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Mr_Fraunces t1_j8ujush wrote

I had my perfect Philadelphia day one Sunday in Autumn back in the 80's. My GF (now wife) and I lived in Kensington. We got on the El at K&A and took it down to Girard Ave. We got on the trolley (I don't remember the number) and rode to the zoo. We spent a couple of hours at the zoo and then walked to the Waterworks, to the Art Museum steps, down the Parkway and got back on the El and went home. Back then Center City was fairly deserted on a Sunday but it was very pleasant all around.

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Republican_Wet_Dream OP t1_j8uybzt wrote

What was Kensington like in the 80s?

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Mr_Fraunces t1_j8wgntp wrote

It was always considered a rough neighborhood. I grew up in the Far Northeast and moved in with my GF in Kensington. She bought a house for $12,000 that was between the Tioga and Allegheny stops on the El.

The neighborhood had a bunch of elderly people still living there. Mostly Irish and Polish. I worked for the phone company at the garage on 2nd and Erie. Kensington Ave was a thriving business district. Ostroff's Candies, Bea's Broasted Chicken, Village Thrift. On hot summer days I used to go to McPheson library to read because they had air conditioning.

In the early 90's Crack was the big drug. There were Crack whores would hang out alongside Harrowgate Park.

Overall, it wasn't bad. Much better than today.

I look up our old house on Zillow every now and then. It's strange seeing the changes to the interior. We had a claw foot bathtub which has been replaced by a regular tub enclosure.

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Republican_Wet_Dream OP t1_j8wjvms wrote

When and why did you leave and where did you go?

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