<p>What’s it like visiting NYC from Penn? For a number of reasons being able to get home often enough has become somewhat of an increasing priority in my college search. I know they’re two metropolitan cities, but would it become a strain to pull it off once maybe twice monthly? Maybe for, say, a weekend, given cost, trip length, and anything else worth considering?</p>
<p>Thanks in advace …</p>
<p>From 30th Street Station in Philly, you simply take SEPTA to NJ Transit right into Penn Station, or, if you want to spend a few more bucks and avoid the transfer, simply take Amtrak from 30th Street Station to Penn Station. The Amtrak trip takes a bit under an hour and a half, and is shorter than the SEPTA/NJ Transit route by a little bit under an hour. Amtrak costs about $100 round trip with a student discount. I think that the SEPTA/NJ Transit route roundtrip costs $37 roundtrip ($14 (SEPTA) plus $23 (NY Transit)).</p>
<p>And there's the China Town bus - R/T is like $20.</p>
<p>Although the name isn't very good the China Town buses are very good and very cheap. They are actually fairly nice charter buses and the cost is so ridiculously cheap it's insane. You can take the SEPTA to Chinatown and then from there head to New York.</p>
<p>bump... I live about 10 minutes away from Manhattan and usually go in at least twice a week....will kids who have grown up used to NYC (and who love NY) like Philly? I love NYC so much--it feels like the center of my universe--- and I'm worried that Philly won't have the same appeal (the same sort of pull) that nyc has.</p>
<p>bump... can anyone answer my question?</p>
<p>Bump...anyone?</p>
<p>You will probably like Philly as long as you're willing to accept it on its own terms and not expect more than it has to offer. </p>
<p>Most kids seem to spend most of their time in a rectangle bounded by 40th street on the west, the Delaware River on the east, Market on the north and South on the well, south. With a bump north in the middle for Chinatown.</p>
<p>Because that's such a small area (by NYNY or Chicago standards) pretty much everything Philly has to offer can be walked to. If you're the walking around type, you'll probably like Philly. If you're more a "big city" type (i.e. you like to hop on a train or get a cab to hit the far side of town) it will seem very small.</p>
<p>You're probably already used to crappy eastcoast drivers so that probably won't annoy you. (As a Chicagoan, I still haven't gotten used to it after almost 5 years here.) As a Penn student you'll be able to ignore the ridiculous local politics. There are a lot of theatres - again not on the NYNY scale, but there are enough and they're not filled with tourists. Dining out can be a little tricky - where you might be used to 10 places for a given genre, here there will be 1 or 2. </p>
<p>Coming from Chicago (and 11 years in Minneapolis), overall I like Philly a lot. The only real downside is, well, the people. Philly is one of the least well educated large cities in the country and it shows. The city periodically gets in a panic about the "brain drain" (i.e college grads leaving town the day after graduation) but nothing concrete is ever done.</p>
<p>Philly isn't small.It's just not as large as 4(or 5) other cities.</p>
<p>Oh. my. god. If you can't bear to leave NYC for more than a few weeks at a time, lord help you in the 21st century. Grow up!</p>