Strawberry Mansion

— Photo by ML

Now it's five months since I moved from Connecticut to a one-bedroom apartment smack in the middle of Philadelphia. And what an incredible five months it has been! Virtually every aspect of my life has changed, and with that, not only my outlook on life, but also how I view things in life.

And I must confess, that although some of the changes have been quite drastic, I'm glad it all happened. Here in Philadelphia I'm able to shed the last remnants of the "old" me and my "old" thinking. I feel much better today, much stronger, and much more positive.

I value other people more, or at least I'm much more open and willing to listen to other points of view. I'm able to appreciate smaller things and gestures, and I think I have much more patience and am in general able to take things more in stride. No, I'm not an angel, but I think I'm much less of a jerk.

Some changes have had bigger impact than others. For example, I am now — for the first time in over 20 years! — without a car. That one change has had wide-ranging consequences: obviously I'm a lot less concerned about gasoline prices (I used to drive a large SUV). But not having a car also means that I think twice about going someplace that cannot easily be reached on foot or by public transportation.

Using public transportation, in turn, has consequences as well. Trust me when I say that driving in my Lexus GX470 was very different from sitting on SEPTA bus #48. Aside from the fact that the bus schedule (I starting to doubt that there is such a thing) is nearly unpredictable, the actual ride itself can be quite .. hm .. let's use the word: "interesting".

I take this particular bus route to go from Olde City to Strawberry Mansion in North Philadelphia (more posts on why later), and the bus goes through all kinds of neighborhoods — from touristy Olde City, to Chinatown, to yuppie Fairmount/Art Museum, to gritty North Philly.

Riding bus #48 highlights how many aspects of my life have changed. For example, while I not too long ago would have seen nothing but devastation in a neighborhood like Strawberry Mansion (where every other house appears to be abandoned, burned out, or is even missing), I today see a community. In fact, I'm slowly becoming a member of that community.

Now, I'm not so naive to think that I will ever "blend in", and North Philly is definitely a place where you have to be aware of your surroundings. This is the 'hood, and there is nothing romantic about the poverty, destruction, and in-your-face despair that you see on every corner in this part of the city. But this is also a place where people actually know each other (and everybody's business), and watch out for each other — it's a neighborhood, not just an address.

The funny thing is that I know more people (and more people know me) in Strawberry Mansion, than in my own building in Olde City, or even in Connecticut where I lived for almost 10 years.

Yes, my life has changed indeed .. and this is just the beginning!

-martin.