My recent move, from Society Hill to Logan Square (or Logan Circle; there is some confusion or dispute as to the appropriate appellation, as noted in the kind “welcome to the neighborhood” e-mail I received today from reader L.H.C. of Avocado8, and in another from blogger Susie Madrak) went reasonably well. (Regardless of whether it’s Square or Circle, I’m now closer to Rittenhouse Square, the locale that generated the name of this blog.)

Every move is a pain in the neck. This one, however, leaned quite a bit more toward the painful side, primarily because it had to be arranged and completed within a mere five days’ notice, and because the nearby self-storage site I had pre-selected, which advertises itself as being open seven days a week, stops answering its phone after Friday night. (The move took place on Sunday, August 15.)

Fortunately, my movers, two men pulled from the classifieds who proved themselves entirely reliable and capable, are closely connected with an alternative storage site in Northeast Philadelphia to which they have access after normal operating hours. Although some three-quarters of my possessions are now 12 miles away as opposed to a quick jaunt or cab ride from my front steps, I can deal with it.

The new neighborhood -- again, Logan Square or Logan Circle (I’ll figure it out eventually) -- marks a significant change from Society Hill. I prefer the latter, at least from an aesthetic viewpoint, but the current location suits me just fine, and not only because of the aforementioned proximity of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Free Library of Philadelphia.

For example, earlier today I discovered a branch of the U.S. Post Office surprisingly nearby. Very convenient, but better yet, out front were two representatives promoting the campaign of perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche. Gee whiz, I hardly knew these people were still around, but there they were, with their bizarre literature and cut-to-the-chase signage. (I’ll never forget viewing the television reports of LaRouchite Janice Hart presenting the Archbishop of Chicago, I think, with a slab of raw liver.)

And I can see the Cira Centre is starting to take shape, upwardly, near 30th Street Station. I’m so glad Pennsylvanians’ tax dollars are helping so needy an entity as Dechert L.L.P., the law firm formerly known as Dechert, Price & Rhoads, to revitalize a “depressed” neighborhood by encouraging a move from the firm’s present headquarters, now at so distant a location as 1717 Arch Street. (As I understand it, partnership distributions remain uncaptured by Philadelphia’s onerous wage tax. Ah, the good life.)

[Post-publication addendum: Barring further notice, I’m going with Logan Square over Logan Circle. And that’s because after running a quick errand this afternoon I found in the vestibule of my building several copies of the August newsletter of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.]

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