Sean McGettrick, who lives on Cedar Street.
Moving to the River Wards was a sort of quest for 32-year-old Sean McGettrick — that is, until he found the “perfect” home in Port Richmond nearly two years ago.
“I had been looking to buy a house in the River Wards, and just when I was about to throw in the towel, I found a place that was simply too good to pass up.”
Now, he said, he’s happy with his decision to move to the neighborhood.
“The thing I like the most about the neighborhood is that I can walk down the streets and not feel like I’m living in the fifth largest city in the country, despite being able to see the skyline right outside,” he said. “However, if I do want that feeling, its a hop, skip and a jump away.”
As far as any stereotypes of the neighborhood, he said there are no problems unique to Port Richmond that one wouldn’t see in any other city neighborhood. He said he’s heard people describe the neighborhood as racist, but said that seems to be more of a blanket statement about the area than specifically Port Richmond.
What he thinks the neighborhood needs, he said, are more businesses that would draw people in from other areas of the city.
“We do not need another corner store, nail salon or pizza shop,” he said. “I think that if the construction ever ends and we get a new casino, getting people to come further up Richmond Street into the neighborhood would not be too hard, but there needs to be businesses that would draw them, not abandoned storefronts.”
McGettrick said there are plenty of people working to change the neighborhood for the better, citing the Port Richmond Town Watch and the Port Richmond on Patrol and Civic, not to mention individuals who take it upon themselves to enact change and clean things up.
“It can be hard to motivate people, especially if they are stuck in the mindset of, ‘It’s always been this way, so it just is what it is,’” he said,
“But there are people out there trying to enact positive change here.” ••
