Philadelphia

City of Philadelphia
—  Consolidated city-county  —
From top left, the Philadelphia skyline, a statue of Benjamin Franklin, the Liberty Bell, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia City Hall, and Independence Hall
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): "Philly", "City of Brotherly Love","The Illadelph"[1][2],"The City that Loves you Back", "Cradle of Liberty", "The Quaker City", "The Birthplace of America","The City of Neighborhoods"
Motto: "Philadelphia maneto" ("Let brotherly love endure")
City of Philadelphia Location in the United States
Coordinates:
Country	United States
Commonwealth	Pennsylvania
County	Philadelphia
Founded	October 27, 1682
Incorporated	October 25, 1701
Government
- Mayor	Michael Nutter (D)
Area
- Consolidated city-county	142.6 sq mi (369.3 km2)
- Land	135.1 sq mi (326.144 km2)
- Water	7.5 sq mi (19.6 km2)
- Urban	1,799.5 sq mi (4,660.7 km2)
- Metro	4,629 sq mi (11,989 km2)
Elevation	39 ft (12 m)
Population (July 1st, 2008 (revised December 2, 2009))
- Consolidated city-county	1,547,901 (6th)
- Density	11,457/sq mi (4,405.4/km2)
- Urban	5,325,000
- Metro	5,838,471
- CSA	6,385,461
- Demonym	Philadelphian
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	191xx
Area code(s)	215, 267
Website	http://www.phila.gov

Philadelphia (pronounced /ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə/) is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.

In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be more than 1.54 million,^[3] while the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth largest. The city, which lies about 45 miles southwest of New York City,^[4] is the nation's fourth-largest urban area by population and its fourth-largest consumer media market as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research.

It is the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia include Philly and The City of Brotherly Love, from the literal meaning of the city's name in Greek (Greek: Φιλαδέλφεια ([pʰilaˈdelpʰeːa], Modern Greek: [filaˈðɛlfia]) "brotherly love", compounded from philos (φίλος) "love", and adelphos (ἀδελφός) "brother").

A commercial, educational, and cultural center, Philadelphia was once the second-largest city in the British Empire^[5] (after London), and the social and geographical center of the original 13 American colonies. It was a centerpiece of early American history, host to many of the ideas and actions that gave birth to the American Revolution and independence. It was the most populous city of the young United States, although by the first census in 1790, New York City had overtaken it. Philadelphia served as one of the nation's many capitals during the Revolutionary War and after. After the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the city served as the temporary national capital from 1790 to 1800 while Washington, D.C., was under construction.

Philadelphia is central to African American history. Many of its larger suburbs such as Chester, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Delaware; Camden, New Jersey; and Trenton, New Jersey (sometimes included in the New York metropolitan area) have African American majorities. This community has been large since before the Great Migration, and despite area civil rights gains, continues to be affected by poverty and high crime. The area, in common with most of Pennsylvania, also has a very large population of Italian Americans.

History

"Penn's Treaty with the Indians" by Benjamin West.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Philadelphia area was the location of the Lenape (Delaware) Indian village Shackamaxon.

Europeans arrived in the Delaware Valley in the early 1600s, with the first settlements founded by the Dutch, English and Swedish. After Sweden's first expedition to North America embarked in late 1637, the Swedes took control of land on the west side of the Delaware River from just below the Schuylkill River: today's Philadelphia, southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The Swedish named this New Sweden. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their military defeat of the English province of Maryland. In 1647, the Swedes built a fort and named it Fort Nya Korsholm or New Korsholm, after a town that is now in Finland. 11 years later the Dutch sent an army to the Delaware River, nominally taking control of the colony, though Swedish and Finnish settlers continued to have their own militia, religion, court, and lands. The English conquered the New Netherland colony in October 1663–1664, but the situation did not really change until 1682, when the area was included in William Penn's charter for Pennsylvania.

In 1681, in partial repayment of a debt, Charles II of England granted William Penn a charter for what would become the Pennsylvania colony. Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape to be on good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for his colony.^[6] According to legend Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany under an elm tree at Shackamaxon, in what is now the city's Fishtown section.^[7] As a Quaker, Penn had experienced religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely despite their religion, and this extreme tolerance which led to significantly healthier relationships with the local Native tribes than most other colonies had, also encouraged the rapid growth of Philadelphia into America's most important city. Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for brotherly love (from philos, "love" or "friendship", and adelphos, "brother").^[8] Penn planned a city on the Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Hoping that Philadelphia would become more like an English rural town instead of a city, Penn laid out roads on a grid plan to keep houses and businesses spread far apart, allowing them to be surrounded by gardens and orchards. The city's inhabitants didn't follow Penn's plans and crowded by the Delaware River and subdivided and resold their lots.^[9] Before Penn left Philadelphia for the last time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing Philadelphia as a city. The city soon established itself as an important trading center, poor at first, but with tolerable living conditions by the 1750s. Benjamin Franklin, a leading citizen of the time, helped improve city services and founded new ones, such as one of the American Colonies' first hospitals.

Benjamin Franklin

In pursuit of this aim, a number of important philosophical societies were formed: the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785), the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts (1787), The Academy of Natural Sciences (1812), and the Franklin Institute (1824).^[10] These set out to establish and finance new industries and attract skilled and knowledgeable emigrants from Europe.

Philadelphia's importance and central location in the colonies made it a natural center for America's revolutionaries. The city hosted the First Continental Congress before the war; the Second Continental Congress, which signed the United States Declaration of Independence, during the war; and the Constitutional Convention after the war. Several battles were fought in and near Philadelphia as well.

President's House, Philadelphia. This mansion at 6th & Market Streets served as the presidential mansion of George Washington and John Adams, 1790-1800.

Philadelphia served as the temporary capital of the United States, 1790–1800, while the Federal City was under construction in the District of Columbia.^[11] In 1793, one of the largest yellow fever epidemics in U.S. history killed as many as 5,000 people in Philadelphia, roughly 10% of the population.^[12]

The state government left Philadelphia in 1799 and the federal government left soon after in 1800, but the city remained the young nation's largest and a financial and cultural center. New York City soon surpassed Philadelphia in population, but construction of roads, canals, and railroads helped turn Philadelphia into the United States' first major industrial city. Throughout the 19th century, Philadelphia had a variety of industries and businesses, the largest being textiles. Major corporations in the 19th and early 20th centuries included the Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, and the Pennsylvania Railroad.^[13] Industry, along with the U.S. Centennial, was celebrated in 1876 with the Centennial Exposition, the first official World's Fair in the United States. Immigrants, mostly German and Irish, settled in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts. The rise in population of the surrounding districts helped lead to the Act of Consolidation of 1854 which extended the city of Philadelphia to include all of Philadelphia County.^[14] In the later half of the century immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe and Italy and African Americans from the southern U.S. settled in the city.^[15] Between 1880 and 1930, the African American population of Philadelphia increased from 31,699 to 219,559.^[16][17]

8th and Market Street, showing the Strawbridge and Clothier department store, 1910s.

By the 20th century, Philadelphia had become known as "corrupt and contented," with a complacent population and entrenched Republican political machine.^[18] The first major reform came in 1917 when outrage over the election-year murder of a police officer led to the shrinking of the Philadelphia City Council from two houses to just one.^[19] In the 1920s, the public flouting of Prohibition laws, mob violence, and police involvement in illegal activities led to the appointment of Brigadier General Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as director of public safety, but political pressure prevented any long-term success in fighting crime and corruption.^[20]

The population peaked at more than two million residents in 1950, then began to decline. Revitalization and gentrification of neighborhoods began in the 1960s and continues into the 21st century, with much of the development in the Center City and University City areas of the city. After many of the old manufacturers and businesses had left Philadelphia or shut down, the city started attracting service businesses and began to more aggressively market itself as a tourist destination. Glass-and-granite skyscrapers were built in Center City. Historic areas such as Independence National Historical Park located in Old City and Society Hill were resuscitated during the reformist mayoral era of the 1950s through the 1980s and are now among the most desirable living areas of Center City. This has slowed the city's 40-year population decline after losing nearly one-quarter of its population.^[21][22]

Geography

Topography

A simulated-color satellite image of Philadelphia taken on NASA's Landsat 7 satellite. The Delaware River is visible in this shot.

Philadelphia is located at 40° 00′ north latitude and 75° 09′ west longitude. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 142.6 square miles (369.3 km²), of which 135.1 square miles (349.9 km²) is land and 7.6 square miles (19.7 km²), or 5.29%, is water. Bodies of water include the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, and Cobbs, Wissahickon, and Pennypack Creeks.

The lowest point is sea level, while the highest point is in Chestnut Hill, at approximately 445 feet (136 m) above sea level (near the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike).^[23]

Philadelphia is located on the Fall Line separating the Atlantic Coastal Plain from the Piedmont.^[24] The rapids on the Schuylkill River at East Falls disappeared after the completion of the Fairmount Dam.^[25]

The city is the seat of its own county. The adjacent counties are Montgomery to the north; Bucks to the northeast; Burlington County, New Jersey to the east; Camden County, New Jersey to the southeast; Gloucester County, New Jersey to the south; and Delaware County to the west.

	Pennsylvania Main Line	Jenkintown	Bensalem
	Upper Darby		Camden, New Jersey
		Philadelphia
	Tinicum Township (Delco)	Glassboro, New Jersey	Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Climate

Philadelphia falls in the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate zone (Koppen Cfa). Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Snowfall is variable, with some winters bringing only light snow and others bringing several major snowstorms. The average annual snowfall is 19.3 in (49.0 cm). Precipitation is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to twelve wet days per month,^[26] at an average annual rate of 42.1 in (1,070 mm).

The January average is 32.3 °F (0.17 °C), though lows may push down to 10 °F (−12.2 °C), not including wind chill, and highs may soar above 50 °F (10 °C). July averages 77.6 °F (25.3 °C), although heat waves accompanied by high humidity are frequent with highs above 95 °F (35 °C) and the heat index running as high as 110 °F (43 °C). Early fall and late winter are generally driest, with October being the driest month by average daily precipitation, averaging 2.75 inches (70 mm) for the month.

The snowiest winter has been the 2009–2010 winter season,^[27] with 78.7 inches (199.9 cm) of snow ^[28] The least snowy winter was the 1972–1973 season, with only trace amounts of snowfall.^[29] The city's heaviest single-storm snowfall (30.7 inches (78.0 cm)) occurred in January 1996.

The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 7, 1918, but 100 °F (37.8 °C)+ temperatures are uncommon.^[30] The lowest officially recorded temperature was −11 °F (−24 °C) on February 9, 1934,^[30] but temperatures below 0 °F (−17.8 °C) occur only a few times a decade.

Cityscape

Panoramic view of the Philadelphia skyline from across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey.

Neighborhoods

Row houses in West Philadelphia.

Center City Philadelphia showing One Liberty Place and City Hall

Philadelphia's neighborhoods are divided into large sections—North, Northeast, Northwest, West, South and Southwest Philadelphia—all of which surround Center City, which corresponds closely with the city's limits before consolidation in 1854. Each of these large areas contains numerous neighborhoods, some of whose boundaries derive from the boroughs, townships, and other communities that made up Philadelphia County before their absorption into the city. Other neighborhoods are defined more by ethnicity, religion, culture, or commercial reasons.^[34]

Architecture

Philadelphia's architectural history dates back to Colonial times and includes a wide range of styles. The earliest structures were of logs construction, but brick structures were common by 1700. During the 18th century, the cityscape was dominated by Georgian architecture, including Independence Hall and Christ Church.

In the first decades of the 19th century, Federal architecture and Greek Revival architecture were dominated by Philadelphia architects such as Benjamin Latrobe, William Strickland, John Haviland, John Notman, Thomas U. Walter, and Samuel Sloan.^[35] Frank Furness is considered Philadelphia's greatest architect of the second half of the 19th century, but his contemporaries included John McArthur, Jr., Addison Hutton, Wilson Eyre, the Wilson Brothers, and Horace Trumbauer. In 1871, construction began on the Second Empire-style Philadelphia City Hall. Despite the construction of steel and concrete skyscrapers in the 1910s, '20s and '30s, the 548 ft (167 m) City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until 1987 when One Liberty Place was constructed.

Numerous glass and granite skyscrapers were built from the late 1980s onwards. In 2007, the Comcast Center surpassed One Liberty Place to become the city's tallest building and make Philadelphia one of only four American cities with two or more buildings over 900 feet.

For much of Philadelphia's history, the typical home has been the row house. The row house was introduced to the United States via Philadelphia in the early 1800s and, for a time, row houses built elsewhere in the United States were known as "Philadelphia rows".^[35] A variety of row houses are found throughout the city, from Victorian-style homes in North Philadelphia to twin row houses in West Philadelphia. While newer homes are scattered throughout the city, much of the housing is from the early 20th century or older. The great age of the homes has created numerous problems, including blight and vacant lots in many parts of the city, while other neighborhoods such as Society Hill, which has the largest concentration of 18th-century architecture in the United States, have been rehabilitated and gentrified.^[36][37]

Parks

The total parkland amounts to about 10,334 acres.^[38] Philadelphia's largest park, Fairmount Park, encompasses 9,200 acres of this parkland and includes 63 neighborhood and regional parks.^[39] The largest tract of Fairmount Park is on the west side of the city along the Schuylkill River and Wissahickon Creek and includes the Philadelphia Zoo.

The total expenditures of the park in 2005 were $164 million. Fairmount Park is the world’s largest landscaped urban park.^[40]

Culture

Independence Hall in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is home to many national historical sites that relate to the founding of the United States. Independence National Historical Park is the center of these historical landmarks. Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Liberty Bell are the city's most famous attractions. Other historic sites include homes for Edgar Allan Poe, Betsy Ross, and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, early government buildings like the First and Second Banks of the United States, Fort Mifflin, and the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church National Historic Site.^[41]

Philadelphia's major science museums include the Franklin Institute, which contains the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Mütter Museum, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. History museums include the National Constitution Center, the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia History, the National Museum of American Jewish History, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the state of Pennsylvania and The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania and Eastern State Penitentiary. Philadelphia is home to the United States' first zoo and hospital, as well as to Fairmount Park, one of America's oldest and largest urban parks.

The Philadelphia region is considered Mid-Atlantic which is located in the Northeastern United States. Pennsylvania is considered a Northeastern state, but shares the rural character of many Southern states. Maryland and Delaware were officially "border states" during the American Civil War, and parts of both are Philadelphia suburbs. New Jersey was also the last "Union" state to abolish slavery. The Philadelphia accent shares some similarities with the "New York" and "Boston" accents, but also has distinctive differences.

Arts

Philadelphia sculptor James Peniston's Keys To Community in the Old City neighborhood, one of the city's many public artworks featuring Benjamin Franklin. Location:

Two statues, The Amazon and Rocky, outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The city contains many art museums such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Rodin Museum, the largest collection of work by Auguste Rodin outside of France. The city’s major art museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is one of the largest art museums in the United States and features the steps made popular by the film Rocky.^[42]

The city is home to the Philadelphia Sketch Club, one of the country's oldest artists' clubs; and to a profusion of art galleries, many of which participate in the First Friday event. The first Friday of every month galleries in Old City are open late. Annual events include film festivals and parades, the most famous being the New Year's Day Mummers Parade.

Areas such as South Street and Old City have a vibrant night life. The Avenue of the Arts in Center City contains many restaurants and theaters, such as the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which is home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, generally considered one of the top five orchestras in the United States, and the Academy of Music, the nation's oldest continually operating venue, home to the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet.^[42]

Philadelphia has more public art than any other American city.^[43] In 1872, the Fairmount Park Art Association was created, the first private association in the United States dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning.^[44] In 1959, lobbying by the Artists Equity Association helped create the Percent for Art ordinance, the first for a U.S. city.^[45] The program, which has funded more than 200 pieces of public art, is administered by the Philadelphia Office of Arts and Culture, the city's art agency.^[46]

In particular, Philadelphia has more murals than any other U.S. city, thanks in part to the 1984 creation of the Department of Recreation's Mural Arts Program, which seeks to beautify neighborhoods and provide an outlet for graffiti artists. The program has funded more than 2,800 murals by professional, staff and volunteer artists and educated over 20,000 underserved youth in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.^[47]

Philadelphia has had a prominent role in music. In the 1970s, Philadelphia soul influenced the music of that and later eras. On July 13, 1985, Philadelphia hosted the American end of the Live Aid concert at John F. Kennedy Stadium. The city reprised this role for the Live 8 concert, bringing some 700,000 people to the Ben Franklin Parkway on July 2, 2005.^[48] Philadelphia is also home to the world-renowned Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale, which has performed its music all over the world. Dr. Robert G. Hamilton, founder of the choir, is a famous Philadelphian. The Philly Pops is another famous Philadelphia music group. The city has played a major role in the development and support of American rock music and rap music. Hip-hop/Rap artists such as The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, The Goats, Freeway, Schoolly D, Eve, and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes hail from the city.

Cuisine

Pat's Steaks in South Philadelphia.

The city is known for its hoagies, scrapple, soft pretzels, water ice, Tastykake, and is home to the cheesesteak. Its high-end restaurants include Le Bec-Fin and Morimoto, run by chef Masaharu Morimoto, who rose to prominence on the Iron Chef television show.

Sports

Philadelphia's professional sports teams date at least to the 1860 founding of baseball's Athletics. The city is one of 13 U.S. cities to have all four major sports: the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League, the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League of Major League Baseball, and the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association.

A view of downtown Philadelphia from Citizens Bank Park.

The city's professional teams went without a championship from 1983, when the 76ers won the NBA Championship, until 2008, when the Phillies won the World Series. In 2004, ESPN ranked Philadelphia second on its list of The Fifteen Most Tortured Sports Cities.^[49] The failure was sometimes attributed in jest to the "Curse of Billy Penn". Also, beginning with the 76ers loss in the 1977 NBA Finals, the city's teams have lost championships during presidential inaugural years. This trend continued in 2009, President Barack Obama's inauguration year, when the Phillies lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. When the Flyers lost the Stanley Cup Finals the following year, commenators on NBC and the CBC said that the main reason why the city went 25 years without a championship was because the only years the city's teams played for one were years presidents were inaugurated.^[50][51]

Major-sport professional sports teams that originated in Philadelphia but ultimately moved to other cities include the Golden State Warriors basketball team and the Oakland Athletics baseball team.

Philadelphia is home to professional, semi-professional and elite amateur teams in cricket, rugby league (Philadelphia Fight), rugby union and other sports. Major sporting events in the city include the Penn Relays, Stotesbury Cup, Philadelphia Marathon, Broad Street Run, Philadelphia International Championship bicycle race, and the Dad Vail Regatta.

Philadelphia is home to the Philadelphia Big 5, a group of five Division I college basketball programs: Big 5 are Saint Joseph's University, University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, Temple University, and Villanova University. The sixth NCAA Division I school in Philadelphia is Drexel University. At least one of the teams is competitive nearly every year and at least one team has made the NCAA tournament for the past four decades.

In February 2008, Philadelphia beat several other cities in competition for the 16th Major League Soccer franchise. The Philadelphia Union entered the league in 2010 calling PPL Park their home (a soccer-specific stadium) in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Economy

Comcast Center, Philadelphia's newest office building and Pennsylvania's tallest building.

Philadelphia's economic sectors include manufacturing, oil refining, food processing, health care and biotechnology, tourism and financial services. According to a study prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Philadelphia and its surrounding region had the fourth highest GDP among American cities, with a total GDP of $312 billion in 2005.^[52] Only New York City ($1,133 billion), Los Angeles ($693 billion), and Chicago ($460 billion) had higher total economic output levels among American cities.^[52] Philadelphia ranked below Tokyo ($1,191 billion), Paris ($460 billion), London ($452 billion), Osaka-Kobe ($391 billion), Mexico City ($315 billion), and above Washington, D.C. ($299 billion) and Boston ($290 billion).

The city is home to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and several Fortune 500 companies, including cable television and internet provider Comcast, insurance companies Colonial Penn, CIGNA and Lincoln Financial Group, energy company Sunoco, food services company Aramark and Crown Holdings Incorporated, chemical makers Rohm and Haas Company and FMC Corporation, pharmaceutical companies Wyeth and GlaxoSmithKline, Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, and automotive parts retailer Pep Boys. Early in the 20th Century, it was also home to the pioneering brass era automobile company Biddle.^[53]

The federal government has several facilities in Philadelphia. The city served as the capital city of the United States, before the construction of Washington, D.C. Today, the East Coast operations of the United States Mint are based near the historic district, and the Federal Reserve Bank's Philadelphia division is based there as well. Philadelphia is also home to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

With the historic presence of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the large ridership at 30th Street Station, Amtrak maintains a significant presence in the city. These jobs include customer service representatives and ticket processing and other behind-the-scenes personnel, in addition to the normal functions of the railroad.

Baltimore Avenue towards Center City.

The city is a national center of law because of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Rutgers University School of Law - Camden, Villanova University School of Law, and Widener University School of Law. Additionally, the headquarters of the American Law Institute is located in the city.

Philadelphia is an important center for medicine, a distinction that it has held since the colonial period. The city is home to the first hospital in the British North American colonies, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the first medical school in what is now the United States, at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). Penn, the city's largest private employer, also runs a large teaching hospital and extensive medical system. There are also major hospitals affiliated with Temple University School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Philadelphia also has three distinguished children's hospitals: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the nation's first pediatric hospital (located adjacent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania), St. Christopher's Hospital, and the Shriners' Hospital. In the city's northern section are Albert Einstein Medical Center, and in the northeast section, Fox Chase Cancer Center. Together, health care is the largest sector of employment in the city. Several medical professional associations are headquartered in Philadelphia.

With Philadelphia's importance as a medical research center, the region supports the pharmaceutical industry. GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Wyeth, Merck, GE Healthcare, Johnson and Johnson and Siemens Medical Solutions are just some of the large pharmaceutical companies with operations in the region. The city is also home to the nation's first school of pharmacy, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, now called the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Tourism is a major industry in Philadelphia, which was the 11th-most-visited city in the United States in 2008. It welcomed 710,000 visitors from foreign countries in 2008, up 29% from the previous year.^[54]

Shopping

The Italian Market in South Philadelphia is a major Philadelphian landmark.

Shopping options in Center City include The Gallery at Market East, The Shops at Liberty Place, Jewelers' Row, South Street, and a variety of standalone independent retailers. Rittenhouse Row, a four block section of Walnut Street, has higher-end clothing chain stores as well as hipster-inspired clothing stores. The parallel streets of Sansom and Chestnut in this area have some high end boutiques and clothing retailers. Old City has some emerging boutiques from local, as well as international merchandisers. The Reading Terminal Market includes dozens of take-out restaurants, specialty food vendors, and small grocery store operators, a few of which are operated by Amish farmers from nearby Lancaster County.

Philadelphia also has a few eclectic neighborhood shopping districts, usually consisting of a few blocks along a major neighborhood thoroughfare, such as in Manayunk or Chestnut Hill. The Italian Market in South Philadelphia offers groceries, meats, cheeses and housewares, historically from Italy, but now from many nationalities. Two famed cheesesteak restaurants, Geno's and Pat's, are located nearby.

There are several large shopping malls and strip malls in the region, including Franklin Mills in Northeast Philadelphia, and many in the suburbs, most notably the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19 miles from the heart of the city. The King of Prussia Mall is the largest shopping mall on the US East Coast^[55] and the largest in the country in terms of leasable retail space.

Media

The Inquirer Building on North Broad Street.

Philadelphia's two major daily newspapers are The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, both of which are owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. The Philadelphia Inquirer, founded in 1829, is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States.^[56] The Bulletin, another newspaper that operates in Philadelphia, traces its history back to The Philadelphia Bulletin that went defunct in 1982. The Bulletin is locally owned by The Bulletin, Inc.

The first experimental radio license was issued in Philadelphia in August, 1912 to St. Joseph's College. The first commercial radio stations appeared in 1922: first WIP, then owned by Gimbel's department store, on March 17, followed the same year by WFIL, WOO, WCAU and WDAS.^[57] The highest-rated stations in Philadelphia include soft rock WBEB, KYW Newsradio, and urban adult contemporary WDAS-FM. Philadelphia is served by three major public radio stations, WHYY-FM (NPR), WRTI (jazz, classical), and WXPN-FM (adult alternative music), as well as several smaller stations.

In the 1930s, the experimental station W3XE, owned by Philco, became the first television station in Philadelphia; it became NBC's first affiliate in 1939, and later became KYW-TV (CBS). WCAU-TV, WPVI-TV, WHYY-TV, WPHL-TV, and WTXF-TV had all been founded by the 1970s.^[57] In 1952 WFIL (now WPVI), premiered the television show Bandstand, which later became the nationally broadcast American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark.^[58] Today, as in many large metropolitan areas, each of the commercial networks has an affiliate, and call letters have been replaced by corporate IDs: CBS3, 6ABC, NBC10, Fox29, Telefutura28, Telemundo62, Univision65, plus My PHL 17 and CW Philly 57. The region is served also by public broadcasting stations WYBE-TV (Philadelphia), WHYY-TV (Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia), WLVT-TV (Lehigh Valley), and New Jersey Network. In September 2007, Philadelphia approved a public access cable channel.

Rock stations WMMR and WYSP have traditionally been intense rivals. Since 2005, WMMR has played more music after a shift in WYSP's programming from rock (including controversial shock jock Howard Stern) to a Free FM format. WYSP has since returned to the classic rock format it shed in 1995. WYSP also broadcasts all Philadelphia Eagles games. WMMR's The Preston and Steve Show has been the area's top-rated morning show since Howard Stern left for Sirius Radio. In November 2008, WYSP launched a competing show hosted by Philadelphia native Danny Bonaduce. Both stations host regular live music and other events in throughout the region.

Four urban stations (WUSL ("Power 99"), WPHI ("100.3 The Beat"), WDAS and WRNB) are popular choices on the FM dial. WNUW is the city's Adult Contemporary station. The station had been home of "Smooth Jazz" WJJZ after the format was dropped from the 106.1 frequency (now WISX) but the format was dropped once again due to poor ratings.

Innovation

During the 20th century, the city was a focal point of retail innovation. Suburban Square in Ardmore, Montgomery County, is sometimes considered the first modern shopping center in the world. Built in stages from 1927 to 1931, it was one of the first institutions to define the Pennsylvania Main Line in the 1920s. More importantly, it contains one of the oldest surviving department store branches in the country, a Strawbridge & Clothier, now a Macy's as of recently. Since then, large malls such as Cherry Hill Mall and King of Prussia Mall have opened nearby.

Some of the first modern discount stores followed. Much of Kmart's earlier growth was to the Philadelphia area in the early 1960s. Defunct chains such as Bradlees, Caldor, Jamesway, Ames, Woolco, Two Guys, Hills Department Stores, Zayre, Richway, Korvettes, Nichols, Gaylords, Murphy Mart, and later Value City among others were concentrated in Philadelphia and other East Coast markets. This growth occurred largely from the 1950s-1970s, before the national growth of Wal-Mart and Target in the 1980s. Another was Strawbridge's own, Clover.

Philadelphia was the home of many pioneering supermarket chains during the same period, many of which had trademark architecture. The longest-running of these is Acme, formerly known as American Stores and Super Saver. Other examples are long-defunct Food Fair (Pantry Pride) and Penn Fruit, but Acme has closed many stores and was sold to Albertsons. They have however acquired many stores from their failed rivals. A&P, based in New York City, once had Philadelphia as a core market. After many previous store closings, the company shuttered its entire Philadelphia division in 1982. Due to a union outcry, it built some new stores and reopened others as Super Fresh from 1982-1985. The A&P name lives on in the nearby New York/New England market. More recently, the company acquired established Philadelphia/New York chain Pathmark. Many of these stores that have closed were replaced by franchises such as Shur-Fine, Supervalu, IGA, and Thriftway/Shop 'n Bag. Many other former supermarkets have become off-price stores such as Big Lots, Family Dollar, and Dollar General. Current major players in the region today include ShopRite, Save-a-Lot, ALDI, Giant-Carlisle, and local chain Genuardi's. Failed family-owned chains are Clemens and Giunta's. Newer upscale chains include Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Trader Joe's. There are few Wal-Mart Supercenters in the immediate area. In nearby markets, Safeway, Stop & Shop, Giant-Landover, Kroger, Food Lion, and formerly Grand Union operate.

Drug chains CVS, Rite Aid, and formerly Eckerd and Drug Emporium are big in the region. JCPenney also for many years operated the leading Thrift Drug chain. All these chains often anchored shopping centers along with a supermarket. Acme for many years also owned "Rea & Derick" drugstores under this arrangement, in partnership with the Rexall chain. In recent decades, supermarkets have added pharmacies of their own. At the same time, drugstores have relocated to corner locations or "inherited" obsolete supermarkets. Similar trends have occurred in other cities. Food Fair/Pantry Pride and Stop & Shop also shared many shopping centers with subsidiaries J.M. Fields and Bradlees, often with the stores directly connected. In fact, both divisions were acquired the same year, in 1961. Several J.M. Fields stores gave way to Bradlees as well. There once were many small enclosed malls in the area with a similar style, such as MacDade Mall.

Pennsylvania is also unique in that it has a "State Store" system for non-beer alcohol sales. Wine and spirits are only sold at stores operated by the PLCB, which are ubiquitous in Philadelphia. For many years, these stores were called "State Store", only had "counter" service, and were strictly closed Sundays. Many of them were and still are small but important anchors in shopping centers. In the 1970s, all but a few "urban" locations were made into conventional stores with aisles. Later, their hours, selection, and square footage have greatly been expanded. To this day, however, the stores lack a consistent name and logo. Some are called simply "liquor store", while most have some variation on the words "Wine & Spirits" or "Wine & Spirits Shoppe". The state also tolerates winery retail stores.

Also important to the local economy are Wawa, Comcast, Citizens Bank, Sunoco, and Lukoil. These companies all have many major sponsorships. Marriott also is based in nearby Maryland. Philadelphia has had its share of local retailers as well, many of which have been bought out or closed. Many national big-box and mall retailers have arrived since the 1980s.

Philadelphia is home to many other "first-in-America" institutions, including:^[59][60]

Demographics

  sources:[61]
 [62]

Race and ethnicity

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the racial composition of Philadelphia was as follows:

• White: 42.5% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 39.0%)
• Black or African American: 43.5%
• Native American: 0.3%
• Asian: 5.5%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%
• Some other race: 6.4%
• Two or more races: 1.8%

• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 11.0%

Source:^[64]

As of the census^[65] of 2000, there were 1,517,550 people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the city. The population density was 11,233.6/square mile (4,337.3/km²). There were 661,958 housing units at an average density of 4,900.1/sq mi (1,891.9/km²). As of the 2004 Census estimations, there were 1,463,281 people, 658,799 housing units, and the racial makeup of the city was 45.0% White, 43.2% African American, 5.5% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.8% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.5% of the population. The top 5 largest ancestries include Irish (13.6%), Italian (9.2%), German (8.1%), Polish (4.3%), and English (2.9%).^[66]

Of the 590,071 households, 27.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.1% were married couples living together, 22.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.3% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the city, the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 25, 29.3% from 25 to 45, 20.3% from 45 to 65, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,746, and the median income for a family was $37,036. Males had a median income of $34,199 versus $28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,509. About 18.4% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2008, more than 500,000 immigrants call the Philadelphia metropolitan area home.^[67] More than one-fifth of these immigrants have arrived since 2000, resulting in an increase of 113,000 immigrants between the years 2000 and 2006.^[67] This is nearly the same amount of immigrants that arrived during the decade of the 1990s, of which today comprise 10.9% of the city's population.^[67] As reported by the Brookings Institution, the Philadelphia area is poised to re-emerge as a destination for immigrants, a longtime characteristic of the region that stalled in the mid-20th century.^[67]

Philadelphia has the second largest Irish, Italian, and Jamaican populations in the U.S. The city is also home to the fourth largest African American population in the nation. Philadelphia also has the fourth largest population of Polish residents. Philadelphia's Jewish population, the sixth largest in the nation, was estimated at 206,000 in 2001.^[68]

In recent years, the Hispanic and Asian populations have significantly increased. Hispanics have settled throughout the city, especially around El Centro de Oro. Philadelphia is home to the third largest Puerto Rican population in the United States. In recent years, many Mexican immigrants have come to areas around the Italian Market. There are an estimated 10,000 Mexicans living in South Philadelphia. Mexicans and Guatemalans also have settled in small communities in North Philadelphia, mainly in the Kensington neighborhood. Colombian immigrants have also come to the Olney neighborhood.

The Asian population was once concentrated in the city's thriving Chinatown, but now Koreans have come to Olney, and Vietnamese have forged bazaars next to the Italian Market in South Philadelphia. Concentrations of Cambodian neighborhoods can be found in North and South Philadelphia. Indians and Arabs have come to Northeast Philadelphia along with Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. This large influx of Asians has given Philadelphia one of the largest populations of Vietnamese, Cambodians, Chinese, Indonesians, and Koreans in the United States. The Philadelphia region also has the fourth largest population of Indian Americans. The West Indian population is concentrated in Cedar Park.

Also to note Canadians (French Canadians), Germans, Greeks, Chinese, Japanese, English, Welsh, Pakistanis, Iranians, Armenians, Turks, Swedes and immigrants from the former Yugoslavia and Albania.

There is a small Native American community known as Lenapehoking for Lenni-Lenape Indians of West Philadelphia.

Sticker by the Delaware Valley's Lenape Indians in 2008 claiming West Philadelphia is their home.

Government

City Hall illuminated with projected lights for the 2005 winter holidays.

From a governmental perspective, Philadelphia County is a legal nullity, as all county functions were assumed by the city in 1952, which has been coterminous with the county since 1854.

Philadelphia’s 1952 Home Rule Charter was written by the City Charter Commission, which was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in an Act of April 21, 1949, and a city ordinance of June 15, 1949. The existing City Council received a proposed draft on February 14, 1951, and the electors approved it in an election held April 17, 1951.^[69] The first elections under the new Home Rule Charter were held in November, 1951, and the newly elected officials took office in January, 1952.^[70]

Mayor and City Council

The city uses the "strong-mayor" version of the mayor-council form of government, which is headed by one mayor, in whom executive authority is vested. Elected "at-large", the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms under the city's home rule charter, but can run for the position again after an intervening term. The current city mayor, having taken office in January 2008, is Michael Nutter, replacing John F. Street who served two terms from 1999 to the end of 2007. Nutter, as all Philadelphia mayors have been since 1952, is a member of the Democratic Party, which tends to dominate local politics so thoroughly that the Democratic primary for mayor is often more noticeable than the general mayoral election. The legislative branch, the Philadelphia City Council, consists of ten council members representing individual districts and seven members elected at large. The current council president is Anna C. Verna.

Philadelphia County Courts

The Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas (First Judicial District) is the felony-level trial court of general jurisdiction for Philadelphia. It has 90 legally trained judges elected by the voters. It is funded and operated largely by city resources and employees.^[71]

The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles matters of limited jurisdiction as well as landlord-tenant disputes, appeals from traffic court, preliminary hearings for felony-level offenses, and misdemeanor criminal trials. It has 25 legally trained judges elected by the voters.^[72]

Philadelphia Traffic Court is a court of special jurisdiction that hears violations of traffic laws. It has 7 judges elected by the voters.^[73]

Pennsylvania appellate courts

Pennsylvania's three appellate courts also have sittings in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the court of last resort in the state, regularly hears arguments in Philadelphia City Hall. Also, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania sit in Philadelphia several times a year. Judges for these courts are elected at large. Each court has a prothonotary's office in Philadelphia as well.

Philadelphia Historical Commission

The Philadelphia Historical Commission was created in 1955 to preserve the cultural, social, political, economic and architectural history of the city. The commission maintains the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, adding historic buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts as it sees fit.^[74]

Philadelphia Housing Authority

The Philadelphia Housing Authority is the largest landlord in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Established in 1937, it is the nation’s fourth-largest housing authority, housing approximately 84,000 people and employing 1,250. In 2006, its budget was $313 million.^[75]

Philadelphia Parking Authority

The Philadelphia Parking Authority has the responsibility to provide full parking services for Philadelphia residents, businesses and visitors.

Politics and elections

As of November 2008, there were 1,126,768 registered voters in Philadelphia.^[76]

• Democratic: 880,684 (78.16%)
• Republican: 147,074 (13.05%)
• Other Parties: 99,010 (8.79%)

As of December 31, 2009, there were 1,057,038 registered voters in Philadelphia. ^[77] Registered voters constitute 68.3% of the total population. ^[78]

• Democratic: 829,873 (78.5%)
• Republican: 134,216 (12.7%)
• Libertarian 2,631 (0.2%)
• Other Parties and No party: 90,318 (8.5%)^[77]

From the American Civil War until the mid-20th century, Philadelphia was a bastion of the Republican Party, which arose from the staunch pro-Northern views of Philadelphia residents during and after the war. After the Great Depression, Democratic registrations increased, but the city was not carried by Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt in his landslide victory of 1932 (in which Pennsylvania was one of the few states won by Republican Herbert Hoover). While other Northern industrial cities were electing Democratic mayors in the 1930s and 1940s, Philadelphia did not follow suit until 1951. That is, Philadelphia never had a "New Deal" coalition.

The city is now one of the most Democratic in the country, despite the frequent election of Republicans to statewide offices since the 1930s; in 2008, Democrat Barack Obama drew 83% of the city's vote.

Philadelphia once comprised six congressional districts. However, as a result of the city's declining population, it now has only four: the 1st district, represented by Bob Brady; the 2nd, represented by Chaka Fattah; the 8th, represented by Patrick Murphy; and the 13th, represented by Allyson Schwartz. All four are Democrats. Although they are usually swamped by Democrats in city, state and national elections, Republicans still have some support in the area; a Republican represented a significant portion of Philadelphia in the House as late as 1983. Pennsylvania's senior Senator, Arlen Specter, is from Philadelphia; he served as a Republican from 1981 until becoming a Democrat in 2009.

Crime

Like many American cities, Philadelphia saw a gradual yet pronounced rise in crime in the years following World War II. There were 525 murders in 1990, a rate of 31.5 per 100,000. There were an average of about 600 murders a year for most of the 1990s. The murder count dropped in 2002 to 288, then rose four years later to 406 in 2006 and 392 in 2007.^[79] In 2006, Philadelphia's homicide rate of 27.7 per 100,000 people was the highest of the country's 10 most poulous cities.^[80]

In 2004, there were 7,513.5 crimes per 200,000 people in Philadelphia.^[81] In 2005, Philadelphia was ranked by Morgan Quitno as the sixth-most dangerous among 32 American cities with populations over 500,000.^[82] Among its neighboring Mid-Atlantic cities in the same population group, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. were ranked second- and third-most dangerous cities in the United States, respectively, and Camden, New Jersey, a city across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, was ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States.^[83]

In 2008, Camden was the second-most dangerous city in the country, lower than its 2004 ranking, but still high for a city its size, while Philadelphia was ranked 22nd.^[84]

Education

University of Pennsylvania.

Education in Philadelphia is provided by many private and public institutions. The School District of Philadelphia runs the city's public schools. The Philadelphia School District is the eighth largest school district in the United States with 163,064 students in 347 public and charter schools.^[85]

Philadelphia is one of the largest college towns in the United States and has the second-largest student concentration on the East Coast with over 120,000 college and university students enrolled within the city and nearly 300,000 in the metropolitan area. There are over 80 colleges, universities, trade, and specialty schools in the Philadelphia region. The city contains three major research universities: the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, and Temple University. Other institutions of higher learning within the city's borders include Saint Joseph's University, La Salle University, Peirce College, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, The University of the Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Curtis Institute of Music, Thomas Jefferson University, Moore College of Art and Design, The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, Philadelphia University, Chestnut Hill College, Holy Family University, the Community College of Philadelphia and Messiah College Philadelphia Campus.

Philadelphia's famous Pennsylvania Main Line and western suburbs are home to other notable colleges and universities including Villanova University, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and Swarthmore College.

Infrastructure

30th Street Station, with Cira Centre in the background and statues on the Market Street Bridge over Schuylkill River in the foreground.

Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which operates buses, trains, rapid transit, trolleys, and trackless trolleys throughout Philadelphia, the four Pennsylvania suburban counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery, in addition to service to Mercer County, New Jersey and New Castle County, Delaware. The city's subway, opened in 1907, is the third-oldest in America.

SEPTA's Airport Regional Rail Line Regional Rail offers direct service to the Philadelphia International Airport.

Philadelphia's 30th Street Station is a major railroad station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, which offers access to Amtrak, SEPTA, and New Jersey Transit lines.

The PATCO Speedline provides rapid transit service to Camden, Collingswood, Westmont, Haddonfield, Woodcrest (Cherry Hill), Ashland (Voorhees), and Lindenwold, New Jersey, from stations on Locust Street between 16th and 15th, 13th and 12th, and 10th and 9th Streets, and on Market Street at 8th Street.

Airports

Two airports serve Philadelphia: the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), straddling the southern boundary of the city, and the Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE), a general aviation reliever airport in Northeast Philadelphia. Philadelphia International Airport provides scheduled domestic and international air service, while Northeast Philadelphia Airport serves general and corporate aviation. As of March 2006, Philadelphia International Airport was the 10th largest airport measured by "traffic movements" (i.e. takeoffs and landings), and is also a primary hub for US Airways.^[86]

Roads

Aerial view showing the major highways circumscribing Philadelphia.

The Schuylkill Expressway, approaching Center City from the North.

Interstate 95 runs through the city along the Delaware River as a main north-south artery. The city is also served by the Schuylkill Expressway, a portion of Interstate 76 that runs along the Schuylkill River. It meets the Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, providing access to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and points west. Interstate 676, the Vine Street Expressway, was completed in 1991 after years of planning. A link between I-95 and I-76, it runs below street level through Center City, connecting to the Ben Franklin Bridge at its eastern end.

Roosevelt Boulevard and the Roosevelt Expressway (U.S. 1) connect Northeast Philadelphia with Center City. Woodhaven Road (Route 63), built in 1966, and Cottman Avenue (Route 73) serve the neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia, running between Interstate 95 and the Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. 1). The Fort Washington Expressway (Pennsylvania Route 309) extends north from the city's northern border, serving Montgomery County and Bucks County. Route 30, extending east-west from West Philadelphia to Lancaster, is known as Lancaster Avenue throughout most of the city and through the adjacent Main Line suburb.

Interstate 476, commonly nicknamed the "Blue Route" through Delaware County, bypasses the city to the west, serving the city's western suburbs, as well as providing a link to Allentown and points north. Similarly, Interstate 276, the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Delaware River Extension, acts as a bypass and commuter route to the north of the city as well as a link to the New Jersey Turnpike to New York.

However, other planned freeways have been canceled, such as an Interstate 695 running southwest from downtown, two freeways connecting Interstate 95 to Interstate 76 that would have replaced Girard Avenue and South Street and a freeway upgrade of Roosevelt Boulevard.

The Delaware River Port Authority operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area across the Delaware River to New Jersey: the Walt Whitman Bridge (I-76), the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (I-676 and US 30), the Betsy Ross Bridge (Route 90), and the Commodore Barry Bridge (US 322). The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge connects PA Route 73 in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia with New Jersey's Route 73 in Palmyra, Camden County, and is maintained by the Burlington County Bridge Commission.

Bus Service

Philadelphia is also a major hub for Greyhound Lines, which operates 24-hour service to points east of the Mississippi River. Most of Greyhound's services in Philadelphia operate to/from the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal, located at 1001 Filbert Street in Center City Philadelphia. In 2006, the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal was the second busiest Greyhound terminal in the United States, after the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York. Besides Greyhound, six other bus operators provide service to the Center City Greyhound terminal. These are Bieber Tourways, Capitol Trailways, Martz Trailways, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Susquehanna Trailways, and the bus division for New Jersey Transit Other services include Megabus and Bolt Bus.

Rail

Suburban Station

Since the early days of rail transport in the United States, Philadelphia has served as hub for several major rail companies, particularly the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad first operated Broad Street Station, then 30th Street Station and Suburban Station, and the Reading Railroad operated out of Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The two companies also operated competing commuter rail systems in the area, known collectively as the Regional Rail system. The two systems today, for the most part still intact but now connected, operate as a single system under the control of the SEPTA, the regional transit authority. Additionally, the PATCO Speedline subway system and New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line operate successor services to southern New Jersey.^[87]

Philadelphia, once home to more than 4,000 trolleys on 65 lines,^[88] is one of the few North American cities to maintain streetcar lines. Today, SEPTA operates five "subway-surface" trolleys that run on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and subway tunnels in Center City. SEPTA also recently reintroduced trolley service to the Girard Avenue Line, Route 15. The route is considered by some a "heritage" line, yet the use of rebuilt 1947 PCC streetcars was primarily for budgetary reasons, not a historic tribute.

Today, Philadelphia is a hub of the semi-nationalized Amtrak system, with 30th Street Station being a primary stop on the Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor and the Keystone Corridor to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 30th Street also serves as a major station for services via the Pennsylvania Railroad's former Pennsylvania Main Line to Chicago. 30th Street is Amtrak's third-busiest station in numbers of passengers as of fiscal year 2003.

Telecommunications

Skyline at night.

Southeastern Pennsylvania was, at one time, served only by the 215 area code, beginning in 1947 when the North American Numbering Plan of the "Bell System" went into effect. The area covered by the code was severely truncated when area code 610 was split from 215. Today only the city and its northern suburbs are covered by 215. An overlay area code, 267, was added to the 215 service area in 1997. A plan to introduce area code 445 as an additional overlay in 2001 was delayed and later rescinded.^[89]

Philadelphia is now also served by Wireless Philadelphia, a citywide initiative to provide Wi-Fi service. The Proof of Concept area was approved on May 23, 2007, and service is now available in many areas of the city; although discontinued by Earthlink.

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Philadelphia. The main Philadelphia Post Office is at 3000 Chestnut Street in the University City district.^[90][91] The facility here became Philadelphia's main post office on September 29, 2008, after the closure of the former main post office at 30th and Market Streets.^[92]

Notable people

Sister cities

Philadelphia has ten sister cities, as designated by the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia (IVC):^[93]

Philadelphia has dedicated landmarks to its sister cities. Dedicated in June 1976, the Sister Cities Plaza, a one-half-acre site located at 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, honors Philadelphia's relationships with Tel Aviv and Florence which were its first Sister Cities. Another landmark, the Torun Triangle, honoring the Sister City relationship with Toruń, Poland, was constructed in 1976, west of the United Way building at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The Triangle contains the Copernicus monument. The Chinatown Gate, erected in 1984 and crafted by artisans of Tianjin, China, stands astride the intersection of 10th and Arch Streets as an elaborate and colorful symbol of the Sister City relationship.

See also

• 2007 Philadelphia Mayoral Election
• Largest metropolitan areas in the Americas
• List of municipal authorities in Philadelphia
• List of municipalities in Pennsylvania
• List of people from Philadelphia
• United States metropolitan areas

References

External links

• City of Philadelphia government
• Historic Philadelphia Photographs
• Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network - historical maps and atlases of Philadelphia
• philly.com - Local news
• Visitor Site for Greater Philadelphia
• Official Convention & Visitors Site for Philadelphia
• Philadelphia travel guide from Wikitravel

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