scenes from my neighborhood, in defense of NEPhila

You know what's really weird?  People who live here do not like this city.

I'll tell you this story so I can tell you that story:

• Grad school has taken my real life hostage.  I hate that my overload schedule affords me less time to do fun things with the people in my program.  I AM a fan of life/work balance, so I do my best to attend like 25% of what I'm invited to instead of turning everything down.  The Halloween party came at the perfect time and people were excited, perhaps most of all me.  I dressed as the scariest thing I could think of and actually left my apartment.  
• On a related note: South Street on Halloween is hilarious.  I couldn't get a fast enough picture of the hot guy dressed as the "Clark Kent-to-Batman" moment and the out-of-nowhere flashmob of "teen Asian" girls at 1am, but I did laugh so hard I cried.  Oh, drunk Philly.
• And the other grad students are awesome.  They have unique interests in literature and are not all from Northern Virginia.  They are of utmost fun to hang out with and always have great wisdom to impart about the field, etc.
• Until the inevitable question: "So how do you like Temple/Philadelphia so far?"

I think I'm supposed to answer "I hate it!" or "It's ugly!" or "I carry various and lethal weaponry now!" because no one believes that I like it.  They give me funny looks and start cutting down what I think is a pretty cool place.  It  is weird.
No, really: I like Philadelphia.  I love when I can spare an hour or two for wandering around downtown, discovering quirky coffeeshops or reading in one of the Squares. Or eating cheesesteaks.  And taking pictures in the Museum District.  I also like Temple's campus: I expected an urban campus to be nothing but concrete and traffic-y streets, but Temple is beautiful and I am constantly adding pictures to prove it.

Also nice: where I live!  My apartment complex is in a six-or-so block area of Broad Street that was renovated like five years ago. There are parks, tons of trees, new stone-and-moss rowhouses, LaSalle's campus across the street...  even a Catholic church a block down that is impossible to photograph appropriately. The quarter-million dollar homes across the street are a little small (very little acreage on Broad Street, you guys), but lovely.  They have ivy-covered gables, you guys.  What.

Strangely, no one has heard me say those things.  They ask how I'm doing here, then announce I'll be lucky to escape with my life because Philadelphia is the worst.  Even those who have heard me defend it (and Temple) before look at me skeptically and say "Yeah, you've said that ..." before adding their fuel to the "Philly is Way Lame" fire.  They illustrate the impact the economic crisis has had in Philly, and how Temple's campus is a lot of concrete and packed with students, and that crime ... exists.

Believe me, I'm aware.  I used to think abandoned buildings were totally rare and sad, but now a block without an abandoned building is a "wealthy" one to me.  Of course there are rowhouses down the block that are trying to sell for less than $25K and others that are mostly broken windows and rotting wood - I'm not oblivious to this.  But the bigger picture is: community-mindedness?  City pride?

It's just weird.  True: Virginia is the greatest state in the nation (not to be redundant, as "Virginia" does mean "AWESOME" in most dialects) so there's less to be disparaging about, but there people are just fiercely proud of their own county.  Try asking Landon about Williamsburg, then about Blacksburg. Or someone with NOVA roots and a Hampton Roads local about their state and respective city.  We love Virginia overall but our little corner of the state most.

[On a related note: Virginia DID break my heart last night.
I have a self-imposed "no politics" rule for this blog, but last night was sad.  Even the 1977 effect does little to dull the hurt.  I'm trying not to ask "What does this mean?" and instead to ask "What happened, exactly?"  It's unproductive to apply the results nationally, to our President's policies, or even to define what the Dem/GOP identity is in light of the vote.  Virginia's election was just that: Virginia's policies.  I suppose the best thing to ask is "Where do we (as Virginians) go from here?"  It's imperative to keep one's focus on remaining progressive even as it seems we frustratingly take steps back.  Frankly, progress is human and progress always happens.  Just maybe not as fast as I'd like.
So that's my political moment and I'm done now.]

Thus and in conclusion, Philadelphia's people are weird for overlooking their beautiful and exciting city.  It has a thriving arts scene and super-cool museum district and lovely downtown parks and great food.  I DO love Temple's campuses and my neighborhood, believe it or not.  It's frustrating to find myself defending where I live and go to school to people who ALSO live and go to school here, in what is clearly a pretty awesome place.

New goal: convince a local that "I really do like Philadelphia!"