Why isn't Philly seen more as a "cool" destination?

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Those from the West Coast wouldn't want to travel to Philadelphia to learn about the place where the country they live in was founded? That's a lot more than Baltimore, don't ya think?

No I totally agree with you, but most people could care less about that stuff and honestly many people on the WC don't care about the nation's founding. (Strange, I know). They want entertainment, instant gratification.

Most people just don't appreciate these things.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by Shawn

YES!

My Japanese wife's only image of Philly is Rocky (she's obsessed with Stallone).

What about The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire?

A young, troubled black teen had to leave his mother behind in the rough streets of West Philadelphia and move to beautiful, safe and clean California.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

No I totally agree with you, but most people could care less about that stuff and honestly many people on the WC don't care about the nation's founding. (Strange, I know). They want entertainment, instant gratification.

Most people just don't appreciate these things.

Ahh, I see. And I agree. It's pretty sad though. You would think the founding of the country would be enough to put Philadelphia in the top 5 slot of total visitors among US cities, yet this falls short to places like NYC (obviously), LA/Anaheim, Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas, etc.

It seems that Philadelphia doesn't really offer that "sexiness" in which these other cities do.

NYC = times square/shopping/being in NYC
LA = Hollywood
Orlando = Disney/Universal
Miami = Beaches/nightlife
Vegas=Gambling/nightlife
Philadelphia= History

One of these things just doesn't belong haha. It seems most people go to DC for a superficial recreation of the country's history tucked safe away in museums instead of adventuring through urban neighborhoods to explore the country's real historic sites in Philadelphia and Boston.

[JManc]

Both of Pennsylvania's major cities have serious image problems. Pittsburgh still has the reputation as a bombed out polluted rustbelt city and people assume all Philly looks like South Philly, Camden and Chester. They both need better PR. Especially Philadelphia. Amazing city.

[llamaorama]

Quote:
Originally Posted by llamaorama View Post
I'll be frank, my mental image of Philly is like NYC in 1980, but without the bohemian romance.
In spirit of the thread title, why?

A lot of what you described. Rocky doesn't help. I'm not European but the same things go for people in the parts of the US that are far from the eastern seaboard.

I know from this site that Philly is a diamond in the rough, of course. Still it's hard to remove certain things from your mind.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by JManc

Both of Pennsylvania's major cities have serious image problems. Pittsburgh still has the reputation as a bombed out polluted rustbelt city and people assume all Philly looks like South Philly, Camden and Chester. They both need better PR. Especially Philadelphia. Amazing city.

I believe this 100% boils down to PA's antiquated and backwards thinking politicians. Favoring rural and small town over major city. Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh could reach their full potential with some forward thinking, urban-friendly politicians in Harrisburg.

[ColDayMan]

^Is it rural/small towns though? In the state that borders yours (the one I'm in), it's suburban interests that keep our cities down from their potential. I don't know Pennsylvania politics too well but I'm presuming there is a larger bloc of suburban voters versus rural voters.

[Dr Nevergold]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

^Is it rural/small towns though? In the state that borders yours (the one I'm in), it's suburban interests that keep our cities down from their potential. I don't know Pennsylvania politics too well but I'm presuming there is a larger bloc of suburban voters versus rural voters.

Having lived in Pittsburgh for some time, and touring all ends of the state, my estimation is that Pennsylvania suffers from the same setup most American states suffer from.

Pittsburgh and Philly (and to a smaller degree places like Scranton or even Erie) are on their own wavelengths. The suburbs in PA are more moderate than the average, but they don't always care for the city. Now maybe I'm coming from a Pittsburgh point of view, but even some of the suburbs within Allegheny County used to look down upon Pittsburgh. You'd have a lot of people who wouldn't go to the city and would stick to their village in the county.

Yet, these suburbs were full of people who didn't care for the hick culture of the hinterlands way outside the city. Anything far outside the region was seen as a vacation to get away, then quickly return from.

These are vast generalizations, but it felt that way in Pittsburgh while I lived there. And having been to much of the rest of the state, the patterns felt the same. And it didn't seem to be something unique to PA. Pennsylvania does have a far higher proportion of suburbanites that vote liberal in federal elections. Hence why PA is a blue'ish purple state, whereas places like Georgia are still deeply red: suburbs in Atlanta largely are staunchly Republican.

So, PA is more liberal overall thanks to its suburbs. But they aren't always pro-urban. PA's rural areas? They are as hick as Alabama with a different accent. But its also rural communities with dying populations and dying influence in politics. That's how I read the state's urban/suburban/rural setup.

[pdxtex]

in case you were wondering, philly is considered a beta plus world city on the global city scale, which also includes such terrible places as houston, rome, montreal, copenhagen and dallas. jeeze, what a bunch of slackers......so seriously, its the real deal, just not as squeaky clean as some other places. but fuck it, rocky, cheese steak sandwiches, the flyers, phillies, benjamin franklin?? all important to the american lexicon...

[Dr Nevergold]

I don't think Philly suffers from a lack of attention. Maybe its perceived among certain people, but who doesn't think of Philly when cheese steaks come up, or when the founding of the country comes up, and who doesn't think about the city when it comes to pop cultural cult hits like Its Always Sunny... come out. Wasn't Rocky based in Philly? Didn't Tom Hanks launch America's first mainstream HIV movie in Philadelphia?

Philly is culturally at the center of a lot in this country and gets plenty attention. Those who don't notice aren't paying attention.

Sure, not everyone is a history buff, but most people with half a brain knows that the core of American history was born in Philly - not DC or NYC. Its as much of a cultural capital as any city could be in America.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

^Is it rural/small towns though? In the state that borders yours (the one I'm in), it's suburban interests that keep our cities down from their potential. I don't know Pennsylvania politics too well but I'm presuming there is a larger bloc of suburban voters versus rural voters.

Maybe a mix of outer suburb/exurb/rural vs. city/inner ring burbs/close by suburbs.

I can tell you that a lot of suburban areas surrounding Philadelphia are definitely starting to warm up to the idea of the city as millennials move en-masse to Philadelphia and their parents come down to visit and realize that Philly is actually becoming something great and truly special.

I'm not sure how Pittsburgh and it's surrounding burbs are in this regard.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Dr Nevergold

I don't think Philly suffers from a lack of attention. Maybe its perceived among certain people, but who doesn't think of Philly when cheese steaks come up, or when the founding of the country comes up, and who doesn't think about the city when it comes to pop cultural cult hits like Its Always Sunny... come out. Wasn't Rocky based in Philly? Didn't Tom Hanks launch America's first mainstream HIV movie in Philadelphia?

Philly is culturally at the center of a lot in this country and gets plenty attention. Those who don't notice aren't paying attention.

Sure, not everyone is a history buff, but most people with half a brain knows that the core of American history was born in Philly - not DC or NYC. Its as much of a cultural capital as any city could be in America.

I think Philadelphia gets a ton of press, but a lot of it is arguably negative press. Outdated images of the city and it's rundown, dirty and ghetto neighborhoods in "Philadelphia," "Rocky," "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and "Trading Places." Also a lot of outdated stereotypes and negative press regarding Philadelphia's sports fans. A lot of the newer or other major films which do show Philadelphia in a positive light, don't show much of the city or take place in the city throughout it's entirety: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "The Sixth Sense," "Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "National Treasure," etc, etc.

Other major films and TV shows take place primarily in the burbs surrounding Philadelphia: "Silver Linings Playbook," "Boy Meets World," "Pretty Little Liars," The Goldbergs," etc, etc.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by Dr Nevergold

I don't think Philly suffers from a lack of attention. Maybe its perceived among certain people, but who doesn't think of Philly when cheese steaks come up, or when the founding of the country comes up, and who doesn't think about the city when it comes to pop cultural cult hits like Its Always Sunny... come out. Wasn't Rocky based in Philly? Didn't Tom Hanks launch America's first mainstream HIV movie in Philadelphia?

Philly is culturally at the center of a lot in this country and gets plenty attention. Those who don't notice aren't paying attention.

Sure, not everyone is a history buff, but most people with half a brain knows that the core of American history was born in Philly - not DC or NYC. Its as much of a cultural capital as any city could be in America.

Meh....Philly is just not a city people clamor to desire to see over other places in this country.

For examples, I asked my mom if Philly is a city she ever cares to see. She said "No.". She says she wants to go back to NYC, go back to D.C., wouldn't mind another trip to NOLA, back to L.A. where she used to live, and she wants to go see SF.

Truth is, the average person aren't really aware of what is in cities as much as people think. I mean, of course, the big tourist destinations of the country and the world(NYC, SF, LA Vegas, LA, Miami, DC, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, etc), people know about, but I mean, most the time though, people have no idea what cities have to offer and they generally don't care to know.

People on this forum tend to overestimate people's knowledge on cities past superficial sights or attractions.

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

What about The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire?

A young, troubled black teen had to leave his mother behind in the rough streets of West Philadelphia and move to beautiful, safe and clean California.

Fresh Prince was off the air by the time my wife moved to Cali. She recognized Philly in "Twelve Monkeys", but that too doesn't exactly paint the city in a nice light.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Meh....Philly is just not a city people clamor to desire to see over other places in this country.

Yet it's #9 of the most visited US cities Nationally, and #13 out of the US cities visited by international visitors.

As Philadelphia's image and PR improves, so does it's visitation numbers. Philadelphia grew 12% in visitation numbers year-over-year. Very few cities saw a greater increase. Places like NYC, Orlando, LA, Miami, Las Vegas will always have higher visitation numbers than Philly, but Philly is higher than many cities on visitation numbers including San Francisco, Boston, New Orleans, Seattle, San Diego, Honolulu, etc.

[Dr Nevergold]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

People on this forum tend to overestimate people's knowledge on cities past superficial sights or attractions.

I think Philly has a healthy tourism economy. Tens of millions* visit every year to see the sights. This isn't a guess or an estimation, its reality. The tourism bests most cities in the country.

What many of these forums try to do is trivialize and make things all about hierarchy based on personal preferences. We all do it.


Source: http://philadelphia.regionsbusiness....s-hospitality/
approximately 40 million visitors annually

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Forgive my ignorance, but I can't quite comprehend why CME is so big, and how it is more important in the Finance world than Wall Street. I understand it handles $1 quadrillion worth of contracts, but only employs 2300 and has a total revenue of $3 billion. CME might be a huge boon for Chicago, but it doesn't "own" the finance industry - New York does. Comcast is a huge boon for Philadelphia - and the largest Media and soon to be tech conglomerate in the world with a total employment of 136,000 and $65 bill in revenue - but Philadelphia doesn't own the media industry.

What do you know about the role futures and derivative exchanges play in the overall economy? As a largely electronic trading platform, there won't be many employees at the CME; it's the exchange's key role in facilitating global trade that matters. The CME acts as the world's risk clearing house. It allows for hedging against global price fluctuations in everything from corn, wheat, palm oil, lumber, coffee, all grades of crude oil, ethanol, equity indexes and options (S&P 500/Value for example), and even interest rate indexes. All of this happens in one physical place using one platform; the CME standardizes global derivatives contracts for trading.

The CME's counterparty margin requirements are essentially the global "line in the sand" against derivative, credit, and default risk. Agro groups from Europe to South America hedge against their own crops and even the weather via the CME because of these margin requirements.

The CME is also the world's principle US T-bond exchange.

If you want to "play in media", you can go through any number of principle communication centers; these will necessarily vary from market to market, because media is a localized product. But if you want to hedge against future petroleum output, if you're an agro exec in Brazil who wants to trade against next year's sugar cane crop, you go through Chicago.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Shawn

What do you know about the role futures and derivative exchanges play in the overall economy? As a largely electronic trading platform, there won't be many employees at the CME; it's the exchange's key role in facilitating global trade that matters. The CME acts as the world's risk clearing house. It allows for hedging against global price fluctuations in everything from corn, wheat, palm oil, lumber, coffee, all grades of crude oil, ethanol, equity indexes and options (S&P 500/Value for example), and even interest rate indexes. All of this happens in one physical place using one platform; the CME standardizes global derivatives contracts for trading.

The CME's counterparty margin requirements are essentially the global "line in the sand" against derivative, credit, and default risk. Agro groups from Europe to South America hedge against their own crops and even the weather via the CME because of these margin requirements.

The CME is also the world's principle US T-bond exchange.

If you want to "play in media", you can go through any number of principle communication centers; these will necessarily vary from market to market, because media is a localized product. But if you want to hedge against future petroleum output, if you're an agro exec in Brazil who wants to trade against next year's sugar cane crop, you go through Chicago.

See, I know literally nothing about this. That's why I said "excuse my ignorance." But thank you for the clarification, lol.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by Shawn

What do you know about the role futures and derivative exchanges play in the overall economy? As a largely electronic trading platform, there won't be many employees at the CME; it's the exchange's key role in facilitating global trade that matters. The CME acts as the world's risk clearing house. It allows for hedging against global price fluctuations in everything from corn, wheat, palm oil, lumber, coffee, all grades of crude oil, ethanol, equity indexes and options (S&P 500/Value for example), and even interest rate indexes. All of this happens in one physical place using one platform; the CME standardizes global derivatives contracts for trading.

Rick Santelli, reporting live from Chicago.

[kingtut]

Originally Posted by mhays

Boston does well in part because of its incredible array of universities and the tech/biotech/medical industries and other intellectual fields that are tied to it. Having generations of students come through from around the world has to help, as many of the country's and world's top movers and shakers have lived there for a while, and the youthful vibe is probably helpful.

Chicago is a commodities center and also the traditional crossroads of the US. It's also had a lot of room its downtown to grow due to the high amount of unused land next to it, which has allowed a lot of new companies and sectors to locate there. And it's been possible to build tens of thousands of housing units within walking distance of the Loop or Upper Michigan without breaking a sweat.

Philly has some universities but not on Boston's scale or notoriety. It's been pretty cohesive in land use terms, and can't grow as easily as Chicago in core districts. So growth has been pretty moderate.

JUst some pertinent information on the state of Philadelphia's universities .
1) U of P has invested billions in research space and labs in the past five years and investing five billion $ in the next five years .
2)according to Nature Biotechnology Journal Penn ranked #1 as a stand along Institution in medical technology transfer .
3)Penn is also a leader in Medical patents .
4) Drexal has also increased it's number of patents and collaborating with Penn and Princeton in Bio technology
5) Rowen University Medical School will become a research center , focusing on cancer .