Filthydelphia

If you're brave enough to dodge bullets in order to see the historical part of the city, then you're a trooper. Otherwise, stay home and watch some Cops or CSI for your dose of violence and flip over to PBS for some historical programming.

They don't call it Killadelphia for nuttin'.

I am from Monte Carlo, Monaco. As such, I had to visit Philadelphia to see where Grace Kelly was born and raised - her childhood house and such. I did not know what to expect when we touched down in Philadelphia.

We stayed at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Center City. I was amazed at the beauty of the city. It has beautiful parks, gorgeous buildings, friendly residents, and amazing food.

I am in awe of how Parisian the City of Philadelphia is. From the layout to the archetecture, to the Philadelphian accent - very french.

I have been to many cities in the United States - NYC, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Newport, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and New Orleans - but Philadelphia is by far my favourite. I love everything about the city.

Smack dab in between New York and Washington, DC, Philadelphia is a city with a with a personality (give or take it) all its own. Philadelphia has a rich history and Old City and Society Hill will amaze you with the beautiful colonial homes. The food is Philly cannot be beat! Aside from feeling the brotherly love you can feel super full from all the soft pretzels, water ice, cheese steaks, and other street foods. The city has neighborhoods that are rich with color and faces (I won't say friendly). Philadelphia residents have a low tolerance for stupidity and have no problem on letting you know how stupid you are! Also, the Parking Authority will put you through the ringer if you are unlucky enough to get a ticket!

This city is just awesome and you should check it out for yourself.

For whatever reason, I always had a certain aversion to the state of Pennsylvania, even though I never really had any experiences there until I reached adulthood, and even then they were pretty minimal. Maybe it had something to do with growing up only a few minutes away from NY; I don't really know. I've always loved New England and upstate NY, but Pennsylvania invariably "weirds" me out-- even objectively beautiful areas like the Brandywine Valley, or Bucks County, or the western, mountainous part of the state. The small towns like Belfast and Pen Argyl (where Jayne Mansfield sleeps her eternal sleep under a heart-shaped marble tombstone in an incongruously remote country cemetery) and over-the-hill cities like Easton and Allentown always seemed creepy, seedy, like towns and cities out of the "Twlight Zone" but without the mystical charm or ambiance. The first time I remember going there was in the mid-80's with a friend who, for reasons I no longer remember, had to get a passport to travel to Italy in Philly. We didn't see much of the city (we took a train in); a few bookstores, the office where he got his passport, a nice but nothing special northern Italian restaurant. A few years later, I had friends who wanted to check out the nightlife. The drive there was long and dull (as opposed to the drive into NY,which was short and exciting). The nightlife I couldn't help but compare to NY's and find it wanting. A few times in subsequent years I'd drive there out of curiosity, but wasn't overly impressed. Again, maybe it was the unfair comparison to NY. There were several bookstores, and some of them were pretty good, but nothing extraordinary. I don't remember the restaurants that I ate in as being especially memorable. There was an indoor market not far from City Hall, and the Amish selling their food products there struck me as pretty unique (the Amish may be strange, but they make tasty food). Many of the stores seemed to be decaying relics from another time...a decade or 2 behind what was going on elsewhere, or so it seemed to me...and the seedy areas were really seedy, without the vibrancy of NY's Times Square (back before it became Giuliani's version of Disneyland), and there are some dangerous looking slums that I inadvertently strayed into. In fairness, I never checked out the abundant historic sites that Philly has...surprisingly, I never searched out the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's burial site, or that of John Barrymore (although I did check out the Angelo Bruno, Philip "Chickenman" Testa, Sal Testa, and H.H. Holmes burial sites-- someday, I hope to return and find the suburban Jewish cemetery where Nancy Spungen is buried; supposedly the mother of Sid Vicious disposed of his cremated remains on Nancy's gravesite). For awhile, I was going out with a young lady in Chestnut Hill, one of Philly's nicer northwestern suburban towns, and I enjoyed the area where she lived. I keep telling myself I'll go back again someday soon, but it's been several years at this point since I've been there, and I don't feel any great urgency when I contemplate my next visit.

My hometown, it's real, raw, uncensored, unlike those plastic West Coast towns

Go Eagles!

I have lived in Philadelphia for 18 years im originally from Harrisburg, PA. I have to say that Philly is where you wanna be if you come from a small town. This city isn't the cleanest, not the prettiest, however there are tons of things to do. Downtown center city is filled and over flowing with every kind of person you can imagine. There are so many places to shop, eat, and hangout that one can never get bored. There are high paying, medium and low paying jobs in Philly, but you definitely have to do the work. Most employers do not return phone calls in a timely fashion (they may not even pick up the phone) there are alot of automated customer service lines that lead you no where, so you have to really be a go getter in this city to find a good job. If your looking for a gig, you will definitely find it, there are people in every major groove that need help or are offering help, however you may not be able to make a living off of it. Center City is the main core of Philly, it's where everything goes down. From parades, to walking for a good cause, to Philly Men are Cooking. Philly is a great cultural city, no matter what your into you can find something that fits your life style. Philly neighboorhoods are up and coming, you wont find many tree lined, articulate landscaped streets, however you can find an nice affordable, safe place to live no matter what your budget is. Now here are some downfalls, winter months are just that! it's very, very cold, and gets well in the single digits rather quickly, so if you love warm weather all year round, DONT MOVE TO PHILLY! you will freeze your azz off! Most people here are very rude, and obnoxious, especially the younger generation. Customer service is terrible mostly everywhere, there are always long lines, traffic is a disaster between 3pm-6pm. However you can get a great original Philly Cheesesteak! The best place for it would be Jims, there's one in every part of town, and definitely worth the drunk lady with the bad hairweave, scratching herself and begging for a free steak, while on her cell phone yelling at her cousin about whole stole the rent money from under the mattress. If you move to Philadelphia, bring your patience, a bag of ink pens, some Lysol, your appetite, and some headphones, after all there's nothing else to do while u ride the subway but listen to music, to keep your sanity. But all in all Philadelphia is a great place to live if you have tough skin, it's not a place for the meek.

    Im changing my vote after three years.   Yes the Center City area with museums, restaurants, and parks are nice but the rest of the city is collapsing.  Im so done with the Philly attitude and people who can't speak properly.    I think partying is just to overdone in Philly also.  I stood on 2nd st.at 2:30 when the bars let out and it was a pathetic zoo. 

One of my ex-wives came from South Philly. I still hold that against the Quaker City.

The city is not only a dump but dangerous in many spots. Stay far away if possible!

I was pleasantly surpised by a visit to Philly recently. My first by the way. The city is a lot more vibrant than I anticipated. And friendlier. Cheesesteak was good.  the philly art musuem is humongous. Indepence Hall area really historic, obviously.  I didnt realize Philly was the birthplace of not only America, but, hospitals, libraires, firehouses, and more. Highly recommend a visit.

Museums are so-so...lots of history here, so Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the new Constitution museum are must-sees.

Sports fans here are pretty mean...they booed Santa Claus!!!

dirty and humid.

Philly is a great place to visit with all the history and good food. This is the place where America began.

Lots of the old neighborhoods still exist and the old ambiance has not been totally wiped out by demographic change or politically correct changes.

Whether or not you like Philadelphia probably depends on what neighborhood you're talking about. I think its real strength as a city is its capacity to preserve the past. There's no other city that has managed to preserve its original design so well -- not even Boston. This has a lot to do with William Penn's smart, clear design for the town...so easy to walk around the city core, where the architecture is still mostly small scale. And the people there are wonderful, as long as you don't act like a bratty yuppie. The downsides are the horrible public transportation, the deeply neglected look of all the urban infrastructure, the corrupt city government, and the low percentage of college grads in the workforce (smallest of any major U.S. city). P.S., PhillyBoy, there are actually a LOT of Cosis in Philly, like them or not! I would walk by a couple of them every day.

Philly is clearly on an upswing. Center City is becoming quite the place to club, shop, dine, and live - it's really become a "class act" that is still getting better. Many beautiful suburbs along the Main Line. Close to New York, D.C., and the shore. What I do find is that the people in general are rude - not everyone, but many. In living there for 6 months on business, I found that it was the native Philadelphian's (this doesn't necessarily include those from Philadelphia's suburbs) had the most issues - rude, insecure, ignorant, parochial, too hung up on their losing sports teams...you get the picture. It's the people that come to Philadelphia (out of towners and suburbanites) that make it cool - not those from the inner city (or Northeast Philly - the largest mass of White Trash in America). Overall, if you could get rid of the slugs that bring Philly down, it will emerge as a World Class city.

Philly is a love-it-or-hate-it type of town. For the young urban professional, it's probably a nightmare. If you're accustomed to the cozy neighborhoods of D.C. such as Adams Morgan, or the ritziness of Chelsea, you'll absolutely hate it here. Philly has nice areas, but it's not a "cute" or "cozy" town. And I've always liked it that way. Not many Au Bon Pains or Cosis here. We prefer to keep it original with mom and pop's hoagie and pizza shops. I guess Philly just has a more authentic feel to it. I live in D.C. now and it just seems very sterile and antiseptic. The same goes for S.F. If you want flavor, soul, personality, and an underdog, gritty persona, I think Philly might work for you. If you want cute and cozy, you might wanna head out west or to D.C.

Philly is a love-it-or-hate-it type of town. For the young urban professional, it's probably a nightmare. If you're accustomed to the cozy neighborhoods of D.C. such as Adams Morgan, or the ritziness of Chelsea, you'll absolutely hate it here. Philly has nice areas, but it's not a "cute" or "cozy" town. And I've always liked it that way. Not many Au Bon Pains or Cosis here. We prefer to keep it original with mom and pop's hoagie and pizza shops. I guess Philly just has a more authentic feel to it. I live in D.C. now and it just seems very sterile and antiseptic. The same goes for S.F. If you want flavor, soul, personality, and an underdog, gritty persona, I think Philly might work for you. If you want cute and cozy, you might wanna head out west or to D.C.

Great city. Diverse culturally, lots of history, much to explore, and not too difficult to get around too for the most part. There's still much for me to explore and analyse about Philadelphia, but I just enjoy being there. Granted, there are a lot of bums and/or crackheads walking the streets and some parts look like real shitholes, but i'm used to that kind of thing living near Atlantic City most of my life. Most people will say that Philly doesn't have it's own character, which I think isn't entirely true. Philly has more subtle charm and character. You can certainly tell it apart from other citys (especially NY) once you've been here a couple times. It's just an interesting city and there's much to like.

On the surface, 3 maybe even 4 stars. Underneath, the reality is it's more of a 1 or 2 star city. Pros: Center City is a very cute neighborhood in Philly, food is amazing here, very rich cultural history, fairly affordable housing, good universities. Cons: Outside of Center City, Philly is overwhelmingly filled with rundown ghettos and the suburbs in PA are pretty backwards and boring. Philly doesn't seem to really have any character of it's own, despite what the locals say. Surprisingly, I've found New Yorkers are much friendlier than in Philly. Maybe, everyone here has an inferiority complex or something, I have no idea, but there is a definitely an obnoxious attitude among the people here. Philly's main selling points are it's proximity to the Jersey Shore and New York City. If you have to sell a city by advertising it's proximity to other places, that doesn't say much. The nightlife is a joke. Everything closes by 2 a.m., which is pathetic since there are bars and clubs across the state line in New Jersey that stay open as late or later. Laughable, when you think about it, that there's more of a nightlife in the suburbs of Jersey than in a major city like Philly. Also, since Philly is basically a university town (Drexel, U.Penn, Temple), it is overrun with annoying college kids. That's fine when you're in your late teens and early 20's, but after a while the 2 a.m. curfew and immature attitudes get old and you want to hang out with adults.

Very livable city-relatively low rents,decent public transit system-but awfully slow and provincial.

OK. Where do I begin? I've been here in Philly since late May, and have mixed feelings about this city. Center City is above average, not like downtown Chicago or anything. The city offers several nice parks like Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square, Logan park. Old City is very nice with all the historical sites around 5th and Market St. such as Independence Hall, Congress Hall, the libery bell, etc. Not to mention the excellent nightlife over around second street near Penn's Landing with all the bars and night clubs. Then, there's the Ben Franklin Parkway that includes Logan park along with the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Ben Franklin Institute, and ends right at the Art Museum. Nice site. Also, City hall at Market and Broad St. is a real gem.

Then you have all the colleges. Let's see...There's UPenn (oldest school in the country I believe), Drexel, St. Joseph, La Salle, Temple, Villanova, and a whole bunch of smaller lesser knowns, helping to make this a very young vibrant community. Oh!!! Did I mention all the neighborhoods.

But!!!! It ain't a perfect place. Crime is getting very much out of control in some areas like North Philly, South Philly, and Southwest Philly. There's just piles of garbage and litter on the streets and side walks. Much of the areas smell like urine and fieces. Septa is a pretty reliable transit system, despite what a previous poster said.

Overall, decent city, and I really don't mind it that much. Although, I honestly wouldn't miss it whenever I move.

I live right over the Walt Whitman and love spending the day on South Street. The best is the Mummers Day Parade. Most people don't understand it, but to me there is nothing better than watching big drunk guys dressed up and dancing around. However Philly is becoming victim to the same crime that has taken over many cities. You used to be able to visit your grandpops iron shop and find many other truley harworking folks that actually earnerd their living. Now drugs and crime are starting to take over again.

Such a great city thats only getting better

You will die of a cholesterol time bomb if you stay here long enough. Great eating town...one of the best. Too much cheez whiz on your steak aint too good for you.

I live in Philly and I can tell you for sure - Philly is the best. We have the best resturants and food in America, the second highest number of community gardens-per-capita (we're slightly behind Pittsburgh) in America, 18 farmers farkets, the largest urban park in America (over 10 times the size of Central Park), walkable streets, a good public transit system, affordable housing (but for the rich ones, there's always Rittenhous Sq and Chestnut Hill), lots of sidewalk cafés, America's first university, America's first zoo (gotta ride the zooballon), parks everywhere, the most murals of any city in the county, and much much more. Oh, and for the record, Philly is NOT a wannabe New York. We have our own style.

Pathetic, ugly, horrible city with crime, slums and rot everywhere. Even the streets of Baghdad have more beauty than Philadelphia!

Philadelphia really is probably one of the best cities in the US, if not even the world. I have been an avid visitor and have been to most other major US cities. It offers something for everyone. A big city with a small town feel with genuine people. It must have the best food of any city with everything to choose from including all of the famous original Philly treats. It has to be the most well rounded when it comes to what a city can offer. It is unmatched with history, one of the best orchestras, best zoo outside of SD, best museams, arts of all kinds, good nightlife that is only getting better, resturants, bars, ect. It has a stunning skyline that is set for more projects from what I hear. It has the largest park of any city and a great park system all together. There is tremendous culture here with proud neighborhoods. There are some of the best colleges and institutions in university city. Phila has some of the best sports fans I have ever seen. Granted, they havent won in a while but they are the most neurotic to the bone of any fans I have seen anywhere. I could go on about how much this city has to offer, you really have to visit everything it offers to find endless supprises. From what I hear, Philadelphia is becomming the next major city to go through a renaissance adding to the skyline, resturants, luxary condos. This city has potential for so much more. I read it will be the first major city to go wireless. I would like to see something more done with Penns Lansing, possibly something like navy peir in chicago at 1 end. There is some urban decay in some of the "hoods" that need to be addressed like every US city. I felt very safe on all of my visits and the city was clean. Too much to do and see, I still havent seen it all. I highly reccommend visiting this great American city that is only getting better.

Septa is the worst transit system in the country. With rising healthcare cost they feel as though they should have to pay for benefits. The schedules are never right. The customer service is horrible. The Trains are disgustingly dirty. Who in there right mind would put fabric seats on a mass transit system. Thats just stupid. I have rode mass transit in New York, Toronto, and London. And Septa is by-far the WORST!!!!!!

Unsafe and dirty.

Philly can definately offer a stimulating experience. It's so rich in history and full of many significant sights to recall the roots and beginnings of this great country. Penn's landing on the waterfront also has some neat ships and submarines you can tour including a battleship dating back to the Spanish-American war. The archetecture in Philly is fascinating, especially on Society Hill which has an abundance of brownstones, cobblestone streets, horse and buggies and sort of reminded me of Boston a lot but Philly definately has it's own individual character. City hall right in the middle of downtown is like an archetectual centerpiece for the city with an impressive clock tower and a commemorative statue of William Penn. This is probably the best looking city hall I've ever seen. The food here is great, especially if you like Italian dining, check out South Philly. Philly definately is an impressive city yet something seemed like it was missing while I was there yet I couldn't quite put a finger on it. Perhaps smiles and civic pride seemed to be a lacking factor in this city.

I've lived here my whole life. I grew up in NE Philly, and its a great place to live and work. There's plenty of culture in Philadelphia. The cheesesteaks and soft pretzels are awesome!! The bars/clubs are always a good time (however, very pricy in Old City). The only reason I went with 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the ghettos, and they're expanding. You can see the lower parts of the NE starting to go to hell. What a shame. Note: Whatever you do, don't venture into North or West Philly, big big mistake.

A good, solid city. It mixex East Coast cosmopolitan/sophistication, with a nice hometown feeling to it too. Revitalizing itself a lot, probably the best emerging major city. The birthplace of the Nation. Also, the only Northeastern City without a distinctive accent. I don't have a problem with accents, in fact I think they add chareter to a place and I made a weblist on them, but it is nice to go to a place where you KNOW what the people are saying...... However I have to say that I am baffled by the fact that Philly is rated higher than it's neighboring NYC, philly is nice and all, but come on.

Fine place by the Delaware River. I would have seen more, including North Philadelphia to give a definite rating. However I see how aesthetic it is- there are many parks. There's a welcoming dowtown area, nice museums, great universities and a fine history. If I were to move into another place, this city would likely be my best bet.

Well I visited Philly for the first time for a college rowing tournament recently. First off I must preface and say that the weather was ideal sunny and 70 degrees and I only spent two days there but I thought Philly was absloutely fantastic. The rowing event was set on a beautiful park along the Schuylkill River. Downtown kind of blew me away with it's vibrancy and amount of people walking the streets. The residential area down around the historic sights is really impressive. It's not flawless , center city has its grittier spots but all and all I thought philly was a great experience.

Philadelphia is extremely underrated as a city. Ha caligula, how many people did you meet in Philly to generalize as the rudest people you ever met? Personally, I think that they are the most tight knit, loyal, and real people I've ever met. I'm sorry Philly is not Boston, D.C., Chicago, S.F. or LA because they are so refined (oh wait! no I'm not. Philly is original and if you don't get it, see ya later).

Despite the claims on this website, has more in common with Detroit than New York City. Basically a dying city with little appeal beyond history. Boston, D.C., Chicago, S.F., and even L.A. are more appealling as large cities. Not to mention, by far the rudest people you will meet. People complain about NYC and Paris, but Philly takes the cake. Stick a fork in this city, it's done.

Simply a great city. It's sad most people don't realize how nice it is. Very livable downtown, the arts, sports, Philly has it all.

I'm generalizing because people are basically the same all over but Philly has, it seems, the most obnoxious people of any city I've been to.

Cool city. I love Philly. Center City and University City are going to be something special in the next 10 to 15 years...I can't say enough about how incredible the residential areas are. Back in the day most of the early money in this country was in Philadlephia and the housing stock in the Nw part of the city show that. Chestnut Hill-Mt Airy-Overbrook-east Falls, the stone mansions are awe inspiring...The brownstones and colonials downtown are worth a visit in itself... The hoods are really bringing Philly down, hopefully something happens on a national level to address the inner cities. Because the bombed out hoods of N.Philly and W philly are too much for Philly to tackle by itself.

Lotsa history here. Home of Rocky Balboa and the Philly Cheesesteak hoagie.

A city who's championship starved. God, I hope the Eagles win a Super Bowl. The passionate Philly fans awaiting their long due. Besides, they haven't won something since 1983.

Haven't been here in some years, but my memories are nothing special. Certainly some interesting museums and historical sites, but I found the cultural atmosphere a little stifling.

Only true competitor with NYC

simply the 2nd best

Philadelphia is underrated as a city. It is a good city to live in if you like City Life and want to live in an affordable city with a variety of things to see and do. Philadelphia is really like a big city with a (tough) small town feel. It's a blue-collar city and the residents have an attitude, but it also is a city with a great deal of history, culture and class. Yes it's dirty and there is crime to worry about, but there are also great parks, museums, Architecture, restaurants, clubs, night life, Good pro teams, very good colleges, decent neighborhoods, variety and diversity and good food. Philadelphia is also centrally locacted in the Northeast. You can go to New York, Atlantic City, Baltimore or Washington ,DC easily from Phila. Boston, Pittsburgh, Richmond , Va. are reachable from Phila. Pennsylvania offers The Poconos , New Jersey the Shore , Maryland- Crabs, all within range of Phila.You can also go to Delaware, if for no other reason than to say you've been there. MTV's The Real World was filmed in Philadelphia because they recognized this underrated city. There's more to it than people realize and a lot of that is good stuff.

I dont think Philly is a wannabe new york, they have there own history and (at least in some areas) still have some good old fashion northeastern charm. But i do have to say, that as far as northeastern coastal cities go, it is the only one that isnt growing, so that might say something. I would live there if i had a job offer or something, doesnt seem too bad. But i would most likely live in the burbs.

I recently visited Philly from out of town and had the best pretzels on earth. We were at the Auntie Anne's shop on South Street across from Jims Steaks. In the same store we tasted something called Irish Ice. It was the best water ice that I ever tasted. The product was creamy and smooth. Mango was the best flavor. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We loved Philly and will visit again soon!

Philly is an oaky city if you like dealing with people who live in the past. I used to live there, for 38 yrs as a matter of fact, and as I got older, my desire to leave became stronger. I have to say, I have been living in Seattle now for 4 yrs, and I DO NOT miss Philly one bit. I agree that the people in general are rude, with attitudes, and it is a rather filthy city as cities goes. I can honestly say, I am never returning there to live.

I would give Philly an average mark. The people here are overweight like Grimace. The taxi drivers are rude, and also charge HIGH prices. The septa is scary because there was this crazy lady in my subway who was screaming her head off and nobody gave a damn to call th cops. It's also very humid here in PhillyDUSTia during the summer.