In Philadelphia, I stayed with my friend Agnieszka, who lives on one of those streets that resemble alleys. An article I read in Philadelphia magazine claimed that more people live in row houses in Philadelphia than in any other city in the country, and it's easy to believe. They're everywhere - not just in north, west and south Philly but even downtown (aka Center City).
The article was titled "Connected Houses, Connected Lives" and Agnieszka told me that that was true as well. After her knee operation, she said, her neighbors took care of her, bringing her meals and doing her shopping. While I was staying with her, there was a block party one Sunday, and people brought food - including a tray of soft pretzel nubs - and set up lawn chairs on the sidewalk. It was as close to an urban idyll as one could envision.
Agnieszka told me about a friend of hers, a theater director, who returned to Philly after living in New York. New York, he said, was too cut-throat; everybody was so ambitious that they didn't have time - or so ruthless they didn't have the desire - for friendships. In Philadelphia, he said, people in the arts support one another; they have created a true artistic community, one in which the second word holds dominion over the first.
