THE MAYOR CAME TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD

So I’m rapping away at my laptop at home this evening, when I hear a familiar voice blaring from a megaphone right outside my window. It’s the mayor of Philadelphia. He’s in the neighborhood pressing the flesh and stumping for the November election. A councilwoman lives a stone’s throw away from us, and so the mayor decided to host a little gathering in her backyard. Which is practically our backyard.

This is what I love about Philly. It’s easily one of the ten biggest cities in the country, and yet it consists of all of these little neighborhoods, which give you a sense of community and belonging that you wouldn’t think possible in the big bad city. Hearing the mayor exhort the crowd with his agenda for the Philadelphia of the future made me feel like I was being transported back in time, to a day when politicians were personable and neighbors gathered to talk shop.

The fact that Philly is big enough to never grow stale yet small enough to seem cozy, cool enough to have a national rep and yet uncool enough to not be a wannabe . . . that’s why Philly suits me just right.