I was born and raised in Philly and it was a nice town back then, but that was many years ago. Now it’s going to hell, and quickly. Very sad. There are still a lot of good people there, and they’re suffering greatly.
When I was a kid, about 8 or 9 years old I lived in Folsom, Delco. It was no big deal for me and a group of friends to walk to Ridley Park to take a train to Suburban Station, and then the subway to Veterans Stadium to watch a Phillies day game. If I recall, kids seats were $0.50 in the outfield, maybe $0.75. It was more expensive to get to the game than get into the game. None of our parents thought twice about us doing that. The hard part was getting the money. I suppose it was pretty safe. It wasn’t something that I worried about.
I went to school in Philly. No way I would have chosen to go there today. Took the subway when I went. Alone. Unarmed. I shudder to think of anyone doing that now.
Now I only go there on an as needed basis, airport etc and I will always be armed.
It truly is a shithole of 3rd world proportions.