10/20: Love letters in Berlin
 

http://cellar.org/pictures/loveletters.jpg

An artist in Berlin covered an old post office with 35,000 love letters. (Don't know how s/he got them... anyone with more info?)

That had to have taken a longgggggg time.

Hmm?
 

Hey Undertoad and any cellar people in the Philadelphia area,

From my perspective, doesn't that mean that Berlin is the City of Love? Has Philly lost its title? Is there a competition going on here for "Most Love in a City"? If there is, (obligatory plug) I'd like to vote Chicago in. =)

-Cyc

Any repeats?
any naughty words?

"Excuse me do you have any love letters i could borrow?, i need to blow them up to A2 and stick them on a public building"

Re: Hmm?
 

Chicago loses points for the East Coast wannabes, particularly on the North Side. ;) I love Chicago though, so I can't say too much bad about the city...other than the ungodly state of the streets. It's high up there on the love scale. What the hell, what I wouldn't give to have a place on Sheridan Rd. along the lakeshore.

Hmmm...the cities that I know with the most love are always treated like bastard stepchildren--St. Louis, Baltimore, and of course, Philadelphia. St. Louis always gets hit for being hickville, Philadelphia for being rough and filthy, Baltimore for being that "other" city next to Washington.

The slogan they like to plug here in Philadelphia is "The city that loves you back." Just watch who's doing the loving. ;)

and the cities people love?
 

Washington DC? Mostly a hole and a ghetto that is really bad, except for the rich parts and government parts.

Atlanta? Worse traffic than LA or SF.

SF? As long as the dot-idiots leave in droves :)

New York is cool.

Philadelphia does have a crazy reputation outside the USA. It's for being nasty, boorish, and completely impolite. It's mostly because of the 700-level at the Vet, and such Philadelphia sports memories as the Michael Irvin incident, booing Santa Claus, Charles Barkley, the Phillies, and the Flyers. And OxyContin.

However, I do try and change that by being very nice and considerate. It's a welcome change for many whom I meet who are used to Philly people being the 700-level people at the Vet who curse out and yell obscenities at anyone not wearing Eagles green (and yes, there was an incident with a 10 year old girl who was called a f***ing whore for wearing a Packers jacket to the Vet).

At least the idiot Mumia protestors and fruit and nut protestor freaks were from elsewhere. I was on my best behavior, and not trying to assault them. Police tend to look the other way when it comes to Mumia protestors :).

However, I do think Philadelphia could be improved by removing a few certain neighborhoods, starting with Kensington and Port Richmond. Torresdale is much nicer.

Re: and the cities people love?
 

You had to bring up DC, Mitch. ;)

Actually, I lived just outside of NE DC in Mount Rainier, Maryland--pretty much smack between Catholic University and the University of Maryland. It wasn't too bad, but it had its moments. I loved College Park. I loved living in Maryland as a whole, but I just hated living in the DC metro area. Especially those fucking pukes in Montgomery County.

Okay...got that out. :)

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New York is cool.

I don't mind NYC, but if I were to ever move there, I'd want to live in one of the more down-to-earth areas. Maybe Staten Island or one of the nicer sections of Queens.

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Philadelphia does have a crazy reputation outside the USA...However, I do try and change that by being very nice and considerate.

Most people in Philadelphia are relatively friendly, particularly South Philadelphia. My only notions of Philadelphia before visitng here were rough, dirty, cheesesteaks, the Broad Street Bullies, and Rocky. I was completely shocked when I saw how nice Philadelphia was. It was a big factor in our move up here last year.

Philadelphia is like most large American cities. It has racial polarization, a bad public school system, and high taxes. But Philadelphia has the old blue-collar character mixed in with enough cosmopolitan charm. And that works just fine for me. :)

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However, I do think Philadelphia could be improved by removing a few certain neighborhoods, starting with Kensington and Port Richmond. Torresdale is much nicer.

Ah, Port Richmond is alright. It's just old and a bit run down. But it's still relatively nice. Now Kensington...well, let's just tear it down and start over.

Now then...T'dale baby!!! I love Torresdale! I am never leaving Torresdale unless it absolutely goes to hell. Torresdale is a relatively large area though, so it's broken into mini-neighborhoods. My own area is considered West Torresdale, Morrell Park, and Modena Park. I just say Torresdale or the far NE though. People usually figure that out. I like the fact that I feel like I live in the suburbs, yet am only 30 minutes from Center City by car, and have everything I need within a 3 block walk. Not to mention, 3 bus lines run along my street, one of them 24 hours a day. And the R7 is 5 minutes away.

Torresdale...that's nice like Chestnut Hill
 

There are only two places I have ever seen country clubs in Philadelphia proper.

Chestnut Hill and Torresdale.

There are parts of Torresdale that look better than the suburbs, especially right around Holy Family College, where parts look like the Main Line, especially right across the street. It's got a lot of character around the country club.

My experience with Philadelphia is that most of it is an old factory town that is in need of serious redevelopment of a few parts after they left, especially North Philadelphia, Kensington, and Port Richmond. Powelton's kinda there on that list too.

Fairmount, on the other hand, has gotten incredibly nice, and yes I have walked from the North Star Bar (Poplar Street?) down to Arch at night. Fairmount just looks incredible now, and is probably going to be the next Old City. Northern Liberties is also getting nice, but it will take about three years for the look to catch up to the rent cost (it costs as much as Old City and still looks ghetto). I'm in Logan Square, which is darn nice and just south of Fairmount.

However, Torresdale is now officially nicer than the suburbs around it, especially Bensalem. I've been there enough to appreciate how nice many parts of it have stayed.

And, it's got an r7 stop :)

Mitch

Re: Torresdale...that's nice like Chestnut Hill
 

I live near there. Behind Torresdale Hospital actually. My main concern for the neighborhood is that they will find a good tenant to fill in the old Super Fresh on Frankford Ave. Sometimes, I'm amazed that we were able to find a place so nice, given my previous experiences in not-so-great areas.

When I got this job in KOP, we had planned on moving to Roxborough. But then we started looking at apartments and were shocked. Incredibly expensive ($600-900 a month, no utilities included). And the neighborhood is no better than Torresdale. Severely overrated. We have everything we need in our apartment and close by in the area...and we pay $700 a month (gas included).

The whole reason we moved to Torresdale is b/c at the time, I worked in Trenton. We were NOT going to move to Jersey, so we settled up here. And I'm glad we did.

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However, Torresdale is now officially nicer than the suburbs around it, especially Bensalem. I've been there enough to appreciate how nice many parts of it have stayed.

The only semi-shady parts of the area are the apartment complexes along Woodhaven Road, near Academy. But even those are tame. I would include the housing project off Frankford near Academy, but that's actually Holmesburg.

Bensalem is okay, but it's one long strip mall (Street Rd.) with a few off-the-beaten path areas (e.g. Bristol Pike between Woodhaven and the City Limits).

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And, it's got an r7 stop :)

Rho takes the R7 on some mornings. Her only complaint is the timetable of the 84 bus...their runs could be 30 minutes instead of 45. And I wish SEPTA would make all the city stops zone 1. I'd take the R7 over the 20/El combo anyday.

Re: Re: and the cities people love?
 

Just remember, thoses nicer sections of Queens also have the best schools in the city (aka the ones that actually WORK), but are VERY expensive. Houses start at around 300k and go UP - way up! (Trust me, I live there)