Funny you two should say that. I was just about to post to Calljack that I lived in Philly, and it wasn't anywhere near as scary as the one time I visited Chicago. I visited a friend there who had the idiotic idea to walk us through "the real Chicago." Oh, the remarks made as we passed through... Philadelphians are downright friendly in comparison.
I've lived in Philly and Chicago and Philly to me is about 1,000 times scarier. Chicago certainly has its scary neighborhoods but you truly have to be looking for trouble to stumble into them. In Philly, you can drive from Villanova and forget to make a turn on your way to the Schulylkill and you think you're going to die. You won't ever miss that turn again. It can go from million dollar mansions to one of the scariest places in the city in about 1/2 mile. Also, most of Chicago is clean. Philly is always so dirty.
Was your friend stupid or something?