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Readers of Travel + Leisure's chief competitor, Condé Nast Traveler, ranked Philadelphia as the No. 2 city for shopping in the world in 2015, bested only by Barcelona:
The readers specifically cited the Reading Terminal Market (the city's second-most-visited tourist attraction after the Liberty Bell/Independence Hall combo) and North Third Street in Old City (where all the boutiques are local and carry Names You Haven't Heard Of But Will Love When You See Them) as the go-to places.
I think most Philadelphians were floored to read this, as no one I know of here considers anywhere in the city a top shopping destination save maybe the RTM, but that's food. King of Prussia is the luxury retail heavyweight champion in this area.
And the city hasn't appeared among the honorees in this survey since then.
But we usually get high marks for history, arts and culture and food in reader surveys of cities worth visiting.
Yep, this I know.... I find plenty of sights and links on our cities congrats awards..... CC Philly climbed the ladder also over the past decade. Chicago was just on the cuspid of getting more its accolades itself then also. When someone made a comment on around 2008 Philly was getting a Ugliest city claim .... I found a link from 2007 easily that was on it... just people. It was stated then. That was then ..... we have to realize that no.
As for the saying and song - We are Philly they hate us and WE DON'T CARE.... I learned that from your comments on C-D. Easy to find for a YouTube video of the song and the one I posted was a GREAT one.
A TRUE local story that happened to recently me - A few weeks ago I went to a local bar... not a Firehouse club bar... a regular one where the only male bartender who is 26-yr old, has Philly roots before his family moved him from Kensington to Door County PA. when a young teen. Then somehow they made it by me and he finished High School here. He told us stories (if the bar was empty a couple times) of his younger years in Philly and how he was taught street-smarts (including ALWAYS ready to fight if disrespected) and he clearly has much of the Philly attitude if you lure it out of him..... Does not take much.
He had some old friends he kept in touch with over the years in the bar that evening. Suddenly a Song I never heard came on about...- I Hate the Bears.... out of the blue. THEN ANOTHER On TouchTones Jukebox yet.... I had a Chi Cubs cap on ..... not Bears. I did see them once before so I knew seeing them with the Bartenders girlfriend they were from Philly. Another Irony is that Bartender is a Patriots fan..... Does his friends know that???? I cannot imagine. Of course I deduced it had to be them Philly visitors.
Here no one cares its a hodge-podge of team caps and shirts over the year. Philadelphia teams still #1 maybe 60% then Pittsburgh fans 30% and NYC teams most of the rest to even Green Bay and Dallas and couple Da Bears ..... you can see different ones at some times. Bars do NOT post teams neon or other things. If a Sports event at least, both Philly and Pitts team logos will be posted. You just wear what you want and MAKE IT OUT ALIVE as no one is so staunch as to be that way.
Anyway, All is good. I ROOT for a Philadelphia team and Pittsburgh team against any other. I am not into sports that big. I will wear a cap and have some shirts yet. Just if asked about details of current events of teams... I cannot give them anything. Just say I lived there once so....
Since this is a Chicago and Philadelphia thread and not about Boston. Like this (same guy playing both team bros).
The football team rivals going at it with a war of words. Packers vs Bear's fan. I found it funny.
I FOUND The LAST SEGMENT most HILARIOUS. Playing a Cheezehead vs a Da Bears fan... then a Lions fan comes in...
Then the Wisconsin Team guy and Chicago team guy COME TOGETHER AGAINST the LIONS ONE and go off together to DA BAR or..... whatever AS FRIENDS...... I always found the Rivalry to be not in blood. A Chicagoan cannot HATE a Wisconsin person.... Win or Loose they can booze.
IRONY is that Chicagoans generally luv Wisconsin.... just unless it is on Football. Poor Milwaukee gets split.
More toward Green Bay as ya gotta root for at least the State Team But they are allowed to be Cubs Fans
in Wisconsin.....
I think Sports is a good topic to bring up - because a lot of people watch sports and it definitely influences the perception of a city. Since we are on about perception of a city, Philadelphia's perception in sports isn't good (Brought up Red Sox for a comparison on a city with a good reputation = good sports reputation, since perception was being brought up).
I think for a good amount of people, Philadelphia does not have the best fanbase reputation (Which stems from rivalries/proximity to NYC, BOS, DC, PIT, etc.. and rivalries with population centres in Dallas, Miami and Cleveland).
I just asked 4 people what their thoughts on Philadelphia were. All 4 had negative thoughts associated with sports. So what im getting at here is, people may have an extremely biased opinion on Philadelphia from sports media. A lot of people have more positive views on Chicago sports/fans (Wrigley Field, the Bears, etc).. it drove my opinion on Chicago a little higher, if I were to be honest. If I take away my internal bias on the Sports of both cities, Philadelphia and Chicago become much closer to me.
This was brought up quite a bit in the NJ forum too. Could Philadelphia's perception problem be different to a few groups of people in different parts of the country if this bias was less of a thing? Could this be a reason why Philadelphia s losing by quite a lot (Perception in general)?
This was brought up quite a bit in the NJ forum too. Could Philadelphia's perception problem be different to a few groups of people in different parts of the country if this bias was less of a thing? Could this be a reason why Philadelphia s losing by quite a lot (Perception in general)?
I think it's a valid point. Especially for someone living, say, on the West Coast who likely has little, if any real life experience with Philadelphia, the sports aspect is one of the very few contexts in which they'd most likely hear about the city.
And so if all you've heard about was a random
new story focused on boorish behavior by Joe Schmo Eagles fan from Marlton, then yes it's absolutely a factor.
Unfortunately at this point, however, it's a tired stereotype.
I think it's a valid point. Especially for someone living, say, on the West Coast who likely has little, if any real life experience with Philadelphia, the sports aspect is one of the very few contexts in which they'd most likely hear about the city.
And so if all you've heard about was a random
new story focused on boorish behavior by Joe Schmo Eagles fan from Marlton, then yes it's absolutely a factor.
Unfortunately at this point, however, it's a tired stereotype.
Exactly my point.
People say “oh but Philadelphia was roudy and ruined the city in 2017!!” Its not good at all!
Like hmm Vancouver 2011? Boston 2004? New York 2008? Washington 2019?
There’s definitely outward bias against Philly on this in the same way there is bias over crime in Chicago that worsens the city’s reputation
Philadelphia's shopping scene (both urban and suburban) is definitely underrated.
Part of the reason it doesn't get as much recognition as it should (at least Philadelphia's urban shopping scene) is the experience is somewhat disjointed. Center City has most of the traditional mall stores, but they're all scattered about and not in one building or district (I.E. like Rodeo Drive or Michigan Avenue).
That's in line with how downtown shopping used to work back in the day, but today people seek convenience and one-stop shopping.
What do you mean back in the day?
London, New York, Chicago, Boston, Montreal etc have always had shooing streets for as long as people have been buying stuff rather than making them.
London, New York, Chicago, Boston, Montreal etc have always had shooing streets for as long as people have been buying stuff rather than making them.
I thought I was pretty clear, but I will elaborate further.
Using Chicago as an example, Michigan Avenue is a shopping district where all of the shopping is tightly knit along one strip and easily visible/accessible from the street.
Philadelphia doesn't really have an equivalent set up. You're going to be bouncing between 3 or 4 different buildings (Shops at Liberty Place, Fashion District, Macy's flagship store, etc.) to find all of the mall-type department stores and boutiques. These buildings are spaced out all over Center City and not really contiguous. Not to mention, a lot of the boutiques are set up in a more "Bazaar" type setting, where you have to go inside the buildings and search for them.
The closest you're going to get to what you find on Rodeo Drive, Michigan Avenue, etc. would be Walnut Street between 17th and 18th Streets. But that's only a fraction of the shopping to be found in Center City.
Last edited by citidata18; 05-01-2021 at 12:31 PM..
I thought I was pretty clear, but I will elaborate further.
Using Chicago as an example, Michigan Avenue is a shopping district where all of the shopping is tightly knit along one strip and easily visible/accessible form the street.
Philadelphia doesn't really have an equivalent set up. You're going to be bouncing between 3 or 4 different buildings (Shops at Liberty Place, Fashion District, Macy's flagship store, etc.) to find all of the mall-type department stores and boutiques. These buildings are spaced out all over Center City and not really contiguous. Not to mention, a lot of the boutiques are set up in a more "Bazaar" type setting, where you have to go inside the buildings and search for them.
The closest you're going to get to what you find on Rodeo Drive, Michigan Avenue, etc. would be Walnut Street between 17th and 18th Streets. But that's only a fraction of the shopping to be found in Center City.
Which model are you saying is “traditional” though
Shopping being organically scattered throughout a downtown area is "traditional", versus all of it found in a tightly-knit strip (like a mall).
I don’t think that’s really true. Because remember before WWI or so “shopping” was a thing only the upper class did. That’s why Back Bay, Chicago’s North Side London’s West End etc have their shopping streets in upper class neighborhoods. Because they were basically the only people shopping.
By the time the general public started doing it transport infrastructure was developed enough for specialized districts.
I don’t think that’s really true. Because remember before WWI or so “shopping” was a thing only the upper class did. That’s why Back Bay, Chicago’s North Side London’s West End etc have their shopping streets in upper class neighborhoods. Because they were basically the only people shopping.
By the time the general public started doing it transport infrastructure was developed enough for specialized districts.
Yes 100%
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Does not take much. 
Does his friends know that???? I cannot imagine. Of course I deduced it had to be them Philly visitors. 
Playing a Cheezehead vs a Da Bears fan... then a Lions fan comes in...
