Camden

My dad and I recently got into an argument about why I moved to Philly when I could have lived at the Victor, the old RCA building turned apartments right in Camden and only a few blocks from campus. In all fairness to the city for which the county I was born and raised in was named (and I am in the good company of the founder of Campbell's Soup and famous poet Walt Whitman), Camden wasn’t always such a shithole. Once upon a time, there were working class people who lived and worked there. Most of the blue collar jobs have since left for greener pastures, including RCA . So someone had a brilliant idea to turn the old factory into luxury lofts, after all they are right on the waterfront with a gorgeous view of the Philadelphia skyline. I think they got so caught up in the whole idea, they forgot one thing- we’re talking about Camden here. Luxury and Camden do not belong in the same sentence, ever. The plan was to sell them as condos at premium rates; an idea which inevitably failed, and now they rent the lofts to anyone dumb enough to pay $900+ a month to live in Camden, law students included (umm, no offense?). Well most of these kids are from out of state, so they probably didn’t really know any better (although I can think of one person who grew up only 8 miles or so from this oasis on the Delaware and certainly should have known better). The city is the most dangerous in America and according to Maxim magazine likely the grim reaper's favorite vacation spot. So Dad, the real question is what were you smoking when you thought this was a good idea? Hopefully something better than the shit they sell in Camden.