thanks, Lenore. I'm not gonna break out some long I've-lived-in the city-5-years-and-I'm-a-planning-student argument here, but yeah.

more about W.Philly: yeah, I think several professors do live over there, Penn has really tried to get faculty members to move closer to the school in recent years. You may consider this a good or a bad thing. This is where a discussion of gentrification and universities' roles in planning and community building come in, which I'm not gonna get into. Either way, the area does have a strong neighborhood feel and well-maintained architecturally-significant infrastructure.
most areas of south philly are less well-maintained and have a more monotonous design/architecture. of course, there are exceptions. look around and decide for yourself, of course. or read all the neighborhood profile reports my class did last fall :-P