<p>I visited Penn yesterday, and the only bad thing about the college was Philadelphia. I've visited other big cities before and really liked them, but Philly seemed run down and dangerous. It seemed like a lot of the people in the city were nice, but the combination of razor wire on nearly every fence, and the terrible looking row houses were a little worrying. I know that Penn has its own police force and security guards, but that only extends to the campus borders. I don't want to be holed up on campus for four years because the rest of the city is bad, so I would like to know what other people's opinions were about Philly. Thanks</p>
<p>The neighborhood that Penn is in is not the greatest but it is getting better. As long as you stay out of some areas, which you would have no reason to go to anyway, you’ll be fine. Center city is great with it’s museums and shops. Don’t let the city deter you from coming</p>
<p>Campus security extends off campus to the west for quite a few blocks and includes nearby residences/off campus housing where many Penn students live. I can’t imagine why you would want to go any farther west than that since there’s really nothing there. In other words, campus police will patrol any region where there are likely to be students. Most of your “off campus” traveling will either be in that area I just mentioned, or in Center City. Center City (the area with all those skyscrapers) is always pretty populated with people going to work, restaurants, shopping, etc. so you should be perfectly fine.</p>
<p>Philly is great, especially university city.</p>
<p>if philly were so bad and penn students stayed on campus, we would have none of the extensive community involvement, exploration (museums, zoo), and fun (nightlife, restaurants, bars) that we do have</p>
<p>Philly has a very posh area (like Manhattan) that’s closer to the river…in case you think the whole city is run down. It’s actually quite well done and even better than Manhattan in places.</p>
<p>Philadelphia is like any other city with a population in the millions. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’ll get lost and you’ll get disappointed. Be proactive and ask about the things you want to see. I think you’ll find that Philadelphia has a lot to offer.</p>
<p>There are wonderful areas of Philadelphia, but it is easy to get a negative impression if you only ride to Penn from the airport and then look around West Philadelphia. It is a big city, and has a lot to offer. There is a lot of history, too. I think you need another visit.</p>
<p>philly is great. it took me a while to really appreciate how amazing it is. you’ll learn to love it.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. I didn’t spend a lot of time exploring the city on my own, and I can see that there is more to the city than I saw. Thanks again.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in Philly for like 16 years of my life… and I’m still here. :P</p>
<p>Sure, SOME neighborhoods may not be so great, but there is so much you can do in Philadelphia and its diversity is amazing. It’s sort of like NYC without the excessive crowdedness. You just got to go around Philly with a local and not some tour guide.</p>
<p>Philly’s just old…not run down. Hahaha.</p>
<p>philly is a nice city. penn kinda brings it down though.</p>
<p>The “Manhattan strip” of Philadephia extends from Old City in the east down through Center City and into the gentrified portion of University City</p>