Just spent the weekend there, absolutely great city!!! My buddy bought a condo in the Rittenhouse neighborhood across the street from the park. Beautiful area, great restaurants, and more affordable than NYC and DC. The women in Philly were GORGEOUS as well, I am dissapointed I didnt consider Philly while I was looking for a job this past Spring. It is a great up and coming city which would be a good spot for young professionals.

I noticed a bunch of places (clubs, bars, etc) just take cash, no credit cards. I found this interesting considering Philly has so many universities in the area and students mostly pay with credit.

On Saturday, we went on a tour of Philly and saw the Liberty bell (through this glass, I refused to wait on that huge line) and also saw one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence. Also ventured a bit into a little of South Philly where another friend of mine got an apt near Merlino's former haunts (Passyunk). Went to Gino's, Rita's, and on the recommendation of the guys on the forum stopped in at Pesto's where they served an amazing Pollo alla Fiorentina. My date really enjoyed the place as well, she had Salmone alla Griglia. I wish I was able to travel more in South Philly but my buddy doesnt venture out of Center City much.

While we were walking around Passyunk for a bit there were a few restaurants (dont remember the name, very intoxicated at this point) that had pictures of Joey and his crew (from the 90s) inside. All in all we walked about 5 miles around Philly.

I also noticed there seemed to be a very sizeable gay population especially near central Philly (even for the gayberhood as it was called). At one point I went to this backyard BBQ where my date and myself where the only straight people there, later in the night the neighbors who were two lesbians joined us. I dont have any issues with gays (to each his own) but just noticed that.

Anyways, the trip down (a little delayed) and back to NYC was good.

Great city, great time, I highly recommend the area for anybody thinking of visiting. The weather was perfect as well. I plan on visiting again sometime in the fall.

Where I live, "Jersey Shore" you could say, but that moniker has been tainted terribly thanks to TV... being basically halfway between both NYC and Philly, ppl here lean to either one or the other. But like myself, they mostly prefer NYC 1000%. Nothing against Philly, except for the fact that you can NEVER make a left turn, anywhere, EVER! I go there quite rarely, but, it's not terrible. But I do feel at home in NYC every/any day....

NYC is NYC, nothing can compare. Born and raised in NYC, after spending the most recent years of my life upstate and in dc I am a bit tired of the hustle and bustle of NYC which is why I prefer places like DC, Philly, or maybe even NJ as a place to move to in the future.

Bronx is NYC, "Upstate" isn't...

Come to Jersey -- best of both worlds. A little cheaper to live, cheaper gas, yet you're still close enough to visit

upstate is not that bad... lol, its a nice relaxing area, if only it had some viable industries to retain people...

Maybe I will come to Jersey, I hear its a great place to buy a house and you can easily commute into NYC if needed. I particularly enjoy Hoboken and Princeton. Havent really been to other parts of the state.

Both of those are great places -- and you're still 45 minutes from me either way! lol

Expensive, tho...

Also consider Somerset and Middlesex counties... I've lived/worked there for many years, and love those areas...

I missed the important part... what do you do for a living? That could surely make a difference...

Yes, Hoboken and Princeton are pretty pricey unfortunately.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will consider anything that will save me money and is under an hour commute to NYC. If I move to Jersey I was hoping it would be somewhere I can commute to on the PATH train considering I have subsidized transport through my job (PANYNJ).

Edit: I will be starting a rotational management program at the PANYNJ next month where among my projects I will be working on the WTC, JFK, LAG, Path trains, and some bridges in NJ (Bayonne?). Pay is good, pension, lots of room for growth (bunch of retirees in the pipeline). I am hoping to be one of those highly paid guys at the agency you read about in the paper...

Okay, so you can afford Hoboken...

That'd be my choice for you - nice!

Will check it out, thanks J Geoff!

Invite me over to Maxwell's after your move

Hey Dap im glad you liked Philly. It is a really great town. That rittenhouse area is a vibrant area but very expensive. Most people that have been coming into the area to work are buying row homes in south philly instead of high priced rentals in center city that are like shoe boxes. From south philly you can be in center city in 15 minutes. Pesto is a great resturante.I took my mom there for mothers day and also when my brother comes into town thats his favorite and very reasonable

Years ago I was in Philly at a convnetion. I asked the hotel staff how to get to south Philly so I could experience Rocky's neighnorhod. They told me not to go, that it was dangerous. So, I didn't go. I got to run up the steps of the museum though.

We had a BB meet in Philly a few years ago. Didn't get to run up Rocky's steps but had a great time AND experienced a famous Philly Cheese Steak sandwich from a famous place which, sorry name escapes me right now. Plus we went to a great Irish pub.



TIS

South Philly is certainly gritty, but I never felt it was too dangerous. To this day people running up the steps of the Museum of Art is as popular as it was when the movie came out.

We went to Pat's, across the street from Geno's... I wish I had tried both to see which was better...

Geoff,

Isn't "Geno's" the more famous one? And if so, why didn't we go there? LOL I don't remember. I do remember the line went way down the street tho.



TIS

Also had one of the best meals I've ever eaten in my life that weekend! We had drinks on the Mosholu (from GF2) and then went to dinner at La Veranda. It was one of the most incredible meals I've ever had, plus the service was fantastic.

How could I forget the Mosholu? That was so cool wasn't it? I agree with the La Veranda too.One of the best meals I've had as well.

TIS

Mosholu Parkway?

Yeah, it is expensive but for me it is all relative. My buddy bought/took out a mortgage on a condo in rittenhouse for $1400/month plus condo fees @ 2.5%/30 year rate which I thought was an alright deal. The condo is one bedroom but he has access to a gym, pool, penthouse, hotub, etc in the building. It looks like a big hotel. He is a dental student at temple. Keep in mind, I base everything off NYC prices so thats why I think it wasnt that bad.

My other friend just moved into a two bedroom apartment on passyunk (forgot the other street) in South Philly for about 900 bucks which is an incredible deal. He's thinking of subletting one room out and saving for a few years and buying a row house in South Philly which i think is a great idea. I didnt think south philly was all that gritty, but then again i didnt venture too far south and I have been in areas like East NY, Baltimore, and Newark which are worse in my opinion. I thought the entire city was pretty walkable, there is no major need for you to have a car unless you work very far away (an hr or more) from where you live.

I wanted to try Pat's as well so I could compare but the line was too long.

Just wondering, Dapper...when you described a condo across the street from a park on Rittenhouse Square, you're describing a place I lived one summer. I actually had the place to myself the Summer of 1988 after my second year of law school. I was working for a downtown plaintiff firm that was just a ten minute walk from my place. The owner, my uncle, was out of the country, so he let me stay there. He even had a maid come by every week to clean.

Anyway the building, I think, was Liberty Place.

Just double checked, my buddy lives at the Parc Rittenhouse Condos at 225 South 18th Street

http://www.phillyliving.com/condos/Parc-Rittenhouse

Sounds like the summer of 88 was a good setup/time for you.

Ahh, he's on the opposite end of the Square.

1988 was a nice summer for me. I met many nice people, learned a great deal, and had a great time. The Phillie games were inexpensive at the Vet, so a grunt like me could still go to the ballpark pretty regularly. The Summer of 1988 was one of the all-time hottest summers too.

One quick memory I'll share:

There was a bar two blocks away that I'd visit a couple times a week. One week day night I was sitting at the bar with a buddy and Lee Majors and two friends sat next to us. He was filming in the city. He was talking mostly with my friend, who somehow found out he had a mutual friend with Majors, so I was talking mostly with the other guys.

A girl, who was drunk and giggly, kept approaching Majors, but every time she tried to talk to him, she'd laugh and mutter awkward, incoherent phrases. It became pretty uncomfortable, and after a half hour he left with his two buddies, rolling his eyes to indicate that the girl was getting out of hand.

A few weeks later I saw the same girl in the bar, but she was sober. She approached me and said, Aren't you the guy who knows Lee Majors?"

I said with a lot of enthusiasm, "Yes! You're the girl from that night when he was here. He called me the next day, wanting to know if I knew your name and phone number. He wanted to call you to get together with you some time, but I didn't know your name."

Her jaw nearly hit the floor as she looked as though she would faint. She grabbed a pen from a waitress and printed two copies of her name, address and phone number, so I could put one in my wallet and one in my pocket. I told her he'd be back in town next week to finish filming and guaranteed he'd be calling her for a date. She was going nuts.

That was the last time I went to that bar.

Slick Klyd, very slick

Ha ha ha ha Kly. You sneaky little devil. That girl was probably on cloud nine waiting for Majors to give her a call. What? Did she really think she left that great an impression?

You sound like a lot of fun.



TIS

La Veranda. Very nice. Went there when my daughter was at Villanova. Haven't spent time in Philly for culture things. My grandaughter was in Jefferson Hospital for 97 days as a preemie baby. Great hospital, great staff.

Been to the "Touch Me" museum. Terrific for kids under 5. Very cool place.

I actually did a taste test with friends one boring night around 10 years ago and the majority said Pats

A favorite stop for Jerry Sandusky.