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Does Philadelphia have worst perception problem? Of course not: that honor goes to San Jose: the worst perception of any big city in the country. Final take
It annoys me when Boston gets credit for things Philadelphia should though, like history or sports.
I've never once in my life thought Boston was ever superior. If anything, I thought Philadelphia was. It's larger and has a better skyline, but that was years ago. Silly things. GDP is about even now but Philadelphia has always been ahead as well.
The things people fawn over for Boston are literally the exact same things found in Philadelphia.. but "black people!" "ghetto!" so I guess Philadelphia doesn't get the credit.
Boston is older. But there were Swedish colonists who came to what is today parts of S. Phila. about 40 years before William Penn's founding of Philadelphia in 1682. And, of course, there were indigenous inhabitants, the Lenape, who were already in the Phila. area.
Here's a fact for ignorant Boston nuts: Philadelphia has never been a majority black city and is not one now.
Precisely, which is why the reputation of Philly is changing because Millennials are changing the narrative.
Like I said, pretty much everyone that has been there or knows about it loves it. So IMO it's already achieved it's credit, but on a marketing standpoint as a whole there may be some perceptions that need to die with the Boomers that haven't been there.
People are "surprised" that Philly has this or that, and it blows my mind. I wanna ask, what are you expecting?
I noticed that you ignored my reply that said the first inkling wrt renaissance in Phila. began with Silents
Boomers and slightly later with Gen-X. I'm a Boomer so I know what I'm talking about. Obviously it has picked up steam over the last 15 years.
My cousin in Boston married a woman a few years ago. When she asked where we lived, I said "Philly". She said, "oh, that's a smaller city, right?" I thought that was funny. She was very centered in Boston (he's a high finance guy).
Wow! lol
But that belief is at the heart of what this thread is about. Here's a person, whom I assume was educated, who has no idea, apparently, that, until recently, Philly was the 5th largest city in the country. That, today, is the second largest city on the east coast.
The last time Boston was on the 10 largest cities list was the 1950 census. I, also, find it very interesting that 4 cities that were on the list in 1920 are on it now (NYC, Chicago, LA and Philadelphia).
I'd venture to say that generally anyone over 60 today probably views any large city with scorn and dirty stereotypes vs. the under 40 crowd who loves it.
It never pays to generalize. I'm 62. My husband and I chose Philly over 6 other cites (yes, cities, including Boston) to retire to 7 years back. If you check in on the Philly forum, you'll find there are a number of boomers who regularly post there. Outside the virtual world of CD, you'll find a much larger assortment of real boomers living here off-line in real life.
Does Philadelphia have worst perception problem? Of course not: that honor goes to San Jose: the worst perception of any big city in the country. Final take
You never hear anybody from San Jose boasting about how great their city is and how horrible other cities are.
Boston is older. But there were Swedish colonists who came to what is today parts of S. Phila. about 40 years before William Penn's founding of Philadelphia in 1682. And, of course, there were indigenous inhabitants, the Lenape, who were already in the Phila. area.
Here's a fact for ignorant Boston nuts: Philadelphia has never been a majority black city and is not one now.
It should be irreverent.... but. Still as the thread is on perception. Boston always was seen as far more White. Whether Philly hit 48% African-American and never 51% really is splitting hairs. Some cities are bleeding more African-Americans like Chicago on its South and West side where gang violence permeates the streets ... even if the neighborhoods look quite nice in housing and green-frontage. Local neighborhood schools being closed more in their neighborhoods too.
Philly's African-American population and % seems pretty steady? Chicago itself lost 181,000 black residents between 2000 and 2010, according to census data. Chicago’s black population has continued to slide, falling by nearly 60,000 from 2010 to 2015, while the numbers for Asians, Latinos and whites have all grown. Its Latino population PASSED its African American population last year.
Sometimes, I think Chicago made some kind of pact with these notorious gangs where they keep away from its core and more White regions .... from their awful activities? Too much of our Northern cities especially, are still pretty segregated and tale's of two cities still today sadly, and we keep creating a larger under-class of all groups. Where people are poorly educated, poor family home-life, low self-worth or value of respect for others, their possessions and even value for human life? Hire and fire mentality of employers also adds to this group that crosses racial lines.
But that belief is at the heart of what this thread is about. Here's a person, whom I assume was educated, who has no idea, apparently, that, until recently, Philly was the 5th largest city in the country. That, today, is the second largest city on the east coast.
The last time Boston was on the 10 largest cities list was the 1950 census. I, also, find it very interesting that 4 cities that were on the list in 1920 are on it now (NYC, Chicago, LA and Philadelphia).
Yeah, well, she's in that inner circle of Boston finance people who live and breathe New England. Kind of funny.
Philly is still the 5th largest IMO. Phoenix is over 500 square miles. If Philly were that size, it would be back in its spot at #4 with a big lead on Houston.
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