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Never got a chance to respond to this, but thank you Toure! Philly does look like a fusion between Manhattan, Brooklyn, and even a little bit of Queens. I'm a mellow, laid-back yet fun-loving guy and fairly down-to-earth and humble at times. So, I probably might enjoy the neo-Brooklyn vibe (Never lived in NYC btw but BK is more most favorite borough) of fishtown/fair mount/brewery town/society hill even moreso, but I know I'll love the greater Center City area too. I'm still a little shocked at how cheap rent is for apartments and condos and rowhomes up there. And, when I found out that One Liberty Place (Your city's second tallest skyscraper) also has housing units in its upper floors too!!! Amazing......
No. Two Liberty Place has condos in it from floors 25-35 I believe. One Liberty Place is all Offices only.
No. Two Liberty Place has condos in it from floors 25-35 I believe. One Liberty Place is all Offices only.
Oh ok. Still, it's interesting to see residential units in a skyscraper. I think I also found out on SSP (Skyscraper Page) that the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan is about to have its top 20 floors I believe converted into residential units. Pretty good move for such a gorgeous building if I may say so!
Oh ok. Still, it's interesting to see residential units in a skyscraper. I think I also found out on SSP (Skyscraper Page) that the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan is about to have its top 20 floors I believe converted into residential units. Pretty good move for such a gorgeous building if I may say so!
There are a ton of residential skyscrapers in Philadelphia. Residences at the Ritz Carlton, the Murano, the St. James, 10 Rittenhouse, 1706 Rittenhouse, Symphony House... just to name a few. There are a bunch all through Rittenhouse Square, Washington Sqaure West and Logan Square neighborhoods
Washington DC would would be half the size it is without the U.S. Government, and possibly wouldn't even eclipse Baltimore in importance. It'd be more like a large Richmond, VA if anything. Meanwhile, Philadelphia grew as large as it did without the help of an artificial economy.
As for Boston, the only thing it has on Philadelphia is time. Boston deindustrialized 20 years before Philadelphia did, so it's had 20 extra years to clean itself up and take etiquette classes. People spoke of Boston in the 1970's the same way they spoke of Philadelphia in the 1990's.
Philadelphia on average is MUCH MUCH cheaper than D.C... For a one bedroom, you can find a nice place in a highrise for $1200- $1300 a month. New construction will cost you more of course, at around $1700- $1800 a month. A rowhome/townhome in Center City will cost you around $1000-$1100 a month. Right outside of Center City you're looking at about $800 a month. In far off neighborhoods like the Northwest you're looking at maybe $600 a month. The Northeast will be the cheapest at around $400 a month but that area is mostly car oriented and lacks a ton of public transit. It's also a ways from all the action in Center City.
Man where do I start. There are a lot of nice areas in the city. Center City, most of South Philadelphia, University City and surrounding neighborhoods in West Philadelphia like Spruce Hill and Powelton Village, City Line Avenue Corridor in far West Philadelphia like Wynnefield and Overbrook, parts of Southwest Philadelphia like Eastwick and Elmwood, Lower North Philadelphia like Northern Liberties, Fairmount, Spring Garden etc, the Riverwards like Fishtown and Port Richmond, Upper North Philadelphia like East and West Oak Lane, practically all of the Northwest like Manayunk, East and West Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, and practically all of Northeast Philadelphia are all nice areas.
The areas you'll want to avoid are:
-Grays Ferry and parts of Point Breeze in South Philadelphia
-Basically the central core of West Philadelphia like Carroll Park, Mill Creek, Dunlap, parts of Cobbs Creek.
-In Southwest Philadelphia, Kingsessing
-In the Riverwards, you'll want to avoid West Kensington
-In Northeast Philadelphia, you'll want to avoid Frankford, Oxford Circle, Castor Gardens and Lawncrest
-In Northwest Philadelphia, East Germantown
-Then we come to North Philadelphia. Contrary to popular belief, not all of North Philadelphia is bad. The southern portions that border Center City are all very nice like Fairmount and Northern Liberties, etc. The northern portions like East and West Oak Lane, parts of Olney, Fern Rock etc. are also nice. However, most of North Philadelphia is bad, and it is the worst area of the city. The majority of murders in the city occur in North Philadelphia. Basically everything north of Temple University you'll want to avoid. If you then follow Broad Street up North, once you cross under the train tracks around Einstein Medical Center, that's when things start get better again. Specific neighborhood names you'll want to avoid are Strawberry Mansion, North Central (also called North Philadelphia west on Google Maps- this is the area West of Temple University, once you get passed about 19th street it gets pretty bad), Hartranft (this is the area to the East of Temple, it's also called the Badlands by locals), Glenside (to the immediate North of Temple's campus, once you get passed Susquehanna it gets pretty bad). Other areas to avoid are Fairhill, Allegheny West, Tioga/Nicetown, Hunting Park, Juniata Park and Feltonville.
Gentrifying areas? There are a TON in Philadelphia.
Center City Basically all of Center City is nice. There is one section called Callowhill immediately North of Vine Street that is all old factories and manufacturing plants. This area is currently seeing redevelopment as all the old factories are converted into lofts.
South Philadelphia -South portions of Graduate Hospital (Southwest Center City)
-Dickinson Narrows
-Point Breeze
-Newbold
-West Passyunk
-Grays Ferry (just starting to see gentrification)
West Philadelphia Walnut Hill
Southwest Cedar Park
West Powelton
Mantua
Dunlap
Haverford North
Belmont
North Philadelphia Spring Arts
West Powelton
Francisville
Brewerytown
Olde Kensington
Ludlow
Yorktown
Parts of Sharswood
Templetown (area surrounding Temple University)
Riverwards The Delaware Waterfront (never ghetto, just an old manufacturing area. Seeing a ton of redevelopment)
Fishtown
Parts of Kensington
Northwest Philadelphia Parts of East Germantown
Tons of nightlife. Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square West, Old City, South Street, Northern Liberties/Fishtown/Delaware Waterfront, University City, all over South Philadelphia like Bella Vista/Queen Village, Graduate Hospital, Passyunk Avenue, Xfinity Live! at the Sports Complex, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, more laid back bars all throughout the Northeast, Atlantic City, tons of places throughout the suburbs like New Hope, West Chester, etc. Whatever you want, Philadelphia has. What are you looking for specifically and I can point you in the right direction? Nightclubs? Casual Bars? Sports bars? Music Venues?
Theater? All over Center City really. The main theater district is the Avenue of the Arts on South Broad Street between City Hall and South Street though.
Restaurants? Again, all over. Center City, University City, South Philadelphia, Lower North Philadelphia, all over the Northwest.
Festivals? What are you looking for exactly? There are always all kinds of festivals occurring.
No problem! Visit the Old City area obviously. Tons of History. Independence Historic Park, Betsy Ross House, etc. Walk around the historic Society Hill neighborhood. Visit Chinatown. Stop in at Reading Terminal Market. Check out Rittenhouse Square and the upscale shopping along Walnut Street and check out the historic wealthy neighborhoods of Rittenhouse Square and Fitler Square. Visit Washington Square West (the Gayborhood). The Avenue of the Arts (South Broad Street). South Street (between Front and 7th streets). The Italian Market in South Philadelphia. East Passyunk Avenue. Museum Mile (Ben Franklin Parkway). Fairmount neighborhood and Eastern State Penitentiary. University City (Penn Museum, bunch of Art Museums, great restaurants, Penn's historic Ivy League Campus). Also in West Philadelphia check out Clark Park and the historic Victorian neighborhoods of Woodland Terrace, Spruce Hill and Cedar Park complete with Trolley's/Streetcars still running on the streets. Visit Northern Liberties (the Piazza at Schmidt's, tons of great bars and restaurants). See the Northwest section of the city- very beautiful area. Manayunk has great bars, restaurants and shops. Chestnut Hill has great historic buildings and mansions as well as great restaurants and shop along Germantown Avenue. Mt. Airy also has great restaurants and shop along Germantown Ave. Visit the massive Fairmount Park. Please Touch Museum, Japanese Gardens, Waterworks, Boathouse Row, the Zoo (first zoo in America). Also, if you're into this, check out some of the great beer breweries in the city. Yards Brewery in Fishtown, Triumph brewing company in Old City, Manayunk Brewery, Iron Hill Brewery in Chestnut Hill.
Let me know if you need any more info. Hope this helped
People ask why Boston is thrown in? My question is why DC is thrown in? Only Boston, NY, and Philly are properly northeast.. Baltimore and DC are technically down south (though very connected to the northeast due to proximity)..
Ok with that being said, Boston and NY have similarities with culture, type of people, even accent in some weird way.. both of them are very much northeast.. u find a lot of different types of immigrants in both Boston and NY.. and the blue collar white people of both cities have very similar vibes.. also, both cities get a good amount of snowstorms (especially Boston)
Philly.. still northeast, but has vibes more similar to Baltimore or DC (especially Baltimore lol).. that entire area (including South jersey and DE) has heavy mid Atlantic vibes more common with the DMV.. but with that being said, the city of Philly has plenty that remind u of parts of NYC.. the above ground trains, bodegas etc.. but the entire row house structure of Philly is like a copy of Baltimore.. also, Philly and Baltimore are more white/black than NY or Boston.. Philly does still get some Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, along with other immigrants, but not like NY or Boston.. also, Philly still gets snow, but something happens btwn NY and Philly where Philly gets way less snow
Baltimore.. think I covered it a lot with Philly.. the streetscape is damn near identical to Philly, minus the subway.. also, the snow drops off even more..
DC.. barely has any northeast vibes at this point, minus only being 3.5 hrs from NYC.. I mean heck, from DC, just go like 4 more hours and u in the carolinas.. DC is very diverse though, but more on the white collar workforce rather than blue collar
People ask why Boston is thrown in? My question is why DC is thrown in? Only Boston, NY, and Philly are properly northeast.. Baltimore and DC are technically down south (though very connected to the northeast due to proximity)..
Ok with that being said, Boston and NY have similarities with culture, type of people, even accent in some weird way.. both of them are very much northeast.. u find a lot of different types of immigrants in both Boston and NY.. and the blue collar white people of both cities have very similar vibes.. also, both cities get a good amount of snowstorms (especially Boston)
Philly.. still northeast, but has vibes more similar to Baltimore or DC (especially Baltimore lol).. that entire area (including South jersey and DE) has heavy mid Atlantic vibes more common with the DMV.. but with that being said, the city of Philly has plenty that remind u of parts of NYC.. the above ground trains, bodegas etc.. but the entire row house structure of Philly is like a copy of Baltimore.. also, Philly and Baltimore are more white/black than NY or Boston.. Philly does still get some Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, along with other immigrants, but not like NY or Boston.. also, Philly still gets snow, but something happens btwn NY and Philly where Philly gets way less snow
Baltimore.. think I covered it a lot with Philly.. the streetscape is damn near identical to Philly, minus the subway.. also, the snow drops off even more..
DC.. barely has any northeast vibes at this point, minus only being 3.5 hrs from NYC.. I mean heck, from DC, just go like 4 more hours and u in the carolinas.. DC is very diverse though, but more on the white collar workforce rather than blue collar
I agree with parts, but disagree with the bold. I see some similarities to Baltimore, especially in urban neighborhoods outside of the core, but Center City and its extension University City share minimal resemblances. Philadelphia, Boston and New York have similar histories, their growth occurred together, their architecture, etc.
I see no relation between DC and Philadelphia. MAYBE pockets of far South Jersey or Central Delaware start to blend with DMW, but Southeastern PA (4 suburban counties + Philadelphia) fall more in line with North Jersey / New York / Connecticut in culture, history, mentalities, built environment, etc.
And yes, snow generally switches to rain in Central New Jersey going South (yay).
I agree with parts, but disagree with the bold. I see some similarities to Baltimore, especially in urban neighborhoods outside of the core, but Center City and its extension University City share minimal resemblances. Philadelphia, Boston and New York have similar histories, their growth occurred together, their architecture, etc.
I see no relation between DC and Philadelphia. MAYBE pockets of far South Jersey or Central Delaware start to blend with DMW, but Southeastern PA (4 suburban counties + Philadelphia) fall more in line with North Jersey / New York / Connecticut in culture, history, mentalities, built environment, etc.
And yes, snow generally switches to rain in Central New Jersey going South (yay).
I'd agree with that, for sure. The density, history, and layout of the Philadelphia region is very much aligned with the northern segment of the Northeastern Corridor; once you get south of Wilmington, DE, the built environment "feel" changes a bit, and then even moreso once you're south of Baltimore and get into the core DC area.
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Philly does look like a fusion between Manhattan, Brooklyn, and even a little bit of Queens. I'm a mellow, laid-back yet fun-loving guy and fairly down-to-earth and humble at times. So, I probably might enjoy the neo-Brooklyn vibe (Never lived in NYC btw but BK is more most favorite borough) of fishtown/fair mount/brewery town/society hill even moreso, but I know I'll love the greater Center City area too. I'm still a little shocked at how cheap rent is for apartments and condos and rowhomes up there. And, when I found out that One Liberty Place (Your city's second tallest skyscraper) also has housing units in its upper floors too!!! 
Amazing......
