Philadelphia or Scranton?

I just got back from a weekend in Philadelphia today. One way to survive living in a new, unfamiliar city is to regularly leave that city for more familiar ones. This is something that I have done on a regular basis since moving to Scranton and is probably the reason I know so few people in the town I live in. It's actually a somewhat bad idea, considering that the cities I spend most of my tourist dollars in are New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore -- all cities that have a relatively mild climate in comparison to NEPA (you mean there are leaves on the trees here already?? come on!) and excellent opportunities for wasting money and time. I guess that's not a bad thing in and of itself, but it makes you terribly angry that your own town doesn't have these things. Now, I don't want to be a sad Scranton transplant to bitch and moan about how much better it is "back in the big city", but damn, it just is. I guess this is the impetus for this blog in general, which is to get over all the cognitive dissonance I have over leaving Baltimore (I've been calling it my "mourning period" -- or perhaps I should say I sat shiva for at least six months -- I know, I know -- I'm the worst Jew ever for not doing it for at least a year). Anyhow, perhaps I should take a moment to make a short list on the good things I've found since moving to Scranton:

1) I have a very large yard and windows in EVERY room in my house. It's my country house! However, I still live about 10 blocks from downtown Scranton.

2) I got to get rid of the club on my car. "Crime" is not much of a problem in Scranton. Some people here make mention of a Scranton "crime problem" and I think it's really cute when they do.

3) I don't usually experience traffic. However, when you live in Baltimore City, you pretty much avoid it as long as you are not tricked into leaving the city or going to the suburbs.

4) I seem like a tough girl because I lived for a long time "where they make the Wire". No one in Baltimore gives you props for that -- mostly they want to know if you've had a gun pulled on you; then you get props. The answer for me is "no".

5) Scranton people are super, duper excited about their art/music/dj/restaurant projects here. I feel ashamed for being such a cynical, jaded jerk when I'm around these people. Since Baltimore became the new Williamsburg it was very easy to not be involved in getting anything interesting off the ground. Being over 30 makes you super lazy about these things (for so many reasons), however, Scrantonians of all ages are busy making their city more interesting for themselves and for whomever wishes to join in. That aspect of life here actually impresses me and I hope that I don't come off as some grandma raining on their parade.

Well, that's not a long list but that's all I got for now. Philadelphia was fun, fun, fun but I don't live there and don't know if I'll ever. Oh yeah, and it made me even more confused about who to vote for in the Pennsylvania primary election. It was Obama country! I guess I'll be blogging about that next...after April 22.