Dankeschoen for Philly Info! - Page 3 - PhillyBlog

Swiss Miss · #21 (**permalink**) 08-21-2007, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooklyncat

aw, I love this thread, even though I'm not sure SwissMiss is real.

SM, if you want to use New York as a barometer, ten years ago Brooklyn was considered a quiet, dorky, somewhat dangerous place to live. It was middle or working class, with pockets of intense poverty (which still exist). Tourists rarely made it there. Now parts of it are trendier than Manhattan.

I (and many others) believe that Philly is the next Brooklyn, only it will be better as it can remain an independent and middle class to working class city. Philly has a more diverse business base than NY and more colleges and universities than any other city in America. The real estate is seriously undervalued in comparison to other East Coast cities, and the arts are thriving. The city's importance to American history surpasses even Boston.

In the future I'd like to see Philly marketed to European tourists as one of the two must-see cities on the East Coast with New York -- as tourists to Japan will hit Tokyo for the crazy nightlife and bustle of a world capital, then head to Kyoto for a glimpse of a graceful past and a more peaceful present.

Do you think Philadelphia will ever have the chance to move from middle class to upper class? I guess for a lot of world travellers Philadelphia is not really on the radar screen when they visit the US. It's the city that is overshadowed by NYC. Everyone in Switzerland hears about the exciting City(NYC), the shopping, the musicals,... basically, there's so much to do that you forget about visiting other East Coast Cities. I like your approach on how you would like to the city to be marketed to other countries.

brooklyncat · #22 (**permalink**) 08-21-2007, 04:19 PM

well, there are pockets of upperclass in the city for sure, old money in Rittenhouse square, new money in Old City and Society Hill (and I'm sure lots of overlaps of both).

As a native New Yorker myself, I don't like what too much money does to a city. When I was growing up in NY, there were the rich people's neighborhoods, middle-class neighborhoods, and the poor neighborhoods. You could move around as your fortunes rose or fell but stay within the city. The mega-rich have turned NY into their playground, which is nice to visit but difficult to maintain as a long-term lifestyle if you are not mega-wealthy yourself.

Philly does already support high-end shopping for the tourists and the upperclass residents and suburbanites in the center of the city, and could do more. I love the stories of when people used to come into town at Christmas and shop at the huge, gorgeous department stores like Wanamakers.

I guess it depends on what you mean by world traveller. You could say most American travelers never make it to Switzerland, but that doesn't make Switzerland a second-class country. I've been all over Europe but only passed through Switzerland by train. Barcelona was once very much a second-class city to Madrid, now it is the hottest destination in Europe. Things change.

phillyaggie · #23 (**permalink**) 08-21-2007, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winston

Take that with a grain of salt. I've never heard anyone refer to Philadelphia as "the Paris of America." We have a wide thoroughfare called the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that was inspired by the Champs-Elysees. But that's about it.

Philadelphia is emerging from several decades of decline in the second half of the 20th century, when manufacturing jobs moved overseas and the local economy suffered. Many longtime residents lived through that decline (or heard stories from their parents) so they feel that Philadelphia's best days are behind it. The city is at the tail end of a residential housing boom that brought many new people to the city, and the influx of new residents in the last decade has brought with it some optimism and enthusiasm for change, but it's still easy to find local residents who are disillusioned and discouraged.

good summary. as for "paris of america", well, i lifted that straight out of giovanni sasso's phillyskyline.com.