Norristown, PA
 

The Philadelphia Inquirer is running a series of articles about down-on-their-luck downtowns in the area, pushing their New Urbanist agenda.

For those who don't know, "New Urbanism" is the idea of forcing people out of the suburbs and back into the hellholes they left generations ago, and also not coincidentally back under the thumbs of the incompetent and corrupt politicians which run those hellholes. The idea is that in doing so, they will provide a tax base for the revival of these hellholes. It will also leave more land undeveloped, and, since New Urbanism puts heavy emphasis on screwing up traffic and taking away parking, drive people out of their cars and into public transportation. Well, a New Urbanist might disagree with this characterization, but they would be wrong.

Anyway, Tuesday's article is "After decades of distress, can Norristown be revived?". I could write this article with one word, "No". But no doubt the Inquirer will conclude otherwise, provided massive amounts of taxes are sucked in from non-distressed areas of Montgomery County and handed over to the borough.

But this poll isn't about New Urbanism or the Inky article. It's about a couple of friends of mine, who are moving to Norristown. (Why? Because she works in Allentown and he in King of Prussia). But, they say, it's the "good part" of Norristown. I say there IS no good part of Norristown in the borough. Hence the poll.

There is no good part of Norristown Borough but there are good parts of the Norristown mailing address ... the further you get away from the courthouse and main street, the better off you are ...

East Norriton and West Norriton are pretty nice, but Norristown itself is the pit of hell. It's a second class city managed politically as a borough. The police are underfunded (and were in danger of shutting down this Nov 1, as some may recall, with PSP set to take control) and crime is pretty much similar to that of most cities.

The good part is northeast of the hospital.

The problem is that you are next to the bad part, and for that I refer you back to the thread wherein I got my ass kicked for no good reason in the middle of the street. That street was Markley, in the very center of Norristown.

Thankfully there WAS a hospital right nearby so I could drive myself there and get sewn up. The night nurse assumed that I had been in a bar fight. The cop who took my report was a complete asshole. Six months later I moved away.

Now there is some redemption in that since then they have put a McDonald's up right there, so more public traffic would probably prevent an ass-kicking. Maybe you have to go to the alleys for that now.

Ouch!, someone doesnt like city livin'.
I could say many hellacious things about suburbia and relentless sprawl, too. Don't know the Norristown specifics, but from my urban projects, I personally like being able to walk to the corner for a gallon of milk or a falafel. I love historic brick and fantasize about rehabbing old theaters. Livable cities are great. So rock on Norristown!

No, the asskickings have just moved to the parking lot of the McDonalds that used to be the WonderBread factory.

Less chance of the asskickers getting run over by a car while they are working someone over.

Things quiet down the closer you get to the state hospital on the one side, and the closer you get to germantown pike on the other ... There are parts of Stanbridge Street that are okay, but that's anything above about the 600 block ... below that is pretty much no man's land ... and stay the heck off Haws Ave.

There are a couple of really cute single houses back by the zoo that look nice.

(oh, and I keep the shotgun handy whether or not I'm in Norristown)

Matt, You might suggest to your friends that they look in Lansdale? Unless the prices are way to high for them ... Good access to both KoP and Allentown.

Getting lost in Norristown at about 2AM was one of the main reasons I got a GPS for my car. (I ended up there after dropping a friend off who took me to his house the "short" way and I got confused on the way back, he didn't live in Norristown and the route didn't go through the nasty parts..but somehow I managed to end up in them.

My car was so out of place there...it wasn't "bling bling" or beat up enough to fit in there at all.

I'm sticking to the prime spots of Suburbia...maybe I'll move to Radnor when I feel snobby enough.

Wolf:

I suggested lots of places... Conshy, Plymouth Meeting, East Norriton, Lansdale, etc. They went for Norristown anyway, probably on price. My reaction to that was "Norristown? You mean the borough? Are you nuts?????"

I don't know exactly where the place is, somewhere on the eastern side, but definitely in the borough (unless my friend is tres confused).

Don't pick a theater that the crack dealers don't want rehabed:eek: