PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread - Page 196

summersm343 · #**3901** Posted **Dec 8, 2020, 7:41 PM**

How Philly’s Bioscience Sector Is Driving the City’s Next Big Real Estate Boom

Nice article about the explosive growth of the life sciences/bio/pharma scene in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. The article specifically mentions King of Prussia, Spring House/Ambler, and the Doylestown area, but there's a lot of life science going-ons in Malvern, Collegeville, and Newark, DE too. The STAR campus in Newark is a big one for the region... surprised that wasn't mentioned at all. Good article either way though.

Read more here:
https://www.phillymag.com/healthcare...12_50ElgmTTiMI

Busy Bee · #**3902** Posted **Dec 8, 2020, 11:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

A construction boom in Chester County: 700 people compete for 142 units

Those ridiculous cornices, my god...

Busy Bee · #**3903** Posted **Dec 8, 2020, 11:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

• Video Link

Worth taking a look at this. I know this should be in the Transportation thread but it's just too important (and cool) to not put here.

Goodlord look at all those ridiculous straddle bents...god I hate aerials. How cool would this be if they could just tunnel the whole thing starting before it crosses the Turnpike. You would think you could almost do a cut and cover (or at least a trench) for most of the chain motel shopping center parking lot suburban hell this thing would be going through.

mcgrath618 · #**3904** Posted **Dec 9, 2020, 12:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Goodlord look at all those ridiculous straddle bents...god I hate aerials. How cool would this be if they could just tunnel the whole thing starting before it crosses the Turnpike. You would think you could almost do a cut and cover (or at least a trench) for most of the chain motel shopping center parking lot suburban hell this thing would be going through.

Unfortunately, local residents have ballooned the cost of construction with constant complaints about noise (from construction and operation alike).

3rd&Brown · #**3905** Posted **Dec 9, 2020, 1:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

How Philly’s Bioscience Sector Is Driving the City’s Next Big Real Estate Boom

Nice article about the explosive growth of the life sciences/bio/pharma scene in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. The article specifically mentions King of Prussia, Spring House/Ambler, and the Doylestown area, but there's a lot of life science going-ons in Malvern, Collegeville, and Newark, DE too. The STAR campus in Newark is a big one for the region... surprised that wasn't mentioned at all. Good article either way though.

Read more here:
https://www.phillymag.com/healthcare...12_50ElgmTTiMI

Isn't that STAR Campus really more focused on FinTech?

On that note, I see no reason why Delaware can't be the leader in FinTech in the nation.

iheartphilly · #**3906** Posted **Dec 9, 2020, 2:06 PM**

^
They would have to unseat California, first. Delaware gets the props for all things credit card, but all the innovations beyond that are in places like San Fran and Palo Alto. The visionaries don't like to leave CA. And people that work for them that get really good, often start up their own company and get VC money from people they know and people they work with and they stay in CA. It's a cycle hard to break unless you have grass root innovation in Delaware from within.

3rd&Brown · #**3907** Posted **Dec 9, 2020, 9:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^
They would have to unseat California, first. Delaware gets the props for all things credit card, but all the innovations beyond that are in places like San Fran and Palo Alto. The visionaries don't like to leave CA. And people that work for them that get really good, often start up their own company and get VC money from people they know and people they work with and they stay in CA. It's a cycle hard to break unless you have grass root innovation in Delaware from within.

This doesn't square with the fact that JP Morgan, Capital One, etc have basically moved their entire tech teams to Delaware.

Even if they aren't the "leaders", there are 1000s of PhDs who now live in that area supporting those businesses and some of them will inevitably strike out on their own to start the next big fintech.

Urbanthusiat · #**3908** Posted **Dec 9, 2020, 10:07 PM**

Things aren't necesaarily zero-sum either... CA and DE can BOTH have fintech jobs. In fact Delaware probably has more fintech jobs relative to the total population than CA (but you can find a lot of stats like that when you compare a state with <1m people to one with almost 40m). In any event, what's holding back Delaware more in terms of these types of jobs is the fact it doesn't have a major urban center (sorry Wilmington). And don't get me wrong, I think DE punches above it's weight already, but a lot of corporate growth is siphoned off to Philly/PA and MD/DC because Wilmington simply isn't as attractive as Philly or DC to the "creative class."

iheartphilly · #**3909** Posted **Dec 9, 2020, 10:33 PM**

^^
Well, those are the old-guards of fintech...and they have fell behind the tech curve big time.

The leading fintech industry is out in CA with the biggest names located in that State and I'm not talking about banks like JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, or even Wells Fargo (CA) with brick and mortgage branches, etc.

Delaware is known for processing credit cards on the front and back end. I have a few friends that work in that industry in DE. They aren't known for much outside of that nor are they known for innovation or entrepreneurial developments on a large scale. When was the last time a publicly traded company worth billions came out of DE in fintech that would rival a CA fintech?

Think Jack Dorsey in CA for an example...there are others...

Jawnadelphia · #**3910** Posted **Dec 10, 2020, 1:13 AM**

https://www.newarkpostonline.com/new...3c8013467.html
https://www.delawarepublic.org/post/...ntech-building

^It's a start though, the building is well underway now.

iheartphilly · #**3911** Posted **Dec 10, 2020, 1:19 AM**

^
Good to see this. And can't hurt to create an environment to learn, share knowledge, innovate, and then incubate the ideas into reality.

3rd&Brown · #**3912** Posted **Dec 10, 2020, 1:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

^^
Delaware is known for processing credit cards on the front and back end. I have a few friends that work in that industry in DE. They aren't known for much outside of that nor are they known for innovation or entrepreneurial developments on a large scale. When was the last time a publicly traded company worvth billions came out of DE in fintech that would rival a CA fintech?

Think Jack Dorsey in CA for an example...there are others...

I have a few friends that are bank tellers.

It doesn't mean they know jack sh*t about what their institutions are doing for high frequency options trading or virtual currency or electronic payments.

What's your point?

iheartphilly · #**3913** Posted **Dec 10, 2020, 2:12 AM**

^
Hey buddy, you talking to bank tellers? Why are references to bank tellers even in this?

My point is DE isn't where big innovation is happening and monetized and widely used and that CA is and continues to be. Obviously you know nothing about investing in the stock market and seeing where all the fintech are incubated and performing well with stellar market caps. And yeah all that options trading (algos), virtual currency or electronic payments isn't being invented, re-invented, recognized or at the forefront in Delaware and those places where the leaders are at are located in Boston, Denver, Hartford, NYC, Chicago, and Newport Beach CA. What DE fintech firm is a major disruptor?

You of course is a mr know it all and most of the time confrontational with people for that reason.

I won't waste my time anymore on this convo.

summersm343 · #**3914** Posted **Dec 10, 2020, 4:09 PM**

THE BIDEN EFFECT - Inside Wilmington's efforts to capitalize on its newfound glory during a pandemic

Article behind paywall. Can anyone read it?
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...en-effect.html

Jawnadelphia · #**3915** Posted **Dec 11, 2020, 2:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

THE BIDEN EFFECT - Inside Wilmington's efforts to capitalize on its newfound glory during a pandemic

Article behind paywall. Can anyone read it?
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...en-effect.html

I can't read it, but it might touch on things talked about in this article here: https://technical.ly/delaware/2020/1...office-trends/.
Also, despite the pandemic, the City has started a new media/ad campaign under the slogan, "It's Time" -- more info here: https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/ne...e-biden-boost/.
Then, the City was featured in the NY Times last week, although the article was a bit patronizing, see here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/06/u...-a-moment.html.
Furthermore, CBS Saturday morning did a nice feature on the DuPont Hotel and new Le Cavalier restaurant, see video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyaidZbQZkI.

Add to it President-elect Biden doing all his Cabinet announcements and speeches at The Queen downtown (seeing the Presidential motorcade heading downtown on 52/Pennsylvania Ave. is now commonplace! for us here), and the NBC Nightly News was live from The Riverfront a week or so ago, and CNN being on the Riverfront everyday during the transition... it definitely is "a moment" for little old Wilmington.

3rd&Brown · #**3916** Posted **Dec 11, 2020, 6:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jawnadelphia

Add to it President-elect Biden doing all his Cabinet announcements and speeches at The Queen downtown (seeing the Presidential motorcade heading downtown on 52/Pennsylvania Ave. is now commonplace! for us here), and the NBC Nightly News was live from The Riverfront a week or so ago, and CNN being on the Riverfront everyday during the transition... it definitely is "a moment" for little old Wilmington.

I feel like Wilmington needs to carve out it's own identify.

Be more like Richmond and less like Philadelphia or Baltimore.

There are definitely aspects of Wilmington that strike me as being more "southern" than Philadelphia. It should lean into that and try to make it a point of differentiation rather than trying to copy Philadelphia.

jonesrmj · #**3917** Posted **Dec 15, 2020, 12:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

This doesn't square with the fact that JP Morgan, Capital One, etc have basically moved their entire tech teams to Delaware.

Even if they aren't the "leaders", there are 1000s of PhDs who now live in that area supporting those businesses and some of them will inevitably strike out on their own to start the next big fintech.

I don't know about JP Morgan, but Capital One is NOT moving entire tech teams to Delaware. My dad works there, and if anything, they are slowly leaving Wilmington, and consolidating to New York, DC, Texas, San Fran, etc. My dad has been pressured multiple times to move from Wilmington, and many of his teams have been moved to DC and NYC. Maybe they'll keep banking in Wilmington, but the truth is, the Philadelphia Metro as a whole doesn't attract tech like New York City, DC, Austin, etc.

PHLtoNYC · #**3918** Posted **Dec 15, 2020, 3:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

I don't know about JP Morgan, but Capital One is NOT moving entire tech teams to Delaware. My dad works there, and if anything, they are slowly leaving Wilmington, and consolidating to New York, DC, Texas, San Fran, etc. My dad has been pressured multiple times to move from Wilmington, and many of his teams have been moved to DC and NYC. Maybe they'll keep banking in Wilmington, but the truth is, the Philadelphia Metro as a whole doesn't attract tech like New York City, DC, Austin, etc.

That needs to change. The infrastructure is there, the educational opportunities are there, the interest from leadership is not, and that is largely the problem.

jonesrmj · #**3919** Posted **Dec 15, 2020, 4:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

That needs to change. The infrastructure is there, the educational opportunities are there, the interest from leadership is not, and that is largely the problem.

I'm not an expert at this by any means, but here are some things I think the Philly Metro needs to improve in to be more attractive.

1.) Stronger International Connection

Philadelphia is connected well domestically, with the Acela for the northeast and a decent amount of domestic flights with American's hub at PHL, but when it comes to international flights, PHL is pretty weak, even when compared to smaller cities like Boston, Seattle, Dallas, etc, which have much stronger international flight networks with flights to Europe, Asia, etc. PHL just has a handful of Europe flights and only one Middle East flight via Qatar Airways to Doha. PHL should try to get a stronger international network if it wants to rival New York, Chicago, DC, etc.

2.) Crime

The Philadelphia Metro seems to have a lot more crime than other metros. Wilmington and Camden struggle with lots of crime, and Philadelphia has some very dangerous areas. Compared with Austin, DC, and even New York City, the cities in the Philadelphia area seem to have a lot more crime.

3.) What it has to offer businesses

Philadelphia is a great city. It has so many strengths and definitely is underrated. It also seems like the cost of everything is way cheaper than DC, NYC, San Francisco, etc. But how is it in terms of what it has to offer to businesses? I know Delaware has some pretty good business laws, hence why there are more companies incorporated there than it's population, but there is clearly a reason why businesses are not choosing Delaware or PHL area to set up shop. I don't know all the details, but there must be some things that are not attracting businesses over the other areas.

domodeez · #**3920** Posted **Dec 16, 2020, 4:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

I feel like Wilmington needs to carve out it's own identify.

Be more like Richmond and less like Philadelphia or Baltimore.

There are definitely aspects of Wilmington that strike me as being more "southern" than Philadelphia. It should lean into that and try to make it a point of differentiation rather than trying to copy Philadelphia.

Yep. Wilmington straddles the Mason-Dixon Line, and for me it's America's (tiny) gateway city to the South. I agree it should embrace that, and some in the city feel the same way, but they are in the extreme minority.

Another thing the city doesn't capitalize on at all: there is plenty to do if you are outdoorsy. Brandywine and Alopocas Run Parks, which feel like one giant contiguous park, are truly wonderful (similar to the Wissahickon). There's also the newly expanded Riverfront/JAM Trail that connects Wilmington Station to Old Historic New Castle. And soon, more of the dams will be gone from the Brandywine Creek, and it will be perfect for tubing. Then there's the indoor rock climbing gym that recently opened, etc. Unfortunately, none of this is really very coordinated or deliberate. There are individuals and individual groups pushing this trail expansion or that park renovation, but no big picture vision to make it happen. Hopefully that changes soon because there's a ton already in place to build on and plenty more potential ahead.

I left in 2019, but I lived in Wilmington for 6 years. I'm a big city person, but if anyone in here has lived in the area and hasn't spent a day/weekend in Wilmington recently, absolutely check it out.