PHILADELPHIA | Highrise Development Thread IX

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Can someone point out something that is incorrect in that article?

WASHINGTON — The nation's economic recovery has been slow to reach the Philadelphia metropolitan area and income inequality has widened, hurt in part by an exodus of residents and a continued collapse in mid-wage jobs.
...

--Let's begin here. Philadelphia's population - estimated for 2014 by the Census Bureau is 1,553,165 people. That # is the highest pop. for Philadelphia since 1991 (1.566 million).

So the population is actually the highest its been in 23 yrs, but there's an exodus of residents?

In fact, by 2020, Philly's population will probably be over 1,600,000 at it's current growth - which would be the highest since the 1980 Census.

So tell Ms. Hope Yen ... this "exodus" -- ? Philly isn't Detroit. Sorry.

[MSFHQ]

I thought it was an overall fair article. I mean the population critique might have been off but it talked about the meds and eds, the increase of immigrants into the city, compared wages to other cities. Hope might be a wonk, but the economist at Moodys isn't.

City is improving, but could do a lot more to help. Very unfriendly business environment and tax structure. So so amount of jobs in key industries. I appreciate CC improving and have no doubt it will continue, but at this exact moment it's still rather rough. I'm long Philly, but it needs another decade of straight progress to really hang with the big boys.

And while I agree having some income diversity might be OK, the city really needs to continue to increase its affluent population. This spurs increase development and retail and creates a lively city with amazing institutions.

I think there's too much sensitivity to anything slightly anti Philly. The author mentioned some positives and talked about some real issues.

[Speedbump]

Originally Posted by PhiLaw

Operative word is per pupil. Overall spending on the School District of Philadelphia, including employees and students, is extremely high for world standards (taking PPP into account) and on par with US standards. The problem is the allocation of those resources.

If I make $100,000 per year, and spend $99,000 on "stuff" and don't have enough left to eat, it is disingenuous to say I can't afford food. I need to reallocate my income to proportionately cover all necessities.

The Budget is approximately $2.6 billion, with a student population of around 130,000. This comes to $20,000 per student. Lower Merion School District spends around $24,000 per student (based on projected enrollment of 8,700 this year). Indeed, this is $4,000 more per student, but remember this is probably the best public school district in the country. Philadelphia's $20,000 in available dollars per student is on part with most suburban school districts in the country, let alone urban ones. The revenue shortfall narrative is not as black and white as the media portrays it to be.

I've been lurking for a long time. Sorry to clog the thread with this one more time and it's not my intention to keep kicking a dead horse, but I just want to clear a mistake. The school district budget of approx. $2.6 Billon is not spend only on the district's approx. 130,000 students. About 1/3 of that sum is sent to 86 city charter schools, leaving about $1.7 billion for the district's 130,000 or about $12,000/pupil. I agree with Inga in that attention needs to be paid to those 20 somethings and 30 somethings who are planning to raise a family in Philly. Our niece and her husband left CC once the reality of an underfunded Meredith Elementary in Queen Village would give their soon-to- be 5 year old a compromised educational experience. We're in East Falls and we can't hold on to the young families once their kids get to school age. Sale signs are always going up on the community's "starter homes". It would be nice if they stayed on and upsized to some of the community's large but undervalued singles and twins. Again, sorry for reviving this. Hope it's the last word. Love to join and I'm old enough to remember the skyline when it's 5 tallest structures were City Hall, PSFS bldg., PNB bldg. Girard Bldg. & Fidelity Bank Bldg.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by MSFHQ

I thought it was an overall fair article. I mean the population critique might have been off but it talked about the meds and eds, the increase of immigrants into the city, compared wages to other cities. Hope might be a wonk, but the economist at Moodys isn't.

City is improving, but could do a lot more to help. Very unfriendly business environment and tax structure. So so amount of jobs in key industries. I appreciate CC improving and have no doubt it will continue, but at this exact moment it's still rather rough. I'm long Philly, but it needs another decade of straight progress to really hang with the big boys.

And while I agree having some income diversity might be OK, the city really needs to continue to increase its affluent population. This spurs increase development and retail and creates a lively city with amazing institutions.

I think there's too much sensitivity to anything slightly anti Philly. The author mentioned some positives and talked about some real issues.

There's a difference between pointing out areas of improvement, and flat out getting material facts wrong - then, after you get those facts wrong, contradicting the article's thesis and using those incorrect facts as a crutch. no?

[summersm343]

Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk is opening October 2nd. Here is an article and some images of it:
http://planphilly.com/eyesonthestreet/2014/09/04/schuylkill-banks-boardwalk-preview

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Can someone point out something that is incorrect in that article?

It's like the first half of the article was written in 1995 and they waited until now to publish it. Where is this mass exodus of people from the city when it is growing pretty rapidly? The economy may be slow in Philly but it's by no means bad, it's still relatively healthy. Can any city with a declining unemployment and poverty rate be called a poor economy?

Then the second half of the article completely flips the script and goes from blatantly bashing Philadelphia on outdated stereotypes of the city to seemingly praising the city.

It's just a terribly written and researched article.

[iheartphilly]

Philly is getting all kinds of gains for the last few years. This is evident by both new construction of homes and commercial buildings and the influx of more people, including millennial into the city.

The author of this article should come to Philly to see this firsthand. Meds and Eds are expanding with new buildings (i.e, Penn, CHOP, Temple), Fortune 500 companies like Comcast and FMC will be taking on/moving in new highrises currently under construction. Two new hotel highrises (W, 4 seasons), plus countless numbers of apartments and new residential constructions. This is the best shape that Philly has been in terms of growth. The list goes on and on...

[tsarstruck]

I'm not going to take a stance on the article one or another, but you all seem to be reading over the part where it's talking about the Philly metro area, not Philly itself.

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by tsarstruck

I'm not going to take a stance on the article one or another, but you all seem to be reading over the part where it's talking about the Philly metro area, not Philly itself.

She was wrong there too:

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD . . . . . . . . . .
5,827,962 (2007) 5,810,834 (2006) 5,687,145 (2000) 5,435,550 (1990).
--http://www.census.gov/compendia/smadb/TableC-01.pdf -- pg.14

And ...it's estimated today, 2014 to be very slightly over 6,000,000.

"The Philadelphia area is estimated at 6.02 million, up 52,371 people from its 2010 population of 5.97 million." http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2012/04/03/houston-ranks-no-5-by-metro.html

So again... not sure what that reporter was smoking. She works for AP too...that's just a disgrace, the AP! Come on.. gotta do a better job.

[boxbot]

Fox being really lazy and using 8 year old bumpers in the Washington/Eagles game today.

[brenster]

I know, those fox pics were really pissing me off.

[volguus zildrohar]

Here's an even older photo...1986.


SEPTA GE MA-1J SPAX 183 and 184 arrives at 30th Street Station. by SEPTA9, on Flickr

[summersm343]

^^
Crazy! What progress our skyline has made in 25 or so years. Truly miraculous! Just in this photo, they're still building One Liberty, we're missing a Commerce Square Building, the IBX building, BNY Mellon, Murano, and possibly more.

[shadowbat2]

Before you hate on FOX....
Just how long has SEPTA been rocking this Transpass ad????
216 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

[volguus zildrohar]

That billboard has been uncovered for many years, at the east end of the westbound El platform there. There's a long tradition of old and obsolete billboards and ads downtown.

[1487]

this is finally official. This will lower that CBD vacancy.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140923_Hill_Intl__moving_HQ_from_S__Jersey_to_Philly.html

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by 1487

this is finally official. This will lower that CBD vacancy.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140923_Hill_Intl__moving_HQ_from_S__Jersey_to_Philly.html

Another article from the Philadelphia Business Journal about Hill's move to Center City:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/...ational-to-relocate-to-one-commerce.html

[PhillySteaks]

Hey

Does anyone have any history or details regarding the massive vacant lot between 18th & 19th and Callowhill? Who owns it, has there ever been any news, anything? It's quite large

[PhiLaw]

Originally Posted by 1487

this is finally official. This will lower that CBD vacancy.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140923_Hill_Intl__moving_HQ_from_S__Jersey_to_Philly.html

Gotta love the Philly.com comment thread. Honestly, who are these people? Where do they come from? I'm increasingly convinced this is all the work of one fat, middle-aged shirtless man in his grandmother's basement using multiple usernames.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by PhiLaw

Gotta love the Philly.com comment thread. Honestly, who are these people? Where do they come from? I'm increasingly convinced this is all the work of one fat, middle-aged shirtless man in his grandmother's basement using multiple usernames.

Philadelphia must have the strangest relationships with its suburbs of any other city on the planet. Many suburbanites actively root against progress in the city and trash it needlessly whenever possible. Are our suburbanites just oddly insecure?

South Jersey is generally full folks who fled South Philly and the Great Northeast during the white flight era. They all raised kids and offspring hating on the big bad city. Lower Bucks county hates the city for the rise in crime they attribute to "those people" who are moving out of poorer neighborhoods. Same with most of Delco. Much of North Western MontCo is blue collar (Hatfield Quality Meats, etc.) and the suburban sprawl areas have sprung up from former culture-less rural farmlands (Lansdale 476 interchange)--very little interest in the city. I truly see the Main Line as one of the few suburban areas that seems to have a traditional attachment/connection with the city--serving the same function now as it did in the times of Philadelphia Story.

Do other city's, aside from Detroit, have this same tension with their suburban communities? I know NYC, Boston, and SF certainly do not.