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Originally Posted by Orlando
I'm not actually from Orlando. I live in Seattle. I lived in Orlando when I signed up for Skyscraperpage. You're absolutely right about Orlando.
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That's fine, and Seattle is a beautiful city, but I think some Philly forumers responses to you were justifiable. I even really like Orlando, despite it being mostly suburban in nature. The Downtown area is nice. I even really liked the area around Winter Park/Lake Osceola - that's a really nice, walkable area with shops and restaurants - is that still Orlando? I also actually really like all the theme parks - it's a cool atmosphere/vibe that I've always been fond of. I even really like Downtown Disney, or Disney Springs or whatever they're calling it now.
Your viewpoints on Philadelphia though, are quite literally 25 or so years outdated. Philly has been on a tear since the early 2000s, and has really turned the corner. Obviously, there are still Big City problems Philadelphia faces including poverty and crime, and a lot of the public schools in the city being not so great, and there still are large swaths of abandonment and blight in large swaths of North Philly and West/Southwest Philly, but then on the flip side, if you haven't been to Philadelphia in the past year or two, you really haven't been to Philadelphia.
Center City is awesome, and does surpass Downtown Seattle and really rivals Downtown San Fran, Downtown Boston, Downtown DC, and is really only surpassed by Downtown Chitown and Manhattan. Center City is even far more than a Downtown, and not only encompasses the financial district, but a lot of surrounding neighborhoods as well including Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square/Midtown Village, Old City, Chinatown, Market East, Fitler Square, Logan Square, Society Hill, Museum District, etc. Center City is charming, but big city feel, has the shops, the museums, the history, the parks, the restaurants, cafes, etc. etc. It really has everything you would ever want in an urban area.
Furthermore, a lot of South Philly is desirable or gentrifying/redeveloping including awesome urban neighborhoods like Queen Village, Bella Vista, Graduate Hospital, Pennsport, Newbold and Passyunk Square. That's not including the always stable middle class neighborhoods of Whitman, Marconi Plaza, Packer Park, Lower Moyamensing, Girard Estates and Melrose. That's also not including the Sports Complex, which has a ton of potential to really build some sort of second Downtown like area or entertainment complex area (and there are plans to do that), and also doesn't include mention of the Navy Yard, which is quickly building into Philly's 3rd largest business district, and has some promising plans to further build up, add residential and retail, and really make it something akin to something you would see out of DC.
Most of Lower North Philadelphia is now desirable or gentrifying or developing including Fairmount and Spring Garden, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Olde Kensington, East Kensington, Poplar, Francisville, Brewerytown, Templetown.... heck, even areas like the Delaware Waterfront, Ludlow and Port Richmond are developing rapidly.
At least half of West Philly has fully redeveloped at this point including the quickly growing University City. University City taken in a bubble by itself would likely mirror the growth rate of a lot of southern cities, and University City itself as a "Downtown-like" area probably rivals or even surpasses the Downtown areas of some smaller southern cities like Orlando for example, or Charlotte, or Raleigh, etc. That's not including the awesome, charming and historic and rebuilt neighborhoods surrounding University City (a lot of which have a lot of beautiful Victorian architecture) like Spruce Hill, Clark Park/Squirrel Hill area, Cedar Park, Garden Court, Powelton Village, etc. This doesn't include the middle class, continually stable areas of far West Philly that border City Avenue and the Main Line/Montgomery County like Overbrook Farms, Overbrook Park, Wynnefield and Wynnefield Heights.
Furthermore, Northwest Philadelphia continues to impressive me, and continues to be one of my favorite sections of all of Philadelphia. Manayunk is awesome, and it's cool Main Street coupled with hilly neighborhoods are awesome and unique for Philadelphia, and really resemble a hip neighborhood you would find in Pittsburgh. Roxborough is more suburban-ish in nature, but has some nice urbanity to it, and has a great walkable Main Street along Ridge Ave. East Falls oozes charm and history, and although the "Main Street like" area centered around Midvale Ave and Ridge Ave is still rebuilding and adding more amenities, retail and restaurants, the residential streets in East Falls (particularly parts of Midvale, Penn St and Queen Lane) are awesome and make you feel like you're in England somewhere. That doesn't include the historic mansion district of East Falls, which includes none other than the Kelly Estate - of course, from Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco fame. Furthermore, there's Mount Airy, which is one of the most racially diverse sections of any city in the country. Period. And while some areas of East Mount Airy as you get closer to Germantown in particular are rundown and need some TLC, most of Mount Airy is incredibly beautiful and charming with historic architecture abound including West Mount Airy and the Allen Lane and Blue Bell Hill areas, as well the parts of East Mount Airy near the Mt. Airy and Sedgewick Train stations. Then there's Germantown Ave between Mt. Pleasant Ave and W. Gown Ave in particular which is urban, walkable, and full of amenities, restaurants and beautiful architecture.
There's also of course, Chestnut Hill. Chestnut Hill is still to this day, one of the most (if not THE MOST) beautiful neighborhood within the city limits of a city within the USA that I've been to. Germantown Ave is awesome through Chestnut Hill - shops, restaurants, cafes, architecture, etc. The residential streets surrounding Germantown Ave are a mix of beautiful walkable rowhomes and townhomes, and gorgeous, historic mansions and estates that rival anywhere in the country.
There's also Cedarbrook, Stenton, West Oak Lane and East Oak Lane (even though the later 2 are TECHNICALLY North Philly, and not Northwest Philly) which are all stable, middle class and working class neighborhoods). Of course, there's also Germantown, which you mentioned, and the fact that you mentioned Germantown shows how dated your views on Philadelphia area. Germantown as mostly fallen on hard times. Germantown has the potential to be absolutely incredible. The area around Germantown Ave and Chelten Ave could really be a downtown like atmosphere. The colonial, civil war and pre-war history in Germantown is really tops in the US, and maybe only rivaled by a few places (like Old City/Society Hill in Philly, Central Boston, Manhattan, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, etc.). Germantown could be a HUGE tourist destination if someone would realize it and pump in the investments into the area. But of course, like a lot of thinks in Philadelphia, it's full potential is not realized. There are some pretty, intact, and very charming areas of Germantown (particularly the Morton section), and parts of the "Penn Knox" section is being redeveloped and gentrified as we speak, but Germantown as a whole needs more TLC and work, particularly along Germantown Ave, Chelten Ave, East Germantown section and still Penn Knox Section.
There's also the entire Northeast section of Philadelphia. While some parts have declined in the Northeast over the past 20-30 years, like Frankford, Oxford Circle and Lawncrest, there are still a lot of nice areas, and most of the area is stable middle to working class areas like Mayfair, Rhawnhurst, Fox Chase, Somerton, Bustleton, etc.
I'm also not mentioning large parks like Fairmount Park (a lot of it is beautiful, but some sections of the park do need some TLC as well), and Wissahickon Park, which is incredible, and one of my favorite natural areas or parks within the city limits of any city in the US that I've been to, including NYC and LA. Incredible park that makes you feel like you're in the mountains somewhere, not smack dab in the middle of a major metropolitan area.
And of course, a lot of people never mention the fact that Philadelphia is an old, awesome, metropolitan area, with very urban and walkable suburban towns and neighborhoods which surround the city on all ends, that's really hard to find in the South or West outside of a few areas/cities/metro areas, and really make you feel like you're still in the city, or extensions of the city... like, the Main Line (Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Wayne), West Chester, Media, Phoenixville, Conshohocken, Ambler, Jenkintown, Newtown, New Hope, Bristol, Doylestown, Wilmington, Newark (DE), Camden (up and coming), Collingswood, Haddonfield, etc. etc. Heck, even King of Prussia is building itself into a mini walkable city now, and still has one of the best malls in the country.
So yeah, your views on Philadelphia as a 21st century city and metropolitan area are extremely outdated. You should visit again soon (when this crazy pandemic) is finally over. Hopefully this pandemic won't hurt and change cities across the US too much.
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