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So glad to hear that you like Old Town--it's one of our favorite areas too. We prefer it to Georgetown, it's not nearly as cramped and tourist-filled, and (to us at least) the shops are more interesting.
Oh yea, I love it. My cousin was married in DC this past fall, and we stayed right at the edge of Old Town. He also just moved there a couple months ago. Beautiful architecture, very walkable, great bars & restaurants, shopping, etc. We also had the pleasure of eating at the Burger Joint...even though it was wicked expensive, it was delicious. Well worth it.
I'm hoping to make a trip down this summer for some bigtime micro-brew festival. Hope to stay in Old Town again and have another fantastic time.
To be exact the weather was quite smooth in Philly when I went. It was on New Years day, parades were going on and the weather was appropriate, very sunny and ppl was out everywhere. We even took a long stroll down south (fat tuesday), broad, and market streets. Philly was beautiful, one of the best skylines I've seen and Pat's couldn't have been better on the food. But overall, city life ...... laid back and boring! It didn't appeal to my way of living. Now kidphilly i'm sure you may know areas unknown right off for tourist, just like I could navigate you through some areas of Jackson or New Orleans unknown right off. I can accept that right off for DC because it was cold as in DC, I just thought it was something they were used too up that way, it wasn't snowing at all though.
And yes "a75206" New Orleans was packed! Loved it and all the Saints fans ..... and yes you should have seen the city when we won both the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl, nothing could compare. I wasn't on here to bash any city, I just love traveling and visiting different places. My next destination is San Fran, time for me to hit up California, I hear San Fran is one of the best!
Okay, that's good to know.
In my experience, Market St west of Broad can get quiet after office hours or during holidays because most of those buildings are Philly's office towers. There is a small mall there at the base of Liberty towers and there is some retail and restaurants, but not sure if it'd be as busy as during office hours on weekdays. Market St east of Broad also has another mall, the Gallery I and II, and then there is also the Old City area with its mall further east on that street. It might not have been totally packed with tourists because that generally happens more often in summer months with families with kids in tow. But I'm surprised it was empty looking.
Philly's major shopping destination is Walnut Street west of Broad for many blocks, up to and including Rittenhouse Square. The sidewalks there are usually filled with people out and about, and Rittenhouse Square is one of the top rated urban parks in the country.
Top 12 Public Squares in the U.S. and Canada | Project for Public Spaces (PPS) (http://www.pps.org/squares/info/squares_articles/us_canada_squares - broken link)
South St in Philly east of Broad is party town with a single lane of traffic going at snail's pace while sidewalks overflowing with people, albeit mostly youngsters. Not sure how it is on a cold New Year's day though.
And Broad St is really the main avenue; sure it has wide sidewalks and north of South St there are many venues on it (it's called Avenue of Arts for a reason) but it's not generally packed with people unless you happen to be there just before showtime.
So I guess it's a mixed bag. Philly's streets are definitely more happening during warmer months though, IMO.
Just a quick, 4-page summary of sidewalk cafe's in Center City, their locations on the map, and their growth from 2002 to 2009. I would imagine that where you have more sidewalk cafes, you would have more pedestrians and more of a street life happening. You can pictorially see where this is occurring in Philadelphia's downtown districts:
Thanks for the addtional information. We are planning a return trip to Philly, NYC and DC for late July to experience more outdoor adventures. I will take some of these resources attached into consideration. That was my first time visiting those areas (excluding DC). One thing I did enjoy were the connection to other major cities within 1.5 to 3 hr drives.
Dude you said that two pages ago...and like I just said a few posts ago, Greenville has a decent downtown but it's far from amazing and it certainily isn't the prettiest downtown in the United States.
Dude you said that two pages ago...and like I just said a few posts ago, Greenville has a decent downtown but it's far from amazing and it certainily isn't the prettiest downtown in the United States.
Agree!! I've been to Greenville and downtown as well. I visited Falls Park and all that stuff downtown. IT's just another small quiet town. It does not compare at all to the cities mentioned. I do understand you have a passion for the city but it does not compare at all with any other the major US cities. Remember the city pop is less than 100,000. Very nice quiet community ..... thats it!
Dude you said that two pages ago...and like I just said a few posts ago, Greenville has a decent downtown but it's far from amazing and it certainily isn't the prettiest downtown in the United States.
Agree!! I've been to Greenville and downtown as well. I visited Falls Park and all that stuff downtown. IT's just another small quiet town. It does not compare at all to the cities mentioned. I do understand you have a passion for the city but it does not compare at all with any other the major US cities. Remember the city pop is less than 100,000. Very nice quiet community ..... thats it!
LOL, oh, so it has to have bright neon signs like Miami and Vegas to be "pretty?" Or does it have to be a large city with the tallest buildings? Or we talking about size or are we talking about prettiest?
Indianapolis (another downtown area I'm familiar with) has a very clean and organized downtown. It's not the biggest city in the world, but there's still plenty there for a city of it's size. Undoubtedly Circle Centre is the main attraction, but there's other areas such as Jilians, a large Steak & Shake (which is headquartered in Indy) and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. It's definitely a nice, vibrant, and growing downtown.
Phoenix's downtown wasn't really anything special (yet?). There were a few nice eateries, but nothing along the lines of shopping. Saying you live downtown in Phoenix doesn't carry the aura one gets when they say they live in Manhattan or downtown Chicago, or even downtown Indy.
I don't know if South Beach is considered downtown Miami, but that was definitely a nice area. Beautiful cars and beautiful girls.
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in DC, I just thought it was something they were used too up that way, it wasn't snowing at all though. 
