Feature Article |
How Rover Took Over
By Michael Schaffer
No, it was the realization that for 10 minutes every day from now on, a perfectly normal young couple in suburban Philly would be forsaking their giant TV and first-floor pool table and heading out into the cold to practice their … dog-walking lessons.
Dog-walking lessons! Not to mention organic dog food, specialty-baked canine cupcakes, doggie day spas, veterinary acupuncturists, kennels featuring cable TV, and all the other amenities today’s Philly pets luxuriate in. It’s enough to set off your inner Bill O’Reilly: What in tarnation is wrong with this city if even our golden retrievers are taking on airs? But before you get too deep into that rant about how this old blue-collar town is surely going to hell in a handbasket if its puppies have owners so soft that they need to pay hundreds of dollars to a professional to teach them how to walk their dogs, consider this: Could those same overindulged animals actually represent Philadelphia’s salvation?
While the rest of us have been looking for clues about the city’s future in indicators like the condo market and the murder rate, the school system and the culinary scene, a major sign of our health, wealth and values might well be found in the four-legged companions sitting at our feet — the ones who might just live better-accessorized lives than a lot of Philadelphia’s humans.
In many ways, it’s the story of Philly in the 21st century: the lowbrow industrial city reinvented as service-driven playground for newcomers with a taste for the finer things. Abandoning dreary distant swatches of New Jersey, they descend on Center City and environs, taking up residence in spruced-up rowhouses and airy condos. Overnight, the abandoned warehouses turn into day spas, and the vacant lots become well-tended parks. Pretty soon, a whole new economy has sprouted to clothe and feed and pamper them.
Aw, sure, some old-timers may resent them, these new kings of the city. But how can we really be angry? The fancy newbies represent a $41 billion economy nationwide — and Philly has a nice chunk of it. So loosen up. Like it or not, Murphy, Lula, Iggy, Hazard, Oyster, Clem and Hank, among others, are what urban revival looks like.
Oh, and their owners have a little something to do with it, too.
Dog-walking lessons! Not to mention organic dog food, specialty-baked canine cupcakes, doggie day spas, veterinary acupuncturists, kennels featuring cable TV, and all the other amenities today’s Philly pets luxuriate in. It’s enough to set off your inner Bill O’Reilly: What in tarnation is wrong with this city if even our golden retrievers are taking on airs? But before you get too deep into that rant about how this old blue-collar town is surely going to hell in a handbasket if its puppies have owners so soft that they need to pay hundreds of dollars to a professional to teach them how to walk their dogs, consider this: Could those same overindulged animals actually represent Philadelphia’s salvation?
While the rest of us have been looking for clues about the city’s future in indicators like the condo market and the murder rate, the school system and the culinary scene, a major sign of our health, wealth and values might well be found in the four-legged companions sitting at our feet — the ones who might just live better-accessorized lives than a lot of Philadelphia’s humans.
In many ways, it’s the story of Philly in the 21st century: the lowbrow industrial city reinvented as service-driven playground for newcomers with a taste for the finer things. Abandoning dreary distant swatches of New Jersey, they descend on Center City and environs, taking up residence in spruced-up rowhouses and airy condos. Overnight, the abandoned warehouses turn into day spas, and the vacant lots become well-tended parks. Pretty soon, a whole new economy has sprouted to clothe and feed and pamper them.
Aw, sure, some old-timers may resent them, these new kings of the city. But how can we really be angry? The fancy newbies represent a $41 billion economy nationwide — and Philly has a nice chunk of it. So loosen up. Like it or not, Murphy, Lula, Iggy, Hazard, Oyster, Clem and Hank, among others, are what urban revival looks like.
Oh, and their owners have a little something to do with it, too.
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