{"id":680,"date":"2015-11-02T15:10:05","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T20:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/?p=680"},"modified":"2018-01-12T13:11:41","modified_gmt":"2018-01-12T18:11:41","slug":"phillys-newest-city-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/phillys-newest-city-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly’s Newest City Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before moving to Philadelphia this summer I had almost always lived in the suburbs, and I was curious about the city. Now, having been here for a few months, I am finding it impossible to not get swept up by the historic events that have happened all around. I\u2019ve walked past historic signs about Billie Holiday\u2019s former house, the oldest surviving photograph, the Lombard Street riot, the docking of slave ships, and countless others. And as a law student in the city where our country was founded and these words were immortalized, this sentence is beginning to take on a deeper meaning: \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Institutional inequality is what brought me to law school. Because that has been implemented in large part via housing discrimination, I wanted to move out of the suburbs\u2014where only people considered white have been allowed to live\u2014and into the city. In the process, I have experienced many logistical challenges that other law students coming from the suburbs may face. For instance, it took nearly two months to get my PPA street parking pass, which required a trip to Penndot to switch my license, several phone calls with my bank to get my title, a visit to AAA (or an \u201cautotag place\u201d) for my registration, and getting my car reinspected. I am not<\/em> used to cyclists who seem determined to sue me for a tort by consistently cutting in front of my car. (Aren’t they supposed to obey traffic rules?!) I\u2019ve learned that the police are not as responsive as they are in the suburbs. I’m even learning to understand the local accent and vocabulary \u2013 fyi, something that sounds like \u201cclums\u201d refers to Columbus Blvd.<\/p>\n

My Facebook friends have been treated to a daily chronicling of all of my experiences in the city, most of which really have been truly amazing. From beautiful street art and mosaics, to the more well-known Philadelphia landmarks, to the strange and unusual sights and sounds that you only get while living in a city.<\/p>\n\n\t