Quote:
Originally Posted by techchallenger
That is a great anecdote, but allow me to present another one: My father was a white / union / blue collar. Grew up in Logan and later bought and restored a Victorian in University City . . . .He also loved to walk - every day.
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Of course there are many thousands of people like your dad. There are just alot more not like your dad (my extended family has dozens of them, people who gradually migrated from Logan to the Lower NE to Lower Bucks over the decades since the 1950s). Which explains a lot of the car-oriented / suburb-idealizing mentality of many people in Philly, particularly outside "Greater Center City". To them, the city is a place to escape. Many such people work for City government. Thus the City parking lots like at 16th & Cherry.
Mind you, I'm not saying they ought to be different. Many of those neighborhoods are/were stressful, unsafe, noisy, dirty, crowded places. Who wouldn't dream of leaving some such places or at least seek comfort in aspirational notions of luxury (like nice cars) to ward off the surrounding chaos? In any event, it's their business. I'm just saying the City shouldn't provide free cars and parking for the ones that work for the City. You want to work for the City and your job is downtown? Bike, take transit, or drive your own car and park it in a private lot on your own dime. Please don't make us pay for it and please don't pollute our streets with ugly surface lots.