Care to say more? I'm interested.
It's mostly just a long list of annoyances. Here's my jaded list of why I'm sick of Philly:
People here are rude and customer service is bad. I think they're the rudest in the country and I've travelled quite a bit. I'm so sick of people being mean to me when I walk into a shop, go to eat, whatever. It's really ridiculous how bad it can be sometimes. It doesn't even translate to less business/tipping/whatever because that's how used to it people here are. Everyone thinks you're out to scam them, so if you have a problem, that's your fault. Price didn't ring up right? It must have changed (happened to me at least a half dozen times). I have plenty more examples of this, but I really can't see anyone disagreeing with me. That obviously doesn't apply to everyone in Philly, but if you're from anywhere but the northeast (and maybe even if you are), the customer service will grate your nerves.
Prices here are going through the roof. If you live in Center City you just need to say to yourself that everything will be as expensive as NYC except the rents (which are going up rapidly). I've been watching this happen over the past almost 5 years. My favorite budget eateries close up, my rent goes up, my close, cheap car rental place closed, etc... This is all because Philly is becoming a much more happening place to live. 5+ years ago everyone used to say what a ghetto this place was and depending how far back you went they were kinda right. Now alot of people are calling it the 6th borough. I kind of agree. Though instead of NYC being an hour away it's more like 2 hours away.
Part of it is where I live I guess. I live in the typical medical student area, west of 20th between South and Market. I bailed out of my last apartment because a slum lord took over the building, let it fall to crap, and raised my rent dramatically. Now I figure I should just move to West Philly and get it over with. I'm tired of being 3 blocks walk from anywhere I wanna go (except a nice park) and 25 minutes walk from lab but not being able to afford a car (or have anywhere to park it). People always think I'm going to complain because Philly is unsafe. Yes, things do happen to people here in the city, but I don't know that it's any less safe than the other big cities. No, I'm complaining because rents are high but compared to alot of other places there's just not that much going on.
Mass transit here sucks compared to NYC or Chicago. There's two subway lines, one of which doesn't even stop in the main part of town, i.e. where I live. It takes me as long to take mass transit to the other side of town as it does for me to walk, so I usually just do that. I call PHL the country's worst airport. There's a transit shuttle from med school to home at night. It's never on time. I've seen it several times just totally miss one of its scheduled runs. It's usually just faster for me to walk at night. During the summer don't be surprised if someone asks you for money for every single block you walk. If you refuse, be prepared to be heckled. Don't worry, you'll get used to it.
BTW, don't listen to any of the physicians or professors about Philadelphia. If one of them tries to tell you how great Philly is, ask them where they live. Very, very few live anywhere near where the students live. They mostly live out in the burbs, which are some of the nicest, wealthiest suburbs in the country.
State liquor monopoly. Ugh. Just get used to being ripped off and having no selection if you like beer or wine. Most of the residents here just go to one of the neighboring states.
Things I like:
I live between two large (2 blocks and 3 blocks) and nice parks.
The markets are neato (Reading Terminal and Italian Market).
It's relatively easy to get other places.
There are still some good restaurants I can afford, though I eat at Penn's food trucks 1-2x/day.
agreed. Though there are alot of kids who get parent money in one way or another and this gives them a higher standard of living. You can also get student tickets to some performances which make them affordable.
