What's so good about Philadelphia???

Never lived there but used to visit about once a month over a period of 20 years and I love, love Philly. Good food, good art, good colonial history, lots of Quakers. I miss Philly like I miss NYC but do not think I could ever live there. The closest I came to living in an actual city was in Oakland, CA, near the Berkely line across the street from Lake Merritt for about a year. Loved Oakland but could not stand the constant traffic and noise.

I visited it once. I found it to be dirty. Actually it's as dirty as Boston is!

Well, I don't quite fill the bill anywhere in the poll, but when I was a kid we lived in the outskirts, in a Main Line town called King of Prussia. My memories of that time are good. Philly was the Franklin Institute and walking along the Skulkill River.

Oh, sorry Jespah. I've fixed the poll a little, but give me a recommendation and I can add to it. I think if you lived on the Mainline you could say that's Philly... at least for someone like me aways over here on the West Coast, it sounds alright.

Now that Skullkill River... it is pronounced funny, right?

New Haven? What do you mean by dirty? Trash on the streets (and in the river)? Porn in the moviehouses? Dusty like a desert town? Where is there a clean city?

Joanne -- I'm with you, NOT A CITY PERSON. But I did change the poll so you could check "I love Philly" since that's what you said.

So what about Rittenhouse Square? What about the Liberty Bell? Aren't you immersed in history there???

Do they have sports teams, the Philidelphia Eagles or something? Are they good?

I liked it from the New York/Washington train. Does that count?

I was there when I was younger, have no bad remembrances, and I would like to take a road trip just to see the Muetter Museum...eh..eventually.

Deb -- LOL... and what did you like???

Quinn -- What's in the Muetter Museum? Oh dear, I just checked Google...

http://www.collphyphil.org/muttpg1.shtml

JD, We used to live in Oakland too! We bought our first home in Fremont, when our first son was born, because the apartment we were living didn't allow children. We lived about six blocks away from Lake Merritt. Nice zoo too for the children. c.i.

Skulkill (which I think I've spelt wrong, wrong, wrong) is pronounced like School-kill. Much cleaner than it used to be, but then again so is Boston Harbor.

I recall school field trips (I lived there from age 5 to just before I turned 10) to Valley Forge and Gettysburgh. I remember at Valley Forge I bought my mother a tiny kid's bank that looked sort of like a little cooking pot with a lid (with a coin slot, of course). My mother fussed over it and everything and I learned later that she was floored that a 5-year-old remembered to get her a souvenir. :-D

I've been back to both Valley Forge and Gettysburgh. G'burgh to me, now, is an almost sacred place. It's just, you know that so many men (and a few women) fought and died there, and the whole thing was such a horrible waste. I find it hard to go there without being quiet and almost reverent.

Valley Forge is interesting in that the cabins are so tiny and squalid - a far cry from how our soldiers of today are usually bivouaced (I get the feeling I just mangled the spelling of that word, too).There's also some reverence but V. F. is also loaded with a lot of natural beauty. There are dogwoods that bloom in the Spring, so the hills are splashed with pink and white and the air is delicately perfumed. I recall taking the old dog (he's been gone for, man, decades now) out to run in those hills, and we would pick blueberries.

I've been back to Independence Hall since I grew up, and it's a bit different. When I was a kid you could actually touch the Liberty Bell. Now, it's behind a case because of preservation concerns, but I remember as a kid touching it and wondering, why is this bell so special? It felt like any piece of solid metal does, cool and mostly smooth, with a little ridging, almost like touching a roll of pennies.

I was just transported for a moment.

You know, if we couldn't live in Boston, for whatever reason, Philadelphia would easily make my Top Five alternative places to live.

I spent quite a bit there on extended business stays. It's one of those places that you don't really understand until you understand its neighborhoods. South Philly in particular is intricately divided into unofficial fiefdoms, most of which are clearly and proudly represented at the New Year's Mummers Parade (truly an acquired taste). The "Great Northeast", as the locals call it, is like a whole separate city, but again it is largely segmented into little fiefdoms of its own. Center City (or downtown) is a mixed bag at best. It boasts some truly incredible restaurants, particularly along Walnut Street west of City Hall, but there is tremendous lingering urban decay as well. I don't think I'd go back to live there, but a week in Center City, particularly during the 4th of July when the city is really alive with all sorts of activities, is a good vacation.

Great town. I don't think I've ever been anywhere in Pennsylvania I didn't like. If it could just be a tiny bit further south, it would be a perfect place to live. Reasonably sized cities, easy access to more rural areas, excellent access to interesting cultural stuff - famous for gardening and antique exhibitions. Fabulous state and city.

Piff..umm..yes, those faint of heart should not attend...sorry for not previously addressing that for you!

Quinn -- LOL, yep, think I'll pass on THAT museum.

Beth -- Further south? Are you feeling a little snowed in?? I have a friend who just came back from a short visit to Scranton -- she loved the area and is half-thinking of moving there. Said it was beautiful, even in winter.

I haven't spent much time in Pennsylvania, though about 25 years ago we were taking a road trip and crossed from New York into PA on a one lane bridge way up north. I was impressed!

On that same trip we visited Gettysburg. It was the first time I'd ever realized how a place can absorb pain and reflect it back. We started our visit happy as usual and within a few minutes we were overwhelmed with the sadness and a depression that seems to emanate from the ground and trees themselves. I know it sounds truly weird, but we FELT those thousands of soldiers who were killed there within such a short time, it was eerie. I don't think you could leave Gettysburg unaffected. I've talked to others who've had a similar experience.

It was a lot more fun to visit Intercourse and watch the Amish people going about their daily lives. Especially interesting to see that the roads in the area had ruts marked down the center where the horses pulling the Amish buggies paced.

Hi Piffka!!!

OOPS...I came here looking for something else, but ended up...in Philadelphia! And, I selected the wrong thing - great place to be from - meaning 'great place', but I don't know if that is how you meant it, so probably I should have selected 'love it.' Because I DO love it, especially since Rendell was mayor. WOW - did he fix the town up - made the 'Avenue of the Arts' Broad Street - like Broad Way but called a street, and cleaned the whole place up and made it quite wonderful. So that has been within the last 10 years. If you want to stay some place, there is a fabulous Victorian Bed and Breakfast in West Philadelphia:
Gables Bed and Breakfast
4520 Chester Avenue (45th one block south of Baltimore) Philadelphia, PA
215-662-1918
They also have a web site, I'm told.

Must see places: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Reading Terminal Market, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, Philadelphia Waterworks behind the Phila Museum of Art...probably many more....

Anyway, I live in the 'burbs' just 30 minutes from University of Pennsylvania, and life is good, the food around here is fantastic (either restaurants or markets), the shopping is excellent, we're less than 2 hours from NYC and slightly more from Washington DC. And, the public schools are great too. The weather? Usually not too bad - except for last summer (too hot) and this winter (too cold). Oh well - nothing is perfect!

The Mutter Museum? I was there ONCE for a reception at an archaology and ancient languages conference. Ugh! The worst part was that after touring the museum, we had a reception there. They served all pate dishes! Who was hungry to eat THAT??? Very few!!! The drinks were very popular though! Anyway, my son's class had a field trip there, and I protested to no avail. My son did OK - I didn't hear how the others took it.

Pate' dishes? LOL. Still laughing!!!

Thanks for the good ideas of places to go. More, more!

Ginny, I just can't help thinking of WC Fields' tombstone, "All in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia." :-D

Thanks Piffka now I have voted. Another favorite thing to do in Philly was to go to a South Philly Italian Delli, buy lots of yummy stuff and then drive to the Schuylkill River and picnic while watching the boats clubs practice for races.

http://www.phillydragonboat.com/

Ginny..pate!!?? my gosh...I wouldnt be that hungry either..and Im interested in that stuff.
Glad the son had fun though!

Delis....gosh I love a good deli, no matter where...although I have noticed particular areas have a larger ratio of good delis.