While Phoenix city proper might be about to "surpass" us in population, it's worth noting that their metro only has 3/4 the population we do. Which in its turn means that Phoenix houses a larger part of its metro than we do (1/3 v. 1/4).

In any event, I don't think hanging our hat on population size is all that important. It's much better for us, going forward, to forge a unique identity for ourselves that that isn't actually tied to population numbers.

:tup: :yes: Indeed. See, e.g., Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, etc. Much better that Philly be known for its character, cultural amenities and attractions, history, and neighborhoods, than for its rank among the most populous cities. I've yet to hear of someone making plans to move to, visit, or vacation in a city based solely or primarily on the size of its population. See, e.g., Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, etc.

THANK YOU! these population discussions are silly.

It is, but most importantly what factors are driving the increases in the population number is what really matters, excluding expanding boundaries, which is a farce.

Yep, me too. I stayed in the Drury hotel while attending a week long conference. I made it a point to get up to street level a few nights while I was there, to get away from the River Walk. I was looking for the "local" feel. There didn't seem to be much going on, outside of the River Walk, which is very touristy.

I don't think Philly has to worry about population department 30 million + with in 90 mile radius. At 150 mile radius Philly it's 40 million and the N.Y.C. 150 miles radius is 36 million . Philly trumps N.Y.C. at 150 mile radius .. A three hour drive at 60 mph . https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a00000...erica.0001.jpg

........ A men brother , amen . :cheers:

This is perhaps worth expanding on. What's driving Phoenix's growth? It ain't "because people want to move where it's warm". People move wherever they can to find work. Tromsø is Norway's fastest-growing city and it's north of the Arctic Circle -- but people move there because there's work to be had.

The reason why people move to Phoenix is because most of the LA region's back-office functions have moved to Phoenix. This provides plenty of work. Even if it isn't the best-paying work, it is work. (The more value-added stuff stays in LA.) But this also means that Phoenix's fortunes are intimately tied to LA's, in a way that is probably unhealthy for a city of its size.

We are close enough to New York that we should be able to nab some of their back-office jobs, too. A stream of those coming down would provide enough jobs to drive inmigration up another few thousand people a year. And we have solid enough underlying fundamentals that we wouldn't be tied to New York the way Phoenix is to LA.

Yes, we should be able to nab some of New York's back office jobs in addition to our principle, core industry jobs (healthcare, etc...) But a lot of NYC's back office jobs currently go to Wilmington. Particularly in the financial services arena.

Gallery update:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/...26fdaec0_c.jpg004 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7729/...fea495df_c.jpg008 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Declaration House (Graff house) renovation:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7246/...59c5c291_c.jpgGraff House repair work by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Future Public Safety building (Provident building):
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7780/...a81c3cf7_c.jpg013 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Old West Philly High renovation:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7186/...67a375b8_c.jpgOld West Philadelphia High School by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7523/...1b69f8fb_c.jpgOld West Philadelphia High School by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7260/...68317255_c.jpgRenovation work at old West Philadelphia High School by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

New College House and the Study:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7613/...2cbea0c6_c.jpg041 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/...c79e15f4_c.jpg040 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...gift_shop.html

Visitor's Center is apparently undergoing a redo. Despite only being 15 years old, it desperately needs a face lift and the initial plans sound good.

One thing I really hope they address is the 6th street side of the building which is basically just a long blank wall and the entrance to the garage. It really is flat out terrible and it's a shame that so many tourists walk down one of the worst streetscapes in Philadelphia on a regular basis. With the enlargement of the gift shop, a sizeable amount of the 6th street side of the building will be the gift shop. Hopefully they can open up the section with the gift shop with some more windows and hopefully some doors so that people can enter the gift shop directly from the street.

Is there actual active construction going on at the gallery?

only demo to my knowledge.

I noticed the plywood in this building over the past few weeks and I was wondering what was going on here. Glad this is being turned into something productive.

http://hiddencityphila.org/2016/05/b...g-on-the-cusp/

It's shameful that there are more than four times as many people visiting Faneuil Hall every year than there are visiting Independence Hall. We really need to do something to correct that. Independence Hall should be right up there with the most visited landmarks in the country. What is Boston doing so well that we aren't?

I would imagine that has more to do with Boston drawing more visitors than Philadelphia as opposed to Faneuil Hall outdrawing Independence Hall on it's merits alone. Independence Hall as a legitimate historic attraction crushes Faneuli Hall, which I found to be a bit of a tourist trap....but obviously an effective one.

Faneuil Hall is right in between tourist attractions so you walk through it to get to the North End or the Garden or the Aquarium or the Boston Commons or the theater district from the center of the city. Also Boston is really small so you can do everything in a day. I'm not saying Philly is huge but it is more spread out than Boston and it's main attractions are far from each other, further than most people would walk. Sorry for continuing the this city vs that city convo.

A better comparison for Faneuil Hall would be Reading Terminal Market than Independence Hall.

Maybe being next to Quincy Market generates the traffic? Independence Park and its environs is probably more of a deliberate choice to visit. People go there for the history and museums. People can just check out Faneuil Hall before or after lunch.

It's shameful that there are more than four times as many people visiting Faneuil Hall every year than there are visiting Independence Hall. We really need to do something to correct that. Independence Hall should be right up there with the most visited landmarks in the country. What is Boston doing so well that we aren't?[/QUOTE]

If we could just get the National Park Service to take over the Gallery and somehow claim it was built in the 1770's, then we might be able to move ahead on two fronts at once. The Gallery is "historic" right? Something important must have happened there, Bush's first cheese steak!

You don't know your history. You're confusing this with Kerry ordering his with Swiss, which helped cement the alliance with France.