Philly Cheesesteaks!

Speaking of cheesesteaks, Philly has the best because that's where they originated. I figured I'd pay tribute to the name and speak of the world's best sandwich. There are three famous cheesesteak places in Philly. Pat's, Gino's, and the slightly less famous Tony Luke's. Personally, I like Pat's for the bread and Gino's for the meat. Pat's was the original, therefore I feel as though I need to get a steak from there when I visit South Philly. There is a specific way in which to order, or else, according to the sign at Pat's, you will be thrown to the back of the line (which is ALWAYS long). Assuming you're ordering a steak, you say "wiz wit" for cheese whiz with sauteed onions (the original), "provolone wit" for provolone cheese with sauteed onions, "American wit-out" for American cheese without sauteed onions, or simply "wit" or "wit-out" for a cheese-less cheesesteak with or without sauteed onions. They understand that there are people new to the idea of South Philly cheesesteaks, so they are accepting of people who look like newbies and help them out. Here's a video demonstrating the outrageous competition between cheesesteak institutions on Passayunk Avenue.

Later,

Kelly

Transportation

Zac, I completely agree with your thought that Little Five Points would be a good place to live. I did an essay on the town earlier in the year, and found it a hip, unique place to be. It does have good transportation due to Atlanta's MARTA system, however, I think Philly's transit system, SEPTA, takes the cake in this race. Everyone from Atlanta seems to complain about MARTA, while everyone in Philly usually would rather ride SEPTA into the city instead of drive. The transit system up there seems to be much more loved than the one down here. It services four different counties with buses, subways, trolleys, trackless trolleys, high speed rail and commuter trains. Although MARTA pales in comparison to SEPTA, there is a price to pay. A round trip ticket for MARTA is around $4 and SEPTA is about twice that. No matter, I can't wait to go home and ride the SEPTA train into the city and get cookies from Reading Terminal and a cheesesteak from Pat's.

Until next time,

Kelly

Little 5 Points

Continuing on today's discussion in class, Little 5 Points seems like a very good place for me to live in Atlanta. With everything we have learned this year, Little 5 combines it all to me. Green space, a big concern in choosing a neighborhood; Piedmont Park, Inman Park, and Candler Park are all relatively close to Little 5. Each park is unique in its own way and are all easily accessible with or without a car i.e. MARTA or biking which I enjoy. Little 5's shops are right on the roads, with no cement monster of parking lots. Like in the picture, people can walk around to enjoy the town. It is home to a huge Halloween parade which unites the town and much of Atlanta together. I am unaware of the housing aspect in Little 5, but I am sure the apartments are suitable, especially for a college student. All of Little 5's vintage shops make shopping relatively easy on our wallets. I still have more to learn about Little 5, but thanks to many of our classes presentations on the town, I am leaning towards moving there in the near future.
Later,
Zac

A Remedy for Sprawl

I agree with your analysis of Morrison Kelly. Some places need a little more extra shops in the area so a car is not always the first choice. Smart Growth Online has an article which is aimed in discussing the problems with the design in the school systems. The article really drew my attention to the problem they present: If our education systems for K-12 were more like those of higher education systems or that in Canada, it would be suited better for kids in the long run. New designs could include making schools more pedestrian friendly, building more green streets, and making the travel to and from classes accessible without a car. Education inspired migration has decreased in kids. Cars become more needed which brings traffic, pollution, and the other affects seen in sprawl. In my town, my school was driven by cars. Every day getting out of the school parking lot took at least 20 minutes. Luckily for me, I lived in walking distance to the school but the rest of my class mates were not so fortunate. The design of schools and the towns around it should be changed...It's an idea which should be examined at more carefully.
Peace,
Zac

Morrison, IL

Zac, your friend’s hometown sounds a lot like my cousins’ hometown. It’s called Morrison, IL and it’s one of the smallest towns I’ve ever visited. Just like Sandersville, it has literally about 4 stoplights, the rest of the intersections moderated by stop signs. The only evidence of sprawl is Lincoln Highway running through the middle of town, separating the residential area from the business district housing their cozy main street.

Although this is a major piece of sprawl, the highway is not busy enough to be considered dangerous to cross. The only factor of sprawl is the fact that, because this is a farming-dominant area, it’s almost necessary to drive to certain places. For instance, they don’t have an idyllic mall unless you drive 15-20 minutes to the next town. Same with Target and the like. They do have a lot of parks that contribute to the aesthetics of the area. Just like Sandersville, everyone knows what everyone’s up to because they’re population is only around 5,000 people. Morrison is a very cute hometown, however it needs to incorporate more shopping into Main Street so people don’t have to travel to get their errands done.

See Ya,

Kelly

Sandersville/Milledgeville

Well Kelly, that is a rockin' video you got there. And Philly seems like a cool place, but the Phillies still couldn't win a world series haha. I plan to travel up north some day soon, Ill let you know how it goes. Hopefully I wont hit the traffic like we see in Atlanta. But a week or two ago I went with a couple kids in my fraternity back to one of their home towns in Milledgeville/Sandersville (Above). It is about 2 hours south. But the town shocked me. My buddy was explaining to me how everything I saw was so normal to him. And I realized it was because he was not affected not affected by sprawl unlike me. And it was not like his whole town was just farmland; they had similar things my town has like Zaxby's, Wal Mart, and parks. He said there was maybe a total of 5 stop lights in the whole town (exaggerating a little bit, but it was significantly less then mine). If something was going on in their town, his family knew about it and so did everyone else. My town has no sense of community like his, just traffic and stores.

Many restaurants, parks, and the schools all were in fair distance of each other so walking or riding a bike was not a problem. There town was also very green unlike those fallen by sprawl. My town is trying to fix that problem by building more parks, but I don't think a park will fix the sprawl in my community. His town offers stores, but not a mass mega wall with a concrete jungle of parking lots like mine. The stores in Sandersville are in their own little block which are very pedestrian friendly. The billboards on the highway on the way to Sandersville depict happy families together, showing the strong sense of community which towns need. Future towns should follow Sandersville model.


Peace..
Zac

"Empire State of Mind"

The restaurant we went to, Dolce, was really good, Zac. I got a fried seafood dish and itself wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but my friends ordered food that looked delicious. I would love to live in a place like Atlantic Station. Just like Snellville, Philadelphia has issues with sprawl as well. It’s definitely not as bad as Atlanta’s suburbs, but it still has room for improvement. We do drive almost everywhere, but depending on where you live, that may be due to laziness. My friend lives in the “downtown” of my town, Malvern, which just means she lives near the main street, King Street. She can walk to the local Wawa (a 7-11 on steroids), the hair salon, the florist, the local pizza shop, the train station, a few restaurants, and more within a 10-15 minute walk.
The song “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys was remixed to talk about Philadelphia instead of New York (which is perfect for the World Series).

It talks about the TV show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (where the show was based), 76 which is our turnpike, New Jersey being just across the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin bridges, how Philly is where the Constitution was written, and the show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” It also goes through Citizens Bank Park (where the Phillies play) and saying how it’s our year for the Series (that’s right, Zac, again) with Cole Hamels pitching, Chase Utley playing second base, and Charlie Manuel coaching. More to do with sports, it talks about the Flyers and Rocky climbing the stairs at the Philadelphia Art Museum. It also talks about Philly Cheesesteaks (yes, that needed to be capitalized because they’re that important) that you can get at Tony Luke’s (Pat’s and Ginos is so much better) and South Street where all the shopping and some of the nightlife are (both of which are in South Philly in the Italian district. The El is one of the subway systems that runs in the city (there is another train system called SEPTA that runs out to the suburbs). The next verse goes through things like the fact tht we have Michael Vick on our football team and that we have to call the vet because he may host dog fights again. It also talks about the liberty bell and big streets downtown called Chestnut and Walnut in the area code of 215. It also talks about LOVE Park and Penns Landing where a lot of concerts are held. Basically, I love this song, but I love it even more now that it’s about my city, Philadelphia.

Until Next Time,
Kelly