PhillyGAF |OT|

BronsonLee said:
I'm joking of course, but Poi Dog's plate lunch is basically the same as other places in Hawaii. Two scoops of rice, one of macaroni salad, and two meats.

They chose two barf meats tho
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tastes good, pricey tho like any other hipster food trucks in town

good break from halal cart

AbortedWalrusFetus said:
People will think I am a heathen but I hate potato/macaroni salad. I like the German style potato salad that is not covered in gross mayo. I like pasta salad that doesn't have mayo too.
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I hate mayo too, but they use asian mayo which is a lot sweeter and less vinegary
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
PATCO has it's own card. In Philly, for now, it's just tokens or cash fare. They are rolling out a card system that will work similar to NYCs called SEPTA Key in the next year. It'll be on subways and buses first, then makes its way to regional rail.



The Wolf plan is supposed to bring an additional $159M in for the city school budget, and the savings will go to Wage Tax in Philadelphia, rather than property taxes, as I understand. Thing about all of that is that it is going to take at the very least a year to get Wolf's plan through, maybe longer. The schools need the $105M just to get back to a bare minimum of functionality. The $159M could be used to further improve the school. Really the school district needs both. If the city wants to keep the growth momentum it has it's going to need to keep investing in schools.
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I'm at my phone not my desk, where I have a bunch of the data. But my understanding is this:

There are two competing plans at the moment for property tax relief, not one. Wolf's is the lower of the two. The one being pushed by the state house/senate provides a greater reduction, in some cases 20% higher.

The actual plan will likely be a compromise between the two, so Wolf's figures are probably a lowball estimate if I had to put money on it.

In addition to the property tax overhaul (which both sides want, simply a matter of degree) Wolf is pushing to establish a state funding formula, and possibly eliminate "hold harmless". Both of these would result in drastic changes to how money is distributed without raising new revenue.

Obviously more revenue is better than less, but nutters arguments for the property tax increase takes none of the above into account.
 
RP912 said:
ritas-water-ice.jpg


Miss this place...
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A summer classic. I've been getting that pretty much as long as I can remember.
 
Ryuukan said:
tastes good, pricey tho like any other hipster food trucks in town

good break from halal cart
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I just wish there was a real ass Hawaiian restaurant. There are freaking THREE where I used to live in Idaho. None in Philly. I don't count Poi Dog because I can't get it when I want it
 
Manmademan said:
I'm at my phone not my desk, where I have a bunch of the data. But my understanding is this:

There are two competing plans at the moment for property tax relief, not one. Wolf's is the lower of the two. The one being pushed by the state house/senate provides a greater reduction, in some cases 20% higher.

The actual plan will likely be a compromise between the two, so Wolf's figures are probably a lowball estimate if I had to put money on it.

In addition to the property tax overhaul (which both sides want, simply a matter of degree) Wolf is pushing to establish a state funding formula, and possibly eliminate "hold harmless". Both of these would result in drastic changes to how money is distributed without raising new revenue.

Obviously more revenue is better than less, but nutters arguments for the property tax increase takes none of the above into account.
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That's true, my point is that I don't necessarily think it should. The School District needs the money now, not later. If the state kicks in later, it would be even better. I just think that fight is going to take a really long time in the state legislature. What Nutter should do though is work to get some more gentrification protections in with the property tax hike though.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
How does one hate wooder ice? It's tasty. That said I'd almost always rather have ice cream. Roast pork > cheesesteaks. I still eat the hell out of Cheesesteaks though because they are just easier to get.
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My superior montco upbringing prohibits me from uttering "wooder" or "wuhder"

I do like water ice but honestly Rita's is too sweet for me
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
That's true, my point is that I don't necessarily think it should. The School District needs the money now, not later. If the state kicks in later, it would be even better. I just think that fight is going to take a really long time in the state legislature. What Nutter should do though is work to get some more gentrification protections in with the property tax hike though.
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IIRC the state has the ability to advance Philadelphia the money based on anticipated revenue, and has done this before.

As for a lengthy fight, not possible really. The state constitution prevents PA from running a deficit, so a balanced budget MUST be passed if the state wants to avoid a shutdown. There's no real daylight between the governor and state house/senate on property tax, only a matter of degree.

The budget is due at the end of June. It may go longer than that, but you're talking maybe like July at the latest. Nutter trying to convince everyone he needs a 9% property tax increase isn't happening any faster.
 
Ryuukan said:
My superior montco upbringing prohibits me from uttering "wooder" or "wuhder"

I do like water ice but honestly Rita's is too sweet for me
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Yeah, I grew up in Berks county so I can properly pronounce words as well. I just think it's hilarious. But yeah, a lot of water ice is too sweet. If you get some of the less sweet stuff it's actually a really refreshing treat though.

Manmademan said:
IIRC the state has the ability to advance Philadelphia the money based on anticipated revenue, and has done this before.

As for a lengthy fight, not possible really. The state constitution prevents PA from running a deficit, so a budget MUST be passed if the state wants to avoid a shutdown.

The budget is due at the end of June. It may go longer than that, but you're talking maybe like July at the latest. Nutter trying to convince everyone he needs a 9% property tax increase isn't happening any faster.
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Yeah, the budget has to be passed, but it doesn't have to include Wolf's plan for fair school funding this year, and I am still banking that it doesn't. Nutter trying to convince people to do the tax increase isn't going to happen at all though, so it really is a moot point. I think the School's need it though.
 
Pbae said:
I actually hate the stuff too and will only get two flavors if I'm with others that get it.

Lemon or Mango.
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My favorite flavor has always been root beer, but they don't have it much anymore. If they don't have that I'll get my vanilla custard with rainbow jimmies.
 
What do you guys think of the Elkins Park area? My girlfriend and our roommate are thinking of moving there from our current apartment in a few months, we found a nice two bedroom for under $1000/mo. I REALLY want to move into the city itself to an area like Fishtown/Northern Liberties (we are all 23 and under), but can't convince them to fork over the philly wage tax and jacked up car insurance... Oh well. I'm still rather fresh out of college and only pulling in 35K, so it's probably wise to live cheaply and pay off college loans more quickly. I also work in Bristol, PA, so my commute is going to be a bear if I go to far southwest. One day ill move into the goddamn city, though.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
Yeah, the budget has to be passed, but it doesn't have to include Wolf's plan for fair school funding this year, and I am still banking that it doesn't. Nutter trying to convince people to do the tax increase isn't going to happen at all though, so it really is a moot point. I think the School's need it though.
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The budget not only has to be passed, there's a 2 billion dollar gap that needs to be filled, thanks to Corbett using one time revenue sources to pass the budget last year.

The only plausible way to balance this is by an increase in state income and state sales tax, along with possible revenue from the Marcellus shale.

The property tax relief and additional school funding are simply ways to make this increase palatable to the public. BOTH sides are pushing nearly identical plans that call for tax increases on income and sales. If it doesn't happen, the state shuts down.

It's far, far more likely that this passes than not, and far more likely than nutter getting a property tax increase.
 
Ryuukan said:
We "sprinkles" here
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Everyone I know from the city calls them jimmies. I've always called them sprinkles, but I know my dad called them jimmies too.

Manmademan said:
The budget not only has to be passed, there's a 2 billion dollar gap that needs to be filled, thanks to Corbett using one time revenue sources to pass the budget last year.

The only plausible way to balance this is by an increase in state income and state sales tax, along with possible revenue from the Marcellus shale.

The property tax relief and additional school funding are simply ways to make this increase palatable to the public. BOTH sides are pushing nearly identical plans that call for tax increases on income and sales. If it doesn't happen, the state shuts down.

It's far, far more likely that this passes than not, and far more likely than nutter getting a property tax increase.
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Interesting. I hadn't realized the republican controlled General Assembly was on board with this. I mean, I was aware of the gap, but I figured they'd be putting forward similar measure to Corbett's time in office combined with spending cuts. What I actually really liked was Wolf's original plan to exempt the first $30k in income from taxation, despite the legal hurdles that plan would have faced. The tax equality stuff in the PA constitution is a nightmare and they really need to get rid of it.
 
ACE 1991 said:
What do you guys think of the Elkins Park area? My girlfriend and our roommate are thinking of moving there from our current apartment in a few months, we found a nice two bedroom for under $1000/mo. I REALLY want to move into the city itself to an area like Fishtown (we are all 23 and under), but can't convince them to fork over the philly wage tax and jacked up car insurance... Oh well. I'm still rather fresh out of college and only pulling in 35K, so it's probably wise to live cheaply and pay off college loans more quickly. One day ill move into the goddamn city, though.
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I haven't been to Elkins Park in like 15 years but there is an Hmart there which is a great place for groceries and other asian goods
 
Ryuukan said:
I haven't been to Elkins Park in like 15 years but there is an Hmart there which is a great place for groceries and other asian goods
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I think our apartment is really close to that. The area is rather boring, but it's pretty darn close to the city without actually being in it, so getting there on the weekends should be fairly painless.
 
ACE 1991 said:
What do you guys think of the Elkins Park area? My girlfriend and our roommate are thinking of moving there from our current apartment in a few months, we found a nice two bedroom for under $1000/mo. I REALLY want to move into the city itself to an area like Fishtown/Northern Liberties (we are all 23 and under), but can't convince them to fork over the philly wage tax and jacked up car insurance... Oh well. I'm still rather fresh out of college and only pulling in 35K, so it's probably wise to live cheaply and pay off college loans more quickly. I also work in Bristol, PA, so my commute is going to be a bear if I go to far southwest. One day ill move into the goddamn city, though.
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Are any of you working in the city? If so you're paying the wage tax anyway. If you work in the city and live in the city then you basically don't need a car either.
 
They're doing the Playstation E3 thing again, a movie theater screening of Sony's E3 presentation.

Did anyone go last year? Was it as fanboyish of an atmosphere as I've heard?
 
Hello PhillyGAF! I moved here last summer to look for work. Mission more or less accomplished as I ended up becoming self-employed. I've really enjoyed my time here so far, especially after living in Cleveland for nearly five years.

Fun fact: The year I moved to Cleveland was the year Lebron left, and the year I left Cleveland - he came back. Clearly he and I just shouldn't be near each other.
 
I signed up for the E3 thing, but I'm worried about parking. Best I can tell from Google Streetview, there are something like 2 dozen parking spots for the entire theater!
 
bigkrev said:
I signed up for the E3 thing, but I'm worried about parking. Best I can tell from Google Streetview, there are something like 2 dozen parking spots for the entire theater!
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Where is it?

Edit: Looked it up. It's at the Riverview theater on Columbus Blvd. Underneath i95, behind the theater is all parking. It's usually not too bad to park there.
 
ACE 1991 said:
What do you guys think of the Elkins Park area? My girlfriend and our roommate are thinking of moving there from our current apartment in a few months, we found a nice two bedroom for under $1000/mo. I REALLY want to move into the city itself to an area like Fishtown/Northern Liberties (we are all 23 and under), but can't convince them to fork over the philly wage tax and jacked up car insurance... Oh well. I'm still rather fresh out of college and only pulling in 35K, so it's probably wise to live cheaply and pay off college loans more quickly. I also work in Bristol, PA, so my commute is going to be a bear if I go to far southwest. One day ill move into the goddamn city, though.
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NoLibs and Fishtown are great choices. As NoLibs gets more trendy with the hipster and young crowd, watch out on being screwed on rents. During my look, NoLibs was essentially trying to scam me on the allure of a community that wasn't really there.

Although, looking at a map, if you move into the city you're about a half hour car ride to Bristol every morning. It may just be better to wait it out.
 
bigkrev said:
I signed up for the E3 thing, but I'm worried about parking. Best I can tell from Google Streetview, there are something like 2 dozen parking spots for the entire theater!
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All that parking is for drop off/handicap spots. All the theater parking is up the street under the bridge. There is plenty.

Walrus, it's at the South Philly Riverview.
 
esms said:
NoLibs and Fishtown are great choices. As NoLibs gets more trendy with the hipster and young crowd, watch out on being screwed on rents. During my look, NoLibs was essentially trying to scam me on the allure of a community that wasn't really there.

Although, looking at a map, if you move into the city you're about a half our car ride to Bristol every morning. It may just be better to wait it out.
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Yeah rents there are getting pricey. It's still not too bad to find 2br apartments for around $1200 in good neighborhoods in the city though.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
Yeah rents there are getting pricey. It's still not too bad to find 2br apartments for around $1200 in good neighborhoods in the city though.
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Yeah, I love the pricing on apartments in this city in good neighborhoods compared to other major cities.

AbortedWalrusFetus said:
Philly Beer Week starts Friday, for those not in the know. Anyone doing any events?
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Might go to one of the South St events when my GF gets here this weekend, then maybe stumble to that new Spruce Park.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
Are any of you working in the city? If so you're paying the wage tax anyway. If you work in the city and live in the city then you basically don't need a car either.
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esms said:
NoLibs and Fishtown are great choices. As NoLibs gets more trendy with the hipster and young crowd, watch out on being screwed on rents. During my look, NoLibs was essentially trying to scam me on the allure of a community that wasn't really there.

Although, looking at a map, if you move into the city you're about a half hour car ride to Bristol every morning. It may just be better to wait it out.
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As I said in my post, I work in Bristol, PA, not the city, so I'm not being taxed on my income. I'd love Northern Liberties or Fishtown, but my roommates don't want their car insurance to go up $700 (this is quote they have gotten from multiple places) and to shell out 3.94% from every paycheck :/
 
ACE 1991 said:
As I said in my post, I work in Bristol, PA, not the city, so I'm not being taxed on my income. I'd love Northern Liberties or Fishtown, but my roommates don't want their car insurance to go up $700 (this is quote they have gotten from multiple places) and to shell out 3.94% from every paycheck :/
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Yeah, I meant your roommates. If they work in the city they are already paying a 3.4% wage tax, the other half a percent isn't going to kill them. And car insurance is higher, but I don't even think I pay $700/year. Not sure if their quote was half year as is standard. I guess it depends on your driving history and what not, but the trade off is that you don't have to drive. I've found salaries are generally a bit higher in the city than the suburbs, but that is probably heavily field dependent. If you all work in the suburbs it's moot though.
 
ACE 1991 said:
As I said in my post, I work in Bristol, PA, not the city, so I'm not being taxed on my income. I'd love Northern Liberties or Fishtown, but my roommates don't want their car insurance to go up $700 (this is quote they have gotten from multiple places) and to shell out 3.94% from every paycheck :/
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It may just be better to get your career off the ground for a couple of years and then look for something else in the city that'll pay more.

Philly will still be here.
 
ACE 1991 said:
What do you guys think of the Elkins Park area? My girlfriend and our roommate are thinking of moving there from our current apartment in a few months, we found a nice two bedroom for under $1000/mo. I REALLY want to move into the city itself to an area like Fishtown/Northern Liberties (we are all 23 and under), but can't convince them to fork over the philly wage tax and jacked up car insurance... Oh well. I'm still rather fresh out of college and only pulling in 35K, so it's probably wise to live cheaply and pay off college loans more quickly. I also work in Bristol, PA, so my commute is going to be a bear if I go to far southwest. One day ill move into the goddamn city, though.
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I grew up there, PM me if you have specific questions about it, but in general I think its a nice and very underrated part of the suburbs that everyone ignores because "MAIN LINE MAIN LINE MAIN LIFE MAIN LINE!!!!!"
 
Ryuukan said:
Main Line sux, traffic is worse than center city
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Just IMO (and I've never actually lived out there, so I guess I can't really say) but outside of 76 and the area right around KOP, I've never really thought the traffic out there was any worse than in any other suburbs. Ever driven through Jenkintown? Ooooh boy that can get bad.
 
The Llama said:
I grew up there, PM me if you have specific questions about it, but in general I think its a nice and very underrated part of the suburbs that everyone ignores because "MAIN LINE MAIN LINE MAIN LIFE MAIN LINE!!!!!"
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I'll take you up on that! I grew up in Wayne, so I am well-versed in the Main Line circlejerk. Wonderful place to grow up and the schools were fantastic, so I can't complain.
 
ACE 1991 said:
I'll take you up on that! I grew up in Wayne, so I am well-versed in the Main Line circlejerk. Wonderful place to grow up and the schools were fantastic, so I can't complain.
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The schools yes, the people are awful

I went to a private school on the main line for K-12 and people thought I was an alien/hick for living further out in Montco
 
ACE 1991 said:
I'll take you up on that! I grew up in Wayne, so I am well-versed in the Main Line circlejerk. Wonderful place to grow up and the schools were fantastic, so I can't complain.
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Haha yeah. My parents moved to the area from DC (previously they were from the NYC area) and all the houses the realtors showed them were on the main line. It wasn't until they started asking around a bit and looking on their own that they even discovered Elkins Park/etc.
 
Anyone in here really into cycling? Always looking for good routes in and around Philly, I usually bike on the schulykill river trail.
 
RP912 said:
ritas-water-ice.jpg


Miss this place...
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Seriously. The only place in VA that has a Rita's is fricken KING'S DOMINION. My fiancée had her first Rita's there last year and fell in love with it. But there's no stand alone Rita's anywhere in Richmond.

I'm feening for Swedish Fish/Blue Raspberry mix, dammit!
 
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