Neat article about University City – the collection of neighborhoods west of the University of Pennsylvania where we lived for about three years before coming to Boston a couple of months ago (Via A Conservative Blog for Peace). Old Victorian houses, broad streets with lots of trees, and a wonderful mix of students, young professionals, immigrants, slacker/hipster types, and working-class folks. Right down the street from our apartment was a Laotian restaurant, an Ethiopean place, an anarchist co-op, and a Chinese convenience store. Everything was walkable or bike-able and there’s a really nice park – Clark Park – that freqently hosted a farmer’s market, flea markets, and other community events. (The Calvary Center mentioned in the article – which houses a Methodist congregation, a Mennonite fellowship, and a community theatre among other things – is about a block away from where we used to live.)
Of course, the dark side is that many long-time (mostly poorer and black) residents resented what they saw as an attempt to drive them out via university-sponsored gentrification (or “Penntrification” as I saw it referred to on more than one flyer posted on telephone poles). Defenders point out that the neighborhood had experienced a high rate of violent crime and other serious problems before the university took an active interest in it.
A Thinking Reed 
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