Philly people think they are the only city with high crime, high taxes, and incompetent government. I'll admit that all of those are here, but other cities have that too. I think one of the things the city has going for it is a high level of DISCUSSION about these problems and what to do about it. That makes me fairly hopeful. A lot does ride on the next mayor.

I have been looking at houses and it strikes me that an awful lot of the stuff on the market was bought in the last four years or so and is being listed at increases that seem excessive. I just don't see that the market justifies it. If you bought at $275 three years ago, should you really get to sell at $400 now? I don't see that there's a lot more high-paying jobs in the city then there were three years ago, or that the neighborhoods have improved THAT much.