Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We kept a mask requirement in place at the Pen & Pencil Club for about six months after we reopened following a roughly 18-month shutdown for the pandemic and repairs to our main bar. whose ceiling fell in during the shutdown.
I argued in February, a few months after the city lifted its mandate, that we should drop ours as well, and my fellow Board of Governors members agreed; one of them said that the mask-wearing was "performative."
As I'm sure you know now, I still think this is the case, but I will mask up when going to the P&P or any of the other watering holes I frequent come Monday.
And I'm used to seeing performative gestures on the part of our current Mayor, who's an old-school racketeer-turned-progressive virtue signaler. I have said in the past that Philadelphia politics are rivaled for corruption and chicanery only by Chicago's, and the Michael Nutter years were IMO merely an interregnum. I'd characterize the city today as bifurcated: On one side, you have the old-line machine Democrats, generally center-left, who mainly don't want things to change too much, especially if the change endangers their favored friends, and on the other, you have a rising progressive-left faction that would like to take the city in a social-democratic direction. (Krasner is not in with the whole of this program; he mainly has a beef with the cops, and that animates his views.) Mayor Kenney does the performative progressive-left act while not entirely signing onto the progressive-left program.
And I do believe that our City Council President, Darrell "I drive to the corner store" Clarke, does envision the city as a giant suburb. The trouble is, it's not built that way.
I did enjoy my brief residence in Philadelphia. Center City and the Rittenhouse bubble offer a high QOL. The urban heritage is first-rate. The history and architecture is astounding, even if some of it is overlooked (places like Germantown have some of the best 19th century architecture in the US and it seems rarely acknowledged, even in Philadelphia). On the other hand, city politics seemed very angry to me. I find it interesting compared to Baltimore City, which shares many of Philadelphia's problems. Politics in Baltimore is not angry insomuch as incompetent. For all the many problems, Baltimore doesn't come across as an angry city to me. It may be because the divide between the haves and have-nots is more obvious in Philadelphia because the city does have more wealth within the city rather than hidden and out of sight in the suburbs or the leafier quadrants. And the anger in Philadelphia is multiracial with both working/urban poorer blacks and woke progressive left whites feeling left behind by Center City's smug prosperity.
I have always enjoyed Baltimore when visiting. But if we're gonna compare Baltimore city/suburbs versus Philadelphia city/suburbs on - well just about any metric, yeahhhhh Philadelphia wins hands-down. Stick with ya crab cakes, man.
I have always enjoyed Baltimore when visiting. But if we're gonna compare Baltimore city/suburbs versus Philadelphia city/suburbs on - well just about any metric, yeahhhhh Philadelphia wins hands-down. Stick with ya crab cakes, man.
Ok? What does it have to do with what I posted?
Besides, Baltimore does have some advantages over Philadelphia. Being smaller, it's easier to get around the region. The interstate/expressways are better placed and more easily navigated. The harbor is something Philadelphia also doesn't have and there's no neat comparison to the waterfront in Baltimore, which now stretches for miles. And it is a wee bit more affordable than Philadelphia. And no wage tax
Well, at least this is a nice change of pace from all the comments from New Yorkers comparing themselves to Philly. We have a gone a few days without that. Gee, I wonder why...
Besides, Baltimore does have some advantages over Philadelphia. Being smaller, it's easier to get around the region. The interstate/expressways are better placed and more easily navigated. The harbor is something Philadelphia also doesn't have and there's no neat comparison to the waterfront in Baltimore, which now stretches for miles. And it is a wee bit more affordable than Philadelphia. And no wage tax
Suburbs of both cites are comparable enough.
The agglomeration of restaurants, shopping, retail, museums, parks, history, universities, and transit in Philadelphia versus Baltimore is just unmatched. I mean, come on lol. The only thing I'd give Baltimore an edge on is harbor/waterfront living. Though we're a lot closer to the beach. Wage tax okay, but PA income taxes are lower and property taxes in the city are super low.
I don't think the suburbs of both cities are comparable at all, either. Philadelphia has multiple top-notch suburbs with great schools, park access and walkable town centers. Anyway, keep your Baltimore crap outta this Philly thread
We'll come down and spend some money in your city every now and then sweetie.
I must ask (maybe naive), how does this Bettigole person have so much control over the mandate? Can Council override her decision or only the useless Mayor? It appears most of Council is in agreement that this mandate is a mistake.
Philly mask mandate draws jabs from Stephen Colbert and City Council members
"Given the chance to ask Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole anything about COVID-19 on Wednesday, one City Council member brought up late-night comedian Stephen Colbert. “They were like, making fun of us on his show,” said Councilmember Allan Domb, “which hurts my pride and everyone’s pride in this city.”"
"Domb’s other concern was the number of calls he’s received from residents and businesses complaining about the return of the mask mandate, slated for this Monday."
Last edited by toobusytoday; 04-14-2022 at 02:03 PM..
Reason: Please don't post large chunks of quotes.
I worked at Widener University for 18 months in 2006-07.
The Black Republicans who ran Chester during that time (and before and after it) were very much connected to "the last Republican machine in America." And that was then, not "years ago."
I remember touring the city with the university's new VP for Government and Community Relations as he told me about his trip to register to vote in Media at the county courthouse.
This guy usually registers as an independent because he feels his position calls for someone not aligned with any particular party.
He told me how he watched in astonishment as the clerk who took his information simply checked off the "Republican" box in the party affiliation space without even asking him.
When he protested, the clerk responded, "Oh, I just assume everyone does this."
And FWIW, you did say this upthread:
I don't know the partisan breakdown of drug use, but since so many of those drug users are affluent suburbanites who keep "the problem" at bay in the city, then exacerbate it by driving there to score, I'll wager a non-trivial number of them are Republicans, though probably fewer now than in 2006-07 simply because affluent suburbanites in this region have been drifting leftward while the GOP is heading into right-populist territory (and, some would say, losing any interest in observing democratic norms).
Sheesh, there were a number of Republicans who pushed for anti-LGBT legislation in the 1980s and 1990s, only to get outed as gay themselves, so why would the same sort of hypocrisy fail to manifest itself here?
I can tell you for a fact that the majority of people buying drugs lean liberal. Republicans in the suburbs and exurbs hate any urban area with a passion. They'll go to a city to do middle class or upper class white people things or go to a game but that's really it. Openly racist white people don't go to the neighborhoods that sell drugs. They especially don't go to Chester. The whole reason they're Republican in the first place is because to them "black people and Democrats ruined *insert neighborhood here* just like they ruin everywhere". It's complete nonsense, and anybody who actually understands the dynamics of a neighborhood declining knows this. They believe it with every fiber of their being though. Liberals on the other hand have no understanding of boundaries. They see nothing wrong with going into a community they aren't from to score drugs or use it in some other selfish way. They think not being like Republicans means they're not racist or ignorant but then prove both by treating everywhere they go as their own personal playground or somewhere that exists to serve them. They also tend to be way more likely to go to college in the city and live in the city without any respect for boundaries or the communities they venture into. The two groups have a completely different attitude and mentality from each other. Republicans want to get as far away from the city as possible while liberals want to do the complete opposite and often do so with no self-awareness about the effects of their being part of such a large influx.
And the black Republicans in Chester may be connected to the party machine but they look out for their own first and foremost. They might let the state or county put an incinerator or a jail or some other thing in Chester as long as it helps them personally but they don't have the same view of their city as the white Republicans. Party affiliation doesn't really matter all that much once an area becomes heavily one race or ethnic group. They answer only to themselves and consider themselves one big community, to an extent.
The whole point is that Chester going to crap had absolutely nothing to do with Republicans, and only a complete moron would say it did. Democrats wouldn't have done any better, especially not Democrats who aren't even a part of the community. It is 100% because of people going there to use the community whether it's to buy drugs or any other selfish thing they could do.
This also completely ignores the fact that it's completely disgusting and reprehensible to try to use a community's pain to "own the cons". That shows completely low character and an entitled and dehumanizing view of the world and the people in it.
I did enjoy my brief residence in Philadelphia. Center City and the Rittenhouse bubble offer a high QOL. The urban heritage is first-rate. The history and architecture is astounding, even if some of it is overlooked (places like Germantown have some of the best 19th century architecture in the US and it seems rarely acknowledged, even in Philadelphia). On the other hand, city politics seemed very angry to me. I find it interesting compared to Baltimore City, which shares many of Philadelphia's problems. Politics in Baltimore is not angry insomuch as incompetent. For all the many problems, Baltimore doesn't come across as an angry city to me. It may be because the divide between the haves and have-nots is more obvious in Philadelphia because the city does have more wealth within the city rather than hidden and out of sight in the suburbs or the leafier quadrants. And the anger in Philadelphia is multiracial with both working/urban poorer blacks and woke progressive left whites feeling left behind by Center City's smug prosperity.
It's the woke/progressive whites who are the ones causing gentrification and inserting themselves into everything and saying dehumanizing things about people from the communities they move into or feel like talking about. They're the ones doing everything they can to push city natives of every race away from each other for their own benefit. If they think they've been "left behind" they're beyond delusional. Being able to afford houses that most people from the city could never afford and having your voice always be heard above everybody else's no matter the topic is the complete opposite of being left behind.
It's their complete lack of self-awareness, of a sense of shame, or of any kind of actual genuine compassion or understanding for others that's the biggest problem by far. They push their theories and concepts and everything else learned entirely in classrooms or some other sterile environment largely full of people exactly like them and drown out the people with actual life experience who were trying to change things for the better before "progressive" white people ever even came into the picture. They write the papers. They are beyond overrepresented in the media and in the court of public opinion. They get the government seats starting with the community organizations of places they just moved to in many cases less than five years ago, and they get catered to at every turn. Who do you think wanted bike lanes put everywhere or suburban style parks? Or "greening" of neighborhood playgrounds where kids played basketball or some other urban sport for generations? They get everything they want whenever they want it and never face consequences for their actions (have the six white college educated transplants who smashed up Center City even gone to trial yet?) yet somehow they're never happy and always want to rage about something.
Most of people's problems with "white people" are exacerbated by these self-labeled "progressive" whites constantly, yet nobody can say anything because these spoiled brats raised with no discipline or respect for boundaries or accountability are pretty much untouchable thanks to their money. Sounds a lot like smug prosperity to me.
I can tell you for a fact that the majority of people buying drugs lean liberal. Republicans in the suburbs and exurbs hate any urban area with a passion. They'll go to a city to do middle class or upper class white people things or go to a game but that's really it. Openly racist white people don't go to the neighborhoods that sell drugs. They especially don't go to Chester. The whole reason they're Republican in the first place is because to them "black people and Democrats ruined *insert neighborhood here* just like they ruin everywhere". It's complete nonsense, and anybody who actually understands the dynamics of a neighborhood declining knows this. They believe it with every fiber of their being though. Liberals on the other hand have no understanding of boundaries. They see nothing wrong with going into a community they aren't from to score drugs or use it in some other selfish way. They think not being like Republicans means they're not racist or ignorant but then prove both by treating everywhere they go as their own personal playground or somewhere that exists to serve them. They also tend to be way more likely to go to college in the city and live in the city without any respect for boundaries or the communities they venture into. The two groups have a completely different attitude and mentality from each other. Republicans want to get as far away from the city as possible while liberals want to do the complete opposite and often do so with no self-awareness about the effects of their being part of such a large influx.
And the black Republicans in Chester may be connected to the party machine but they look out for their own first and foremost. They might let the state or county put an incinerator or a jail or some other thing in Chester as long as it helps them personally but they don't have the same view of their city as the white Republicans. Party affiliation doesn't really matter all that much once an area becomes heavily one race or ethnic group. They answer only to themselves and consider themselves one big community, to an extent.
The whole point is that Chester going to crap had absolutely nothing to do with Republicans, and only a complete moron would say it did. Democrats wouldn't have done any better, especially not Democrats who aren't even a part of the community. It is 100% because of people going there to use the community whether it's to buy drugs or any other selfish thing they could do.
This also completely ignores the fact that it's completely disgusting and reprehensible to try to use a community's pain to "own the cons". That shows completely low character and an entitled and dehumanizing view of the world and the people in it.
People in the suburbs use drugs. It just may not be the low-grade variety...and their dealers live in or near the community and don't look much different than their contemporaries. For this reason, I agree with you that they may not go to, say, Kensington or Chester to score because they have much more convenient connections where they are.
Judging by the recent trend of suburban county-level control flipping majority Democratic, one might be tempted to say that your hypothesis is still true although I suspect in many cases the win was due to center-left moderates and/or people not wanting to adopt the rhetoric and policies of the previous White House.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
