Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh (York, King of Prussia, Taylor: camper, stores, homeless)

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by DavePa

I would think being happy to be on any side with NYC? Would be seen as good? I couldn't resist. I'd say it merely shows cites in a upswing period in Tech jobs.

A new one for 2017 in -- Jobs Ranking by city -- Should I say I can't wait for certain persons comments?? Like some here.

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-jobs/2173/

Cities for job growth overall rank
Pittsburgh #36
Chicago #108
Philadelphia #129

Socioeconomic Environment' rank
Pittsburgh #7
Chicago #93
Philadelphia #113

Job Market rank
Pittsburgh #63
Chicago #111
Philadelphia #131

I tend to ignore WalletHub studies ever since I got pitched a study on mass transit whose methodology was so deeply flawed as to make the rankings useless, but I'm willing to believe the relative rankings given here: Philadelphia has been a job growth laggard for the better part of three decades, and it's a subject that our business leaders especially are deeply concerned about.

We who have an interest in sustaining Philadelphia's overall positive momentum along with the health of its real estate market also have reason to be concerned about this performance as well.

[cpomp]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

I do not post for competition. I post for informative post regarding the two cities. I would expect the Philadelphia are to have more retail outlets do to the size / population difference. I am more of an independent boutique shopper and Pittsburgh has enough to satisfy my needs. Ross Park Mall and the surrounding area comes in handy though.

I know.. Before I was genuinely saying that its a shame the downtown department stores of Pittsburgh closed, that is always unfortunate for a city to lose a nice department store.

[wpipkins2]

Produce Terminal Strip District.

Produce Terminal project moving forward beginning with a public market - NEXTpittsburgh

[wpipkins2]

Pittsburgh retail news

Timberland X Thread collection turns plastic waste into men's fashion - NEXTpittsburgh

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I tend to ignore WalletHub studies ever since I got pitched a study on mass transit whose methodology was so deeply flawed as to make the rankings useless, but I'm willing to believe the relative rankings given here: Philadelphia has been a job growth laggard for the better part of three decades, and it's a subject that our business leaders especially are deeply concerned about.

We who have an interest in sustaining Philadelphia's overall positive momentum along with the health of its real estate market also have reason to be concerned about this performance as well.

I think the major issue with the WalletHub ranking is that it meshes WAY too many variables together, causing its ranking system to have little meaning to most people. It's well-intentioned, but it's like throwing in every ingredient you can think of to cook a "stew"--at some point, you have no idea what you've created.

The simple fact of the matter is that the latest jobs numbers from PA's Dept. of Labor and Industry shows that the Philly economy is in a very solid job growth position at this point (seasonally-adjusted, year-over-year as of January 2017):

Philly Metro: +68,500 jobs (+2.4%)
Pittsburgh Metro: +9,300 jobs (+0.8%)

For context, Pennsylvania statewide job growth (seasonally-adjusted, year-over-year) is at +70,300 (1.2%), which is decent, especially given how slow it was growing in late 2016.

Monthly News Releases

What's more, according to the same data, the City of Philadelphia (not seasonally adjusted) grew it's jobs base by 24,000 jobs or 3.4% (!!!) between January 2016-2017. That's an incredibly high annual growth rate for any place, let alone a historically slow-growth city like Philly. Granted, one data point does not a trend make, but it's extremely encouraging. It's also sad that this is not at least mentioned in the media as a very positive point. It demonstrates that City of Philadelphia's economy is now among the fastest-growing in the state.

[Blackbeauty212]

Unemployment figures for January.

Pittsburgh city - 5%
Allegheny County 4.7%
Philadelphia - 5.7%

Pittsburgh-area unemployment falls to 5.3 percent in January



Pittsburgh-area unemployment falls to 5.3 percent in January | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by Duderino

I think the major issue with the WalletHub ranking is that it meshes WAY too many variables together, causing its ranking system to have little meaning to most people. It's well-intentioned, but it's like throwing in every ingredient you can think of to cook a "stew"--at some point, you have no idea what you've created.

The simple fact of the matter is that the latest jobs numbers from PA's Dept. of Labor and Industry shows that the Philly economy is in a very solid job growth position at this point (seasonally-adjusted, year-over-year as of January 2017):

Philly Metro: +68,500 jobs (+2.4%)
Pittsburgh Metro: +9,300 jobs (+0.8%)

For context, Pennsylvania statewide job growth (seasonally-adjusted, year-over-year) is at +70,300 (1.2%), which is decent, especially given how slow it was growing in late 2016.

Monthly News Releases

What's more, according to the same data, the City of Philadelphia (not seasonally adjusted) grew it's jobs base by 24,000 jobs or 3.4% (!!!) between January 2016-2017. That's an incredibly high annual growth rate for any place, let alone a historically slow-growth city like Philly. Granted, one data point does not a trend make, but it's extremely encouraging. It's also sad that this is not at least mentioned in the media as a very positive point. It demonstrates that City of Philadelphia's economy is now among the fastest-growing in the state.

You guys won't accept any 3rd party sourced data if its not Cheer-leading Philly. Its all Fake News to you Homers.

Just were are these jobs being created. Can't take Philly METRO number and apply it to the City of Philadelphia. We never disputed that Philadelphia suburban counties were the source of Philadelphia's job growth over the years.

Originally Posted by cpomp

I know.. Before I was genuinely saying that its a shame the downtown department stores of Pittsburgh closed, that is always unfortunate for a city to lose a nice department store.

Downtown Department store are Dinosaurs on borrowed time, some city will die faster than others, but they're on the way out. Center City's Macy's is hanging on because Center City serves much more as residential neighborhood than Downtown Pittsburgh currently does.

But lets not act like Center City hasn't lost its share of Departments stores over the year. At 1 time Pittsburgh had more Dept Stores downtown than even Philly.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by RightonWalnut

Yes, it is unfortunate. It seems a lot of department stores are struggling, and are going to continue to seriously downsize their footprints across the US. Even some smaller stores are struggling, like Coach, Juicy Couture, Kenneth Cole, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, etc. These stores are all seriously scaling back their number of stores, or cutting out stores completely to be available in department stores and online only.

Center City is lacking in retail when compared to a place like King of Prussia, but it's still added some decent names in the past few years, and the retail scene has changed dramatically. I would give Center City a B+ for retail if King of Prussia was an A+. This is one category where Philly is really on another level than Pittsburgh: retail. Pittsburgh could definitely stand to add some more luxury retail.

For department stores in the Philadelphia area:
Nordstrom Rack - Center City, King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, Willow Grove, Newark, Langhorne
Nordstrom - King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, Newark
Saks Fifth Avenue - Bala Cynwyd (basically right across the Philly city limits)
Saks Off Fifth - Northeast Philly, King of Prussia, Plymouth Meeting, Newark
Neiman Marcus - King of Prussia
Neiman Marcus Last Call - Northeast Philly, Pottstown
Lord & Taylor - Bala Cynwyd (basically right across the Philly city limits), King of Prussia, Moorestown
Century 21 - Center City
Barneys New York - Center City
Boyds - Center City
Bloomingdale's Outlet - Center City
Bloomindgale's - King of Prussia, Willow Grove
Macy's - Center City, Northeast Philly, Springfield, Plymouth Meeting, King of Prussia, Deptford, Voorhees, Exton, Willow Grove, Langhorne, Bensalem, North Wales, Cherry Hill, Moorestown, Newark, Wilmington

As you probably know Boyd's is locally owned by the extended Gushner family. That does separate them from the others.

[wpipkins2]

Although Pittsburgh lost its major department stores over the past few years we still have high end pecialty stores with discount and a few mall stores mixed in. That list would include the following. There are others but I will not list them all.

Larrimor's
Joseph Orlando
Surmesur Custom Clothier
Heinz and Healy's
Doncaster on 5th
Carl S Herman Furs
Tom James
Nettleton Shoe Shop
Moop

Burlington
Footlocker
Jos A bank
Brooks Brothers

Villa
Social Status

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

You guys won't accept any 3rd party sourced data if its not Cheer-leading Philly. Its all Fake News to you Homers.

Just were are these jobs being created. Can't take Philly METRO number and apply it to the City of Philadelphia. We never disputed that Philadelphia suburban counties were the source of Philadelphia's job growth over the years.

And it's statements like that, even after you've been presented with one stat that provides positive news about job growth in the city from a reputable source, that gets even even-handed Phillyphiles like me pissed off at you. And I'd say that most of the Philadelphians now posting on this discussion are more like me than like the "Homers" you say we all are.

Most of us here acknowledge Pittsburgh's positives. (An 18-hour downtown isn't one of them, sad to say, and that's a shame because downtown Pittsburgh's really nice.) You seem incapable of acknowledging that Philadelphia has anything going for it other than its collar counties.

Most of the job growth in the city is taking place in University City, the area just across the Schuylkill from Center City, but there are also jobs being added on the east bank as well - some of them in the form of companies based in the 'burbs opening offices in the city to attract workers uninterested in living in the 'burbs who would rather walk to work (or bike or take public transit) than drive out to the mothership.

Downtown Department store are Dinosaurs on borrowed time, some city will die faster than others, but they're on the way out. Center City's Macy's is hanging on because Center City serves much more as residential neighborhood than Downtown Pittsburgh currently does.

But lets not act like Center City hasn't lost its share of Departments stores over the year. At 1 time Pittsburgh had more Dept Stores downtown than even Philly.

Downtown department stores are dying only to the extent that the downtowns they're located in are doing the same - department stores in general are experiencing turbulence much as mall retailers are, and I'm sure you've heard or read stories about dying and dead malls or entire mall-store chains (The Limited, e.g.) shutting down. (And not just mall chains either: one of the other chain liquidations is that of American Apparel, whose stores are usually found in urban shopping districts.) The current trend is for enclosed malls to partly or completely de-mall themselves - their owners are tearing the roofs off the suckers, demolishing chunks of space between (surviving or nonexistent) anchor stores and adding things like movie theaters, entertainment complexes, offices (including municipal ones) and (most crucially) residents. Many are reconfiguring themselves to more closely resemble Main Streets to boot.

But since you mentioned Center City as a residential neighborhood: It has the third highest population of any downtown residential district (after New York and Chicago). The growth has spilled beyond its confines, in fact - the business improvement district formed to pull Center City out of the doldrums in the late 1980s now routinely refers to "Greater Center City" in its reports and studies. That phrase encompasses the territory from Girard Avenue on the north to Tasker Street on the south (i.e., the four ZIP codes that border Center City's four. From east to west, the four Center City ZIP codes are 19106, 19107, 19102 and 19103; Greater Center City encompasses 19123 and 19130 on the north and 19146 and 19147 on the south. Those latter two ZIP codes actually include two-block slivers of Center City on their northern edges.)