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

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by KB0679

I'm pretty sure someone already alluded to this, but shortly after moving to the area, I was pretty taken aback by the lack of energy in Philly compared to many of its peer cities and it's a sharp contrast to my former city of Atlanta.

What are you defining as energy? Are you comparing South Jersey with Atlanta?

Philly's core vibrancy (Center City) is as energetic as an urban core gets in the U.S. outside of NYC.

[Hockeyfan85]

Originally Posted by KB0679

I'm pretty sure someone already alluded to this, but shortly after moving to the area, I was pretty taken aback by the lack of energy in Philly compared to many of its peer cities and it's a sharp contrast to my former city of Atlanta.

That's what happens when you go on a Sunday.

Philadelphia's energy is second to NYC only, and on par with SF, Chicago and Boston.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by Londonee

What are you defining as energy? Are you comparing South Jersey with Atlanta?

Philly's core vibrancy (Center City) is as energetic as an urban core gets in the U.S. outside of NYC.

Originally Posted by Hockeyfan85

That's what happens when you go on a Sunday.

Philadelphia's energy is second to NYC only, and on par with SF, Chicago and Boston.

I'm not really talking about pedestrian activity (there's plenty of that), but more of a social dynamism and I realize that can be a bit hard to pin down. I was expecting a bit more on that front.

[UrbanRevival]

Originally Posted by KB0679

I'm not really talking about pedestrian activity (there's plenty of that), but more of a social dynamism and I realize that can be a bit hard to pin down. I was expecting a bit more on that front.

Can you be more specific regarding "social dynamism," though? Even on that front, it's a pretty diverse metro with a big cross-section of folks (especially with increasing immigration and diversifying domestic in-migration) with countless social activities.

If anything, Philadelphians are among the most open and affable people you'll ever meet, which is one of the best parts about the city. It feels so human and "lived-in" compared to the vast majority of other American cities.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by UrbanRevival

Can you be more specific regarding "social dynamism," though? Even on that front, it's a pretty diverse metro with a big cross-section of folks (especially with increasing immigration and diversifying domestic in-migration) with countless social activities.

If anything, Philadelphians are among the most open and affable people you'll ever meet, which is one of the best parts about the city. It feels so human and "lived-in" compared to the vast majority of other American cities.

It can come across as being somewhat insular, at least with respect to the circles I'm used to moving in. I think this is probably because the city doesn't have a particularly high level of migration compared to its peers.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by KB0679

It can come across as being somewhat insular, at least with respect to the circles I'm used to moving in. I think this is probably because the city doesn't have a particularly high level of migration compared to its peers.

Philly is "dynamic" in the sense of urbanism, people on the street, stuff to do, etc. It's arguably in that very general tier with Chicago, SF, Boston and DC.

I agree though that Philly is a bit of an underperformer in terms of social and economic and cultural dynamism. Probably no better than Top 10 on this metric, but certainly Top 5 or so as with urban dynamism.

[G Goo]

A couple years ago, I was at Monks with a few friends enjoying a few Belgians and we got to talking to this guy and his buddy, from Chicago. The one guy turned out to be a chef who came to Philly because he was comped a meal at Vetri (nice, right?); so he and his buddy decided to make a long weekend out of it. He readily admitted that he knew very little about Philly and didn't know what to expect. He then takes the next 15 minutes to describe experiencing all of the things about Philly that we Philadelphians know and love, and probably take for granted (food, people, architecture, vibrancy). He couldn't get over how great the city was to him. He finishes his description of his time by exclaiming, loudly, drunkily (word?) "WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THIS BEFORE......WHY!". He was one step short of grabbing my shirt and shaking me. It was almost as if he was blaming me, a Philadelphian. It was funny, and a bit telling.

We Philadelphians could be part of the reason Philly still remains under-the-radar, despite all of it's amazing attributes. We come from Quaker stock.....we don't like to boast or advertise. It's just not in our DNA.

But it's Philly's under-the-radar-ness that may also contribute to its unique character. Read the links below, one about the food scene, and the other the music scene. I couldn't get over the similarities in the discription of each.....talks about how both scenes are not particularly influenced by outsiders, very independent, and high quality. Under the radar. But once we get on the radar, will we lose the very things that make this city unique? It's almost as if our under-the-radarness is what makes Philly, Philly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sty...-philadelphia/

http://www.stereogum.com/1804162/str...s/cover-story/

[texcolo]

http://www.full-stop.net/wp-content/...8/Hitchbot.jpg

[volguus zildrohar]

That robot would have been dismantled in Baltimore. It just happened to stop here first. We're not given to such trifles. Especially with this Drake/Meek Mills thing going on.

[texcolo]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

That robot would have been dismantled in Baltimore. It just happened to stop here first. We're not given to such trifles. Especially with this Drake/Meek Mills thing going on.

I had to look up the Drake / Meek Mills thing.

I'm so out of the loop.

[Swinefeld]

Originally Posted by chris08876

The city is growing in terms of population, but at a slow rate. I would like to see a boom that can push it over the 2 million mark overtime. This being for the core. A 5% growth rate would be nice. Shame that during the 70's it lost so many residents.

Actually, Philadelphia had a population of over 2 million by 1950. It took half-a-century for the city to lose 500,000+ people so they won't come back right away. I do feel that, since the year 2000, the city is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. At times it has been slow and almost imperceptible, other times (like now) a flurry of new construction and bustling sidewalks in Center City. The Ben Franklin Parkway Museum District alone would be the envy of any city.

[mhays]

Not advertising is usually not an impediment, or not a big one. I live in a city and state with next to zero tourism budget. We do basically nothing for the film or TV industries, which are used to money being thrown at them. We don't really recruit companies to relocate, or have large efforts to draw tech or biotech. We constrain outward development. And within the city limits we not only don't financially support development but instead make the average tower pay many millions in extra fees in addition to sales tax on construction. Yet we have great free PR and keep growing.

There's momentum, luck, lack of a negative stereotype, a general feeling of progressiveness, a general feeling about what's coming...it's hard to define but it's something way beyond tax policy and advertising.

[eschaton]

Again, I think Philly's problem is pretty much 100% the job market. Regional job growth is low, and the city's job to resident ratio is ridiculously low, to the point a substantial number of Philly residents must reverse commute to the suburbs in order to be employed.

Without a better job market, all you're basically seeing is a "great inversion" - where younger professionals who used to live in the suburbs are choosing the city instead. But in some ways Philly is less able to capture all of this market than other major cities, because someone who wants a walkable environment could pick an old borough in the suburbs like Conshohocken, Phoenixville, or Collingswood instead of living in the city.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by texcolo

http://www.full-stop.net/wp-content/...8/Hitchbot.jpg

Too soon. Too soon.

[bobdreamz]

On a personal note? My nephew has friends he met here in Florida who are from Philly and just paid his way to come to Philly 2 days ago from Florida unbeknownst to me! He has never been on a plane or to the northeast even though my family grew up in metro NYC but he has not visited.
His first text message to us? " Philly is a cool city!" Of course I have been to Philly so I could have told him that.
His friends have already took him too Amish country and they are now dragging him to Delaware and to the Chesapeake Bay area too visit Baltimore.
he better bring back some pictures that I can post here!

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by G Goo

A couple years ago, I was at Monks with a few friends enjoying a few Belgians and we got to talking to this guy and his buddy, from Chicago. The one guy turned out to be a chef who came to Philly because he was comped a meal at Vetri (nice, right?); so he and his buddy decided to make a long weekend out of it. He readily admitted that he knew very little about Philly and didn't know what to expect. He then takes the next 15 minutes to describe experiencing all of the things about Philly that we Philadelphians know and love, and probably take for granted (food, people, architecture, vibrancy). He couldn't get over how great the city was to him. He finishes his description of his time by exclaiming, loudly, drunkily (word?) "WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THIS BEFORE......WHY!". He was one step short of grabbing my shirt and shaking me. It was almost as if he was blaming me, a Philadelphian. It was funny, and a bit telling.

We Philadelphians could be part of the reason Philly still remains under-the-radar, despite all of it's amazing attributes. We come from Quaker stock.....we don't like to boast or advertise. It's just not in our DNA.

But it's Philly's under-the-radar-ness that may also contribute to its unique character. Read the links below, one about the food scene, and the other the music scene. I couldn't get over the similarities in the discription of each.....talks about how both scenes are not particularly influenced by outsiders, very independent, and high quality. Under the radar. But once we get on the radar, will we lose the very things that make this city unique? It's almost as if our under-the-radarness is what makes Philly, Philly.

I had a somewhat similar experience. I has visitors from Ontario a few years ago who spent a few days in Philadelphia with us. They are a couple in their 50’s, who are extensive travelers and so-called professional tourists. At the end of the first day, their reaction was like, “Well, we are very impressed with what we’ve seen but what the F? How come we didn’t know about any of this? You guys need to get the word out!” I think people expect to see something similar to Detroit when at least in Center City, they are getting a NY vibe (on a smaller scale of course but that scale also adds to the charm).

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by texcolo

http://www.full-stop.net/wp-content/...8/Hitchbot.jpg

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

Because unarmed Canadian robots get destroyed.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by KB0679

It can come across as being somewhat insular, at least with respect to the circles I'm used to moving in. I think this is probably because the city doesn't have a particularly high level of migration compared to its peers.

These are incredibly vague critiques. The only "social dynamisms" - as you call it - that ATL could boast over philly would be the southern hospitality aspect...or the hip-hop, club culture. Other than that? I'd reco venturing out of south jersey and into town more where there's truly a million different strokes for a million different folks.

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by Londonee

These are incredibly vague critiques. The only "social dynamisms" - as you call it - that ATL could boast over philly would be the southern hospitality aspect...or the hip-hop, club culture. Other than that? I'd reco venturing out of south jersey and into town more where there's truly a million different strokes for a million different folks.

I'm actually in Philly fairly often; was there all weekend matter of fact.

From a social perspective, Atlanta gets a ton of transplants so social networks there are more fluid and dynamic, particularly among young(ish) Black professionals (and no, that's not just hip hop). You don't really get that same sort of vibe in Philly which is more of a blue-collar, post-industrial city.

At any rate, other folks here could somewhat understand what I was getting at so it's not just me.

[MolsonExport]

cream cheese?