Pennsylvania is regains status as 5th largest state in the nation.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Interesting mix. In family stories, I've been told I'm German with a dash of Irish. My hubby suggested we check this out ourselves. In time . . .

My fault diverting the thread. Back to topic?

The only reason I bothered with it was to get some details about my African ancestry. The rest kinda verified family history already known about.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Let's get this out of the way. My career consisted of 41 years in IT, from 1974 to 2012. Server admin. Net admin. Database admin. I still do free lance consulting occasionally. So I have a pretty good idea about what will go on in that building. So, pls don't pretend you know something about me when you don't.

It would be nice if I could remember any arithmetic! Lol Actually the correct dates were 1970-2012.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by rowhomecity

If you seriously think Comcast needs 21st Century Fox to acquire growth, then you are not in tune with market forces, and really do not have a full understanding of what Comcast is and what the new CITC building is. Again if you educate yourself instead of insulting people who are aware of trends you would know;

"Comcast was ranked by CB Insights as the nation’s 4th most active
corporate startup investor, with stakes in 105 early-stage companies, including health care services startups. "

A relevant quote from that U.S. Chamber of Commerce report:

"Local economies thrive when established companies and startups collaborate."

I've attended a few panel discussions where Comcast officials have explained that they see their new second tower as not only providing more space for Comcast's own workforce but also serving as a place where they can nurture other new businesses. They think that a robust startup community is good for them as well. That "X1" platform they rolled out to their customers that allows more control of programming? They developed that in part by acquiring a local startup, OneTwoSee, that had developed a technology that proved valuable for improving their set-top boxes.

And, of course, there are those occasional rumors that Comcast is already thinking about a third tower. Its preferred developer, Liberty Property Trust (builder of the second tower), has quietly acquired land on Arch Street adjacent to the second one. For now, those are just rumors, nothing more, but the fact that they pop up on a regular basis tells me something.

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

I think rowhomecity is on the right track. We did outpace a lot of the big cities in overall job growth last year including NYC. But looking at percentage increase is a little misleading if your job growth was already lower, but if you look at totals it was pretty good.

One thing I think that hurts 2017 Philly is the lack of hometown financial institutions. For all the flack they take, Banks tend to reinvestment money and take on more of a civic role compared to other industries.

While corporate consolidations have hurt the city imo, it has really helped the western suburbs. Newly minted Entercom is now the second largest radio company behind IheartRadio, Radial is the second largest logistics fulfillment company behind Amazon, QVC is the third largest e-commerce company now that they have merged with the Home Shopping network. Vanguard is approaching 5 trillion of assets being managed so they are breaking ground on a new 1600 person building. Amerisourcebergen, the largest fortune 50 company in our area, is looking to move it's HQs closer to the city. Most likely Conshohocken. Big things are definitely happening.

Philadelphia just needs to improve itself. Like pick up the trash on Girard, Washington, and Spring Garden lol. Like I feel like no Philadelphian realize how much first impressions when you get off the highway make for prospective investors or job creators. We got lots of really great things that aren't easily emulated such as great restaurant/bar scene, museums, sports, events, etc. all at reasonable prices that aren't sold out the first second.

I said this before, but after I spent a week in Chicago this summer, I came away feeling that one big difference between the two cities was in the way Chicagoan's weren't ashamed to brag and be proud of the great things they have. Philly is so much more muted. We often let the worst of us be the biggest mouthpieces.

I still recommend that newcomers to this area read E. Digby Baltzell's classic book "Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia." Even longtimers, IMO, would get something out of reading it. It's a comparative study of the values that animated the two cities' elites, and whether or not we care to admit it, a lot of the things that define a city's character originate with its first families. Had a bunch of enterprising Dutchmen settled this city instead of a Quaker looking for a place where his fellow faithful could practice their inward-focused religion without hassle (such as they got in Massachusetts), we might be talking about how Philadelphia, not New York, was a city on the make.

Bragging is simply not baked into this city's DNA. It's no accident that this city's greatest cheerleaders (Ed Rendell, e.g.) have been transplants.

Originally Posted by kyb01

We all know here, I think, that proxmity to NYC does get in the way regarding attempts at local bragging. Chicago does not have that problem.

For the bragging, see above. IMO being close to New York does have an effect on our municipal psyche, but it's not the source of our reluctance to toot our own horn.

As for the difference between this city and Chicago, one of the big ones - to our detriment - is this: Philadelphia politics are as corrupt and machine-like as Chicago politics are, but in Chicago, the citizens usually get a return on investment for their graft. Here, the return is often negative. Anyone ridden the Parkway, Germantown or Northeast subways yet?

(Actually, the city came thisclose to building that last one twice in the latter half of the 20th century. The first time, in the mid-1950s, the people who moved to the Northeast to get away from Them freaked because they feared They would simply take the train up from North Philly to their paradise, and the city backed down; the outdoor, on-the-storage-yard northernmost station on the all-underground Broad Street Subway and its park-and-ride lot were the "consolation prize." The second time, in the mid-1970s, Mayor Frank Rizzo told his buddy Transportation Secretary William Coleman to choose the project with regional impact over the one that was more local on Coleman's last day in office; as a result, we got the Commuter Tunnel instead.)

[kyb01]

Sandy, aka MarketEl, it's very well documented that a primary reason Philadelphia started to lose its prominence to New York City was the construction of the Erie Canal. Of course, as you stated, there are other reasons.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

(Actually, the city came thisclose to building that last one twice in the latter half of the 20th century. The first time, in the mid-1950s, the people who moved to the Northeast to get away from Them freaked because they feared They would simply take the train up from North Philly to their paradise, and the city backed down; the outdoor, on-the-storage-yard northernmost station on the all-underground Broad Street Subway and its park-and-ride lot were the "consolation prize." The second time, in the mid-1970s, Mayor Frank Rizzo told his buddy Transportation Secretary William Coleman to choose the project with regional impact over the one that was more local on Coleman's last day in office; as a result, we got the Commuter Tunnel instead.)

My mother was a friend of Coleman's. His sister was my mom's college roommate at Hampton.