Philly bounces to #1 city for culture according to T&L (Philadelphia: best city, theater)

[tarp]

Frank's comments are not without some truth to them. The city has so much potential, but the city and state's inability to bring the vast ghettos under control, provide basic services like decent public education, snow removal, and reasonable police response times has all but destroyed Philadelphia. On the bright side, Detroit is worse.

[Duderino]

I've never put much faith in T&L rankings when Philly ranked poorly, hence it would be hypocritical for me to buy into this much more positive ranking.

T&L's methodology is by no means scientific, but what this seems to indicate is that Philly is starting to get the recognition/respect on a national level that it deserves for its awesome line-up of cultural offerings. At the very least, this creates some positive buzz for the city.

[couldntthinkofaclevername]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Philly's major problem is it has this reputation with outsiders and even suburbanites of being crime ridden, probably due to sensational media coverage. Crime here is less than popular cities like Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami and even D.C. but how to get the message out to the ignorant and shake the bad reputation?

City Crime Risk Index top 10

1. St. Louis 530
2. Atlanta 484
3. Birmingham Alabama (tie) 380
3. Orlando (tie) 380
5. Detroit 369
6. Memphis 361
7. Miami 346
8. Baltimore 339
9. Kansas City, Missouri 337
10. Minneapolis (tie) 331
10. Cleveland (tie) 331

Source: Onboard Informatics

It probably has something to do with the reputation/perception the city has had ever since it started being defined by its industry and blue collar/gritty things moreso than what it was defined by throughout history before that. One thing you tend to notice about the cities with the more "gritty" reputations is that they were prominent cities up until the decline of whatever industries powered them. Cleveland, Detroit, and Baltimore fit the description off of that list.

Originally Posted by A_Lexus

Good to see some positive news about Philly. It does have to work on its reputation as one of the most segregated cities however. Any cultural rating's system that doesn't take this into account really is not taken seriously by me.

Seriously, shut up already. Enough of this absolute crap.

You're not "diverse and tolerant". I'm tired of hearing people from the Northwest and Cali talking like they invented diverse and tolerant. Let me ask you a question.. Mr. Diverse and Tolerant Bay Area... How many lower-income people live among the wealthy? That's what I thought. You're "diverse and tolerant" because you're segregated by wealth, just like we are. How dare you talk about an area with some of the highest concentrations of Italians, Irish, Polish, African Americans, and every other ethnicity under the sun as if you're better than it or more diverse.

Have even 1/3rd of the problems this entire area has had or still has (let alone the history, since we were a major city when you were still not even a US territory) and then try to talk about diverse and tolerant.

I'm not denying that there's segregation and even some racism but what I am saying and will continue to say is you have no place whatsoever turning your noses up at us based on your "diversity and tolerance". We're segregated because of problems. There aren't more African Americans or other ethnicities (including white ones) in certain areas because they don't have the class mobility to do so, not because they're not "allowed" to be there or because of segregation. We didn't have too many middle class or above outsiders of any ethnicity moving to any part of the area for years, though that has definitely changed since then. This isn't the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, or even the 90s.

Also, there are plenty of diverse, non-segregated areas, some nice and some not so nice. That's only going to increase as time goes by. At the same time, it's important to make sure the cultures of the Irish, Italians and others who are descended from poor immigrants or anything else, be they white, black, purple, or anything in between, are not eroded or dilluted. Plenty of people preach things like "tolerance" or "diversity" without taking any of that into consideration.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by A_Lexus

Good to see some positive news about Philly. It does have to work on its reputation as one of the most segregated cities however. Any cultural rating's system that doesn't take this into account really is not taken seriously by me.

What does this comment have to do with Philadelphia's cultural rating? Seems to me you're just trying to throw rocks.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by couldntthinkofaclevername

...Also, there are plenty of diverse, non-segregated areas, some nice and some not so nice. That's only going to increase as time goes by. At the same time, it's important to make sure the cultures of the Irish, Italians and others who are descended from poor immigrants or anything else, be they white, black, purple, or anything in between, are not eroded or dilluted. Plenty of people preach things like "tolerance" or "diversity" without taking any of that into consideration.

Purple huh? Anyway, I'm originally from out west and we're not all clueless. If anything, I think it's the transplants who are most likely to have a "west is best" complex. I mean they packed up their lives and started over, and I guess there's a need to rationalize it.

[couldntthinkofaclevername]

Originally Posted by j_cat

Purple huh? Anyway, I'm originally from out west and we're not all clueless. If anything, I think it's the transplants who are most likely to have a "west is best" complex. I mean they packed up their lives and started over, and I guess there's a need to rationalize it.

I know you're not all like that. Unfortunately, it seems to often be the people who least understand and are the least representative of an area who end up being the ones who represent it or most vocal about it.

I'll gladly extend brotherly love to good people from any area.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by maf763

Quiet, you animal.

he is afraid of the facts..

[BayAreaHillbilly]

This is excellent. Good news for Philly!

[MarketStEl]

A comment on that side discussion:

The median household income in the City and County of San Francisco is on a par with that of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

So, with the notable exception of the city's Hispanic semi-barrio and Asian population, is its racial and ethnic diversity.

The Northeast Philadelphia block on which I live is more diverse racially and ethnically than any I saw in San Fran. It's also poorer than any I saw outside the Mission District. (And it's not poor - lower middle class is more like it).

Changes in rankings like the one that started this thread are a sign that the rest of the world has caught wind of the rather enormous changes - almost all of them for the better - that have taken place here over the last decade or two. The posts by locals suggesting that we've sunk to just above Detroit fail to take into account the dual nature of this place, best caught in the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Center report that dubbed this city "Bostroit."

As I quipped at a recent spoken-word reading, "Every morning, I wake up in Pleasantville, catch a bus that deposits me in Detroit, and catch a train from there to Boston, all without leaving the Philadelphia city limits."

But the glass is definitely half full, not half empty.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

Philadelphia itself is a wonderful city. Nice historic buildings, restaurants, shopping. Its the animals that call it home that trash it up and will kill you in a second for $5 that ruins it..

Ah, only frank could take good news for Philly as another opportunity to repeat his predictable and well-worn refrain. As soon as Cinnaminson tops Philly in a T&L survey, drop me a DM.

As to the survey, it appears everyone (including the writer of the referenced article) is taking it with a grain of salt. Philly does not top NYC in terms of culture. That said, the fact that readers have noticed the great offerings here and chosen to highlight them has no downside.