Trainspotting

I had a great time with Laura and Phil talking about families. Laura’s, Phil’s, mine. Because of my own experiences, I’m really interested in how families function, or don’t, given the endless possible combinations of personalities. They sent me on my way this morning to Suburban Station to catch the Septa train to Bryn Mawr. Here’s the view from their building of Rittenhouse Square:

Here’s their front door, behind which is an old-school ornate lobby:

They’re on the 7th floor and have lovely views on two sides, including catching some very colourful sunsets this time of year--all tangerine and cotton candy. They’ve collected art depicting Philly, just as I’ve collected Irish landscapes. They have a painting of this gazebo in Rittenhouse Square, for instance:

After spending eight days in London, I was amazed at the state of the subways in New York and Philly. Not only are the cars and the technology very old, the experience is dismal. I learned that the colour in Suburban Station is called hospital green.

London’s subways are more of a canvas for artistic expression and a billboard for the West End (and for new books, and movies). On Septa trains you historically bought your ticket from a grumpy man who would punch the ticket six times. Here’s my ticket, which, shockingly, cost $7 to go six stops. That would be twice what I pay to go farther in London.

So Septa is trying to get with the times and install ticket machines and turnstiles, like London did decades ago. In true American marketing fashion, “The Future of Fare Payment” nimbly ignores that this is catching up with a distant past in train technology.

I asked Joe the Architect--a world traveler with a rebellious soul--why it is that streetside curbs are chewed up, roads and bridges worn down, paint is peeling off the very soul of America. He said the 1% run the place for themselves. Anything that serves the lower classes is of no interest to them. Schools, airports, public transport, low income housing--all decaying as the 1% take private jets from villa to villa. My Main Line Philly friends say it’s because Americans don’t want to pay taxes, undermining public investment. I point out that the share of government revenues coming from corporate America has taken a sharp nosedive over recent decades. So I don’t blame the average householder for not wanting to pick up the tab for corporate freeloading.

I read where Chrissie Hynde moved to London from Ohio after the local tire manufacturers successfully lobbied to rip up the train tracks in her town. She wanted to live somewhere that provided public transport. I thought that was an interesting motivator for a major move. I wouldn’t say it was my motivator, but I would say I value living somewhere that values public investment. The Tories are doing all they can to destroy that investment. I keep hoping the public sees through the Tory strategy of using fear (of immigrants, terrorists) to provide cover for dismantling the welfare state. Same as the US playbook. Just a bit behind.
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