New to Philadelphia

[ErSwnn]

NE above Cottman is as suburban as any other suburb. Sure there's shopping along the main roads, like any other suburb, but once you drive into the developments, there isn't much you can walk to.

Within one single block -- walkable by any definition -- I have 2 supermarkets, a pharmacy, dry cleaners, beer store, barber shops, restaurants, and a few other stores I could name.

By comparison within a mile of my house I have...well, not much. A small shopping center with a pharmacy, deli, Chinese, Italian, BBQ, dry cleaner, hair place, Dunkin Donuts, a doctor, a dentist, a bank and a dance studio. The rest is woods and homes. Oh, and an outdoor gun club just slightly further...maybe a 20 minute walk. Oh man I'm glad I never went back to Philly.

[dgg9]

By comparison within a mile of my house I have...well, not much. A small shopping center with a pharmacy, deli, Chinese, Italian, BBQ, dry cleaner, hair place, Dunkin Donuts, a doctor, a dentist, a bank and a dance studio. The rest is woods and homes. Oh, and an outdoor gun club just slightly further...maybe a 20 minute walk. Oh man I'm glad I never went back to Philly.

I've seen your suburban area, and it is indeed a good one....the nearby gun club is a nice touch too, something you don't usually get in the city. Takes me 45 minutes to get to that same club, even driving off-peak.

So, how often you shoot rifle is a concern, among many, in where you move.

By the way, your description is an excellent expression of the different proportion for city vs suburb: the distance to amenities scales up from "blocks" to "miles."

[teriaki]

You're saying it has to be walkable to be a city?

YES! Where have you been? That's almost the entire point of living in a city.

Living in the city <> Living within city limits

[ByblosHex]

YES! Where have you been? That's almost the entire point of living in a city.

Living in the city <> Living within city limits

That's an incredibly closed way to look at it.

[teriaki]

That's an incredibly closed way to look at it.

Why is that a closed way to look at it? It's just reality. People get touchy about it, but that's the way it is. Some cities boundaries are quite large. When you can't distinguish between the city and suburbs anymore, you are within the city limits but you don't live in "the city."

Sorry, but that's just true. Look at any city. Los Angeles and DC are great examples of this. The boroughs of NYC...

Sorry, but if you live in Jamaica Queens, you're not in the city. Why is this so hard to follow?

[ByblosHex]

Why is that a closed way to look at it? It's just reality. People get touchy about it, but that's the way it is. Some cities boundaries are quite large. When you can't distinguish between the city and suburbs anymore, you are within the city limits but you don't live in "the city."

Sorry, but that's just true. Look at any city. Los Angeles and DC are great examples of this. The boroughs of NYC...

Sorry, but if you live in Jamaica Queens, you're not in the city. Why is this so hard to follow?

It's not hard to follow, it's just that most people don't choose your way of defining it.

[Little Cloud]

You're saying it has to be walkable to be a city?

YES! Where have you been? That's almost the entire point of living in a city.

Living in the city <> Living within city limits

I'm pretty sure a city is defined by zoning and population and definitely not "walkability".

This 'its a city - it's not a city' argument has to be the goofiest I've ever read on this board.

How about city frickin' limits...? How about that?

How are the limits of a city planned?

Do your own research and get back to us about "walkability'.

smh

*unsub

[dgg9]

This 'its a city - it's not a city' argument has to be the goofiest I've ever read on this board.

It surely is, to most people who already live where they want to live and have their local preferences known.

Every so often, though, you get someone moving in from out of state, and from an area of the country with a very different environment. If that person declares he intends to, of is thinking about, moving to Philly, you get the usual chorus of Philly-haters coming out of the woodwork. 9 times out of 10, it isn't Philly itself they specifically hate; it's virtually any large city...so the anti-Philly arguments can be tendentious.

And then you also get the people who just can't stand that people make choices different from their own, and confuse subjective opinions with objective fact.

And then, specific to this thread, you get the suggestions that if people really want the city experience, they should move way out in NE Philly. But this is misleading, to say the least. If you're the kind of person who wants the city experience, then living in the vast car-oriented suburbs of the NE isn't going to deliver.

I don't care where people live; I don't care if people like the city vs the suburbs vs rural. But when it comes to giving advice to a newcomer from out of state, let's not pretend that one is the other.

[teriaki]

I'm pretty sure a city is defined by zoning and population and definitely not "walkability".

How about city frickin' limits...? How about that?

How are the limits of a city planned?

Nope. Not this.

It surely is, to most people who already live where they want to live and have their local preferences known.

Every so often, though, you get someone moving in from out of state, and from an area of the country with a very different environment. If that person declares he intends to, of is thinking about, moving to Philly, you get the usual chorus of Philly-haters coming out of the woodwork. 9 times out of 10, it isn't Philly itself they specifically hate; it's virtually any large city...so the anti-Philly arguments can be tendentious.

And then you also get the people who just can't stand that people make choices different from their own, and confuse subjective opinions with objective fact.

And then, specific to this thread, you get the suggestions that if people really want the city experience, they should move way out in NE Philly. But this is misleading, to say the least. If you're the kind of person who wants the city experience, then living in the vast car-oriented suburbs of the NE isn't going to deliver.

I don't care where people live; I don't care if people like the city vs the suburbs vs rural. But when it comes to giving advice to a newcomer from out of state, let's not pretend that one is the other.

Yep. This.

[mythaeus]

Didn't read all replies, late to the party because I've been on vacation for a while. I was away for 25 days, visited 9 countries, 5 were new to me. In all of of my travels (all for leisure), I've visited 40 countries, the majority were major metropolitan cities, some as old Cairo/Jerusalem or as new as pretty much any city in the US. STILL, Philadelphia is one of my top 5 cities to be in, not because I live here, but because I LOVE it here for all that it has to offer.

I've explained it ample times in the past why I love Philly, so I won't repeat myself. Seek and ye shall find...just as the opposing pictures posted in the earlier comments, if you looked for shit here, you will find it in many places, but if you looked for beauty and great things here, you will find them in many places as well. The question is, do you like shit or do you like beauty and great things?

The one thing I will be specific, since this is a gun forum and all, is that no other city of this size will you be able to have as much gun rights (even with all the quirks) as Philadelphia due to state preemption.

Since all of the questions are answered, OP, welcome to Philadelphia.

Al