Tag Archives: philadelphia

more on Alice Goffman

Recently I was talking about how much I enjoyed On The Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. I knew there was some controversy over the book, but I didn’t realize how much. I actually assumed she was a journalist, but it turns out she is a sociologist and some sociologists think they are not supposed to write books like that. (Later though, the article says that journalists have criticized her and sociologists have defended her, so I am a little confused there.) I don’t think I know any sociologists, or a lot about them. Once I knew an anthropologist, and I asked him how he was different from a sociologist, but he just laughed and never answered my question. The problem, some say, is that she got too close to her subjects, was too quick to repeat everything they told her, and reinforced stereotypes. On the last, I think that is completely false. If anything, she does a lot to humanize and find redeeming qualities in people who do some risky and violent things. As for the way she got personally involved with her subjects, that is what makes the story so engaging. I think ultimately it is a story told from a certain point of view, and you have to keep that point of view in mind almost as though you were reading a novel. Whether that is good academic sociology or not I wouldn’t know, but I enjoyed the book.

By the way, Alice Goffman did a TED talk which is more or less a summary of the book.

Philadelphia rowhouses

I didn’t realize just how unusual the Philadelphia rowhouse is. Baltimore is really the only city that has something similar on a similar scale, with D.C. a distant third. I didn’t grow up here and was skeptical at first, but now I am living in my third one and I am completely sold. They are high density, yet low rise and to me, don’t feel as cramped as high rise apartments would. They are pretty social – people sit on their front stoops and get to know their neighbors, especially in good weather. They have back yards big enough to enjoy but small enough to be low maintenance. They are not conducive to driving and parking (a source of frustration to many), and are extremely walkable as a result. People walk to their jobs and shopping. Kids walk to school. There isn’t a whole lot of open space, I admit, but a few good parks and trails within easy walking distance make up for that.

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enjoying the festive papal atmosphere

Here is some helpful advice from the state of Pennsylvania (our friends in rural Pennsylvania, I’m thinking) on how to enjoy yourself at the papal visit.

If you get caught up in a crowd of people:

  • Try to walk around crowds, rather than through them.
  • Stay on your feet – do not sit down or bend down to pick up something.
  • If you fall down, get back up on your feet as quickly as possible.
  • Move with the flow of people, rather than against the flow.
  • Carefully and safely make your way toward the edge of the crowd.

It bears repeating – when in the big city, be aware of your surroundings at all times, tuck your wallet into one of your socks, and do not…repeat…do not under any circumstances bend over.

Brad Pitt at the World Meeting of Families

Today was a pretty tranquil scene in Philadelphia. Although parts of the city resembled a sort of soft military occupation – police, uniformed soldiers (who were polite and helpful), TSA and border patrol (who weren’t), it was actually quiet in the absence of traffic and with a lot of people staying home from work. In the morning, people seemed to confine themselves to sidewalks out of habit, then gradually during the day, they fanned out into the streets.
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Contrast this with what is expected tomorrow…

Okay, so that’s the Philadelphia scene from World War Z… which was actually filmed in Scotland with some Philadelphia landmarks photo-shopped in.

Comcast

I engaged in some Comcast bashing recently. I’m not really sorry. You can argue that they do a lot for the Philadelphia economy. Well, that would also be true if they were manufacturing land mines. But here’s an article talking about how they do support some local startup companies.

Comcast invests in local startups through Genacast Ventures, a partnership between investor Gil Beyda and Comcast Ventures that helps fuel early-stage companies in the area, including LeadID, Invite Media and Packlate.com. One past success is a seed investment in Divide, a bring-your-own-device enterprise security company formerly known as Enterpriod. Divide eventually sold to Google.

“Our passion has always been to turn great ideas into powerful businesses — and that starts with finding talented entrepreneurs,” said Beyda, who leads Genacast Ventures. “Comcast Ventures, with the help of the Genacast and Catalyst funds, has provided unparalleled strategic and financial support for entrepreneurs just getting started. Identifying innovative leaders is the mission of all our partners, and the ability to support them with the assets from Comcast and NBCUniversal provides startups with a distinct advantage.”

Comcast has also collaborated with DreamIt Ventures to invest in minority-owned startups, including Philly outfits ROAR and LIA Diagnostics.