Letter to the Editor: A Philly draw

To the Editor:

In reading Amara Rockar's column ("There goes the neighborhood," DP 9/13/05) about Philadelphia and its self-destructive tendencies (which I agree with), I think something was forgotten: Philadelphia has no draw.

While I lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia, it was the only big city I knew. I knew some of the things that went on down there, and occasionally I'd visit to check them out. However, when I moved to Bethlehem to go to school, and later New Jersey to get a job, I realized that hardly anyone knows about Philadelphia. I would venture a guess that Philadelphia wasn't all the rage in St. Louis either. People know about New York and Washington, but I never ever heard someone say, "I flew out to visit Philadelphia."

I, however, have for the last two years flown five times into the middle of a God-forsaken desert in Las Vegas just to visit a casino. I have also hiked down the Garden State Parkway on many occasions, not to check out the sunny beaches of Atlantic City, but to check out the glowing interior of their gambling fortresses.

I really wish that Philadelphia had something like that, but as yet, we do not. I have never heard someone tell me that they really wanted to check out the Human Heart exhibit at the Franklin Institute, even if it is really cool. And even if it is really historic, people my age don't really care about the Liberty Bell.

A casino might be a way to get some of those people in to the city and discover what else we have to offer. Otherwise, we'll keep being the little brother of the East Coast.

Chris Czyzewicz

The author is a first-year Ph.D. student in computer science.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.