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Most Complimentary, Most Ignorant statements from outsiders about Philly


PghUSA

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Intersted in hearing your experiences and reactions.

Is this supposed to be famous people? If not

I overheard two traveling businessmen on a bustling Walnut Street last week. One said to the other , "Are you sure we didn't take a plane to Chicago. I can't get over how great this downtown is." I took that as a major compliment towards Philly as downtown Chicago along with Manhattan are the best downtowns in the usa.

On a down note a writer had asked Phillies pitcher, country bumpkin Billy Wagner how he liked the sophistication of city life. Wagner said something to the effect Philadlephia is a tough place, I think you have to be from there to like it. He didn't really like all the booing the fans do here in Philly so maybe he held a grudge on that level. Thats one guy who isn't impressed with Philly though.

I had relatives from the west coast visit this summer and they loved the parts of Philly I took them to. The usual Old City-Rittenhouse, wanted to show them Kelly Drive and Chestnut Hill but did not have time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In terms of ignorance, I'd say that its the many people who don't realizde that Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the US and the center of the 4th largest metro. The general consensus out there seems to be that cities like SF, DC, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, etc. are larger when they're not. I attribute this to the overshadowing effect. Atlanta, despite having just 500,000 people or so, is dominant in its region so people call it the "New York of the South" (as if!) whereas when people think of the Northeast Corridor they first think of NYC, then DC (the capital), then Boston (which has more prominence).

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Urban, that hits it right on the head, although Philly does take advantage of being in that "power corridor" it is definitely a double edged sword with being overshadowed.

Sweet, I also think Philly is fantastic, but after hearing all the misconceptions out there about Pittsburgh and a few about Philadelphia I have always wondered if how deep those ignorant stereotypes (or surprised compliments) went. Although it's not the top priority in the mayor's office, that perception on the west coast or in the south or Europe does end up affecting your city in big ways, in some instances people even leave it off the "radar screen" when considering places to expand or travel. Philadelphia does have lots of "goodwill" built up in that way, but again if you can only visit the NE for a couple of days before moving your sales calls or franchise recons to the SE or the W, people tend to think of DC, NY, and possibly Boston as the "it cities". NY you might not be able to do much about except get through that Philly in some ways is the "anti-NY" (if they are desperately seeking an alternative with all the market strengths still present). Boston and DC though shouldn't be accepted at Phillys dismissal as much as it is. Just my two cents.

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Sweet,

I was answering Urban's point that sometimes Philly, though larger then many "world cities" such as Denver, Seattle, Atlanta etc. isn't viewed in that category b/c of its close proximity to DC and NYC which overshadow it at times. Though that's not good Philadelphia does gain much from being the "gateway" from Wall Street and Madison Avenue in NYC to Congress and Federal Offices in DC and vice versa. It is one reason why (population mass, and individual differences of city leadership are the others) Philadelphia looks much much better even though it suffers under some of the same Harrisburg imposed insanity, then Pittsburgh looks.

Atlanta, Denver, Seattle don't have the benefit of being a kind of "gateway" between arguably the nation's capital and the nation's financial and cultural capital, though they do not have to worry about being "overshadowed" in their region, in fact their size and importance is magnified unreasonably at times because of the vast area they serve as "regional capital" for.

Basically Philly wins if DC and NYC get stronger, but the stronger NYC and DC get the more Philly could possibly be more overshadowed.

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Sweet my only point is that both the Philadelphia metroplex and Pittsburgh metroplex suffer under some of the same insane economic, municipality government and tax laws and policies of Hburg and yet Philadelphia seems to flourish in spite of them. The reason? Besides the individual leaders and the uniqueness of the city, New Yorkers and DCers find a haven in Philadelphia that Pittsburgh does not enjoy. Many Wall Street and Madison Avenue types live, shop and send their kids to school in the Philly metroplex but commute into NY, to a lesser extent but still making an impact many DC-Baltimore corridor defense workers, military and policy wonks make places like Kennet Square their home. Again the DC affect in this way isn't as strong as the NY affect though. Philly also serves as an IDEAL location for some business that depend on distribution given it's central location to both the NY and DC markets (why build 2 facitilities in NY and DC when you can build on in Philly but still get all the benes of NY and DC). If Pittsburgh was in between two national capitals (one political one economic/cultural) we would also benefit from the trade between the two and commuters seeking an alternative to the city areas in the two.

Not to take anything away from Philadelphia's strong leaders and size and hard work, but many of the problems Pittsburgh faces are the result of obselete laws and code in Hburg and not neccessarily for lack of strong leadership, population (at least base population 20 years ago) and hard work. The difference is that Cleveland and on the other side Wheeling/Morgantown are struggling just as much as Pittsburgh is in reclaiming thier global dominance. Changes really need to be made in Hburg and fast in tax laws, corporate laws, the ability of cities to expand their limit lines like other 21st century "global cities", and more emphasis on making business and life easier and with less red tape. Philadelphia's leadership is doing an amazing job of using their position as the gateway from Wall Street to Congress and from Federal Offices to Madison Avenue, if only Harrisburg would free it from the shackles of old 18th century govering practices. Pittsburgh would be able to flourish just as much at that point as well. :)

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I think PghUSA is right on target. You have some insightful thoughts.

We are starting to turn the corner when it comes to ignorant statements from

outsiders in my opinion. 5 years ago or more I had to defend Philly but now it

seems there is a real positive spin that has made it into the mainstream press.

USA Today...NY Times...National Geographic...Real World all have helped recently.

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  • 2 weeks later...

That is fantastic what USAToday and NG have done for you guys, also TRW was a great save, could have been bad press at the beginning with the union issues, but turned out well! I also believe the press in 2000 for the RNC was a big plus.

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I am a DC resident and I have always had complimentary things to say about Philadelphia. Downtown DC is primarily a place for people to work. On the other hand I find Philadelphia to be vibrant with alot of first rate restaurants, entertainment venues, and shopping (major department stores etc.). For residents of the city and suburbs Downtown DC is really not a destination for the weekend. Georgetown, Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan all neighborhoods close to Downtown are weekend destinations but Downtown itself is usually given over to the tourist on the weekend. Downtown Philly appears to be a destination for people in the tri-state area of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

I agree with most forumers that Philly really needs to increase its visibility. There is no reason that Philly should not be a destination on par with NYC and DC.

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The big problem is the East Coast overload. People go to Boston to see the historical stuff. They go to NYC for the "big city" stuff. They go to DC for the patriotic/national heritage stuff. What Philadelphia needs to do is to market itself as a city with the attributes of those other three but all in one location. I think that's what they're trying to do. They need to make it more blatant, however. Perhaps they should run commercials wherein they show glimpses of, say, a colonial street with the phrase "Boston?", then glimpses of a national museum with the phrase "Washington?" and then glimpses of streets filled with chic bars and lounges and say "New York?" and then say "No. Philadelphia". That way people will know to visit Philadelphia since its kind of an all-in-one deal.

Philadelphia needs to be that blatant since people's impressions are often hard to change. People seem to have an impression of Philadelphia that's stuck in the 1980's. Unlike NYC, which has had loads of free publicity and thus was able to shake its 1980's image, Philadelphia must still do battle with the "Rocky and cheesesteaks" stereotype. The recent publicity, of course, helps out alot and it seems that the momentum will be accelerating since the "buzz" has been built.

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The big problem is the East Coast overload. People go to Boston to see the historical stuff. They go to NYC for the "big city" stuff. They go to DC for the patriotic/national heritage stuff. What Philadelphia needs to do is to market itself as a city with the attributes of those other three but all in one location. I think that's what they're trying to do. They need to make it more blatant, however. Perhaps they should run commercials wherein they show glimpses of, say, a colonial street with the phrase "Boston?", then glimpses of a national museum with the phrase "Washington?" and then glimpses of streets filled with chic bars and lounges and say "New York?" and then say "No. Philadelphia". That way people will know to visit Philadelphia since its kind of an all-in-one deal.

Philadelphia needs to be that blatant since people's impressions are often hard to change. People seem to have an impression of Philadelphia that's stuck in the 1980's. Unlike NYC, which has had loads of free publicity and thus was able to shake its 1980's image, Philadelphia must still do battle with the "Rocky and cheesesteaks" stereotype. The recent publicity, of course, helps out alot and it seems that the momentum will be accelerating since the "buzz" has been built.

Funny, you mention Philly's 1980's image. Some people still refer to Philly as Filthadelphia a name first coined during the garbage strike of the 1980's. The advertising idea sound like a winner.

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If you look at the national press Philly is getting and the huge promos for the 300th anniversary of Ben Franklin...and the number of hotel rooms that are being filled, the marketing is working.

I was at the year end report that Paul Levy, from the Center City District gave on tourism and center city living and the city is posting incredible numbers for tourism and new inhabitants. You can down load incredible stats from their website...look at the pdfs on the right side of the page. The city has turned the corner. philly statistics

Here is a story from CNN Money... In the 1960s, artists moved into the East Village, Soho and Tribeca. Later on artists found cheap loft spaces in Williamsburg and Long Island City.

All those locales are now out of the price ranges of most artists just starting out.

The result: "Philadelphia is the new Williamsburg" has become the hot, hip saying around artistic circles.

The numbers bear it out: in 2004 there was a net outflow of 11,490 people -- of course they weren't all artists -- from New York to Philadelphia, according to data provided by Economy.com. That is, 11,490 more people moved from New York to Philadelphia than vice versa, an astounding number for one year.

cnn story

Travel Channel Special - 24 hrs in Philadelphia by Jonathan Storm

It's a rare opportunity to see yourself as others do. The Travel Channel, lately phascinated with Philadelphia, offers that chance tonight at 10, as Sankha Guha, star British gadabout, presents 24 Hours in Philadelphia.

Guha, who has done travel for just about every network and newspaper in the United Kingdom, enlists a few locals, phascinating in themselves, to lead him on his journey, which starts at 7 a.m. in Rittenhouse Square and winds up at about 5 a.m. on Boathouse Row.

travel channel on Philly

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Philly has a bad rep even with people from the other megalopolis cities. I was always told Philly was a total dump. Then I went there last summer and it blew me away. It has the history of Boston, a vibrant downtown that can rival New York and blows Boston away as far as nightlife goes. It also has amazing quirky neighborhoods that are incredible assets. Sure it has its rundown areas but what city doesn't? I'm amazed at how people can hear one or two bad things about an area and total knock it down as if it has nothing to offer.

So, my point is, I think Philly is great, and would definitely consider living there.

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Up and down the northeast corridor, many people drive the New Jersey Turnpike so people do not get to even get a chance to see Phila but instead get to see Cherry Hill, Mt Laurel and West Deptford. Once the I-95 connection is complete between the PA Turnpike and I-95 in Bristol, more traffic will be funneled into the city and this should bring more recognition to the city by the thru traffic seeing the city for once instead of seeing pine trees in south jersey.

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Up and down the northeast corridor, many people drive the New Jersey Turnpike so people do not get to even get a chance to see Phila but instead get to see Cherry Hill, Mt Laurel and West Deptford. Once the I-95 connection is complete between the PA Turnpike and I-95 in Bristol, more traffic will be funneled into the city and this should bring more recognition to the city by the thru traffic seeing the city for once instead of seeing pine trees in south jersey.

nt

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Philly has a bad rep even with people from the other megalopolis cities. I was always told Philly was a total dump. Then I went there last summer and it blew me away. It has the history of Boston, a vibrant downtown that can rival New York and blows Boston away as far as nightlife goes. It also has amazing quirky neighborhoods that are incredible assets. Sure it has its rundown areas but what city doesn't? I'm amazed at how people can hear one or two bad things about an area and total knock it down as if it has nothing to offer.

So, my point is, I think Philly is great, and would definitely consider living there.

Recchia, Im glad youre smart enough to figure out that you shouldnt go by what people say all the time. Come back soon!

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