We’re America’s biggest small town. Perhaps because most people live in rowhouses—a party wall away from their neighbors—we have this culture of intimacy. Everything is personal and local—even provincial. Philadelphia is an archipelago of neighborhoods. We’re fiercely committed to our block, our school, our church, our bar, our team. And yet, the gleaming skyscrapers of Center City and big cultural institutions are never far away. When Philadelphians venture into Center City, they like to say, “I’m going into town.”I started life in a rowhouse, and it looks as if I may end my days in one.
Thursday, August 06, 2020
Q&A …
… America’s Biggest Small Town: City Talk | City Journal. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Our son spent six years in Philadelphia, getting his degrees. We are about as far from helicopter parents as we could be, and so spent very little time visiting. But even the little we saw impressed us, including the way that a neighborhood could change when one crossed a street.
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