The City of Brotherly Love...

[jbcjr14]

Wow, Philly has officially gone in the .

Philadelphia: Teen 'afraid every day' as gun violence soars - CNN.com

[hesscl34]

... iggles and all....

[Schneed10]

Easy people... you're talking my hometown.

It's pretty bad around here though, for sure. The violence is primarily taking place in certain sections of the city. South Philly and Center City are relatively low in violent crimes; but North and West Philly are full of it.

I work at a hospital in North Philadelphia. Luckily I'm right on Broad Street, so I don't feel at risk personally. But our hospital has seen more gunshot victims than I can count this year.

[jbcjr14]

No offense Schneed...the place is a shithole, especially North Philly.

[Daseal]

I've always wanted to try a cheesesteak, I don't want to get shot on my way to the stand =(

[hooskins]

Originally Posted by jbcjr14

No offense Schneed...the place is a shithole, especially North Philly.

Yupp...

[skinsfan_nn]

In case you didn't know they were officially down the shitter 40 years ago

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I've always wanted to try a cheesesteak, I don't want to get shot on my way to the stand =(

Pats and Geno's, the 2 so called best cheese steaks in the country, suck. now i went to Manyunk a while back and got a great cheese steak

[ArtMonkDrillz]

I've been to Philly once and it was on accident, or rather because of an accident.
My dad was driving the family up I-95 to a wedding in New Jersey through a big storm. When the weather finally cleared the traffic actually got worse, it was a strange phenomenon. Out of nowhere a car started swerving until it finally hit another driver, causing everyone else to hit the breaks. My dad was able to stop our huge '83 Bronco on a dime, but the guy behind us couldn't stop his shit box and we were rear-ended. Then, he got hit and that caused him to slam into us again.
So we're sitting there stopped in the center lane of 95, which was a nightmare in and of it's self. Another driver slowed down just long enough to yell "your car's on fire" before he flew past us. So, freaked, we piled out of the car but couldn't go anywhere because people were still flying past us (even though the initial accident caused a 20+ car pile up). Finally after a game of family-Frogger we made it to the shoulder.
Eventually cops and ambulances showed up on the scene. My sisters said that their necks felt weird, so the EMTs demanded that they get taken to the hospital. There, they had to sit in beds next to gun shot victims and crackheads, so that was fun. In the meantime, my dad and I had to go with the car, which was being towed because the gas tanked had cracked (I still doubt the car was ever actually on fire). We got to meet the shadiest auto shop people ever and they told us the car was totaled; they might as well have started stripping it for parts right there in front of us.
We eventually got a rental car, picked my sisters and mom up from the hospital and got the hell out of Philly (just in time since the Flyers were about to lose a playoff series and people were looking pissed in the ER).
The next day, on our way home from the wedding, we past by the scene of the accident and noticed that they guy who hit us had left his completely destroyed car on the side of the road like it was an empty can. The guy didn't have insurance, so we never ended up getting proper compensation for losing the Bronco (which really old at the time, but still). My dad asked my aunt, who lived in the area, to go to the autoshop and get some stuff that we accidentally left out of the car. She told us that it was already stripped down even though it had only been a few days, so who knows if it was actually totaled or if they just took advantage of my dad's frustrated state of mind.

Basically, I hate Philly. I know the situation doesn't seem that bad, and it would have probably played out the same way in most cities, but it just left a horrible taste in my mouth.
OH, and the eagles suck donkey.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by jbcjr14

No offense Schneed...the place is a shithole, especially North Philly.

North Philly definitely is. So is the West.

But it bothers me when people label the entire city "a shithole" when they haven't been to it, or to all parts of it. And I really hate when people form opinions on the city by looking at the behavior of Eagles fans, that makes no sense. The people who go to games represent about 5% of the city's population.

Have you been to Olde City, Manayunk, Penn's Landing? Those are nice parts and have a fun, upbeat feel for young people.

The two poverty-ridden sections of Philly (North and West) are carrying all of the violent crime for the entire city. But just like in DC, or Baltimore, or any other city; there are nice sections as well as the shitty ones.

It's just that Philly's shitty parts are shittier than most city's shitty parts. But the nice sections are great.

[jbcjr14]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

North Philly definitely is. So is the West.

But it bothers me when people label the entire city "a shithole" when they haven't been to it, or to all parts of it. And I really hate when people form opinions on the city by looking at the behavior of Eagles fans, that makes no sense. The people who go to games represent about 5% of the city's population.

Have you been to Olde City, Manayunk, Penn's Landing? Those are nice parts and have a fun, upbeat feel for young people.

The two poverty-ridden sections of Philly (North and West) are carrying all of the violent crime for the entire city. But just like in DC, or Baltimore, or any other city; there are nice sections as well as the shitty ones.

It's just that Philly's shitty parts are shittier than most city's shitty parts. But the nice sections are great.

I used to live in Harrisburg and traveled to Philly quite often. I am aware of the "nicer" parts, but if you have to generalize the city I still think of the bad parts of Philly because it is so dominant over the good ones (IMO). Back in the early 90's they really did a nice job of cleaning up the city but now it appears its heading back down the ole shitter.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by jbcjr14

I used to live in Harrisburg and traveled to Philly quite often. I am aware of the "nicer" parts, but if you have to generalize the city I still think of the bad parts of Philly because it is so dominant over the good ones (IMO). Back in the early 90's they really did a nice job of cleaning up the city but now it appears its heading back down the ole shitter.

I can't argue that the bad areas are absolutely horrible.

But why do you need to generalize the city? That's my whole thing. I mean geographically, it's a huge city. You can easily steer clear of the trouble spots and hang out/live in the fun parts.

[Hog1]

I had no idea Philly was such a geographical juggernaut, and melting pot of culture and idea's.
That having been said, what I am most concerned about..........is.........Punxsutawney Phil going to be ok?

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I can't argue that the bad areas are absolutely horrible.

But why do you need to generalize the city? That's my whole thing. I mean geographically, it's a huge city. You can easily steer clear of the trouble spots and hang out/live in the fun parts.

Growing up here in D.C. we were the murder capital of the U.S. for a few years runnning. That's all you ever heard about on the news, how bad D.C. was. But it's undoubtedly one of the most wonderful places to visit and live in all of the United States. To me, it's the best place to live.

But the rub has been the murder rate. There are some issues that need to be addressed that haven't been, but that's another story.

[Hog1]

Maybe Marion Barry will come back and clean things up?