Hella

I can’t say that I’m ecstatic about moving to Philadelphia, but my trip there last week certainly got me thinking about things I’ll miss about Texas. Here is a short list of things that stood out as memorable during my visit.

• Instead of taking the bus to and from Center City and campus, I can instead walk and fuel up on a Starbucks for about the same price. I’m not sure how well this strategy will hold when it’s really cold.
• I wasn’t looking forward to my car insurance doubling when I move but I had decided that I wouldn’t take my truck anyway. Now that I see how people parallel park in the city, I have no doubts about leaving it behind. Also, almost every car seemed to be beat up in some way.
• Not many eating places seem to be open late (past 10 PM) on a Sunday night; at least not in the Rittenhouse Square area and the surrounding blocks. Maybe I need help at identifying restaurants. After all, the first time I heard someone say Wawa, I thought it was some sort of street lingo. (Then I actually saw one and it was made fun of during Follies.)
• In general, Philadelphia apartments are not multiple-pet friendly. It seemed like just when I found a decent high-rise, the pet policy allowed only one cat.
• I always see pictures of people rowing in Philadelphia. I didn’t get a chance to make it up to the official Fairmount Park area, but I hope the river is a different color up there!? Along the Colorado River here in Austin, we used to have signs warning people not to eat the fish. I’m not even sure fish could survive in the Schuylkill.
• The homeless people in Austin usually ask for change only once and give up. In Philadelphia, a couple of them felt compelled to follow me for a while and attempt a conversation. At one point, it got a little spooky.
• I’m not very good at navigating public transit, but it doesn’t help when SEPTA’s ticket vending machines do not accept redesigned currency such as the $5, $10, and $20. Requiring the customer to use a nearby change machine increases the points of failure for this system. I also found it interesting that even though the ticket vending machine dispenses Kennedy half-dollars, it will not accept them.

I guess I’ll give things another try in April.

Filed under: B-School, Travel