All in one place

[elSicomoro]

Bear with me, as I might get long-winded here...

As many of you have probably seen, I moved to Philadelphia from Washington, DC in late September, where I lived for just over a year. Previous to that, I lived in St. Louis.

When I moved to DC, I did some of the "normal" things, like watch the local TV news and read the Washington Post. But the thing that really helped me learn about DC more than anything was just driving around town. I drove everywhere...Capitol Hill, Tenleytown, Bethesda, even Southeast...I just learned so much about the city and the area, just by driving around.

So, when I moved here, I did the same things--read the Inky and Daily News, watched the news, and started driving around. And I have to admit, the sheer size of this city is really overwhelming.

For example, today, my fiance and I started here in the Far Northeast...made our way through K&A, Port Richmond, Spring Garden, City Line...then into Overbrook, W. Philly, Kingsessing, Cobbs Creek, Eastwick, Yeadon, Darby, SW Philly, and University City.

I was just amazed at everything I saw--burnt out streets, quiet neighborhoods that seemed out of the way, old historical buildings, etc. The area I found most interesting was SW Philly, near the end of the 36 trolley line. It was just surreal...this pleasant little neighborhood out in the middle of freaking nowhere (although I could probably say the same of my own neighborhood). Little streets that lasted all of one block or disappeared into nothing.

I've been doing this on occasion during the past few months, but I just happened to see a lot today...and I'm always seeing something new. I haven't even hit the suburbs yet...

[Undertoad]

Hey yeah! I did the same thing, only many years ago because it was '85 when I first moved here.

I wound up going over the BF bridge by accident wandering around CC. There were a few traffic patterns which, once you got into 'em there was no way out...

At this point, having lived in a few different places in the area (including Jersey for a stupid two years), the only section I don't really know at all is southwest Philly and the Delco area around it. East of the Blue Route, north of Upper Darby, south of Rt 1, just seems like a useless area... sorry for anyone who lives there.

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by Tony Shepps
Hey yeah! I did the same thing, only many years ago because it was '85 when I first moved here.

I wound up going over the BF bridge by accident wandering around CC. There were a few traffic patterns which, once you got into 'em there was no way out...

That has happened to me a few times now. I swear that there is a misleading 95 North sign down near 5th and Vine...because I thought I followed it perfectly...and wound up in Jersey.

The other thing I find amusing is that there are no tolls going into Jersey, but are going out (at least on the Whitman, Franklin, Tacony, and Betsy Ross bridges).

At this point, having lived in a few different places in the area (including Jersey for a stupid two years), the only section I don't really know at all is southwest Philly and the Delco area around it. East of the Blue Route, north of Upper Darby, south of Rt 1, just seems like a useless area... sorry for anyone who lives there.

If I'm right, that sounds like the Overbrook/City Line and Lower Merion areas. It's actually not a bad area...so long as you don't go too far down Haverford Ave. or 63rd St. If our rent is jacked up too much come renewal time, we may move over that way. So long as it's not at a place with lots of St. Joe's students.

I really like parts of SW Philly, except that it just seems so far away from everything. (Which is rather ironic, seeing as I currently live in the Far Northeast.)

[Undertoad]

No, I know that area OK but south of there, you have this area with Darby and Clifton Heights and Glenolden and Primos, and it's all just stores and old streets that have been repaired 100 times? Really dense. And the city is pretty ugly in that section too. That whole section southwest of Penn.

Whenever I see Primos on a map I think of that band Primus and how they would get people to shout "Primus sucks!"

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by Tony Shepps
No, I know that area OK but south of there, you have this area with Darby and Clifton Heights and Glenolden and Primos, and it's all just stores and old streets that have been repaired 100 times? Really dense. And the city is pretty ugly in that section too. That whole section southwest of Penn.

Ah! We were over that way last night.

Darby and Yeadon were actually kind of quaint...very quiet streets, although I will admit that the conditions of the streets were horrible. I have a buddy that lives over in Folcroft, which is just kinda plain. I've heard that it starts to get rough as you go towards Chester. (And I've SEEN Chester...blecch!)

We drove down Woodland and Chester Aves. last night as well, which are rather ugly. Most of the area by Cobbs Creek is pretty rough until you get down by Island Ave. Baltimore Ave. didn't look too too shabby once you got past Cobbs Creek and headed towards Univ. City.

Speaking of ugly, my fiance and I wanted a good pizza on Friday night, so we headed over to Society Hill Pizza on South and Broad. As we were trying to find a parking spot west of Broad, the neighborhood over that way was just awful. Simply ugly...

We also drove the length of the El from Kensington and Front down towards Spring Garden. I used to notice this when I rode the El, but I really saw it when I was driving that way yesterday--That area is rather run down and hard-looking, until you get to the end of the El at FTC. Then it dramatically improves. Strange...


[Edited by sycamore on 04-01-2001 at 09:35 PM]