which is the 'burb for us? Help, please? - Page 3 - PhillyBlog

orrmobl · #21 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billy ross

My next door neighbor is the retired Commissioner of the Water Department. Directly across the street is the former head of Radiology at HUP / UPenn School of Medicine. Catycorner is the chief chemist of the Water Department, and his wife the local Paediatrician. They are on their fourth house in East Falls. Behind me is a couple who moved from New Jersey because they wanted both the lawyer father and high school daughter to have shorter commutes. She used to come from Jersey to Philly for high school. Now she walks to the same school. My next-door neighbor is the head of the East Falls tree tenders and has gotten seven street trees planted on my property since we bought it five and a half years ago. She is pushing for more, but my wife wants to go slow until these seven (plus smaller trees and shrubs we ourselves have planted) no longer need watering. On Wednesday I went to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to attend a tree tenders class, which was fascinating, because last fall I walked out to thank the nice people planting trees on my property and met Mike Hardy, who I gather runs the Tree Tender program, who then invited me to speak to one of his classes. I can assure you that East Falls, where Governor Rendell and Senator Specter, as well as countless judges and lesser political folk, live, is quite green. One of our borders is the Wissahickon Park, which is 1800 contiguous acres. Another border is Fairmount Park proper (the Schuylkill River), which I believe is about 4000 acres. We are a compact approximately one square mile town in the city surrounded by open space. Look up the Falls of Schuylkill Branch (the approx center of EF is between it and the East Falls train station) of the Free Library of Philadelphia on a map and note the open space at our borders, about four blocks from the library in all directions. What is your utopia called, orrmobl?

I am not sure, but I believe that half of the students at my daughter's school come in from the burbs. Just last night I got lost in Gladwyne (easy to do) trying to pick her up from a playdate with a classmate, and I kept thinking to myself as I fought traffic and treacherous roads 'These people need to have their heads examined for living out here.' For less money they could have bought a house along the Wissahickon Park (in Philadelphia) and still have been within walking distance of both a train station and the Wissahickon itself. The people I saw on foot in Gladwyne gamely trying to get their exercise were taking their lives in their hands. I hadn't driven my car in about a month and I was looking forward to the ride (it is an antique convertible), but when I finally got home I was very glad to get it back into the garage.

Oh so you live in the rich, exclusive, suburban-like section, where all the politicos live to qualify for their jobs. That is city living in name only. Anywhere can be a great place to live if you are in the wealthy section. And you still didn't answer the school question but I'm going to guess people in your neighborhood go private, non parochial schools, WASPy if you will.

My utopia is State College, PA, but barring that, Swarthmore and Wallingford are quite nice.

orrmobl · #22 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hospitalitygirl

And that's why there are city mousies and country mousies, and you clearly are a country mousie. Not everyone is, and there is no reason to put down others' choices as you so often love to do. Now, STFU.

Why are you being such a troll? Read Billy's first rant before giving me a hard time. Now STFU yourself.

Queen Villager · #23 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orrmobl

Sorry, but the city is for singles and older empty nesters, it offers culture for families, but little else, which is why I choose to go into town for museums, etc. but prefer the safe, green, maintained suburbs with great schools and better neighbors for my place of residence.

Little for families? Try an abundance of parks and playgrounds, playgroups/kiddie classes in walking distance, pools, interesting streetscapes with interesting sites and shops, a wide choices of schools, including some good public ones in and near Center City. And museums and concerts and farmer's markets, also walking distance or a very short drive. BTW suburban schools do not automatically mean great schools. And when were you last "downtown?" Are you sure you're not confusing it with the unpleasant alternate present/future from "Back To The Future?"

PASnow · #24 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 05:13 PM

Am I the only one who notices this is "The Burbs" section, the threads title is called "What is the Burb for us" yet people are coming in, and attacking people for recommending the burbs?! I mean, seriously that is no different from snobby 'Main Liners' going into the Center City or Fairmount thread and saying that the Main Line is much better than City Living!

Quote:

Originally Posted by billy ross

I kept thinking to myself as I fought traffic and treacherous roads 'These people need to have their heads examined for living out here.'

One reason might be you wouldn't have to drive 30 minutes getting lost and stuck in traffic just for your daughter to go on a 'play date'. She'll have plenty of friends and schoolmates all within walking distance, or a 5 minute drive. Apparently at the private school, although a good school in itself, that is not the case. But a bigger reason is job location. Public transportation isn't very convenient in the suburbs so if someone works in say Willow Grove, Montgomeryville, or West Chester, it could be a few miles or so from any nearby train station. Therefore, you'd have to drive and get stuck in traffic anyway. Why not move closer to work.

billy ross · #25 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 05:24 PM

PASnow, good point. However, I am not attacking the original poster, but people who are denigrating living in the city, which makes my blood boil.

orrmobl · #26 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Queen Villager

Little for families? Try an abundance of parks and playgrounds, playgroups/kiddie classes in walking distance, pools, interesting streetscapes with interesting sites and shops, a wide choices of schools, including some good public ones in and near Center City. And museums and concerts and farmer's markets, also walking distance or a very short drive. BTW suburban schools do not automatically mean great schools. And when were you last "downtown?" Are you sure you're not confusing it with the unpleasant alternate present/future from "Back To The Future?"

...and used needles, crack vials, garbage, filth, exhaust and sewer fumes, drug dealers, crack heads, hookers, homeless, muggers...hmm maybe you're the one thinking the city is back in 1955 vs 2008. Or do the murders of civilians and police officers alike not ring a bell with you?

Suburban schools may not always mean great, but city schools generally mean sh*tty.

And I conceded the cultural aspects of the city...great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live or raise kids there...at least not until Nutter's second term...

brooklyncat · #27 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orrmobl

...and used needles, crack vials, garbage, filth, exhaust and sewer fumes, drug dealers, crack heads, hookers, homeless, muggers...hmm maybe you're the one thinking the city is back in 1955 vs 2008. Or do the murders of civilians and police officers alike not ring a bell with you?

Suburban schools may not always mean great, but city schools generally mean sh*tty.

And I conceded the cultural aspects of the city...great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live or raise kids there...at least not until Nutter's second term...

Oh, such a loser.

Lots of people live in the city and enjoy it. There are unpleasant parts of the city for living in just as there are in the burbs. Why does it bother you that other people might actually enjoy urban living?

as for the schools, there are good ones and bad ones, just like in the burbs.

I bet if you looked at the annual cost of maintaining the 2 cars necessary for a suburban family lifestyle, you could live in the city and send the nippers to a very nice private or parochial school. To each his own.

drala · #28 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 09:41 PM

You might want to check the towns along the R5 train line which goes into Chester County. The further west you go, the more rural it becomes. The line ends at the town of Thorndale, which is close to lots of farmland...though sadly its getting more developed/paved over every year.

billy ross · #29 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008, 10:25 PM

Orrmbi: it seems that we agree. Two of the three places you mentioned and the one place I mentioned are college towns (Penn State, Swarthmore College, and Philly U). I am not anti-suburb per se. I am anti-sprawl. I generally find older, pre-automobile boroughs like West Chester (another college town) and Ambler to be quite pleasant, as opposed to sprawling townships like Plymouth and Whitpain (Blue Bell). Most people remember their college years quite fondly, and long for that lost sense of community, while at the same time they voluntarily and inexplicably live disconnected lives where their shopping, living, and work places are three different, unconnected places, unlike college towns, where the legs between each activity are generally walkable.

About the schools, if you rate them from one to ten, the suburban schools run from 2 to 8. The city schools run from -10 to 10. Obviously Olney High would not be a good choice, but I'll take the 9 and 10 city schools and reject all of the suburban schools, with the possible exception of Jenkintown and Swarthmore's high school.

By the way, I live four blocks north of a project and six blocks west of another project, so I consider my neighborhood to be mixed income, although I concede that the immediate area (three block radius) is pretty fancy. However, there are a bunch of older homeowners who bought when the pj's were much worse than they are now, the neighborhood was under siege, and the city was going down the toilet, and these neighbors are quite middle class, so even my immediate area is an interesting mix of visionaries and newer, more monied, arrivals.

My taxes pay to support the city and its public schools, which very much need the cash. I get to vote for the leaders of this region, and meet them when they come to the neighborhood. I am very much a citizen of the city. I am also well-versed in what I call SEPTology, the incredibly arcane science of knowing how to get from A to B most efficiently using SEPTA.

Malloy · #30 (**permalink**) 05-18-2008, 06:04 PM

I live a few blocks from Ross in a 1100sqft rowhome. There are all kinds around here

Quote:

Originally Posted by orrmobl

Oh so you live in the rich, exclusive, suburban-like section, where all the politicos live to qualify for their jobs. That is city living in name only. Anywhere can be a great place to live if you are in the wealthy section