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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I'm hoping so. While I haven't visited, some older parts of the city look really nice (I'm sure the tourist vids don't show the bad parts! Well I've seen Rocky, so it can't have changed much since 1976 eh?) and I think Philly has good 'bones.' If it's much cheaper than NYC it's a steal, it's location is ideal. It definitely has something that no other city in the US has.
Now I don't know if this is true, but I get the impression it's only just 'recovering', and it's not as sexy or prestigious as DC or Boston. I've seen both and love them. I only missed Philly to visit Boston, possibly my 2nd favourite city in the US after NY. I don't know the stats, but I think Philly, Boston and DC are all around the same. Anyway, do you think Philly can clean up itself and again be seen as a very attractive, most importantly SAFE, place for people and corporations to locate to?
I know it's gritty blue collar image is part of the city, and I don't think the city has to totally lose that (although idk about Boston, it's still there but they are getting priced out, Manhattan has largely lost it too) if it's improved. It's a bit of a catch-22 though.
Philly has a lot of work to do. It has a staggering amount of vacant commercial buildings and a lot of poverty. Ride an Amtrak train from NYC to Philly and you'll be stunned by the poverty and decay. It starts pretty much at the city limits on the northeast side near Trenton and continues until you reach 30th Street Station in the center of Philly.....miles and miles of it. The residents often point with pride to the 30 square block or so area called Center City which contains the downtown and historic areas, plus a few other neighborhoods of note as evidence of gentrification but the reality is it's a small portion of the city's landmass. The city government has been strongly anti-business in terms of taxes, particularly a wage tax levied against those that live and/or work in the city which has kept out or helped relocate most commerce to the far-flung suburbs such as King of Prussia, Malvern or Blue Bell....and as a result the city's unemployment rate (the city itself, not the MSA) sits at 10% which I believe is the worst of any big city. Many city residents without cars (there are many) can't get to the job centers in the metro area due to inadequate transit options. The crime rate as a result is not surprisingly quite high, even in the Center City area. I wouldn't count on the city making too much more headway without some massive changes in how it appeals to corporations/business.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,060,466 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125
Philly has a lot of work to do. It has a staggering amount of vacant commercial buildings and a lot of poverty. Ride an Amtrak train from NYC to Philly and you'll be stunned by the poverty and decay. It starts pretty much at the city limits on the northeast side near Trenton and continues until you reach 30th Street Station in the center of Philly.....miles and miles of it. The residents often point with pride to the 30 square block or so area called Center City which contains the downtown and historic areas, plus a few other neighborhoods of note as evidence of gentrification but the reality is it's a small portion of the city's landmass. The city government has been strongly anti-business in terms of taxes, particularly a wage tax levied against those that live and/or work in the city which has kept out or helped relocate most commerce to the far-flung suburbs such as King of Prussia, Malvern or Blue Bell....and as a result the city's unemployment rate (the city itself, not the MSA) sits at 10% which I believe is the worst of any big city. Many city residents without cars (there are many) can't get to the job centers in the metro area due to inadequate transit options. The crime rate as a result is not surprisingly quite high, even in the Center City area. I wouldn't count on the city making too much more headway without some massive changes in how it appeals to corporations/business.
Would you say it was in a similar position to New York in the 70s? Would what they did in NYC work in Philly?
Would you say it was in a similar position to New York in the 70s? Would what they did in NYC work in Philly?
It's a different dynamic. Philly residents by and large seem to like the grimy rundown feel, so instituting change will require a lot of newcomers....which is a Catch-22 situation since many outsiders won't it find it appealing in it's current state. There's also a business as usual mentality with city government that seems mired in what basically amounts to "do nothing" politics and a Mayor/City Council setup that works against one another.
Philly has a lot of work to do. It has a staggering amount of vacant commercial buildings and a lot of poverty. Ride an Amtrak train from NYC to Philly and you'll be stunned by the poverty and decay. It starts pretty much at the city limits on the northeast side near Trenton and continues until you reach 30th Street Station in the center of Philly.....miles and miles of it. The residents often point with pride to the 30 square block or so area called Center City which contains the downtown and historic areas, plus a few other neighborhoods of note as evidence of gentrification but the reality is it's a small portion of the city's landmass. The city government has been strongly anti-business in terms of taxes, particularly a wage tax levied against those that live and/or work in the city which has kept out or helped relocate most commerce to the far-flung suburbs such as King of Prussia, Malvern or Blue Bell....and as a result the city's unemployment rate (the city itself, not the MSA) sits at 10% which I believe is the worst of any big city. Many city residents without cars (there are many) can't get to the job centers in the metro area due to inadequate transit options. The crime rate as a result is not surprisingly quite high, even in the Center City area. I wouldn't count on the city making too much more headway without some massive changes in how it appeals to corporations/business.
While I agree there is a lot (frankly too much) of blight, particularly in North Philly. Statements like it starts at Trenton I personally find very confusing. Is Bucks county (one of the 50 or so wealthiest counties in the country) a bombed out environment?
Also KOP has about 35% of the jobs of CC, ("Most" seems like an odd use of words). That said the job and tax structure of Philly is in need of significant change. The city school system, poverty and blight levels are unaccepatable.
I do find your perspective to be a glass 1/10th full though but based on your experiences here maybe that perspective makes sense to you.
The only reason Boston is more prestigious than Philadelphia is because it deindustrialized 20 to 30 years before Philadelphia did, so it's had a lot more time to reinvest in itself and tidy up.
By the way, Philadelphia recently enacted zoning code reform, which couldn't be done if residents of the city had some paralyzing fear of change.
Philly has almost all of the advantages Boston has: an Ivy League school, world class cultural institutions (art museum and symphony), decent theater scene, a small subway and excellent commuter rail, and beautiful architecture.
The differences? Old money left Philly a long time ago. The metonym for establishment Boston is Beacon Hill; the metonym for establishment Philly is The Main Line, which is not in the city. When revitalizing a city you really need a core of philanthropist and boosters to get it going, like in New York, Boston or San Francisco.
Also, as wonderful as Harvard is, the school that really drives Boston’s economy is MIT. The Boston tech sector is amazing, second only to Silicon Valley. Philly has nothing like it. The super-star cities of the last 20 years: Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, DC/NOVA, and New York have great tech sectors. At this point it’s very hard to catch up.
If Philly succeeds, it’ll probably be more like Brooklyn than Boston. Brooklyn was regarded as blue-collar and ghetto until quite recently. Quite a lot of Brooklynites are moving to Philly.
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