The mean streets of Philadelphia

[girlyswot]

I'm watching Louis Theroux patrolling with the Philadelphia police. He's braver than I would be, even wearing a Kevlar jacket. I remember being told in the first few weeks after I moved there about the exceptionally high crime rate in Philly. The main local newspaper carries a running tally of homicides on the front page. Most days it goes up. There are a lot of places that I wouldn't have gone on my own or after dark. And yet, in the suburb just outside the city limits where I lived, it was safe enough that many people never locked their houses.

It's weird seeing places that are familiar from such a different perspective. One thing I'd forgotten about which was always strange to me are the row homes (terraced houses) where parts of the row have been pulled down so they end up standing on their own. There are some very, very beautiful parts of the city: eighteenth and nineteenth century streets and squares, beautifully preserved; Fairmount Park, which is the largest city park in the world and is quite fabulous; the Schuylkill river and the art museum. And then there are some of the worst rundown, crime-ridden, drug-infested neighbourhoods I have ever seen. I know all cities have contrasts, but Philadelphia really does have extremes.

I'm glad I didn't see this film before I went to live there. And I'm even more glad that my mother didn't see it while I was there.

Comments

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

LOL! I noticed that too. I have to say that I was surprised by how nice Swansea (and especially the surrounding area) is, the first time I visited.

It's certainly nothing like the mean streets of Philly!