reality is not welcome here. Philly needs blogs to pretend everything is worth writing about , except crime and pollution that if truth be known are unbelievable . I think educated blacks don't even want to live here anymore and I certaintly don't blame em.

Educated and affluent blacks are following their white counterparts out of the cities in the same way the whites left them in the 1950s.

However: There is a trend a lot of you may not be aware of, and it's happening here too -- educated and affluent whites reclaiming city centers. After immigration from abroad, this has been the main contributor to the reversal of the population decline a number of large US cities have experienced since the 1950s -- and it has also been part of the reason Philadelphia's population loss in the 1990s was half that of the decades prior and part of the reason some demographers now project the city's population to show virtually no net change as of the 2010 Census.

It's also leading to some advance wailing, as the trends, if they continue, could cause some cities that are now majority-black -- Washington, DC, most prominent among them -- to lose their black majorities by the next census or sometime in the next decade.

__________________
Sandy Smith, Exile on Market Street, Philadelphia
"Jazz and blogging are both intimate, improvisational, and individual -- but also inherently collective. And the audience talks over both." --Andrew Sullivan, "Why I Blog," The Atlantic, November 2008

MktEl, cogent as always. Cities are continuing to attract affluent young people, and Philly is no exception.

One thing I think Philly could do better is market itself to affluent young African-Americans, as Atlanta has. Is it because there are more established historically-black colleges in the Atlanta area? Or has Atlanta just done a better job reaching out to them?

From the Center City District:

While Philadelphia was losing 24% of its population between
1960 and 2000, Center City’s population between Vine and
South streets, river to river grew by 28%. In 1980, Center
City’s residential population in the larger area between Spring
Garden and South streets was 73,121. In 1990, it had inched
up to 75,085. In 2000, it grew to 78,902 as Center City’s
boundaries expanded between the two rivers up to Poplar
Street on the north and Christian Street on the south. In 2006,
the population for this same area was estimated to be 88,000.
By 2010, it could exceed 95,000.

Philadelphia now has the third largest downtown residential
population and the most downtown households in the United
States. An analysis of 45 U.S. downtowns by Dr. Eugenie
Birch of the University of Pennsylvania ranked Philadelphia
as one of just five “fully-developed downtowns,” characterized
by a large population, high percentage of college-educated
adults and affluent residents, and by steady household growth
since 1970.

Exactly!

How would the city market itself to young, affluent African-Americans? Young, affluent blacks, whites, asians, hispanics, etc all want the same things, I would think. How about just marketing the city to anybody who is willing to be a good, tax paying, law abiding citizen? I don't believe if you have a particular skin color that you need a special invite.

Yes, everyone wants the same things, but marketing is marketing. You learn what a particular niche group wants and help them percieve it in what you have to offer.

For example, I know that Harlem's current real estate "renaissance" has a great deal to do with marketing the proud history of art, music, and literature by african-americans in that particular area to younger, well-to-do blacks. they were encouraged to buy in a developing area because they felt an affinity for its history, among other things. they in turn recruit their friends to live there, it gets a reputation as a cool place to live, etc. I think similar things have happened in various areas in DC and Atlanta.

Philadelphia has at least as proud a heritage in that department as the other cities. I'm not saying anyone needs a special invite or that any good tax-paying citizen is more desirable than another. I just think Philly has a "niche" it could market more thoroughly.

There may be certain nabes that would cater to Blacks, but Philly is not a Black city. It's not even majority black now. Does Philly not have White history? How about Kensington and Latinos? Why only Blacks have claim to Philly?

Are you trying to say that white people don't have a firm grasp of their history in this city and country? Maybe, just maybe other groups aren't as anchored, and they need a little more push to see why they should live in any certain area.

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I am very disappointed in you.
-Mayor Michael "Nut" Nutter.

sheesh. read what I am writing. nobody said Philly was a black city. but unlike, say, I don't know, Sioux City, Nebraska, and like, say, Atlanta or Harlem, or New Orleans, it has some very storied african-american history. In other cities, attracting affluent young african-americans have helped to revitalize historic neighborhoods. I don't see that here, particularly, but I think it could happen. I wouldn't say that any particular ethnic group is "unanchored" -- rather that there's a lot of young college grads, black and white and every other ethnic group, and few of them want to live in the suburbs.

It's just one example of what can be done. No one said they were the only ethnic group that might want to live here. I think the city already does a pretty good job of marketing itself to affluent young white people, no? I see them all over.

And I think we have enough cranky old white people, which you sound like. ;-)

Latinos? Bring them on too. Especially because we need some better music in this town (hear that, Hall & Oates?)

How exactly is the city marketing itself to affluent, young White people? Sounds discriminatory to me.

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Speak the truth and you can never be wrong.