Worst Places to Live
10 years ago, at the tender age of 18, I ran off to college on the east coast. Because all the "good" schools were back there. And also my perfect GPA, mix of extracurriculars, various internships, the fact that it was cousin's alma mater, and maybe even a dose of affirmative action combined to get me into Wharton. That's just not something you say no to.
So I settled in on the west side of Philadelphia. It was awful. It's grey. I know it's old and has a bunch of cool history (which, ironically, is the degree I ended up with), but the place is sad. Decrepit. Like having historical cache means it's allowed to be dirty. If Philly was a person, it would be the disabled homeless Vietnam vet that sits in his wheelchair on the corner in any given ghetto that we all want to pretend doesn't exist, who at one time was a war hero and is now just an embarrassment to society.
And it's overrun with pigeons, which are the dirtiest animals. Like rats with wings.
I'm not the only one that thinks so. Forbes.com recently ranked it as the 5th most miserable city in the United States. From the article:
How miserable is Philly? The residents of the City of Brotherly Love once booed Santa Claus and pelted him with snowballs at an Eagles game. Maybe it's the long commutes, violent crime and plethora of toxic waste sites that has people grumpy. Philadelphia scored in the top 20 in all three areas.
And the picture that accompanies that quote is of a crime scene. With at least 12 markers for what...bullet casings? And it's raining. Oh the fucking rain! God hates Philly, so he's always crying. That's why it's always fucking raining.
Coincidentally, Los Angeles ranked 6th worst. Because we have long commutes. Yeah. I've always been a proponent of living close to work. If you don't, you're just an idiot and have only yourself to blame. But at least we don't have "violent crime and plethora of toxic waste sites" to KILL us. Jesus Christo! We also don't have a pro football team, but no one gives a shit because our top-ranked college sports and pro basketball teams keep us pretty entertained. Oh, and that entire industry of entertainment keeps us from going ape shit on a poor guy dressed like an old fat man at a damn football game. It was probably raining then too. Or worse yet, snowing.
Philly is a shit hole. And I have yet to meet anyone from there that wasn't an idiot . I don't say that to their faces, obviously. But I do feel sorry for them. And oddly superior. Actually, I feel that way about everyone I meet, but Philadelphians bring out a special type of pity.
Don't go there. It's almost as sad as Reno...which is where your dreams go to die. Philly, on the other hand, is where they go to be brutally murdered.
13 comments:
yeah, philly is a dump, but i'd agree with the article and give the nod to detroit as the worst, most depressing city...with the land of cleve and st. louis battling it out for 2nd.
incidentally, reno isn't really where dreams go to die. it's the land where crappy high school football players destroy their own dreams with elaborate lies about being recruited to big time college football programs. there's something terribly, terribly wrong with the biggest little city in the world.
If you read the article, Detroit is actually listed as the absolute worst city. They're #1!!
I totally agree! Philly is aweful.
Been there once too often.
Number of visits: 1
I think that Portland, in the winter, when the sun NEVER comes out...and yet the transiets are ALWAYS out...should be somewhere on that list!
yikes.
GPG...i DID read it. hence the "i'd agree with the article and give the nod..." statement. :) guess that fresh LA air has gotten to you, eh?
Wow, you're a fucking cunt.
philly is a racist,man hating,whore capitol.the blacks hate themselves and every1else.the whites same thing.all hatred.fake mobsters who sell cheese steaks.they have a painting of frank sinatra on a main st. ya know NY is laughing. cut thoaght 2 face loosers with an education of a 5 year old. pilgrim era living. they need to take every smart good person out ,and go through the rest with flame torches.
No wonder you hate it, you settled on the friggin west side. West and north philly are total shitholes. Northeast is where you should've gone to. Almost all white, sadly though, the blacks are starting to move up here. That means alot of crime. Sure the city is a dirty, ghetto, evil, horrible, racist, hatred filled, death infested city. But once you get past that part you should be fine. That is, if you can survive the night...MUHAHAHAHA
Your opinion is interesting. You went to UPenn and you hate Philly? Are you afraid of the cold, hard reality of things? Philadelphia is a city so terrible that it is beautiful. University City (near where you went to school) is a really nice area and Penn definitely has the nicest campus of any school here. Is it a ghetto? Mostly, yes. You think the west side is bad? Take a ride up to front & somerset in Kensington or walk around Temple's "campus" for 15 minutes. We may not have the "entertainment" industry like LA but at least we're not a bunch of phony, west coast pussies. Life is very real here but that doesn't mean that's its always scary. Center City, South Street, Olde City, Northern Liberties - all great areas. And as far as the weather goes it's really mild here in the winters (usually sunny, not grey) and hot in the summers. I don't know what dimension you lived in when you were here, but it sounds pretty crappy. The location is ideal - 2 hours from the Scranton area/Poconos/beautiful mountain region, 2 hours from NYC, and 2 hours from the beaches of NJ and Delaware. There is plenty to do here - great music venues, lots of night life, great food and restaurants. And compared to other east coast cities the cost of living is considerably lower. My advice to you would be to give it another chance after you grow up a little. Or just stay in LA with the rest of the plastic people.
Yea I am from Philly and i fucking hate it. Moved to LA and never looked back. Philly is the worst place ever. Ugly, scumbag people and tons of drugs and crime.
You must be some white bread west coaster from behind the Orange Curtain or somewhere like that. Philly is reality. It's in your face and pulls no punches. Go back to where the sun shines and the food sucks...
I am just visiting Philadelphia for a few days. Found this site searching 'what is wrong with Philadelphia'. Sorry locals, it is a dirty, trashy shithole. If you don't think so you need to travel more.
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