By Saville Hart (286)

After New York City’s portal to Dublin was shut down earlier this year due to inappropriate behavior, it was moved to Philadelphia.

Though it had a tough start, with installation difficulties causing a crack in the screen, Philly’s recently established portal has been thriving with connections to Dublin, Ireland; Lublin, Poland; and Vilnius, Lithuania. 

The portal is about 12 feet in diameter and switches from city to city every 3 and ½ minutes. It was originally located near the center of Love Park but was later moved to make room for Philadelphia’s Christmas village. While it was being relocated closer to the visitor center of Love Park, it was shut down temporarily. Now the portal is up and running again, thriving once more – but for how long will it stay relevant?

Even with this newfound fun, the question of whether or not this portal is a permanent stamp on Philly’s culture or temporary entertainment still stands. Since the portal’s popular demand has been growing dramatically, the opinions and thoughts of  portal visitors were measured to get a general view on the purpose of the portal.

When asked if she thought the portal was a temporary trend or something with a lasting impact, Gabby, who recently moved here  from Atlanta, Georgia believes that it can have a lasting impact on the culture and economics of the city. In her own words, “it can bring more tourism and reasons to take a trip to Philly.” Shivi of Fairmount thinks that “the portal feels more temporary, and people will probably get bored of it soon,” as well as stating that “it’s mostly just hyped up on social media. I think the world will lose some interest in it soon.” Sara, who’s visiting from New York City, expects the world to also lose interest in the portal, expressing how easily experiments like these are forgotten about: “Things like these just feel like another crazy test for the world, and I don’t think it will last too long.” Lainey from Fishtown agreed with the majority of people asked, adding, “I think it’s temporary because people haven’t made that big of a deal about it, and it isn’t really affecting anyone. I think it’s just something exciting for now that we’ll get over later.” 

While in New York City, the portal flourished and became a popular trend on the internet; as it transitioned into Philadelphia almost flawlessly, its fame was brought along with it. Ultimately, however, its popularity has quietly died down. The majority of people interviewed believe that the portal is more short-term and doesn’t impact the lives of Philadelphians in many ways. Though the portal is still prominent, the people of Philadelphia believe that it will soon fade into irrelevance. In the meantime, however, they want to make the most of it and enjoy the fun while it lasts.