Originally Posted by ewonder

Politics is a dirty business. I really don't know much about Mrs. Blackwell. She wanted the best deal she could get, I guess. I am no fan of Mayor Street by any strech of the imagination. Philadelphia like most cities has serious issues. But there is no way Philadelphia's run into the ground. In fact, one could argue this city in the process of reinventing itself. Dispite a poor, if not corrupt city government, the city has seen the rise of two new stadiums, a new international airport terminal, The Constitution Center, The Kimmel Center, Comcast Center, Cira and soon Cira ll, beginnings of the expansion of the convention center, The Perlman Museum, a renovated Suburban Station, The Susane Roberts Theater, Symphony House, The Residences at the Ritz, 10 Rittenhouse Square, re-invigoration of many old residential neighborhoods with increased property values, major construction at U of Pa, Temple U, Jefferson. Ships are being built at the navy yard, again and soon trains will be built there, too. I think Philadelphia is a very relevant city. Now we have a mayor-elect who has a vision that includes tax relief that could bring more jobs to the city. I think Philadelphia is rising. (You are intitiled to your opinion).

Originally Posted by ewonder

Mayor Street's interest in his legacy must have come into play. Well, I will be happy to give him credit for this historic project. Better late then never. I guess there are potential legal hurdles to wrap up before this is truely a done deal. Thisclose. Things are looking up.

Originally Posted by ewonder

Politics is a dirty business. I really don't know much about Mrs. Blackwell. She wanted the best deal she could get, I guess. I am no fan of Mayor Street by any strech of the imagination. Philadelphia like most cities has serious issues. But there is no way Philadelphia's run into the ground. In fact, one could argue this city in the process of reinventing itself. Dispite a poor, if not corrupt city government, the city has seen the rise of two new stadiums, a new international airport terminal, The Constitution Center, The Kimmel Center, Comcast Center, Cira and soon Cira ll, beginnings of the expansion of the convention center, The Perlman Museum, a renovated Suburban Station, The Susane Roberts Theater, Symphony House, The Residences at the Ritz, 10 Rittenhouse Square, re-invigoration of many old residential neighborhoods with increased property values, major construction at U of Pa, Temple U, Jefferson. Ships are being built at the navy yard, again and soon trains will be built there, too. I think Philadelphia is a very relevant city. Now we have a mayor-elect who has a vision that includes tax relief that could bring more jobs to the city. I think Philadelphia is rising. (You are intitiled to your opinion).

Originally Posted by OCduke

Thanks for pulling our collective heads out of our collective arses. I've been in this region all of my life and in and out of the city many times (thankfully back in). Its amazing where we are now vs. 25 years ago.

Originally Posted by HowardBHaas

Is there a Perlman Museum, or do you mean the theater in the Kimmel Center?
I'd like to add to this fine list the state of the art, stadium seated Bridge and Pearl movie theaters. And, of course, I wish to add an Art Deco movie palace, restored & reopened for all sorts of showplace entertainment (including a film series) but we must still make that happen: www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org

Originally Posted by HowardBHaas

Most projects on that list were actually built in the last 10 years. Want to go back 25 years to 1982? No skyline of One & Two Liberty Place, One & Two Commerce Square, Bell Atlantic Tower, Mellon Bank Tower, Blue Cross Tower. No Center City District with cleaning, security, street lamps, etc. Few restaurants in Old City. No sidewalk dining, or very little. No new residential construction in Center City.

On the other hand, John Wanamaker department store had 9 floors of selling space + 3 floors of basement; Strawbridge & Clothier had 8 floors + basement, Gimbels was in the Gallery; Nan Duskin and Bonwit Teller still sold the finest clothes.
And, there were 20 first run mainstream movie screens in Center City. Except for the movie theaters and department stores, Center City has improved in countless ways, and so have many other neigbhorhoods, too, especially areas of South Philadelphia, University City, and North Broad & around Temple U.

Originally Posted by OCduke

Very true Howard. Unfortunately retail has gone through a marked change with the advent of the internet. While I'm thrilled with the Ritz (12 screens within walking distance from my house) it kinda bites that I have to hop the sub to catch a mainstream release. Replacing the screens with live theater isn't a bad trade-off though.