Due to very personal events, I have come to love my adopted city & decided to remain.... probably for all that is both wrong as well as all that is right. Traveling to other cities, the mix of entertainment, culture, social variation, friendship offered and all the other things that make a place "liveable" I have come to the conclusion, that much as Candide would exclaim "this is the best of all possible worlds" I feel as such about Philly!
I know, our local politics kinda suck, but hey, think about NO, and while I may not like some of Street's policies, I don't think that he would be that much of a jerk, and he does have great fire and rescue organizations to support the city! yea the SureKill expressway is horrible on a bad day, but ever drive in our "nation's capital" - they are professionals at poor traffic planning... and we do have an ok pub trasport system...
our parks? really good, with lots of activities for kids.... and who can argue with our food variety? We have everything... with respect to culture, we have a museum - a museum that I might add is not afraid to recognize the oddities of what constitutes art! a statue of a fictional character - who has become a symbol of overcoming the odds to achieve greatness! and is refereneced even today in movies ("In her shoes") 30 years after the original! ya gotta love it.
Also - while on culture, the Philadelphia orchestra, even as a kid, I loved them !!! and at the time, I did not even know where philadelphia was, I just knew the Ormandy and the Philly orchestra sure sounded purty!
Sports! well, we get our drama in our sports teams! Eagles, Phillies, and the 76ers! lol! What more is there to say!?
Universities? Temple, TJU, and Drexel, to say nothing of the University of the Sciences (the school responsible for the education of men such as Lilly (Class of 1907) and his father, Josiah K. Lilly (Class of 1882) - Eli Lilly and Company
Gerald F. Rorer (Class of 1931) - founder of Rorer Pharmaceuticals, which is now Aventis Pharmaceuticals, William R. Warner (Class of 1856), founder of Warner-Lambert Company, Inc., which merged with Pfizer Inc., Robert L. McNeil, Jr. (Class of 1938) and his grandfather, Robert McNeil (Class of 1876) - founder of McNeil Laboratories Inc. (now part of Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc.), John Wyeth (Class of 1854), founder of Wyeth, Silas M. Burroughs (Class of 1877) and Sir Henry S. Wellcome (Class of 1874), founders in England of Burroughs Wellcome and Company, which is now part of GlaxoSmithKline. If this was not accomplishment enough, University of the sciences in Philly has given us the following inventions including rechargeable batteries, and Hires Root Beer extract! lol!
My question, is how do other "transplants" feel? do you also love where ya live?
