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Trimac, I follow your threads and much respect to the authenticity you bring to the forums (domestically and internationally). With that being said, the answer is NO. Not because of Philadelphia's lack of effort or sheer prestige on it's own. Simply because it is situated between the nation's capital and the world financial capital. Subsequently, it is #3 in it's on mid-Atlantic/northeast region (debatable for people that think DC is in a different region). As for Boston, it's the #1 show in the New England area. Doesn't have any type of negative perception that Philadelphia carries (not saying it's deserving or not), it's a fact. Boston is considered by most accounts as being 'white bread' (deserving or not). Philadelphia (i'ladelphia) is seen to have more 'grit', more 'danger' and more of a blue collar mentality; nothing is wrong with that. However, when discussing prestige, the words 'grit', 'danger' and 'blue collar' are generally not discussed. *Note I'm not suggesting that all of Philadelphia is perceived like this, but certainly more spots than Boston.
In my opinion Philly needs to lose the term "center city" as a name for it's downtown. It sounds like something out of Running Man or Robocop.
I totally agree! I'm an optimist. I think Philly will be one of the great Northeastern cities in the next 15 to 20 years due to history of U.S. and dramatic improvement of its downtown.
In maybe 5 - 6 years. Philly is going to be the place to be in about 5 years. Like one guy said, Boston started deindustrializing 20 years before Philly. It had a head start for sure however just because that happened doesnt mean philly isn't going to catch up. You have to remember where Boston is located. The location isn't no where near attractive. (Atleast to me) Its cold, snooty in expensive. The culture isn't even tere no more because of the transplants. 20 years ago, Boston was like how Philly is now. Still a great city but a huge blue collar feel with hometown pride. Philadelphia is going to be like Boston or even better in about 5 years. (It's already better than Boston though so that's settled no offense but Boston just sucks no offense)
It's affordable (for now) but still a lot over the national average)
It's nice
It's a great city
It has a nice downtown
It's has a lot of culture and arts
Great restaurants
Nightlife
And it's location is much better.
The yuppies already found out about Philly and it started gentrifying years ago.
Also there isn't anything wrong with Philly. It has a good reputation all over the world. People from boston aren't really looked to as fun and exciting as people who say they are from Philly. From my experience though. Not saying its true. Of course my best friend is from Boston..
In maybe 5 - 6 years. Philly is going to be the place to be in about 5 years. Like one guy said, Boston started deindustrializing 20 years before Philly. It had a head start for sure however just because that happened doesnt mean philly isn't going to catch up. You have to remember where Boston is located. The location isn't no where near attractive. (Atleast to me) Its cold, snooty in expensive. The culture isn't even tere no more because of the transplants. 20 years ago, Boston was like how Philly is now. Still a great city but a huge blue collar feel with hometown pride. Philadelphia is going to be like Boston or even better in about 5 years. (It's already better than Boston though so that's settled no offense but Boston just sucks no offense)
It's affordable (for now) but still a lot over the national average)
It's nice
It's a great city
It has a nice downtown
It's has a lot of culture and arts
Great restaurants
Nightlife
And it's location is much better.
The yuppies already found out about Philly and it started gentrifying years ago.
Also there isn't anything wrong with Philly. It has a good reputation all over the world. People from boston aren't really looked to as fun and exciting as people who say they are from Philly. From my experience though. Not saying its true. Of course my best friend is from Boston..
Much of what you say is true though I think your perception of what constitutes Philly is somewhat limited to the core area (Center City and immediate surrounding areas). The city is far more massive than that and is well beyond a 5 year turnaround.
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.
Philadelphia has old money in the city. It's called Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square and Chestnut Hill. Also, Philadelphia has a pretty big and emerging tech scene too.
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.
My mention of Trenton involved riding on Amtrak from NYC. One doesn't get to see any of Bucks County along that route as the tracks cross the Delaware River from Trenton and veer to the south/southwest.
I mentioned King of Prussia along with other suburbs such as Blue Bell and Malvern. Last I had read there were far more jobs outside of the city than in, which is probably the case when all those areas have been factored in.
Much of what you say is true though I think your perception of what constitutes Philly is somewhat limited to the core area (Center City and immediate surrounding areas). The city is far more massive than that and is well beyond a 5 year turnaround.
It seems you don't know the city that well. Here, let me help you out. There are plenty of nice areas outside of Center City:
South Philadelphia Bella Vista
Queen Village
Hawthorne
Graduate Hospital
East Passyunk Crossing
Italian Market
Passyunk Square
Moyamensing
Packer Park
Pennsport
Marconi Plaza
Wharton
Whitman
Sports Complex
Navy Yard (emerging business district in Phila)
Girard Estate (working class)
Newbold (gentrifying)
Point Breeze (gentrifying)
West Passyunk (gentrifying)
Dickinson Narrows (gentrifying)
Gray's Ferry (early stages of gentrification)
Southwest Philadelphia Clearview
Eastwick (working class)
Elmwood Park (working class)
Paschall (working class)
West Philadelphia University City
Powelton Village
Woodland Terrace
Spruce Hill
Clark Park
Squirrel Hill
Cedar Park
Southwest Cedar Park
Garden Court
Walnut Hill
West Fairmount Park
Wynnefield
Wynnefield Heights
Belmont Village
Overbrook Farms
Overbrook Park
Overbrook (portions working class, portions middle class, portions ghetto)
Haddington (portions working class, portions middle class, portions ghetto)
Cobbs Creek (portions working class, portions middle class, portions ghetto)
Mantua (gentrifying)
West Powelton (gentrifying)
Haverford North (gentrifying)
Dunlap (gentrifying)
Lower North Philadelphia Fairmount
Spring Garden
Northern Liberties
Poplar
Norris Square (working class)
Spring Arts (gentrifying)
Francisville (gentrifying)
Brewerytwon (gentrifying)
West Poplar (gentrifying)
Olde Kensington (gentrifying)
Templetown (gentrifying)
Ludlow (portions gentrifying)
Sharswood (portions gentrifying)
Upper North Philadelphia Temple Hospital (nice but surrounding area is ghetto)
Olney (working/ middle class)
Logan (working/ middle class)
Ogtonz (working/ middle class)
Fern-Rock (working/ middle class)
East Oak Lane (working/ middle class)
West Oak Lane (working/ middle class)
Stenton (working/ middle class)
Northwest Philadelphia Chestnut Hill
Manayunk
East Falls
West Mt. Airy
East Mt. Airy
Germantown
Penn-Knox
Morton
Wister
Andorra
Roxborough
Wissahickon
Near Northeast Philadelphia Fox Chase
Burholme
Holme Circle
Holmesburg
Lawndale
Lexington Park
Mayfair
Rhawnhurst
Ryers
Tacony
Crescentville (working/middle class)
Castor Gardens (working class)
Far Northeast Philadelphia Academy Gardens
Ashton-Woodenbridge
Bustleton
Byberry
Crestmont Farms
Krewstown
Millbrook
Modena Park
Morrell Park
Normandy
Parkwood
Pennypack
Somerton
Torresdale
Upper Holmesburg
Winchester Park
That doesn't seem like entirely ghetto to me....
About 20% of the city is ghetto. 20% is okay (gritty or working class). 60% is nice.
My mention of Trenton involved riding on Amtrak from NYC. One doesn't get to see any of Bucks County along that route as the tracks cross the Delaware River from Trenton and veer to the south/southwest.
I mentioned King of Prussia along with other suburbs such as Blue Bell and Malvern. Last I had read there were far more jobs outside of the city than in, which is probably the case when all those areas have been factored in.
Yes it does. Once it leaves Trenton and crosses the Delaware it goes into Bucks County. I think you are confusing industry and manufacturing buildings with ghetto. That is mostly what lines the Amtrak train tracks. All the areas the train passes through are middle class, here they are in order:
Trenton
then into Bucks County
Bucks County
Once you cross over the river you enter-
Morrisville (middle class)
Industrial section
Penn Valley (middle class)
Pine Lake (neighborhood in Levittown- middle class)
Tullytown (working class)
Edgely (middle class)
Bristol (parts middle class, parts working class, some lower class areas)
Croydon (working class)
Bensalem (middle class)
Eddington (middle class)
Cornwells Heights (middle class)
Andalusia (middle class)
Then you enter Philadelphia after Andalusia when you cross over a small creek, you are now in Northeast Philadelphia
*Now you start to get into some of the poor areas of Philadelphia as the train tracks veer away from I-95
Wissanoming (poor)
Frankford (poor)
Now you enter North Philadelphia, the worst section of the city
Juniata (poor)
Feltonville (poor)
Fairhill (poor)
Hunting Park (poor)
Tioga/Nicetown (poor)
Glenwood (poor)
Allegheny West (poor)
North Central (poor)
Sharswood (poor)
Then, for a split second, you get to see the gentrifying neighborhood of Brewerytown before you enter into Fairmount Park. You then cross the Schuylkill River into West Fairmount Park, before you enter West Philadelphia. On your left you see the zoo. On your right, you see:
West Philadelphia East Parkside (poor)
Mantua (gentrifying)
Then you see the Schuylkill and Center City on your left. On your right you see:
Powelton Village (nice area)
Then you enter 30th Street Station and get to see some glimpses of University City, which is also a nice area.
HOW CAN YOU JUDGE AN ENTIRE CITY BY THE TRAIN RIDE IN ESPECIALLY WHEN THE AMTRAK TRAINS GO THROUGH SOME OF THE WORST SECTIONS OF THE CITY AND YOU BARELY GET TO SEE ANY NICE?! HAVE YOU EVER BEEN OUTSIDE CENTER CITY? YOU CLAIMING THAT ONLY 30 BLOCKS OF THE CITY IS NICE IS RIDICULOUSLY ARROGANT AND SHOWS HOW IGNORANT YOU ARE.
My mention of Trenton involved riding on Amtrak from NYC. One doesn't get to see any of Bucks County along that route as the tracks cross the Delaware River from Trenton and veer to the south/southwest.
I mentioned King of Prussia along with other suburbs such as Blue Bell and Malvern. Last I had read there were far more jobs outside of the city than in, which is probably the case when all those areas have been factored in.
No, not even close. The largest business district and the highest concentration of jobs is within Center City. The largest business districts in the Philadelphia metro are as follows:
1. Center City (Philadelphia)
2. King of Prussia/ Conshohocken/ Norristown area (Montgomery County)
3. University City (Philadelphia)
4. Wilmington (Delaware)
5. City Avenue Corridor (Bala Cynwyd/ West Philadelphia)
Then there are obviously more job centers scattered all around the city and the suburbs.
Philadelphia was always a very industrial city, more so than Boston. That's hard on the city now that so much industry has closed down, though some observers predict a manufacturing revival in the U.S. (see The Atlantic). Even if that happens, it won't employ nearly as many people as in the past.
Philadelphia is strong in the "eds and meds" complex. There are a lot of colleges--split between the city itself and the suburbs. There are a number of major hospitals, again split, though perhaps more concentrated in the city. There are a number of pharmaceutical companies, mostly in the suburbs. There's some basis for a "modern" economy there. But New York is the commercial capital of the United States, and Washington is the political capital, and Philadelphia lives between them.
It's been unhappily observed by leaders in Philadelphia that they don't attract as many immigrants as other East Coast cities. Some of this is due to the weak economy, I think some of it is due to insular attitudes. I'm not sure how you deliberately turn that around, but immigrants have been revitalizing American cities across the country.
Philadelphia has lovely neighborhoods with all sorts of housing types. Want the downtown highrise thing? Rittenhouse Square. Lofts? Old City. Rowhouses? Many places, starting at Fitler Square and heading into South Philadelphia. Detached houses, probably made of stone? Mount Airy or Chestnut Hill. There are some really grim parts of North Philadelphia, no doubt about it, but the whole city isn't like that by any means.
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