Don't get me wrong, I love the people. Seriously the best people I've ever met. What I mean is that there's a lot less of the West Coast/Southwest fake smiles and small talk. But everyone has been genuinely helpful and welcoming. When someone asks me how I'm doing here, they actually mean it rather than it being a hollow pleasantly.

I moved from Cochise County to Philadelphia last year. Like others have said, the answers depend a lot on where exactly you're coming from and where exactly you're going. I'm happy to answer questions if my areas are near yours.

The weather will definitely be different wherever you are. Unless you're leaving Flagstaff it will be colder and wetter in the Winter. Summers are less hot but more humid.

In my experience in Philly people are more gruff/less "nice", but much more genuinely kind than Arizona or California where I grew up. YMMV in other parts of the state.

This area is much more culturally and religiously diverse than anywhere I've lived, except possibly L.A. the Philly schools for instance recognize Christian, Jewish, and Islamic holidays.

I want to make it clear that while I'm a newcomer here, I love this city and the people. I feel far less unsafe than when I lived in rural Arizona (and that fear wasn't the border, it was the anti-goverment nuts that threatened me on a regular basis). Other than an exciting trip to a shipping store in Kensington one day I've never felt like there was a threat, and even there it was clearly a mental health issue that can happen anywhere.

I like my neighborhood and the people here. I just don't like guns being fired into the air to "celebrate". I didn't like it in Arizona and even less so here where there is a higher risk of harm from falling bullets. But it's something I've never seen the police do anything about, in L.A., Tucson, rural areas, or anywhere else. There's just too much else to do unless someone is getting hit. I'm still pretty jumpy about gunfire because of the incident a few weeks back, and that didn't help. Seeing one of my neighborhood friends standing out in the alley blazing away at the sky was disconcerting, but calling the cops was unlikely to accomplish anything.

Heck, I'd almost forgotten that in late summer someone fired off a bunch at about 6am. I heard the neighbors call. With no one hit, it took hours for the cops to arrive. Because no one was hurt I just shrugged it off.

Fortunately none of the rounds fired off into the air here last night seem to have hit anyone on the way down, since none of the nine shootings last night were near here. Again, I love this city, and the neighborhood, but I could do with fewer guns.

They never showed up. Either nobody in the neighborhood called, or they just didn't come. There's brass all over the neighborhood. There were at least 100 shots fired that I could count.

There was a fatal shooting the next block up a few weeks ago. Police were called. In the interim, I ran up to attempt first aid. It was clear the victim was past first aid. The victim's girlfriend was standing in the street screaming holding a gun that she had used to return fire. I talked her out of the gun and safed it before the cops got there, so nobody else got hurt. Probably not my wisest moves ever, but here we are.

When the cops and medics did turn up, they went the wrong way and ended up two blocks away, facing the wrong direction and just milled around confused until someone went down and screamed and pointed them in the correct direction. When they finally got to where they needed to be and secured everything, I talked to them about the gun I'd handled, with neighbors jumping in to corroborate. Due to previous government jobs my prints are in the system and I wanted to let them know why they were on a gun of unknown providence and use. They took my ID and all my information. And never contacted me.

So, I'm seriously unimpressed, and with everything else going on all over they city for last night, random aerial gunfire in the Northeast seems to be a low priority.

Maybe in Mt. Airy, Society Hill, or Rittenhouse Square the result would have been different. I don't know.

It was sporadic, not non stop, and was coming from multiple points throughout the neighborhood. Without anyone getting hit, there's not much for the police to do and im dubious theyd get out of their cars if they showed up at all. Shell casings don't tell you much beyond caliber and brand. I'm unaware of any way to even determine how long they'd been out there.

Wissinoming. Between 12:30 and 1:30. It wasn't just the audible difference. I could see them doing itnout my windows. I found a bunch of brass on my morning dog walk as well. At least now I know what set off my car alarm last night after finding it surrounded in 9mm casings.

I would have preferred this to the war zone my neighborhood was. The gunfire outside my bedroom window was great.

Thank you!

The desert does have a certain harsh beauty. I've lived in the Mojave, Sonora, and Chihuahua Deserts, all with their own quirks. I can tell you that one thing I definitely don't miss is the critters. It's not fun being stung by a scorpion in your own kitchen. And the centipedes are horrific. The tarantulas are cool though.

This was our first year in Philly after my wife and I left Arizona. We have loved it here. There have been a few bumps, but overall it has been wonderful. The people are great (yes, really. The whole kind but not nice thing is true in my experience), having so many options of things to do is wonderful, and having actual seasons instead of slightly different shades of brown is amazing.

My thoughts exactly! We learn, we get better. Not everyone agrees unfortunately. Heaven forbid we accept that our predecessors were real people, with flaws, rather than mythic gods.

Edit: To be clear, owning slaves is waaaaay past being a flaw.

I'm a recent transplant from the Southwest and have been pleasantly surprised that the history of African American, Native American, and other minority groups isn't glossed over here. In particular, the excavation and information about the slave quarters under the original presidential mansion was eye opening to me. I'm happy it isn't being swept under the rug or white washed away.

My neighborhood (Wissinoming) in the northeast indeed has quite a few. My block is mostly maybe 20 square feet on either side of the steps, but nearby there are almost full front yards.

Please accept my wholesome award for the best laugh I've had all week. You're my hero of the day.

Goldfish get really big naturally. A 10-15 gallon tank isn't really appropriate. If there are other fish he also likes there are much better choices.

For reference on goldfish: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/fisherman-catches-giant-goldfish-carrot-scn/index.html

I'm new to Philly (but my address is Philadelphia). My ex wife, who I met in LA always said she was from Philly. She was from Wynnewood and avoided the actual city at all costs. She was exactly the sort you're talking about.

My cats are still adapting to the clever city mice instead of the stupid desert mice they grew up with, but they're learning. At least I don't need them for scorpion detail anymore.

People will also bell such cats to protect bird populations. I love my (indoor only) cats, but cats cause serious harm to bird populations just for fun.

With ketchup. Wait, it's Chicago where ketchup on hot dogs is a sin.

Not a lot here in my neck of the Northeast, but everyone who was out was happy, friendly, and appreciative.

I'm new too, but I'm in Wissinoming and I'm loaded for bear with candy.

That's fair. To be honest I used to see far more cops in rural southern Arizona than I do here on a daily basis.

If we had a cop in every Wawa in the city would there be any left to be anywhere else?

If you add live TV on Hulu you should be good. That's how I'm watching it. I added live TV just for the postseason and will drop it afterwards.

I'm in a poorer part of town, in the NE. Not bad, but rough around the edges. My block is decent, kids outside, not rowdy. Houses and cars a little worn, but cared for. One block up is cleaner, cars are nicer, holiday decorations are fancier, houses in better shape. One block down is dirty, crappy cars, lots of trash, no kids outside, and a drive by homicide on Memorial Day. My block feels perfectly safe, but I slide over a block when a walk to the supermarket to avoid the one due south.

Sounds like those people are just against the city in general. I went to a show there a few weeks ago, parking in a structure a few blocks away. It is the least concerning neighborhood I've been in within the city proper in the time I've lived here.