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Then given that the city has recently started gaining a newer population that is not from there, what types of industry are employing alot of these folks now? Since the industrial base has long since dropped off as already discussed, I am curious what industries Philly has created is creating to attract. I know that health care may be a big one.
Education, tech, health care, and actually some industrial has come to the city and metro within the past five years or so. Select Greater Philadelphia is doing their part to bring as many jobs and businesses to the city and metro as possible. Even Camden has added some biotech companies, among other things. It's a bit of everything really but it's all still very very early in the process of growing these industries. There's also a bunch of niche things that have come about.
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Originally Posted by rotodome
One thing is that college & universities nationwide have been booming and expanding across the board, and the Philadelphia area has a LOT of colleges & universities. Lots of new facilities, lots of new support & administrative staff. It's been a great thing for the city.
I just hope that when/if this higher education bubble (since that's what it looks like to me) bursts, it doesn't impact Philly too negatively.
I really don't see it as a bubble. I see it as the city and metro's universities expanding and improving. New York has a ton of higher education, too, and not just in Manhattan. Just because it's in Philadelphia and its metro doesn't make it a bubble. People are just realizing that the city and metro's schools are great and every single one is either on par with other schools around the country or is getting there. The only way it becomes a bubble I think is if Philadelphia and its metro stops being a destination people want to be a part of.
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Originally Posted by mako993
You're right, there are alot of higher ed institutions:
Education, tech, health care, and actually some industrial has come to the city and metro within the past five years or so. Select Greater Philadelphia is doing their part to bring as many jobs and businesses to the city and metro as possible. Even Camden has added some biotech companies, among other things. It's a bit of everything really but it's all still very very early in the process of growing these industries. There's also a bunch of niche things that have come about.
I really don't see it as a bubble. I see it as the city and metro's universities expanding and improving. New York has a ton of higher education, too, and not just in Manhattan. Just because it's in Philadelphia and its metro doesn't make it a bubble. People are just realizing that the city and metro's schools are great and every single one is either on par with other schools around the country or is getting there. The only way it becomes a bubble I think is if Philadelphia and its metro stops being a destination people want to be a part of.
If I remember correctly, there are around 90 in the Delaware Valley alone.
I'm hopeful it will continue to grow in a good direction to a manageable threshold and add some more good stuff (historic, brewpubs, some art, etc) while retaining its unique character and flavor at the core of what makes it "Philly". That may be a tall order, but that's my personal hope anyway
I really don't see it as a bubble. I see it as the city and metro's universities expanding and improving. New York has a ton of higher education, too, and not just in Manhattan. Just because it's in Philadelphia and its metro doesn't make it a bubble. People are just realizing that the city and metro's schools are great and every single one is either on par with other schools around the country or is getting there. The only way it becomes a bubble I think is if Philadelphia and its metro stops being a destination people want to be a part of.
Not to get too off-topic, but I'm not talking about some localized higher-ed bubble situation, and not sure why you're throwing in a gratuitous NYC comparison. I'm talking about an economic bubble on the scale of the US housing bubble. Philly area schools aren't the only ones that have been going gangbusters with development in recent years - it's happening all over.
You have to look at the across-the-board expansion of higher ed institutions, coupled with rapidly rising tuition which is outpacing inflation and even healthcare costs, at the same time as the intrinsic value of college degrees is waning, and with the whole game resting on the back of increasingly unsustainable student debt, propped up by policies which reward banks for loaning as much money as they can, with minimal risk, to people with questionable ability to pay it back, and the picture starts to look all too familiar.
If the bubble bursts in a nasty way, it's going to be bad news for everyone, and places with economies that are highly reliant on higher ed are going to have the toughest time. The more diversified Philly's economic growth is, the better off it will be, and hopefully everything just somehow works out, but it's still something that concerns me. One good thing is that at least Philly will always have Penn, which has the kind of endowment and international profile to I think shield it from the worst.
I'm hopeful it will continue to grow in a good direction to a manageable threshold and add some more good stuff (historic, brewpubs, some art, etc) while retaining its unique character and flavor at the core of what makes it "Philly". That may be a tall order, but that's my personal hope anyway
Philly will always exist (I hope at least). It's not going to exist in Center City or other "hip" neighborhoods but it still exists in communities and it exists increasingly in places like the Northeast and far Southwest Philly as many Philly people get displaced to those sections and bring "Philly" with them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rotodome
Not to get too off-topic, but I'm not talking about some localized higher-ed bubble situation, and not sure why you're throwing in a gratuitous NYC comparison. I'm talking about an economic bubble on the scale of the US housing bubble. Philly area schools aren't the only ones that have been going gangbusters with development in recent years - it's happening all over.
You have to look at the across-the-board expansion of higher ed institutions, coupled with rapidly rising tuition which is outpacing inflation and even healthcare costs, at the same time as the intrinsic value of college degrees is waning, and with the whole game resting on the back of increasingly unsustainable student debt, propped up by policies which reward banks for loaning as much money as they can, with minimal risk, to people with questionable ability to pay it back, and the picture starts to look all too familiar.
If the bubble bursts in a nasty way, it's going to be bad news for everyone, and places with economies that are highly reliant on higher ed are going to have the toughest time. The more diversified Philly's economic growth is, the better off it will be, and hopefully everything just somehow works out, but it's still something that concerns me. One good thing is that at least Philly will always have Penn, which has the kind of endowment and international profile to I think shield it from the worst.
I'm throwing it in because I feel it's the best example of an expansive higher education layout that works. I get what you're saying but I don't think it applies to this city and metro as much as other places. Temple, for example, is simply growing and improving to be able to compete with other large, public schools across the country. The only other two in the state are Pitt and PSU. It's also a major part of the Big East conference so it's in their interest for Temple to keep doing what it's doing. Philadelphia U is our NYU type of system so it needs to grow and expand to begin with. Drexel is a university that continues to improve and get an International reputation, so it needs to do the same things Penn did. It may seem like a bubble but really it's just a part of the city and metro growing and improving and a part of our good to great universities continuing in their stages of existing. Hell, we used to have more colleges than we do now. Every other big city has multiple large, major colleges. Boston has Harvard, BC, MIT; New York has Columbia, NYU, Fordham, etc. Philly is just now starting to have that. Even the more respected schools outside of the city in the metro are still behind other large schools in terms of development. Villanova is seriously small compared to other big schools in the Big East and it's just now expanding and growing its on-campus housing. Swarthmore for as prestigious as it is, is also behind many other schools in terms of its development. Widener has only existed since the 1970s. Holy Family in the Northeast is still barely anything compared to other schools in our metro. Our schools are actually quite possibly our most underutilized asset.
I agree with you though that Philly needs to continue to diversify its economy. Relying on any one sector too much is always bad, no matter what that sector is.
As for nationally, I think that in some places in the middle of nowhere that yes, it's a bubble. When it comes to colleges in and around the 5th biggest city in the country and one that's increasingly desirable as both a destination and a place to live though, then no it's not a bubble. It's a reflection of the way people's attitudes have changed about our metro. On top of that, more and more kids from groups that didn't go to college as much before are going to college these days. That's only going to increase. Tuitions are high because our priorities as a country are way out of whack and if we can get some politicians with some sense in their heads then we can get lower tuitions by way of increasing federal and state funding. I think personally that the biggest problem besides funding in regards to education is the many online schools and career academies popping up all over these days. It seems you see a commercial for a new one each year. Imagine if instead of "being a Phoenix" or going to Devry or Strayer, people took classes from schools that were actually local. It's ridiculous that the same parts of the country that originally took our jobs and our corporations and our federal money are now taking some of our students. The rest of it should work itself out instead of becoming a bubble that bursts.
[quote=UDResident;25479437]Philly will always exist (I hope at least). It's not going to exist in Center City or other "hip" neighborhoods but it still exists in communities and it exists increasingly in places like the Northeast and far Southwest Philly as many Philly people get displaced to those sections and bring "Philly" with them.
The culture of their respective neighborhoods, traditions, lifestyles, identity, attitude, etc. Sure, there is bad "Philly" but that wasn't what I was talking about.
The culture of their respective neighborhoods, traditions, lifestyles, identity, attitude, etc. Sure, there is bad "Philly" but that wasn't what I was talking about.
I was just asking, wasn't speaking of bad or good. In retrospect I recall being in West/SW Philly back in '03 and waiting for my a tow truck driver around 11:30 PM and it was on the corner of 47th or 48th & Baltimore.
People walked by and I spoke but only a few spoke during the half hour I was standing there, I even had a few strange looks and eye rolls when I said hi or just remained silent. I was wearing back then what I wear now shorts, shirt, and sneakers. I'm knowing there was nothing thugged out about me but I understood where the attitude was coming from.
I would surely expect that if I were standing on 37th & Spruce or somewhere in that particular vincinity but not up there. So I could clearly see that the neighborhood had changed and that U-City had clearly had pushed it's footprint further towards the 50's. Some of the attitudes of a few in the area is ridiculous.
The reason I disagree with you is that many cities that Philly competes with..... Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Miami, Phoenix have large areas of their "suburbs" inside the city limits contributing to that cities population growth. Other cities that have much lower population than Philly like Boston and San Francisco are still considered as equals or better. It will always be the metro population that is important.
Miami actually has a very small central city compared to its metro area. Miami Beach is a seperate city, and then you have a bunch of other "suburbs" like Hialeah, Kendall, Homestead, etc that are outside the city limits.
Miami actually has a very small central city compared to its metro area. Miami Beach is a seperate city, and then you have a bunch of other "suburbs" like Hialeah, Kendall, Homestead, etc that are outside the city limits.
I think the point is that the population of the main city is arbitrary because places like Philadelphia and Miami are built out and they can't annex more land because those areas are already incorporated and are also built out. Miami and Philly can only add people by building up . . . so most growth is going to take place on the periphery of the metro area where land is cheaper.
Places like Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, etc. have for some time not only had large chunks of undeveloped land within their boundaries, but they've also been able to annex new development.
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