beary said:
Neuronix - can you comment a little bit more on life in Philly? I am thinking about residencies, and Penn is a place I'm interested in, but don't know about living in Philly. I have been to New Haven, and definitely didn't like it, so if Philly is similar it's probably not what I'm looking for. 🙂 I guess I'm especially interested in safety issues. Thanks a lot!
I'm sure Neuronix will jump in as well, but here are my views to supplement those.
Background: I'm from Alabama, came to Philly for ugrad at Penn. New Haven is a dump, truly. Philly is a real city. The general concensus is that it's "not New York," but that it's "a lot more manageable," and I think that holds pretty true. If you're coming from New York, you won't be happy anywhere but New York. I'm not kidding. One of my best friends is in London right now, and all she can talk about is how it's not New York
. Anyway, West Philly where Penn is actually has a pretty strong community, it's just a lower-class community. There are two farmer's markets in W. Philly each week, and if you want to take the subway (right on campus) down to Reading Terminal Market, there's a huge and wonderful market there every day. There's a grocery store (Fresh Grocer) on campus that sucks, and two within walking distance that you'll recognize (Trader Joe's and Whole Foods). Alright, how did I get fixated on groceries? Anyway, First Friday of each month, all the Center City galleries open up and have free cheese and bread and such, and it's a lot of fun to just go and walk around. On regular days, student tickets to one of the world's great orchestras are $8, $6 in bulk, and there's tons of theatre and such on Broad street. I'm not really into the typical college concert scene, but there seems to be a good bit of that around as well, particularly at places like the Electric Factory. South Street has its quirky small commercial charms; South Philly still looks like
Rocky, and the Italian Market is truly worth a visit. Speaking of Rocky, the PMA still has those Rocky steps to run up, and some good art inside (art purists will object, and it's probably great art, but most of it's not my taste. I like Chicago). Oh, and the Barnes collection is coming to Center City from the suburbs. Past the PMA, there is Fairmount Park, supposedly the nation's largest urban park, which truly goes on forever (you can take a 30-minute car ride north or south and still be in the park), and on weekends the paths are filled with bikers (they shut down some roads for the bikers in that area).
So, I don't think if you want a city that Philly vs. New Haven is even a comparison. Philly vs. New York, you have to decide on what kind of city you want.
--Ari
