For the purposes of discussion, here, it seems, there are varying definitetions for the suburbs and the city. The questions were just a way to get a better idea as to what everyone considers part of the city of Philly and what is considered the suburbs.

What are your thoughts CC?

(snip)
For the purposes of discussion, here, it seems, there are varying definitetions for the suburbs and the city. The questions were just a way to get a better idea as to what everyone considers part of the city of Philly and what is considered the suburbs.
(snip)

Here's a simple definition -
The suburbs start when you reach the neighborhoods where a majority of the people don't go into Center City to work, recreate or socialize.

Commuters shooting straigth through during morning rush hour don't count as work, (despite an apocryphal story about a philly politician who argued that his council district in Philly should get to count out of towners who spent 4 hours sitting in traffic as 'residents')

Hal

Well in that case, I'd say that the actual city limits pretty much are where people colloquailly draw the distinction between Philly and "not Philly". Unlike Pittsburgh where people often say they live in Pittsburgh even when they're outside the city, people in SE PA/South Jersey are pretty adamant about whether they're in the city or not. Part of that is because the central Philadelphia post office does not handle subruban mail (unlike the case in Pittsburgh). In fact, I'd say that as a general rule peopel dentify where they live by where the post office tells them they live. Thus we have communities like Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Havertown, etc. which have no real definition or boundary other than where the post office draws the zip code lines.

i think most of us, when travelling, say philly whether we live inside it or not. atleast from my experience.

Philly is not so much a state-of-mind as it is a boundary.
Your mail is either addressed to a Philly post office or it's not.
And no matter where you are in the city, you're definitely from the city.
Case-in-point: Overbrook Park
It's right by Ciy Line but the look, the feel and the attitude is definitely a city one.

My question though is - Where does the Main Line really end?

it used to be techically paoli though the it really ended in berwyn. now i think you can include malvern with the runup in home prices out there. the main line actually refers to the R5 line that used to end in Paoli. The R5 now ends in malvern for regular service, thorndale is irregular). I'd say that pretty well reflects what is the main line and what is not.

There was an article in Philly Magazine about a year ago discussing this very issue. I think the title was "Is Chester County the New Main Line?"

What role should the burbs play in supporting the city? How does this impact the definition of what is considered part of the burbs?

Little if any.

However, it would be nice if people in the burbs actually cared about the city, talked "nice" about it when dealing with out-of-towners, and came in on weekends and patronized city businesses. But it is the city's responsibility to take care of itself. I don't think NYC or Boston get payments from their suburbs, do they? Of course governments should subsidize things like public transportation, roadways, etc, and they do. Perhaps not enough, but they do.

Do "city people" consider the people that live in the outer-ish neighborhoods such as Manayunk/East Falls and Mt Airy/Chestnut Hill to be "city people" as well? Or are they given a different distinction? Looked at and perceived differently?