London is probably the city Philadelphia should aspire to. Like Philadelphia, it also was a major financial center, power center, etc. which lost some of its luster after NYC stole the show. Now it is coming back and is seen as a cool city to live in and do business in. Philadelphia is obviously nowhere near as big as London and will never have the importance London has but its neighborhoods (full of low-rise rowhouses with small stores) is closer to being like London than it is like most other cities in the US.

Philadelphia being like Tokyo? I don't think any city in the US has the type of energy Tokyo has. You have to take NYC and put it on steroids for 10 years before it can be like Tokyo.