These photos were taken on Sunday, January 31st around Independence Mall.
Rick has lived near the city his whole life. "I grew up in the suburbs just south of Philly, right around West Chester." He has lived in the city for the past year, "at third and Bainbridge." His favorite trait of Philadelphia is the walkability, claiming "you can walk pretty much anywhere." His least favorite trait is the segregation of different parts of the city.
(This picture came out really blurry, obviously. The sun was almost down and I had to shoot with a very slow shutter speed.)
Ryan is from Florida but has been living in Philadelphia for a year and a half. He enjoys all the sandwiches that Philly has to offer, but hates the traffic. "Thats why I ride my bike, driving around here is such a b----"
Hope and Ron are natives to Pennsylvania, hailing from Pottstown. They had been in the city since 10:00 that morning and came to see the Auto Show. Ron had a hard time picking just one thing about the city, and stated that "there's so much to like." Hope said she likes the "go-go-go" mentality of the city. Ron's least favorite part of Philadelphia is the parking, whereas Hope's is the litter.
Tanya and Alan had just arrived in the city an hour before I spoke to them. They are from Texas and are staying the week. It was Tanya's first trip to the city, but Alan had been here several times before. Tanya said her favorite thing so far had been the cheesesteaks they had just eaten at Jim's Steaks on South Street. "I think I went a little overboard on mine. I ordered 'everything' and they put things things on there that I didn't even know went on a cheesesteak! Mushrooms, onions, bell peppers...everything!" The two agreed that the worst part of the city was the parking. "It took us so long to find parking that the Liberty Bell exhibit was closed by the time we got there," Alan said.
Jeff and Terry (not Theresa -- just Terry) were in the city for the day. They reside in Lancaster, PA. Terry's favorite part about the city? "The Eagles!" Jeff had nothing negative to say about the city, and exclaimed "gotta love Philly!"
Bob Forbes was in Philadelphia for the weekend. He lives in Washington DC, and had only been in the city a few times for work as an engineer. He loves the history surrounding the city, but dislikes the problems that come with an urban environment. Bob had recently gotten oral surgery. It took him a year to replace his right canine, and he was very excited about the outcome.
Jennifer had come to Philadelphia the day before from Missouri. Here for an interview at the Children's Hospital, she said that the hospital is what she was most impressed with. She had nothing bad to say about the city.
Jeremy is a flight attendant and was visiting Philadelphia for the first time. He is from Raleigh, North Carolina. His favorite part of the city was how historical it is. "It's like the birthplace of America, so that's pretty cool." His least favorite part about the city is how crowded it is, and also noted that "it's not known for being very safe."
Suzanne and Jeff are from New Hampshire. They spent the weekend in Atlantic City, and with a few hours to spare before their plane departs for home, they decided to check out Philadelphia. When asked what their favorite part about the city, Suzanne said that she had really enjoyed the tour of Independence Hall that they had just went on. "The tour guides were really nice!" She later said that the worst experience of their Philadelphia excursion was the cold weather, and would be better if they had come when it was a bit warmer. Jeff said that he had nothing negative to say about the city.
I met Judy at the exit of the Liberty Bell. She worked in Philadelphia as a police officer but resides in New Jersey. "My favorite part of the city is the diversity. I love all the different types of people we see around here." Judy does not, however, love the lack of parking around the city.
This group was in Philadelphia for the day. They just got down to the city from New York City, and all agreed that their favorite part of the city is the pizza from Lorenzo's on South Street. The boy with the hood, Paul, said his least favorite part of the city is the Phillies. "Go Mets!" (The rest of the group seemed to agree with Paul.)
(This picture, as well as the one to follow came out a little weird. I had shot them in color, and converted them to black and white in post-production. I don't know why they came out that way.)
Kurt, a visitor to Philadelphia, originally hails from Atlanta but is now living in Austin, Texas. Visiting the city for the weekend, Kurt has been impressed by all the tourist attractions. What he was not so impressed with is the cleanliness of the subway rails. "Lets just say I wouldn't want to sleep down there."
