June 16-22, 2005

the bell curve

The Bell Curve

City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

Philadelphia is number 92 on a list of 100 communities ranked by percentage of the population with college degrees. Wooo! 92! That's an A!
Minus 5

New amphibious Landsharks tours will begin competing with the Ducks. The only drawback: They can never stop moving.
Even

Rittenhouse Square residents complain that the Parking Authority, which was denied the right to turn the historic Warwick Hotel into a garage, has let the property fall into disrepair. "Uh," says Parking Authority, "can we turn it into a garage now?"
Minus 2

Phantoms win Calder Cup, the top trophy in the AHL. Some lesser curse we didn't even know about has been lifted!
Plus 3

Mayfair man accused of pressuring grieving families into buying headstones from him and then not delivering. "For the last time," says the man, "I was asking what they want on their Tombstones. I'm a pizza telemarketer."
Minus 5

Police plan to close much of Center City to traffic for Live 8. In other words: Get. Out. Now.
Even

Rick Santorum is garnering support from Jewish voters. Once you've mastered the Jedi Mind Trick, you either use it or lose it.
Minus 3

Due to scheduling conflicts, this year's winner of the Liberty Medal, still a secret, will receive the award in the fall, not on July 4. It's Beanie, isn't it?
Even

Afleet Alex wins Belmont Stakes. Smarty Jones does a little dance, but no one looks.
Plus 5

Pennsylvania Ballet dancer playing Romeo proposes to dancer playing Juliet during curtain call. It was all kind of sweet until the Friar pranced up to them.
Plus 4

Total Pluses: 12
Total Minuses: 15
This Week's Total: -3
Last Week's Total: 16