said on CC, although it is true that some kids foolishly overlook Rice, a great school, because they don’t want to be in the South. I can’t imagine why, since all of the people are so perfect. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Just gonna say as a native of Bucks county (and, yes, I saw ‘wutur’ instead of water) that I like how people are more “in your face” when they decide to be rude to you. Generally people are friendly, but when someone’s a jerk, at least they’re upfront about it. One of my biggest complaints about Los Angeles is when people do something rude to you, they completely ignore you. At least give me some satisfaction by flipping me off!</p>
<p>“I don’t believe I’ve seen either of those things said on CC, although it is true that some kids foolishly overlook Rice, a great school, because they don’t want to be in the South. I can’t imagine why, since all of the people are so perfect”</p>
<p>I don’t know that Rice is considered to be in “the South”. I can see someone disqualifying it due to disliking very hot climates, but I don’t think it would be considered as a southern school. As someone who has lived and travels in all areas of the country, I don’t think it is good to generalize insults upon people in any area. There are nice people and rude people everywhere you go. I would not take it upon myself to make generalizations about places where I have not lived.</p>
<p>In my post I just meant to point out my initial impression of Philadelphia after having grown up in Texas, and have had just spent the past decade prior to moving back East in Oregon and San Francisco. The faster pace of life and the tendency of the people to move faster and be a little abrubt at times was a little hard for me to get used to.It did seem rude compared what I was used to. It really is about pace of life more than anything I think
And people all over the country do seem to be more polite over the past couple of decades or so-just an observation.
Now I consider myself a proud Philadelphian-although there have been great things about everywhere we lived.</p>
<p>One person’s brusqueness is another person’s efficiency! And one person’s friendliness is another person’s fakey-fake.</p>
<p>My advice would be don’t move here. </p>
<p>But if you must:
In the city, the areas around St. Joe’s, Chestnut Hill
Bucks County
Chester County - Glen Mills and Suburban West Chester or communities west of Coatesville, such as Honey Brook) (although these may exceed your commuting requirements.)
If you can afford it, the Main Line in Montgomery/Delco - I like Radnor personally, but there’s a lot of cute towns that surround rt. 30 from city-line ave to Malvern.<br>
If you asked me 5 years ago, I would have recommended areas in central Delco like Media, Springfield, Swarthmore, Lower Providence Township, Upper Providence, etc. but these areas of Delco are on a decline due to changes in Southern/Eastern Delco.
Delaware - there are some great areas north of Wilmington, such as Hockessin, but most areas worth living in would be too far of a commute. If you don’t mind a little compromise, Delaware is much more cost-effective than either PA or NJ.
New Jersey - I recommend you spend at least a month in New Jersey before ever deciding to move there. Many parts of New Jersey are idyllic suburban and rural, mostly middle and upper middle class. It’s easy to look at a lot of areas and think they would be perfect, BUT it takes a certain kind of person to thrive in Jersey. I don’t exactly know how to put my finger on it, but when you cross the Delaware there is something subtly different about how people interact. On the surface, things may seem the same, but to me I feel an underlying context that makes me uncomfortable. Many people love Jersey, there is nothing outrightly wrong with NJ(aside from oppressive, corrupt government and high cost of living); my suggestion is merely that if you a considering moving to NJ, spend a decent amount of time there to access your comfort level before making that leap.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>I grew up in North Central Jersey, NY influence. When I came to the Philly area, I was amazed at how much slower people are around here! It’s all a matter of perspective.</p>
<p>I live close to where Bucks County, Montgomery County and NE Philly meet. It’s a nice suburban area. I can take a train and be in Philly in less than 40 minutes. I wouldn’t want to drive in every day though.</p>
<p>So poetgrl,</p>
<p>How was the trip?</p>
<p>Did you like the Philadelphia area?</p>
<p>I did like the Philly area, actually. </p>
<p>Right now, it’s between Philly and the Research Triangle area. Both opportunities interest me, and both areas are very different. I have a long time to decide.</p>
<p>Have you visited there, dstark?</p>
<p>lots of great suburban philly areas from bala cynwyd, merion, ardmore, wynnewood, rosemont, villanova, radnor to Paoli. All a pretty easy train commute to the city and great dog parks,walking trails, etc. Highly recommend the area! feel free to email for a realtor recommendation if you choose the job in the area.</p>
<p>Poetgrl, I haven’t been to the philly area in a long time. My opinion is dated, and irrelevant anyway. I wanted to know what you thought. I tried to get my oldest daughter to consider Haverford, but she wanted a bigger school, and she turned out to be a bigger partier than I thought. :)</p>
<p>I know nothing about the research triangle area.</p>
<p>I think it is cool that you are considering a big change. (Is the word cool outdated?)</p>