Interesting Article about Living in CC Philly (Philadelphia: high income, job)

[newmarlig]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ef316ea2-dde...b5df10621.html

Philadelphia rewrites its story
By Dalia Fahmy

Published: March 30 2007 18:40 | Last updated: March 30 2007 18:40

When Ludovic Rassat and his wife moved from Lyon, France, to Philadelphia, many locals were surprised the couple chose to live in the centre of the historic US city.

“People tried to convince us to move to the suburbs,” says Rassat, who runs the US operations of French homeopathic company Boiron. Six years later, he’s still amused that Philadelphians shy away from their own downtown when so many expatriates and people from other parts of the country are enjoying its benefits.

It’s true that the “city of brotherly love” only recently emerged from a grim period of crime and corruption brought on by the demise of its manufacturing industry in the 1960s and an ensuing recession. Between 1970 and 1990, its population dropped 20 per cent and the local government couldn’t afford to clean the streets.

But Philadelphia has made a remarkable recovery in recent years. Brett Webber, an architect who has lived in the centre for 16 years, witnessed the changes. “When I first moved here the city didn’t really have any of the conveniences that people have come to expect of any downtown area. There wasn’t a reasonable place to have a cup of coffee or buy a loaf of bread,” he says.

Now there are many cafés, restaurants and live music venues. “It’s fun to walk through the city,” says Rassat, who recently bought a townhouse in the up-and-coming neighbourhood South of South Street – nicknamed SoSo by some – to make room for his three young children. “It’s like living in a village but you have the advantages of a big city.”

[rainrock]

All I can say is that John Streets term as mayor can't end quick enough. Ed Rendell did an incredible job in getting people to believe and invest in center city.Rendell along with many other infuential people put Center City back on the map for suburbanites, a very important aspect. It's an amazing place. JOhn Street completely shunned Center City for the past 8 years but CC has managed to build its own support structure idependent of the idiocity of the John Streets of the world.

I don't think the list of mayoral candidates is all that strong but even the worst candidate( Chaka Fatah) will be a nice step up from Street.

[Tone509]

I hope that "Wayne Newton" reads the part of the article about the city's "European" qualities.

It's nice to read an article about what are definitely positive virtues of Philly for many residents.

[carolinajack]

I wouldnt call it a remarkable recovery. As a CC dweller, the corruption and crime are still here and all around us. Murders are happening more this year than last, political corruption in the Streets Administration, in City Hall, with gambling casinos.

come on, its an april fools joke right?

[Tone509]

CJ, I agree that the murder rate this year (which pretty much occured outside the areas mentioned in the article) is particularly deplorable and that one-party rule is still very much in effect in the city. I've been known to throw a few rolls of quarters in the slots here and there but I don't see the casinos will cause more problems than it will solve them.

Despite all of that, I do believe that Philly is progressing on many levels. But I will admit that one may have to have a relatively high income level to enjoy and appreciate much of it.

[carolinajack]

yep, we were just named Murder Capital of the US today, even if it is mostly outside of that area, we get it in CC as well

[passdoubt]

Well "murder captal" certainly sells a lot of newspapers, but Philadelphia doesn't have the highest murder rate in the country. A bunch of cities have higher murder rates this year, including our southern sister city, Baltimore.