Philly has failed to live up to its expectation as a big city (Philadelphia: 2015, apartment)

[1ondoner]

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.

[rowhomecity]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

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.

Philadelphia has been drawing record tourism year over year for well over a decade. Just look at the # of hotels being built right now and it is quite evident the millions of tourists visiting.

I use to host an airbnb and I got a very very large share of tourist, and mostly international tourist. They would do the East Coast NYC. PHL. DC journey. And from my experiences of the 3 cities a nice share/majority said they favored Philadelphia most.

I use to live in D.C and find that city to be far overrated.

[DavePa]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

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 don want to diss Philly and its increasing in tourism. But yes City-proper still pales in companion to many others.

Expect the DC is overrated over and over. But never NYC of course. Expect the 41-mill visitors in 2015 a more today mentioned. But PA requires THE WHOLE METRO NUMBERS so Philly city proper was like 29-mill in 2016 and yes more now..... probably closer to 44-mil. But you can read who gets counted even in outer even in outer counties.

To validate 2015#'s you got this link. Some will HATE ME FOR IT. But some clearly let it known I'm just a ignorant outsider anyway.

https://billypenn.com/2016/11/09/her...urists-we-get/

[thedirtypirate]

imo, and most people I know, think Philadelphia offers a lot in terms of what people look for in a big city. Music scene, restaurants, museums, etc. there is abundance. Philly does get a lot of visitors. Certainly isn’t near the top but plenty of weekends you can’t book a hotel room. I find often lower class people hold a negative opinion towards the city due to their inability to appreciate the aforementioned cultural offerings.

1ondoner, you made the thread, so what are the things you feel that are missing?

[Pennsport]

Personally, I couldn't care less if some people think Philly lacks in some respect to their own desires. To rowhomecity's point, the metrics and stats paint a very different picture of what the millions of masses experience. I also see this as a positive for Philly. Just the fact that we're in these "airing your grievances" conversations means we've made the leap from a decade ago when people wouldn't even voice their complaints. I mean, you don't hear much about Detroit disappointing people.

This same topic probably exists in some form in every top-tier city's threads:
- San Diego and San Fran = "we have so many homeless, I heard from X that they'll never come here again"
- NYC = "people are so rude, I couldn't wait until my trip was over"
- Wash DC = "everyone was so stuck up and consumed with themselves, I was amazed by the indifference and rudeness"
- LA = "the city was so disconnected, I didn't expect to spend half my trip in ubers"
- etc, etc, etc...

No place (city or otherwise) is right for everyone. The fact that we're in the discussion now is pretty sweet.

And, I lived in London for a year and have a lot of issues with that city myself...

[FindingZen]

DC proper is compact compared to Philly. That's why it's edging towards a citywide gentrification a la similarly small San Francisco.

NYC is NYC.

Philly more than holds its own with interesting attractions for visitors and diversions for locals. There are considerable swaths of the city that could be doing better, of course. Its relatively large size, as I alluded to, is one reason. There are other reasons that are way off-topic but similar to the historical trajectory of other older cities and metros.

[TownDweller]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

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 think your friend needs to get out more. I've traveled to DC a number of times beginning in the early 90's. While there's a good deal to like, it has become so taken over by the Federal government and the lobbyists that serve it that I have lost interest.

Philadelphia is real, organic, and it's where this nation was founded. The music scene, the arts, restaurants, and the history give up nothing to Washington in my opinion. And if you like sports it's not even close.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

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.

As our nation’s capital along with all of the free attractions, it is obvious why D.C. has a bigger tourist draw. If you can’t find much to do in Philly, then maybe big cities aren’t for you. And yes, the city’s tourist draw continues to grow. Love it!

[acenturi]

Originally Posted by DavePa

I don want to diss Philly and its increasing in tourism. But yes City-proper still pales in companion to many others.
........................

To validate 2015#'s you got this link. Some will HATE ME FOR IT. But some clearly let it known I'm just a ignorant outsider anyway.

https://billypenn.com/2016/11/09/her...urists-we-get/

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.

[eliza61nyc]

Definitely, definitely disagree. So not going to repost the figures but Philly's tourist numbers continue to grow.

Next, @davepa why would some one compare Philly to NYC. I find those comparisons ludicrous. lol, what's funny is that I'm a native NY'er and everyone I know comes down to Philly in the summer.

anyhoo, Philly is not NYC or Washington DC nor should it try to be. That is one of the reasons why it has seen all the convention love it has in recent years.
DNC convention
Pope visit
NFL draft live
next summer the oldest and one of the largest AA sorority organization will hold it's week long convention here.

If someone visited here and wanted NYC I would politely tell them to GO to NYC. lol that's like going to London and getting mad that it's not Paris.

I agree with the other replies, anyone who visits and says they can't find anything to do, simply didn't try to leave their hotel room. that's on them.