Born and raised in the burbs (Delco), went to Penn. Left a few times as an adult for stints in north Jersey, Chicago and a couple of places in Michigan (east and west) but always keep coming back to Philly. I've seen it's considerable evolution over the last 3 decades.
- It's bigger than most realize - 1.5M people - 5th largest in the country, actually bigger than Boston, San Francisco or Dallas. NYC makes it feel small but come back from a trip to Pittsburgh or St. Louis and you are reminded that Philly is enormous and full of people.
- 3rd largest residential downtown in the US - walk/bike haven
- Very old, narrow streets, very dense, lots of history, lots of character and not just the Independence Hall area - amazing architecture and stories from one end to another
- It's probably most like NYC, just a much more manageable size, less crowded, less bustling, less 24/7 but very dense, great arts, museums, energy, architecture
- It's relatively LCOL compared to its neighboring triumvirate of NYC, Boston and DC. It's also been overshadowed by all three for a century and led to the inferiority complex that the famous Rocky movie captured so well.
- World class education and healthcare
- So big there's something for anyone no matter what your thing - music, micro brewing, mediation & spirituality, dancing, biking, swinging, you name it you can find a tribe if you seek them out
- VERY liberal; pretty melting pot; you can look and act as odd as you like and generally people really won't take note
- Very much a city of neighborhoods and each has a very distinct character - it's important to find the right one for you
- I think very integrated and tolerant though that's my opinion and YYMV; many neighborhoods still self-segretate but everyone gets along downtown and in mixed neighborhoods; there's still white/black/other tension in lower class areas but probably wouldn't affect a neighborhood an MMM'er would live in
- Center City has gotten very expensive and lately feels more and more like a playground for the rich
- Broad swaths of the city are quite poor and crime/gang riddled and you need to stay away from these, which is not a problem, there's no reason to go there; sadly they give Philadelphia a reputation for being poor and dangerous, but really the majority of areas an MMM'er would live in are no less safe than any good neighborhoods in any other big city
- Used to be very provincial, also see this fading. 20 years ago it seemed like everyone here lived and died here and had that horrible accident and attitude (our sports team suck, we boo Santa and are proud of it...)
- Now head into CenterCity or the gentrified areas and it seems everyone is a transplant and no one says "wooder." (See Tina Fey nail the accent and the attitude 3 minutes into this
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/bronx-beat-2015/2957169)
- The neighborhoods ringing Center City have been pushing out and gentrifying over the course of the past 20 years, starting in the 90s
- Fishtown is the latest neighborhood to be gobbled up by gentrification; very hipster
- East Falls is a gentrifying neighborhood around Wissahickon, easy bike to the gorge and Fairmount park; gorgeous to run/bike along the river; watch the sculls
It really depends on what you like. If you like cities, have a priority on walking/biking/public transit and relatively LCOL for the northeast and you especially like them with character, history, an edge, an attitude, a little dirty, and very very real, Philly is a great choice.
If you want more info feel free to PM me.
I have a love/hate with Philly and don't intend to FIRE here, but the good outweigh the bad for now, my big salary goes really really far (right into my Vanguard taxable account), I live in Center City, walk everywhere (10 min walk to my FIRE-friendly high-paying corporate job!) and I love that it's so liberal and I am able to find folks who share my niche interests easily. I've always lived in Center City and I've never felt unsafe. Actually even when i was at Penn in the 90s and West Philly off campus was dicey (now gentrified) I never felt unsafe. It's all relative to your personal experiences and context. I landed on campus with people from Kansas terrified to ride the El because they'd never seen a subway before and were afraid they'd get mugged and i'm like, "I'm a white girl who's been riding that thing alone since i was 12, it's no big deal." Shrug.
