Posted on Tue, May. 18, 2004

Phoenix sprawls past Phila. in population

The awaited moment has come. All together now: Shrug.

By Natalie Pompilio

Inquirer Staff Writer


Phoenix unofficially beat out Philadelphia on the list of the nation's largest cities yesterday, moving to fifth place.

Philadelphia dropped to sixth.

And no one really cared.

The earth didn't quake. A plague of cicadas did not overtake the land - at least not yet. Most people were not even aware anything had occurred.

"Philadelphia today is pretty much what Philadelphia was yesterday," said David Bartelt, a Temple University professor of geography and urban studies.

Over in Phoenix, Mayor Phil Gordon said it was business as usual as he prepared for today's State of the City speech.

"We're just moving forward," Gordon said.

A city's size is one thing investors consider before moving to or doing business with a city, Bartelt said.

"They look at it and say, 'Philadelphia's on the downslide.' I don't think that's completely accurate, but it is an idea that gets touted when one of these shifts occurs," he said.

The last time Philadelphia was among the top three U.S. cities, population-wise, was 1950. Since then, it's slipped to fourth place in 1960 and fifth place in 1990.

As of today, one demographer projected, Phoenix's population has passed Philadelphia's population of 1.45 million.

University of Pennsylvania urban studies professor Janice Fanning Madden projected, based on U.S. Census data, that yesterday would be the day Phoenix would overtake Philadelphia.

Yet even she wasn't awed by it.

"Who cares?" she asked. "Whether we're fifth or sixth, it doesn't have much importance. We've got bigger things to worry about, like balancing the budget and schools and communities."

How did Phoenix move up? Well, cheating helped. While Philadelphia has been confined to the same 135-square-mile area for more than 100 years, Phoenix is ever-expanding, gobbling up surrounding land by the mile. In 1970, the Arizona capital filled 247 square miles. This year, it sprawls across 565 square miles.

"It would be equivalent to us annexing large parts of Delaware and Montgomery Counties," Bartelt said.

And that isn't going to happen.

"Over my dead body, and not even then," said Bensalem Mayor Joe DiGirolamo when asked whether his township would give its 25 square miles and 60,000 people to Philadelphia's cause.

Loyal Philadelphians were unimpressed by Phoenix's victory.

"Who wants to be in the middle of nowhere? We have New York, D.C., Boston, all these other great cities a train ride away," said city native Laura Penna, 27, a master's student in business administration at Temple University. "I like having all four seasons. I can be nasty and ask what kind of culture they have in Phoenix, but I won't."

Gov. Rendell dismissed the city's change in stature, saying he did not believe the census figures were credible.

"We'll see what it says in 2010," he said.


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Contact staff writer Natalie Pompilio at 215-854-2813 or npompilio@phillynews.com.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...ia/8690553.htm

__________________
"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott

I like the broad who touts Philly by mentioning the other citites that are readily available to visit. And of course, everyone's favorite word: CULTURE.

Did it ever occur to the culturinstas that people who move down south or out west are doing it for cultural reasons? I am not waving my Utah flag; but I will say that the available of art, music, theatre, and sports does exist out here. Not as large as back east, but it is here. And, I got the greatest outdoor recreation on Earth minutes away from me. To each their own.

The loss of population is a blow to vanity. The real problem is the loss of the middle class. The ever shrinking tax base puts an undo burden on the upper class and takes away the services, recreation, and other tools that can improve the lower class. The chasm between the two economic groups infesters feelings of bitterness and exclusiveness. The middle class, black as well as white, wants good schools, lots of recreation, safe streets, and a feeling of neighborly respect and belonging. More then not, big cities can not provide this. Some urban crusaders try and make it work. Some have success. Quite a few give up and leave. Nearly all of them are classified as middle class.

Phoenix has an impressive arts scene. I was surprised.

big ****ing deal

Check out Pittsburgh some time, like next month for The Three Rivers Arts Festival http://www.artsfestival.net/. Since moving from there to Philly in 1980, I've often wondered why we have nothing comparable here. Pittsburgh's festival runs for 17 days in June and totally permeates most of the downtown (Golden Triangle), utilizing the plazas of Gateway Center, the office building lobbies, the theaters, and Point State Park. Anyone who's ever attended could be left with the impression that Pittsburgh is the cultural capital of the US.

Cheers,
Jayfar

The other thing that nobody ever mentions is that western cities annex outlying territory to build tax base and population. They do it in the south, as well.

Denver annexed Tech Center a number of years ago (which was not contiguous to the city borders, as required by state law) by annexing the highway to the tech center and then annexing Tech Center. So you get this strange map with a lollipop - Tech Center connected to the rest of Denver by a highway and the adjacent (immediately) properties.

Perhaps Philadelphia should annex Lower Merion Twp. Hah!

__________________
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

I think they tried that and failed, actually.
still, they are fillign up desert faster than the snakes can leave.

Chris said:
From the above article:

__________________
"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott

Eh, whatever.

They have a lot of work to do to get hte kind of diverse culture we have here - or in the northeast in general, in my view.

Just my two cents.

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It's funny that people shrug at this. Putting forth an air of indifference should be expected I guess. It shields us all from the harsh realities we are facing.

My favorite quote so far is that, Well, is this supposed to console us? Can we all take solace in the fact that Philadelphia is still losing people at a fairly steady rate, the unfriendly business climate hasn't gotten any better, and Philadelphia is, in general, looked upon as a second rate city by most of the world? I guess that there is a certain comfort that comes in routine and habit.
Philadelphia is declining, as it has been for the last 50 years - why should we want that to change now? Decline is something familiar to us; it comes naturally. Change is hard work and brings with it a certain amount of uncertainty and pain. No thank you change; we'll take comfortable, familiar decline.

This should be causing more outrage. Are we too prideful? Or, are we just so used to being derided that one more insult isn't that hard to take?

Maybe we approach the decline as we do a phillies, eagles, flyers or 76ers loss. There is always another game or season. Sure things might seem bad now, but just wait till next year. Things will change then.

But, when will things change for Philadelphia? Callousness and numbness to the painful realities of population loss and economic failure will only assure that Philadelphia is the same today as it was yesterday. They only feed the horrible spiral of pathetic decline. Do we deserve pity for our wretched, self-inflicted state, or a kick in the ass? My decision certainly is the latter.