Wil's gathering of demograhic info has raised my curiosity about who the members of this blog are. One question that comes to mind is, where did we all begin? I think this colors our perceptions in many ways.

Geno--what do you consider NE Philly? Is your def. of the city including all of Philadelphia County?

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Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

Yes. The city and county of Philadelphia are one and the same. Have been since 1854. Same government, laws, school system, tax policies, police force etc. The 1.517 million in the last census counts everyone. Parts of the northeast (mostly south of Cottman) are as dense and urban as everywhere else in the city, certainly more so than Roxborough or Chestnut Hill. Much of the far Northeast is pretty spread out, but it's just as much a part of Philadelphia as Fishtown.

I grew up in Hawaii

How many of you native Philadelphians still live in the city?

I do.

I grew up outside the city, went away for college, returned for grad school and have "settled" here once again...

Is Reading considered outside the Philly area?

I think so. They measure the area in a few different ways though. What they used to consider the Phila. suburbs was Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware and Chester counties in PA and Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties in Jersey.