There are two things in which I feel Philadelphia is lacking in that could really make Center City a regional center: Retail and entertainment.


Center City does have stores, but not anything like Rodeo dr or 5th Ave. But I feel the market is there, not just in the surrounding neighborhoods, but in the suburbs and tourist markets too. Things like high end department and boutique stores. Stores like the ones at KoP. Stores you can't find anywhere else. Getting to KoP and/or Franklin mills is a pain in the butt. So Center City could fill the gap nicely.


The other thing is entertainment. Dave and Busters is a good start, but there should be more for kids and teens to do. Disney Interactive would have been nice, something like that should be explored. More threaters and music venues would be great. While we don't need the traffic or bright lights, Times Sq is a great model to follow. Theme resturants and arcades are great.


Plus, a few new museums wouldn't hurt either .


Well, how can we make this happen?

Lancaster Avenue: The Rodeo Drive of West Philadelphia.

it's happenning; however slowly. without the jobs in NYC or the wealth, it will be more modest. jobs really are the missing link here. I think the bldg on 12th ande chestnut with PGW in it woudl be great for a dept store...preferrably a nordstrom's.

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I totally agree. But I think it's coming. The Center City department stores are sooooo much better than any of their mall counterparts that it is a good sign. Plus, you have to love Philly-based Anthropologie and Urban Outifitters for keeping their best stores in CC. It seems like stores based out of this region think the safest bet is King of Prussia Mall for their Philadelphia stores. I'd even love to see a CC Marshall's--Ross and Burlington Coat Factory are such ugly step-children.

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Stores: It may happen but slowly. From what I've seen, only a handful of cities really best Philadelphia in terms of an *inner-city* shopping district (Rodeo and Houston's Post Oak district don't count as inner-city). So far I can only think of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle. Even DC, despite having a better metro economy, doesn't have a comparable inner-city shopping district.

The flip side of this is that successful high-end inner-city shopping districts are rare and, tehrefore, retailers are generally mroe conservative about opening them since they are never sure whetehr they can work or not (not enough data points). The safe and easy thing would be to simply open their stores in a mall. To this extent, I think the opening of those stores in KoP and in Marlton is a *good* thing since those markets are now saturated. To look for new opportunities, those stores now *must* look into the city. It may ltake them some time to make the jump, however.

Entertainment: For a city of its size, Philadephia does well with theaters and high-culture entertainment. We also have plenty of bars, lounges, and clubs. What we need more of is family-style entertainment like Dave & Buster's. It may be suburban, but its that diversity that that creates a full service city. This will have to wait utnil mroe middle class families move into the city, however.

I guess the Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center just aren't good enough as music venues? Oh, wait...that's probably not the kind of music you meant, was it? As a resident of a neighborhood adjacent to Center City, I find that my problem is the opposite of yours -- I can't begin to do one-tenth of what's offered here.

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How about a state-of-the-art movie venue?

There is that one insurmountable problem that will keep Center City from becoming a retail mecca: traffic and lack of convenient and affordable parking. That is why only people who can't afford a car shop in Center City. Brooke-I don't know what kind of shopper you are but the mercandise offered at CC Strawbridges and L&T doesn't compare with what you will find at the same stores in Kof P or Cherry Hill. These retailers know who their customers are and target them. They also know that they are competing with Kmart and Burlington and Riteaid, not Nordtrom or Bloomingdales. As for the upscale stores on Walnut, how many people do their every day shopping at Tiffiny's and Burbury?

I agree 100%. It's shocking how much parking is eliminated on what seems like a weekly basis. Entire blocks of meters are removed for construction and the remaining meters have police-ordered No Parking signs. It's completely frustrating.

As far as family entertainment goes, I wouldn't say that Dave & Busters is a good start but rather a last resort. What about the Natural Academy of Sciences, Franklin Institute, Please Touch Museum, Wagner Free Institute of Science, the new Adventure Aquarium, Smith Memorial Playhouse, and the Zoo? The Kimmel has great family concerts including a series for kids as young as 3. All of the library branches, despite the crippling cutbacks, offer programs for kids. There are plenty of quality sources of entertainment for kids in Philadelphia and it doesn't take too much digging. Do we really need more theme restaurants? How's the Hard Rock doing? And arcades are about the last thing I'd like to see popping up in the city.

That's funny. I had no idea that all those people whom i work with who take the train to work then shop at Strawbridge's (or elsewhere in the Gallery) on their lunch breaks were so poor. Maybe i'll take up a collection to help them out.

I do 90% of my shopping in CC (grocey, household, clothing, books) because (1) i don't like to get in the car and drive and (2) as El has pointed at least once, anything that requires me to give up my parking spot in WashWest had better be good. Shopping isn't worth sacrificing the spot, or having to put up with suburbanites and their monster SUVs and their road rage.