Just Don't Know What To Think About Philly These Days (Philadelphia: renting, crime rates)

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Parts of it already are a living history museum.

As for a decently large metro, though, will Seattle do?

Seattle isn't a fair comparison to a much larger and much older post-industrial city like Philadelphia.

My understanding is that the city did have much more of a blue-collar/manufacturing industry pre-Amazon tied to aerospace, but I can think of no other city whose massive ascent has been as tied to the fortunes of one multi-national tech behemoth.

Comcast is obviously Philadelphia's closest analogue (or maybe more recently, GoPuff), but neither are anywhere close to the pull that Amazon has had on the Emerald City.

Seattle's legendary natural environment is icing on the cake, but the strong tech-based economy was its real driver of success going back decades, something that Philadelphia didn't have benefit of experiencing as it dealt with the ongoing decline of obsolete or relocated industry.

But if the last few years of VC funding is any indication, Philadelphia has finally found the right ingredients for cashing in on the latest biotech boom and the "flattening" map of tech industry.

If you now mix in the trends of remote work and a housing affordability crisis that is far less acute in Philadelphia compared to other vibrant, bona fide urban cities, I think folks are seriously underestimating Philly's ability to truly hit the economic lottery, so to speak, in the coming years with proper leadership and laser focus on addressing quality-of-life issues.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Seattle isn't a fair comparison to a much larger post-industrial city like Philadelphia.

My understanding is that the city did have much more of a blue-collar/manufacturing industry pre-Amazon tied to aerospace, but I can think of no other city whose massive ascent has been as tied to the fortunes of one multi-national tech behemoth.

Comcast is obviously Philadelphia's closest analogue (or maybe more recently, GoPuff), but neither are anywhere close to the pull that Amazon has had on the Emerald City.

Seattle's legendary natural environment is icing on the cake, but the strong tech-driven economy was its real driver of success going back decades, something that Philadelphia didn't have benefit of experiencing as it dealt with the ongoing decline of obsolete or relocated industry.

But if the last few years of VC funding is any indication, Philadelphia has finally found the right ingredients for cashing in on the latest biotech boom and the "flattening" map of tech industry.

If you now mix in the trends of remote work and a housing affordability crisis that is far less acute in Philadelphia compared to other vibrant, bona fide urban cities, I think folks are seriously underestimating Philly's ability to truly hit the economic lottery, so to speak, in the coming years with proper leadership and laser focus on addressing quality-of-life issues.

Make that two.

Although Microsoft is not headquartered in Seattle proper but in suburban Redmond.

But then again, Boeing doesn't assemble its planes in Seattle, either; I think the factory is in Everett. The company moved its headquarters to Chicago, but Boeing still makes planes there; it's harder to move a huge factory.

Oh, and while we're at it, it may not have the sway Amazon does, but the company that gives half the country coffee nerves was born at the Pike Place Market there and remains headquartered there too.

So maybe it's not as inappropriate a city for comparison?

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by Redddog

I've smelled weed in every single city I've ever been in, though on the stretch of Market from Old City to City hall, it's pretty pungent. Human waste? Outside of some pee here and there, I'm not sure where you're hanging out but North Philly Train stations are the only place I've experienced that. Homelessness was a problem before and it continues. I haven't seen a percentage change street-level as compared to pre-pandemic but maybe that's just me.

Philly is on fire in many ways - development, bio-tech, VC etc. There's A LOT of money pouring into Philly right now. The street activation around CC, S Philly and Nolibs/Fishtown is back to within pre-pandemic levels. Some restaurants and businesses that didn't make it are re-populating with new ones - some better, some worse. But I feel like in a few months/years, we'll be back to full strength or close. We were down in E. Passyunk this weekend and I was absolutely amazed at how crazy busy it is down there. There are sooo many restaurants and bars down there. It's crazy.

We all agree that city government is terrible. City council is either corrupt or just plain clueless - a political fact in nearly any city of size. The three clowns - Kenney, Krasner, Outlaw - are comically inept and it's a shame. But I feel like their presence hasn't created the problem, more like it has failed to address it in a way that could have made the problem better. Kenney's limited out so that problem will hopefully end with a better solution. I'm stumping hard for Domb but who knows? This town has been known to shoot itself in the foot even if it's not just a Philly thing. Kenyatta looks to be in big trouble.

I hope to see a turning point with the police situation. We need more cops and we need to bring that department into the new Tech millennium. I HAVE noticed a few beat cops recently. I saw 2 separate 2-cop teams walking different parts of south Broad over the weekend and there are noticeably more police presence in Old City as of late. I hope that trend continues.

I definitely think that Kenney was a turning point for the city, and not for the better. Ever since the 1980s, Philly had been moving in the right direction. It even managed to persevere through a shamefully corrupt Street administration. Under Kenney, however, it started moving in the wrong direction, even before Covid and the riots. It's due to the progressive liberal philosophy of pandering to the worst elements of society, something that we didn't have (at least on anywhere near to that magnitude) under prior Democratic mayors.

Of course, other large Democratic-controlled cities have dealt with similar problems. New Yorkers, however, realized that uncontrolled crime is actually not a good thing for society, and elected a tough-on-crime Mayor. Will Philly do the same thing? We'll see, but another Mayor like Kenney, or another DA like Krasner, and it may become difficult to recover.

[bridge12]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Seattle isn't a fair comparison to a much larger and much older post-industrial city like Philadelphia.

My understanding is that the city did have much more of a blue-collar/manufacturing industry pre-Amazon tied to aerospace, but I can think of no other city whose massive ascent has been as tied to the fortunes of one multi-national tech behemoth.

Comcast is obviously Philadelphia's closest analogue (or maybe more recently, GoPuff), but neither are anywhere close to the pull that Amazon has had on the Emerald City.

Seattle's legendary natural environment is icing on the cake, but the strong tech-based economy was its real driver of success going back decades, something that Philadelphia didn't have benefit of experiencing as it dealt with the ongoing decline of obsolete or relocated industry.

But if the last few years of VC funding is any indication, Philadelphia has finally found the right ingredients for cashing in on the latest biotech boom and the "flattening" map of tech industry.

If you now mix in the trends of remote work and a housing affordability crisis that is far less acute in Philadelphia compared to other vibrant, bona fide urban cities, I think folks are seriously underestimating Philly's ability to truly hit the economic lottery, so to speak, in the coming years with proper leadership and laser focus on addressing quality-of-life issues.

I just have to point out something about Seattle that I think is super overrated - the recreational opportunities in the city! I once was at a wedding in Seattle and some locals joked "Do you actually have hiking trails in Philadelphia?". The ironic thing is that when you live in Seattle you have to drive hours on traffic-choked roads just to go on a hike! In Philly, we have an extensive trail system in the city limits that I can easily bike to from Center City. They were shocked!

[cpomp]

Not to start a debate (keep it civil please ), but not a good look if Philadelphia brings back the mask mandate. And the city would be less competitive in the tourism/leisure department if NYC, DC, Boston, and the burbs don't reinstate theirs. If some people want to wear masks, fine. Masks in medical settings, fine. But enough is enough with the universal mandates...

With COVID-19 cases inching up in Philadelphia, city urges a return of masks indoors

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coro...-20220405.html

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by cpomp

If some people want to wear masks, fine. Masks in medical settings fine. But enough is enough with the universal mandates...

Agreed.

[JamesJay64]

Originally Posted by Angus215

I definitely think that Kenney was a turning point for the city, and not for the better. Ever since the 1980s, Philly had been moving in the right direction. It even managed to persevere through a shamefully corrupt Street administration. Under Kenney, however, it started moving in the wrong direction, even before Covid and the riots. It's due to the progressive liberal philosophy of pandering to the worst elements of society, something that we didn't have (at least on anywhere near to that magnitude) under prior Democratic mayors.

Of course, other large Democratic-controlled cities have dealt with similar problems. New Yorkers, however, realized that uncontrolled crime is actually not a good thing for society, and elected a tough-on-crime Mayor. Will Philly do the same thing? We'll see, but another Mayor like Kenney, or another DA like Krasner, and it may become difficult to recover.

I don't see why Philly would elect a competent mayor when "we" re-elected Krasner just last year.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by cpomp

Not to start a debate (keep it civil please ), but not a good look if Philadelphia brings back the mask mandate. And the city would be less competitive in the tourism/leisure department if NYC, DC, Boston, and the burbs don't reinstate theirs. If some people want to wear masks, fine. Masks in medical settings, fine. But enough is enough with the universal mandates...

With COVID-19 cases inching up in Philadelphia, city urges a return of masks indoors

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coro...-20220405.html

As long as they're keeping this a recommendation rather than a mandate, I'm fine with this. And something tells me the city would get lots of pushback if the Health Department moved to reinstate a mandate here.

We recommend but no longer require that patrons at the Pen & Pencil wear masks. We had a discussion of this on the Board and decided that the mask-wearing had become performative.

More of us now know people who have been infected with the COVID virus, including people who have been vaccinated, since this new subvariant was first announced. I'll wager that none of these people have landed in the hospital or gotten seriously ill. The two I know who've had this happen lately are both clear of the virus and back in circulation, and it took about two weeks. One of those two has 15 years on me but is not immunocompromised. I'm 63 and am (type 2 diabetes).

You might want to check my long intro to the share of the backgrounder on my Facebook profile.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by JamesJay64

I don't see why Philly would elect a competent mayor when "we" re-elected Krasner just last year.

Hard to argue. It certainly does not bode well for the future.

[JamesJay64]

Originally Posted by Redddog

Hard to argue. It certainly does not bode well for the future.

As a homeowner who loves it here... I don't plan on going anywhere. But everything good about the city is in spite of the people running it. When I look at all the new businesses opening in Center City and the new development throughout the city in general, I have to wonder how incredible things would be if the last 8 years were handled differently - though if they were, I probably wouldn't have been able to afford a home in Center City at all.