Every place has it's problems. Chestnut Hill was no different. Location was great! Near the city near the suburbs, surrounded by colleges, universities, country clubs, golf courses, and polo fields. The train was within walking distance and so was the trolley. This made it easy to get not Center City, Philly or the airport. There were plenty of shops, great bookstore and close to all the major arteries. The town was quaint and well kept with a sense of pride.
The problems were it was expensive and the riff raft would come out of Germantown for kicks and to do their dirty deeds such as stealing, muggings, and shootings. Regardless, it was a good central location in which to operate from.
South and west of Chestnut Hill was Manayunk. A bizarre place. I thought the place shown in David Lynch's Eraserhead was some kind of creation out his own mind. I later learned that he was a graduate of the Philadelphia Arts school and by walking the streets of Manayunkk I realized Eraserhead was shot in black and white in the alley ways of Manayunk. Manayunk was dire enough, but in black and white it became surreal. It was difficult to imagine such a place existed in real life. Main Street, Manayunk, which ran parallel with the Schuykill River was the local hot spot if one wasn't interested in tramping down to South Street, Philadelphia for the night club experience. Even so, there was no comparison to the NY Underground Music Scene: just a pale wanna-be.
The suburbs were great! Lafayette Hill, Conshohocken, Plymouth Meeting, and King of Prussia all had great places to eat and to get whatever one needed as far as supplies for the little house on the prairie.
The main advantage of Chestnut Hill is that it facilitated my ability to be