City Living

I love that I can walk to a park, my hair dresser, several grocery stores, my gym, my yoga studio, any number of cafes, my favorite bakery, and all the retail stores I could want. I love that within a two-block radius of my apartment, I can get sushi, ethiopian food, thai food, low-end greasy pizza, medium-quality brick oven pizza, tex-mex, chinese food, and pub food. I am particularly fortunate that our apartment is located in the Center City area, only a block away from a centrally located park, and a couple blocks from a running path that extends along the river and into a large park on the outskirts of the city. So, yeah, I'm pretty lucky.

The downside of living in the city is driving me crazy, though. When we moved into our apartment, there was a popular bar/club occupying the space on the first floor of our building. On Fridays and Saturdays, they played loud (and bad) music that we could hear in our bedroom. We found it annoying, but we could usually sleep through it. The landlord told us they were leaving, and a new owner would be opening a mellow club that played jazz and served food.

At least, that's what they were told. The new place opened in March. And they are...awful. It's billed as an "invitation only" club. They put a red velvet rope across the entrance to our building and ask us if we are "on the list" when we arrive home late. They do bottle service for over $1000 a pop. I didn't even know what bottle service was before they moved in. And they play music very, very loudly. To be fair, it's good music. But it's loud. Loud like there's a party in my apartment, and loud enough that I can feel the floor (and consequently, my bed) vibrating with the bass. And they are open Wednesday through Sunday, so we get only two peaceful nights per week.

This is particularly bad on days I am working. There is nothing like working on one's dissertation while hearing Kanye blasted through your window, along with a bunch of scantily clad women screaming along with the music (I don't know why they scream, but they do).

Last night, for the first time in my life, I called the police about the noise. I felt terrible. No one wants to be the complaining neighbor. And you have to call 911, which seems terrible. Like, "Oh, someone got shot in West Philly? But I have a noise complaint!" Still, it was ridiculously loud and again accompanied by screaming. And other people in our building have been encouraging us to do this--apparently, the police have been receiving several complaints per night. And our apartment is actually closest to the noise that emanates from the back of the club. To make things worse, our bedroom window is closest to the noise, so although it's loud in our living room, it's like being in the middle of a house party in our bedroom.

So, yeah. Hopefully something will change. Neither Alison nor I have soured on living in the city. We have just learned to be picky about our neighbors. And maybe to drive by our intended living quarters at night before signing a lease...

(I should note, we do have the option of moving, but we *love* our apartment. It's a quandry).