All Roads Lead to Philly

After four years in Hawaii, an island with only two “highways” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Philadelphia, the second-largest city on the East Coast, is a welcomed change. In terms of accessibility and travel, the City is truly in an ideal position, nestled amongst a vast network of well-connected streets and public transportation lines. Whether Washington D.C, the Shore, or the corner bar, it is easy to go from point A to point B.

Philly is in the top five of America’s best walking cities, behind New York, Boston, and San Francisco. We have city founder William Penn to thank for this. In 1682, Penn helped design a system of wide streets intersecting at right angles between the Schuylkill River to the west and the Delaware River to the east, making Philadelphia one of the first cities in North America to use the grid system.

His initial intent was to create an orderly design to prevent issues affecting European cities such as overcrowding, fire, and disease. Although, I like to think he had someone like me in mind—a young professional traveling by foot, most likely in heels, from the subway stop to my office building, and from here to a local lunch deli, Happy Hour favorite, or trendy boutique. The network of relatively short blocks and four-way intersections makes walking an efficient (and healthy) mode of transportation, with several direct routes, which I often decide depending on the color of the traffic signal.

When I am in the mood to trade skyscrapers for trees, Fairmont Park’s 63 neighborhood parks are always within walking distance. In just a few minutes, I can be on a hiking trail smack in the middle of nature.

The public transportation system is another plus of Philadelphia. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is the nation’s fifth largest public transportation system, providing transit services for Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties.

Going to a Phillies game or the Bruce Springsteen concert? Take the Broad Street Line. Time to visit the parents in the suburbs? Hop on the Market-Frankford Line to 69th Street Station, and from here, the trolley’s Route 100 heads up the Main Line. Bachelorette party in New York City? Simple. 30th Street Station is the hub, with Amtrak train service to almost anywhere in the country.

Now, living in Philadelphia, walking or riding in any direction leads to more city secrets to explore, opposed to my time in Hawaii, where I always seemed to hit a dead end. -Meredith Wertz