How dare you?
I was born in West Philly.
I live, work and breathe West Philly.
Claiming the greater diversity and variety of West Philly is not an
"affectation".
I don't go so far as to call "University City" dirty words, but I do
cringe when the words are conscripted to pretend that anyone
without a PhD is low class or worth less or
earning less than $60,000 a year is poor.
And I get truly riled when the words become part of a coded monologue.
Ironically, now that houses prices have soared, a greater percentage of
my Buyers have less affiliation with are local universities.
Doctors, Lawyers and folks from NYC, LA and the Middle East are buying in
south eastern West Philly in larger numbers.
I have seen several of the bumper stickers placed on private property.
I am against such placement.
But I like the stickers, and I applaud volunteer efforts that provoke
thought and dialogue.
Unfortunately, when I read comments like yours, below, it is clear why
some chose an underground approach.
Tony, you are still a good neighbor, but we may have to agree to disagree
on this point.
I am finally gaining some ground on battles with my kids about labels and
value.
And don't want to be undermined by otherwise sensible Adults, who don't
recognize or won't work to balance the message.
Sincerely,
Liz
Elizabeth Campion Cell Phone: 215-880-2930
215-546-0550 Main, -546-9871 fax, Desk + VM: 215-790-5653
PRUDENTIAL, FOX & ROACH REALTORS, LLC
Please read Consumer Notice & enjoy "HOME PILOT" tools at
www.PruFoxRoach.com
On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 01:44:22 -0400 "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
writes:
No, Frank.
The City does not define the marketing signs as falling in West
Philadelphia or Southwest Philadelphia; the City defines the marketing
signs as falling in University City. So if the City's map is the final
arbiter, then the "marketing scheme" signs are invalid. University City
is absolutely real at the level of public administration. It can only be
challenged on a historical or sociological level. It has not been
challenged very knowledgeably, that's my gist.
The people who bray "University City" is a dirty word, are classical
examples of UC neighborhood culture themselves for the most part. This
"West Philly" pose is just an affectation. The people who printed those
stickers couldn't tell the 4th Ward from the 32nd Ward. "West Philly" is
just a marketing slogan for their brand of scatterbrained leftwing
politics, as "University City" was for an earlier era of realtors. Over
all, though, UC is more descriptive and more truthful at this time, so it
will probably prevail.
-- Tony West
----- Original Message -----
From: Frank
To: Anthony West ; [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 12:54 AM
Subject: Re: [UC] New Marketing Campaign
All this because you disagree with the City's map?
Referring to the beginning of this thread, the "marketing scheme" signs
are indeed in West Philly.
Frank
On Apr 2, 2007, at 11:51 PM, Anthony West wrote:
The final answer is there is no final answer. The City has its own
Neighborhood Map, which is intended to be a practical guide to planners
and community groups. It recognizes University City, because duh, it
exists now. Thus it pushes away from UC terms like "West Philly" and
"Southwest Philly", so they can be used to distinguish other tracts of
land. There's no law that says folks have to pay attention to this map if
it honks them off.
And it completely ignores the nesting phenomenon, which is very real in
social geography. We live in hierarchies of neighborhoods, which we
deploy variously according to the context of discussion. For instance: I
live in West Philadelphia, in University City, in Spruce Hill. Which
placename I use depends on whom I'm talking to and what I'm talking
about. No law says I have to be consistent. No law says lower-level
neighborhoods can't overlap higher-level boundaries.
About West vs. Southwest, my best guess is the latter term emerged with
clarity only after Philadelphia grew beyond Blockley Township, whose
western border was Mill Creek up as far as Baltimore Pk. Beyond Mill
Creek lay Kingsessing Township, which ran all the way to Darby Creek.
"Kingsessing" is still used as a neighborhood name today (it is recorded
in the Swedish period, ca. 1650, and reflects a Lenape designation for
the land at and above Darby Creek along the Schuylkill or "Manayunk"
River).
Originally, "West Philadelphia" was a name for the mid-19th-c.
urbanization of Blockley Twp., out as far as Maylandville on Mill Creek
(roughly 43rd St. today). So Woodlands lay in West Philly. But
Clark-Park-to-be was the boundary of West Philly. As urbanization
proceeded, "West Philly" expanded westward along Market St. and Lancaster
Ave. But the expansion into Kingsessing Twp. along Darby Pk. (Woodland
Ave.) was felt to be a different neighborhood, which came to be called
"Southwest Philly".
University City contains territory that historically belongs to both West
and Southwest Philadelphia.
-- Tony West
Ross wrote:
Actually, I've been worrying about this Southwest/West Philly business
for some time. What are the "actual" boundaries, and according to whom?
You seem to imply that SOBA is Southwest Philly -- if the 34 trolley line
really does bifurcate the two. Does that mean that Woodland Cemetery and
Clark Park are actually in SW? Seems counterintuitive, dude. Got maps?
