We decided to pretend we were sitting in a rowhouse living room in the city's Fairmount neighborhood.
That in itself was a stretch, first because we were assembled that April 23 afternoon in the spacious community room of PNC Bank's Market Street headquarters, and second, well, I once owned a city rowhouse, and you couldn't get 80 or so people into it even if you stacked them.
I do own a city rowhouse, and I could easily fit 80 people into it.
One of the things I "get" is that appearances can be deceiving.
Some suburbanites might not easily understand what has made John and Flossie Gallagher stay in their Harper Street rowhouse for more than 40 years. Or why 30-year resident Pat Hill spends a good part of her time tending the corner garden oasis she and other volunteers rescued from "dump" status.
They might understand why the Gallaghers and Hill have stuck it out, but it would be harder to comprehend why Suzi Nash or Kendra Gaeta or Matt Wanamaker or Evelyn Sheared - all of whom are young enough to be my children - would choose to live in a rowhouse neighborhood where nonresidents think it's OK to relieve themselves wherever they choose.
...
City living isn't easy. It never has been.
I think it's pretty easy. Obviously some neighborhoods are more problematic than others, but still.