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Old 10-25-2019, 06:37 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,694,315 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1ondoner View Post
I was talking to a colleague who relocated from Europe to the Philly area after his spouse first got a job in Maryland and he followed her across the pond. They have each rented an apartment close to their places of work such that every Thursday he drives down to Maryland and then drives back to PA on Sunday evening.

Rarely do they get to spend the weekend in PA as according to him "there is more to do in DC". I asked him how many times he's been to Center City to which he replied only once and it was that he needed to do something in the city.

I find his experience very similar that of many people in the US and it is not uncommon for relocating NJ residents to post that they've never been to Philly. Prior to moving here the closest I'd been to Philly was Gettysburg while I had been to DC 3 times for vacation and once for work.

Which begs me to wonder, why is there very little interest in Philly? For a city it's size, it doesn't seem to attract visitors.
You deliberatedly became an American citizen so, I assume, you have an understanding of why Philadelphia is important.

So I'm imagining all of the visitors I see in Old City(tons of Asians), Society Hill, at the ongoing Phila. Film Fest, PMA, Barnes, ESP( there was a line to get in yesterday), etc.

The city is growing and has been for nearly a decade. A lot of them came from somewhere else. They weren't forced to come here. A couple of my neighbors are from France. They seem to like it.

 
Old 10-25-2019, 06:56 AM
 
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,479,208 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1ondoner View Post
I was talking to a colleague who relocated from Europe to the Philly area after his spouse first got a job in Maryland and he followed her across the pond. They have each rented an apartment close to their places of work such that every Thursday he drives down to Maryland and then drives back to PA on Sunday evening.

Rarely do they get to spend the weekend in PA as according to him "there is more to do in DC". I asked him how many times he's been to Center City to which he replied only once and it was that he needed to do something in the city.

I find his experience very similar that of many people in the US and it is not uncommon for relocating NJ residents to post that they've never been to Philly. Prior to moving here the closest I'd been to Philly was Gettysburg while I had been to DC 3 times for vacation and once for work.

Which begs me to wonder, why is there very little interest in Philly? For a city it's size, it doesn't seem to attract visitors.
I find it not surprising that you started this thread. You've made your disdain for Philadelphia plain and clear.

Years ago, when the bands from the British Invasion were still touring in large numbers, Ed Sciaky, a local DJ, noticed that a lot of them were spending time around town when they toured. He started asking them why, in interviews. It turned out that they liked that the people didn't pester them and they felt a familiarity with the oldest parts of the city. But then, most of those band members were from the postwar working class.

There are plenty of places to see and things to do in the city as well as the surrounding area.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 07:35 AM
 
Location: Chadds Ford
409 posts, read 366,176 times
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By coincidence, I read this tweet not long before I read this thread: I need to find stuff to do in Philly next week bc let's be real, it's Philly - @senatorshoshana. The replies to it give lots of outsider's opinions.

My theory: of the major northeastern cities that decayed throughout the 60s-80s, Philly got hit the hardest (rivaling Baltimore). New York's economy always had finance and media to serve as a backstop, and DC's economy has always been as secure as a government job. By comparison, Philly and Baltimore have been playing from behind ever since.

That being said, Philly will always be compared by tourists to the other nearby cities, and that's stiff competition. We should be realistic in admitting that, but at the same time, make the case that Philly is probably a top-10 city for people to visit in the USA. I say we have the edge on Boston, for instance.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 08:10 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
1,686 posts, read 952,353 times
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I've lived in DC, NYC and Philly for long periods of time and I vastly prefer Philly over the others.

Luckily, of all three, Philly is the only city that doesn't require multi-millionaire status to live comfortably.

There will always be this NYC vs Philly question (oddly, never DC vs NYC). And while there may be "more" to do in NY, if you can't find a million things to do in Philly there's something wrong with you.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 09:20 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,694,315 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1ondoner View Post
I was talking to a colleague who relocated from Europe to the Philly area after his spouse first got a job in Maryland and he followed her across the pond. They have each rented an apartment close to their places of work such that every Thursday he drives down to Maryland and then drives back to PA on Sunday evening.

Rarely do they get to spend the weekend in PA as according to him "there is more to do in DC". I asked him how many times he's been to Center City to which he replied only once and it was that he needed to do something in the city.

I find his experience very similar that of many people in the US and it is not uncommon for relocating NJ residents to post that they've never been to Philly. Prior to moving here the closest I'd been to Philly was Gettysburg while I had been to DC 3 times for vacation and once for work.

Which begs me to wonder, why is there very little interest in Philly? For a city it's size, it doesn't seem to attract visitors.
Is it true that you don't really have any interaction with the city on a regular basis? Or you just "drop in" from time-to-time?

That means you have no real idea what happens or what experiences many of have in the city all the time or you haven't bothered to even go to the Museum of the American Revolution. That museum became a very popular one in record time because of people who have come here from all over the US to see it.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 09:26 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,694,315 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by southbound_295 View Post
I find it not surprising that you started this thread. You've made your disdain for Philadelphia plain and clear.

Years ago, when the bands from the British Invasion were still touring in large numbers, Ed Sciaky, a local DJ, noticed that a lot of them were spending time around town when they toured. He started asking them why, in interviews. It turned out that they liked that the people didn't pester them and they felt a familiarity with the oldest parts of the city. But then, most of those band members were from the postwar working class.

There are plenty of places to see and things to do in the city as well as the surrounding area.
Using " Philly" means he would get a reaction from me at least. Lol

His assertion that Philadelphia gets no visitors is ridiculous. Every time I go to Ben Franklin's grave site there are always people every single day.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 09:31 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,694,315 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patmcpsu View Post
By coincidence, I read this tweet not long before I read this thread: I need to find stuff to do in Philly next week bc let's be real, it's Philly - @senatorshoshana. The replies to it give lots of outsider's opinions.

My theory: of the major northeastern cities that decayed throughout the 60s-80s, Philly got hit the hardest (rivaling Baltimore). New York's economy always had finance and media to serve as a backstop, and DC's economy has always been as secure as a government job. By comparison, Philly and Baltimore have been playing from behind ever since.

That being said, Philly will always be compared by tourists to the other nearby cities, and that's stiff competition. We should be realistic in admitting that, but at the same time, make the case that Philly is probably a top-10 city for people to visit in the USA. I say we have the edge on Boston, for instance.
Having an international media giant based here is dynamite. That's something we could not say 15-20 years ago.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 09:40 AM
 
10,787 posts, read 8,694,315 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redddog View Post
I've lived in DC, NYC and Philly for long periods of time and I vastly prefer Philly over the others.

Luckily, of all three, Philly is the only city that doesn't require multi-millionaire status to live comfortably.

There will always be this NYC vs Philly question (oddly, never DC vs NYC). And while there may be "more" to do in NY, if you can't find a million things to do in Philly there's something wrong with you.
No other large American city has the "problem" we do of having such a behemoth right next door yet we have maintained an identity that is truly ours.

The funny thing is, except in parts of the boroughs, NYC is losing what made New York City...well New York City not too long ago.
I often just skip Manhattan nowadays.

Last edited by toobusytoday; 10-26-2019 at 12:01 PM.. Reason: added a C and the word City to New York. There's a lot more to NY than the city. ;-)
 
Old 10-25-2019, 09:42 AM
 
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,479,208 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyb01 View Post
Using " Philly" means he would get a reaction from me at least. Lol

His assertion that Philadelphia gets no visitors is ridiculous. Every time I go to Ben Franklin's grave site there are always people every single day.
One thing that I've noticed is that some people use Philly as a term of endearment for the city. Then there's the group that use it as a term of derision.
 
Old 10-25-2019, 09:51 AM
 
4,087 posts, read 3,211,135 times
Reputation: 3053
Quote:
Originally Posted by acenturi View Post
Let's look at a more recent report from the ACTUAL source:
https://assets.visitphilly.com/wp-co...eport-2019.pdf

What's to "hate" about this report?? Many supposed "peer" cities - of which NYC or even DC are not, in this context, would kill for these statistics.
Again, the point of the Billy Penn link I posted was .....

- show PA's numbers are the WHOLE MULTI COUNTY METRO not in NJ.
- it had 41-mill in 2015. 29-mill was city of Philadelphia alone.
- that PA requires tourist stats by metros and why.
- that other cities can do counts differently as day trippers or over night alone or both.
- I only mentioned NYC and Chicago because the link clearly stated THEM CITIES DO CITY-PROPERS ALONE not a whole multi-county metro region as is Philly's case.

I don't open PDF's. But I have no doubt the Philly region #'s went up each year since 2015 and Philly-proper's #'s probably rose %-wise more for the totals.

The link notes how DC counts differently.... all in the link. So its counts seem lower then you expect. Cities release their own stats to. No one source does it. The census isn't about tourism......

As for comparing Philly to NYC ..... isn't me. Its locals in boast and hopes to be seen as MOST LIKE NYC. I mere mention at times I do NOT see it like Chicago. Mostly because of built environment/housing differences. Besides .... Manhattan gains virtually all my visits. Not the other Boroughs to debate similarities to any large point.
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