pennsylvania [delaware county / philadelphia]
my first home <3 i was born + raised in delaware county, in the southeast region of the state, pretty close to the border of delaware. it was a crazy awesome place to be a kid and grow up; living steps from the woodlot and creek, neighborhood full of kids around the same age, ocean and mountains and countryside all less than 2 hours away, fun music scene (if a little evil, but what scene isn't tbh), and the best city in the entire country 20 minutes away. seriously, for me, pennsylvania has everything and a little extra.
in 2019, after 9 years of moving around PA and NJ, i finally ended up in philadelphia, my favorite city. i stayed in philly for 4 years and learned so much about myself. i moved closer to friends, i met some new ones, i got into the underground rave scene, i experimented uh a lot. in general.
philly is home to a number of museums, universities, historical landmarks, beautiful architechture, parks, and subway rats. sometimes subway cats. the public transit (SEPTA) is not the best, but it's pretty damn good and better than other areas and cities that i've experienced. there are buses, subway lines, trolley lines, and regional rail, including direct connection with PATCO, a rail line in south jersey. you can get mostly anywhere in a reasonable amount of time (most of the time, SEPTA can be spicy).
i haven't explored much of central or western PA, i visited pittsburgh briefly years ago and wasn't a huge fan of it. northeast PA is awesome, i have a spiritual connection to the pocono mountains. i really like the little towns and cities up there too, like jim thorpe and bethlehem. southeast PA is home, it just is. it's somewhere that i've loved and lost, ran to and ran from. i like to think that i have a better relationship with it now that i've experienced life far away from it. i like to think that returning to pennsylvania will give me a new appreciation for it. i do romanticize it more than i ever have.
portland, oregon
ohhh, portland... i wanted to love being there so badly. in theory, it had a lot of what i thought i wanted. trees and greenery everywhere, slower pace of life than the northeast, [allegedly] kinder people, nicer housing... idk just wanted something different, but similar enough to make me comfortable. that is not at all what i experienced, lmao.
public transit in portland is alright, worse than philly imo. bus, light rail, and street-cars, but the lines sucked ass. to commute to work, it was a 15 minute drive vs an hour long bus ride that wrapped from the southeast, where i lived, across the river and through downtown, across the river again and into the more-north-but-not-quite-northeast. abysmal. i enjoy being on public transit! but a 2 hour commute for a really physical job was not it. don't get me started on the max. it grew on me, but i still think it sucks. maybe i was just really homesick.
speaking of my job, and by proxy the people.. man. people do not want to be your friend in portland. they will rarely look you in the eyes unless you're out at a bar and have had a couple drinks already.