Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia (often referred to simply as "Philly" and sometimes as the "the City of Brotherly Love") is the fifth most populous city in the United States and the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, both in area and population. Since 1854, the city has been coterminous with Philadelphia County^GR6. Since 1952, the city and the county have shared a common government, yet the county still exists as a separate entity within Pennsylvania. As of July 1, 2004, the population estimate for the city was 1,470,151. Philadelphia has the third largest downtown residential population in the United States, behind New York and Chicago.

The Philadelphia metropolitan area is the fourth largest in the United States by the current official definition, with some 6.2 million people, though some other definitions place it sixth behind the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington-Baltimore. Philadelphia is the central city for the Delaware Valley metropolitan area.

Philadelphia is one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in the United States. It has played a critical role in American history. During part of the 18th century, the city was the second capital and most populous city of the United States. At that time, it eclipsed Boston and New York City in political and social importance, with Benjamin Franklin playing an extraordinary role in Philadelphia's rise.

The city limits have been coterminous with Philadelphia County since The Act of Consolidation in 1854. Prior to that, the city of Philadelphia consisted only of those areas between South Street, Vine Street, the Delaware River, and the Schuylkill River. The city's expansion incorporated the neighborhoods of West Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, and Northeast Philadelphia, as well as Germantown and smaller communities such as Roxborough, Manayunk, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill.

Philadelphia is also one of the largest college towns in the United States with over 120,000 students studying within the city limits alone and nearly 300,000 total college and university students in the metropolitan area.

History

Before Europeans arrived, the Delaware (Lenape) Indian town of Shackamaxon was located where Philadelphia now stands, specifically, the Germantown neighborhood. Although the area was within the bounds described in the 1632 Charter of Maryland, the Calvert family's actual reach never came this far, and Swedish colonists became the first Europeans to settle the area (see New Sweden), calling it Wiccacoa. A congregation was formed in 1646 on Tinicum Island by Swedish missionary Johannes Campanius. In 1700, the group built the Gloria Dei Church, also known as Old Swedes.

Philadelphia is a planned city founded and developed by William Penn, a Quaker. The city's name means "city of brotherly love" in Greek (Φιλαδέλφια). Penn hoped that the city, as the capital of his new colony founded on principles of freedom and religious tolerance, would be a model of this philosophy. During early immigration by Quakers and others, when immigrants purchased land in the city, they also received farm land outside of the city. This was intended to allow the city's population to leave the city easily. Penn also required lots of alleyways and open spaces in hopes of controlling fires and disease, which were then common problems in London and other major cities.

Philadelphia was a major center of the independence movement during the American Revolutionary War. The Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were drafted in Philadelphia and signed in the city's Independence Hall. The United States Marine Corps also began here on Nov. 10, 1775 when Samuel Nicholas began recruiting men at Tun Tavern.

For a time in the 18th century, Philadelphia was the largest city in the Americas north of Mexico City, and was the fourth largest city under Crown rule (after London, Bristol, and Dublin).

In 1790, as the result of a compromise between a number of Southern congressmen and Alexander Hamilton, then serving as Secretary of the Treasury, the seat of the United States Government was moved from Federal Hall in New York to Congress Hall in Philadelphia before taking its current residence in Washington, DC. In exchange for locating a permanent capital on the banks of the Potomac River, the congressmen agreed to support Hamilton's financial proposals. Philadelphia served as the capital for a decade, until 1800, when the Capitol building in the new Federal city of Washington, DC was opened.

An early railroad center, Philadelphia was the original home of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the world's largest builder of steam locomotives, which eventually relocated to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania). The Pennsylvania Railroad, once America's largest railroad by revenue and traffic volume and at one time the largest public corporation in the world, was headquartered in the city, as was its merger successor, the Penn Central, and in turn its freight railroad successor, Conrail.

In 1876 Philadelphia hosted the World's Fair, known as the Centennial Exposition. Memorial Hall and the expansive mall in front of it are remnants of this fair.

In 1926, the city held the Sesquicentennial Exposition to celebrate the nation's 150th birthday.

In 1976, Philadelphia was one of the participating cities in the United States Bicentennial observances that took place nationwide.

Geography and climate

Geography

Philadelphia is located at 39°59′53″N, 75°8′41″W.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 369.4 km² (142.6 mi²). 349.9 km² (135.1 mi²) of it is land and 19.6 km² (7.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 5.29% water. Bodies of water include the Delaware River, Schuylkill River, Cobbs Creek, Wissahickon Creek, and Pennypack Creek.

The lowest point in the city is 10 feet above sea level near Fort Mifflin in Southwest Philadelphia at the convergence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The highest point in the city is Chestnut Hill, with an elevation of 432 feet above sea level located near Evergreen Place, just north and west of Evergreen Avenue.

Climate

The climate in Philadelphia is temperate, with four seasons. Summers tend to be hot and often muggy, with the humidity tending to be high during July and August. Fall and spring are mild. The rainfall pattern is generally spread throughout the year, with between six and nine wet days per month. Winters are cold, but only a few days every winter does the temperature drop below -10° C. Snowfall is unpredictable, with some winters experiencing little and others characterised by more frequent snowstorms. The city center and inner New Jersey suburbs generally have light snow, with heavier falls being experienced to the north and west of the metropole. January lows average -4° C (25° F) and highs average 4° C (39° F). July lows average 21° C (70° F) and highs average 30° C (86° F) although during heat waves, summer highs can cross 35° C (95° F) with the heat index due to the humidity making it seem as high as 43* C (110° F). The lowest temperature ever officially recorded for the city was -22° C (-7° F) in 1984, and the highest temperature ever recorded was 40° C (104° F) in 1966. Philadelphia receives ample precipitation year round with an average of 1068 mm (42 in) of annual precipitation. Early fall and late winter are generally the driest times of the year, with February being the driest month with 69.8 mm (2.74 in) of precipitation. Summers are usually humid and rainy and July receives the most average precipitation at 111.5 mm (4.39 in) of rainfall.

Cityscape

Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme, laid out the city in a strict grid, with all streets running either north-south or east-west. The north-south streets are numbered sequentially from Front (instead of First), along the Delaware River, to 13th, followed by the main north-south thoroughfare, Broad Street (instead of 14th).

The numbered streets then resume, continuing in the original plan to 28th at the Schuylkill River. The east-west streets, many of them named for trees, e.g., Chestnut, Walnut, Locust, and Spruce (laid out in increasing hardness from softwood Pine in the South to hardwood Chestnut in the North) parallel the main thoroughfare named High Street by Penn, but called Market Street since at least the early 18th century. Six blocks south of Market is South Street, noted in recent decades for its night life and the subject of the 1963 hit single of the same name by The Orlons, was the original southern boundary of the city. Vine Street, located three blocks north of Market, served as the original northern boundry.

Holme also planned five public parks, one at the intersection of High and Broad Streets in the very center of the city, now occupied by City Hall, and four others surrounding it now called Washington Square, Rittenhouse Square, Logan Square and Franklin Square. The eastern edge of Rittenhouse Square is on 18th St., four blocks west of City Hall, while the western edge of Washington Square is between 7th and 8th, about six and a half blocks east of City Hall. Both are the same distance south of City Hall. Both Logan Square and Franklin Square are located the same distances east and west of City Hall as Washington and Rittenhouse and two to three blocks north of Market Street, reflecting the southern squares.

The post World War II era would see further changes in the cityscape. Under the leadership of Edmund N. Bacon, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission organized a master plan for the city, creating a variety of special planning, redevelopment, development districts and areas to coordinate their efforts. Projects that were headed by the new master plan were major redevelopment of Center City, including the Penn Center Area (replacing an immense, elevated railroad connector, locally known as the "Chinese Wall," located north of Market and West of Broad), Market East and Penn's Landing; new development and expansion in University City (focused mainly on the University of Pennsylvania); as well as the opening up of development on the fringes of the city, the Far Northeast and South Philadelphia Sports Complex. One of his most enduring innovations was a collection of small, semi-enclosed parks in the Society Hill residential area, connected by brick footpaths.

Bacon's efforts would also see changes in the transportation of the city, with the inclusion of the Center City Rail Connector, Vine Street Expressway, Delaware Expressway, and improvements to the Schykull Expressway. Many of Bacon's ideas, though not entirely as he had envisioned, can be seen today, with the basis of his master plan still influencing development in the city today.

Skyscrapers

Philadelphia is home to a number of skyscrapers. The city's tallest buildings are as follows:

There are also several other major skyscrapers under construction and in the final planning stages:

• Comcast Center (Pennsylvania Plaza) - UNDER CONSTRUCTION - to be 975 ft (297m) tall upon scheduled completion in 2007; this 57 story tower will overtake One Liberty Place as the tallest building in Pennsylvania.
• Mandeville Place - 43 story residential tower planned at former Rosenbluth International site; would rise 607.5 ft (185m)
• 1441 Chestnut Street - originally planned to be 615 ft (187m), this 50 story residential tower is now proposed at 585 ft (178m).
• Residences at the Ritz-Carlton - originally planned to be 57 stories and approx 720 ft (219m), this residential tower, which would stand immediately south of City Hall and immediately north of the proposed 1441 Chestnut St, is now proposed at 44 stories, measuring 485 ft (148m).
• The Murano - UNDER CONSTRUCTION - 43 story residential tower to be 475 ft (145m) tall upon scheduled completion in 2007
• 1919 Market St - 37 story residential tower proposed at 460 ft (140m)
• On January 23, 2006, Donald Trump announced plans to build a 45 story Trump Tower on Penn Street near the Delaware waterfront. The building is due to be completed in mid-2008.[1]

Neighborhoods

Philadelphia has many neighborhoods, each of which has its own identity. Many of these neighborhoods coincide with the borough and townships that made up Philadelphia County before their absorption by the city. These include Andorra, Fairmount, Bella Vista, Belmont, Brewerytown, Bustleton, Center City, Chestnut Hill, Chinatown,East Falls, East Oak Lane, West Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fishtown, Fitler's Square, Fox Chase, Frankford, Germantown, Graduate Hospital/Southwest Center City, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Holmesburg, Juniata Park, Kensington, Kingsessing, Lawncrest, Logan, Manayunk, Mayfair, Mount Airy, North Philadelphia, Northern Liberties, Old City, Olney, Overbrook, Oxford Circle, Pennsport, Pennypack, Point Breeze, Port Richmond, Powelton Village, Queen Village, Rittenhouse, Roxborough, Society Hill, Somerton, South Philadelphia, Southwark, Strawberry Mansion, University City, Tacony, Washington Square West, Wister, Wynnefield, and many others.

Suburbs

Further information: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia also has a significant immediate suburban area which depend on its economy and public transportation, such as Ambler, Yeadon, Upper Darby, Lansdowne, Ardmore, King Of Prussia, Abington, Jenkintown, Cheltenham, Willow Grove, Bala Cynwyd, Bensalem, Bristol, Glenside, and Norristown.

Economy

Philadelphia's economy is heavily based upon manufacturing, refining, food, and financial services. The city also has its own stock exchange.

The city is home to many major Fortune 500 companies, including cable television and internet provider Comcast, insurance companies CIGNA and Lincoln Financial Group, energy company Sunoco, food services company Aramark, Crown Holdings Incorporated, Rohm and Haas Company, the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Boeing helicopters division, and automotive parts retailer Pep Boys.

The Federal government plays a large role in Philadelphia as well. The city served as the first 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.

Due in part to the historical presence of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the large ridership at 30th Street Station, Amtrak also 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.

Because of the presence of the federal government, the city has a large contingent of law firms. The city is also a national center of law due to the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

People and culture of Philadelphia

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there are 1,517,550 people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the city. The population density is 4,337.3/km² (11,233.6/mi²). There are 661,958 housing units at an average density of 1,891.9/km² (4,900.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 45.02% White, 43.22% African American, 0.27% Native American, 4.46% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.77% from other races, and 2.21% from two or more races. 8.50% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The ethnic makeup of the city is 32.5% African American, 13.6% Irish, 9.2% Italian, 6.6% Puerto Rican, 6.4% German, and 4.3% Polish.

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

In the city the population is spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $30,746, and the median income for a family is $37,036. Males have a median income of $34,199 versus $28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,509. 22.9% of the population and 18.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 31.3% of those under the age of 18 and 16.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Ethnography

Philadelphia has long been a Black and White city, with hardly any Asians or Hispanics to speak of. However, the number of Asians and Hispanics has increased over the past 20 years, and continues to accelerate. The African-American population also increased, but at a slower rate. Non-Hispanic whites decreased both absolutely and relatively. US Census estimates predict by 2010 that the population of the city will have a growth rate of zero, or an increase instead of the yearly decrease of residents. This will occur due to immigration, and recently net migration from across the country, mostly non-whites. They come to Philadelphia for the culture, safer conditions than in cities such as Camden or Baltimore, a lower cost of living than in cities like New York or Boston, and job growth.

The city has the second largest Irish, Italian, and Jamaican populations in America. Increases in Latino immigration have created a diverse Hispanic community centered around El Centro de Oro in West Kensington. Puerto Ricans comprise over 76% of the Latino population in the city.. The Asian community has long been established in the city's bustling Chinatown district, but recent Vietnamese immigrants have also forged neighborhoods and bazaars alongside the venerable Italian market. Numerous Korean immigrants have come to the melting-pot of Olney. Many other cultures can also be found throughout the city, including Subsaharan Africans and West Indians in the Cedar Park neighborhood, Poles in the Port Richmond neighborhood, and many Russian, Greek and Ukrainian immigrants in the Near Northeast. While African-American populations live throughout the city, the largest concentrations are in the Northwest, North Central, West, Southwest, and South "Philly" sections. Non-Hispanic Whites have their largest concentrations, perhaps a majority, living in an increasingly diverse Northeast section of this city. According to the US Census, this group decreased from an absolute majority in 1990 to 39% of Philadelphia's population in 2004(the latest estimate).

Recent immigrants from Asia are of mainly Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Thai backgrounds. Also, the Latino population continues to grow as Mexican, Dominican, Colombian, Guatemalan immigrants and Puerto Rican citizens move to the city. Philadelphia also has growing populations of Ethiopians, Somalians, Jamaicans, Haitians, Sudanese, and Nigerians.

European immigration is also growing, but at a slower rate, with continuing Italian, Polish, Greek, Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. But growing numbers include Spanish, Portuguese, Slovak, German, Croatian and many others.

The city's Middle Eastern population has tripled since 1990. With people of Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, Saudi, Syrian, Lebanese, Pakistani, and Afghani backgrounds residing in Philadelphia.

Annual fairs and events

• The Mummers Parade, held every New Year's Day on Broad Street
• The Greek Picnic, a reunion and celebration of African-American college fraternities
• Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade
• The Wing Bowl, a chicken wing eating competition
• Philadelphia Flower Show, is the premier horticultural show in the U.S., held in February.
• First Friday
• Philadelphia Fringe Festival
• Philadelphia Folk Festival
• Philadelphia Film Festival
• Philadelphia Auto Show
• Unity Day
• OutFest/PrideFest
• The Philadelphia Antiques Show, generally regarded as the best Americana antiques show in the nation, is held in early April.

Food

Philadelphia has great diversity, depth, and quality among its restaurants. Notable restaurants include Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's self-named Morimoto; other venerable restaurants include Rouge, Old Original Bookbinder's, Vetri, Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, City Tavern, Suzanna Foo, Brasserie Perrier, and Le Bec-Fin.

Little known facts:

• In the 2005 Zagat Restaurant Guide, Philadelphia had more restaurants score 29 than any other city in the United States.
• Philadelphia routinely finishes first in food service industry surveys for the best tipping cities.

Distinctive Philadelphian dishes include:

• Cheesesteaks, a kind of humble culinary masterpiece, made of paper-thin chipped ribeye steak fried on a griddle, cheese (usually either Cheez Whiz™, provolone, or American) and fried onions on an Italian hoagie roll. There tends to be some fairly fierce competition over the coveted "Best Cheesesteak" title, and many will often share their opinions vigorously on this topic. (Easiest place to get one is at 9th and Passyunk, where both Pat's Steaks and Geno's Steaks are located. Both are 24-hour operations, with trademark south-Philly Italian market awnings and tables on the sidewalks. Both being triangular shaped buildings, they stare at each other like opposing battleships facing an impasse while splitting clientele fairly evenly.) Cheesesteaks (be it of lower or higher quality than the aforementioned restaurants) can also be obtained at thousands of neighborhood delis and restaurants through the Philadelphia, South Jersey, and Delaware area. "Philly cheesesteaks" served in other areas of the country generally suffer from a lack of the firm-crusted Italian bread (usually Amoroso's rolls), that can't be duplicated without special, very high-temperature ovens. This is also true of "Italian hoagies" outside the local area.
• Hoagies -- a sandwich made with cold cuts and veggies on an Italian roll, similar to the submarine sandwich. Sandwich is so-named because of its popularity among Italian-immigrants employed at the former shipyards on Hog Island, with the sandwich originally being called a "hoggie".
• Scrapple -- corn meal mush cooked up with every part (scrap) of the pig, from the Pennsylvania Dutch country of Lancaster County.
• Italian ice (locally called Water Ice)-- a frozen dessert, similar to a slushie except stiffer.
• Irish ice -- Water Ice served through a soft-serve ice cream machine, giving it a unique texture.
• Polish ice -- A much looser, creamier form of Italian Ice, usually coming only in chocolate and vanilla.
• Gelati-- A mix of water ice and soft ice cream.
• Soft pretzel -- thick, doughy pretzels, generally coarse-salted, often served with mustard. Unlike soft pretzels of other cities, which are the same shape as hard pretzels, Philadelphia soft pretzels have a long, thin, block-like shape (like rectangular figure-8). Best eaten fresh, they generally don't keep well, becoming rather rock-like after several hours. They are sold all over the city at Wawa mini-markets, and pretzel vendors who often set up stands at the intersections of streets with concrete medians, such as Cottman Avenue and Bustleton Avenue in the northeast section of the city.
• Stromboli -- similar to a calzone, invented in Philadelphia.
• Black Cherry Wishniak -- Old fashioned black cherry soda, made with actual black cherry flavoring. Name "wishniak," while not exclusive, is generally associated with popular regional soft drink brand Frank's.
• Tastykake -- Brand name synonymous with pre-packaged baked goods, and a Philadelphia institution for over 90 years; best known varieties include Krimpets (jelly or butterscotch), Kandy Kakes (cream or peanut butter), Krimpies (shaped like Krimpets, but with "Kreme" filling and chocolate cake and icing), Tasty (fruit) Pies (unlike many competitors, these are not fried and sugar glazed).
• Beer -- Colonials brewed it in Philadelphia from its very start. Philadelphia-style porter was known throughout the world. America's first lager brewery was established in the city's Northern Liberties section in the 1840s. At one point, the city had more than 100 breweries, though most closed after Prohibition. Today, a handful of small breweries operate in and around the city, including Yards and Nodding Head.

Notable residents

Further information: List of people from Philadelphia

Philadelphia has been home to many people of note, the most famous of whom is probably Ben Franklin, who along with the others in the Continental Congresses helped shape the city along with the country and the world. Later as a temporary Capital of the United States, it was home to President George Washington for several years.

Its cultural diversity is reflected in the music and musicians who have come from or through Philadelphia: the R&B styles of Jill Scott, Patti LaBelle, and Boyz II Men; the jazz of John Coltrane, Grover Washington, Jr., Stan Getz, and Sun Ra; the '50s rock 'n' roll of Fabian, Bobby Rydell, and Chubby Checker; the rock of Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates, and Pink; the hip hop of The Roots and Eve; Neo Soul and electronic sounds of King Britt and the electronic-funk of Josh Wink; and the opera of Marian Anderson. Up and coming artists to watch for: DJ Dozia and filmmaker music producer Justin Paul.

Famed comedian Bill Cosby was born and raised in Philadelphia as well as actors Grace Kelly, Will Smith, Seth Green, John Barrymore, Peter Boyle, and Kevin Bacon. Others, like Richard Gere, were born in Philadelphia, but moved elsewhere in their youths. Kathryn Morris (of TV's Cold Case, set in Philly), was born in Ohio but attended Philadelphia's Temple University.

Film director M. Night Shyamalan sets just about all of his movies in or around Philadelphia with Wide Awake, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Village and Signs.

Media

Philadelphia is home to some of the country's most prominent radio stations, including one of the nation's leading rock stations, WMMR at 93.3FM. The station has been a breakthrough station for many contemporary rock bands, and is widely known in the rock music community for its influence in impacting the country's rock music trends.

In 2005, Philadelphia became the largest city in the United States without a modern rock-format radio station, in part because of the difficulty such a station has in gaining market share from WMMR and the city's other major rock station, 94.1FM WYSP. In late 2005, WYSP was replaced by Free-FM, a talk-rock hybrid based upon the listening hour. WPLY Y100 had formerly been a purely Philadelphia-based alternative rock station, but its format was changed to hip hop in early 2005 by parent company Radio One. Ex-Y100 Program Director and others have since started Y100rocks.com and broadcast, air and sponsor Philadelphia concerts, local bands and host private recordings with major artists on a regular basis.

Philadelphia is home to WHYY-FM (90.9 FM), the Delaware Valley's premier public radio station and NPR affiliate. WHYY-FM produces Fresh Air, and is affiliated with WHYY-TV, which serves Philadelphia but is licensed in Wilmington, DE, a city 25 miles SW of Philadelphia.

WXPN (88.5 FM), operated by the University of Pennsylvania, is responsible for launching the careers of many famous artists who couldn't get airplay from the major stations at first. The station is funded to a large extent by listeners who become members. WXPN sponsors a music festival each summer, and they now broadcast worldwide via their website: [3].

WEXP, La Salle University Radio, is one of Philadelphia's most popular college radio stations. WEXP, established in 1972, is the city's only true freeform radio station, putting the format of any radio show in the hands of the DJ. The station is well known for its sports coverage, which is widely considered as the most extensive of any college radio station in the United States. WEXP airs nearly 100 live sports broadcasts every year for six Explorer teams, in four sports (soccer, football, basketball, and baseball). They broadcast worldwide via their website. [4]

La salle 56 is only one of two local college television stations distributed throughout Philadelphia. La Salle 56, established in 1991, is carried within city limits on both the Comcast Cable and Urban CableWorks systems. The station reaches over 300,000 homes and attempts to serve the La Salle University community and its neighbors with educational and entertaining programs. [5]

WXTU (92.5 FM) is the most listened-to country music station in the northeast, and second most east of the Mississippi, behind only Nashville's WSM.

WOGL (98.1 FM) is a popular station for oldies.

Philadelphia's current sports talk radio station, WIP 610AM, became the city's "Pioneer Radio Voice" on March 17, 1922. The station, which was owned and operated by the Gimbel Brothers Department Store, was the city's first radio station.

WUSL (98.9) and WDAS (105.3) are Philadelphia's leading stations for R&B, quiet storm and hip-hop audiences.

Museums, art collections, and sites of interest

• 30th Street Station
• Academy of Natural Sciences
• Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum
• Atwater-Kent Municipal Museum
• Barnes Foundation
• Betsy Ross House
• Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul
• Clark Park In West Philadelphia, features the only known statue of Johnathan Swift in the world.
• Curtis Arboretum located in Elkins Park
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
• Elfreth's Alley
• Fairmount Park
• Fairmount Water Works and its interpretive center
• Fort Mifflin
• Franklin Institute
• Gazela Primero Philadelphia's historic Tall Ship.
• Gloria Dei National Historic Site, built in 1700, is the oldest church in the state.
• Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, home of The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of America's "Big Five" orchestras and reputed to be one of the best symphonic orchestras in the world.
• Liberty Bell & Independence Hall
• LOVE Park
• Mummers Museum
• Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (museum of medical and pathological oddities and curiosities)
• National Constitution Center
• One Liberty Place
• Penn's Landing
• Philadelphia City Hall
• Philadelphia Doll Musuem
• Italian market
• Philadelphia Museum of Art houses outstanding collections of European and Asian art.
• Philadelphia Zoo
• Please Touch Museum
• Reading Terminal Market
• Rittenhouse Square
• Rodin Museum (largest collection of Auguste Rodin's works outside France)
• Rosenbach Museum & Library
• SEPTA Museum
• South Street
• University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
• Wagner Free Institute of Science
• Walnut Street Theatre, the oldest operating theatre in America
• Wanamaker organ, second largest operating pipe organ in the world

Sports

Philadelphia has a long and proud history of professional sports teams. Philadelphia sports fans have a reputation of being devoted to their teams in good times and bad. Of late Philadelphia teams have been performing well, but frequently missing championships by failing during the crucial stages. Some locals half-jokingly attribute this to the Curse of Billy Penn. The city's last major championship came in 1983, when the 76ers swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Philadelphia Wings, the local National Lacrosse League team, have won six championships between 1989 and 2001.

The Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and 76ers have each recently had new venues built for them. The Eagles currently play at Lincoln Financial Field (informally known as "The Linc") which was built in 2003. The Phillies now play at Citizens Bank Park (2004). The Sixers and Flyers share the Wachovia Center (1996) with the Wings and the Philadelphia Soul (Arena Football League) arena football team. The Wachovia Spectrum (1967) is now home to the Flyers' top farm team, the Philadelphia Phantoms (American Hockey League), and the Philadelphia Kixx (Major Indoor Soccer League), an Indoor soccer team.

The Philadelphia Barrage (Major League Lacrosse) play at the stadium of Villanova University, which is located in Villanova, Pennsylvania (Delaware County) which is just outside of Philadelphia to the west. Philadelphia is also the place where the Army-Navy Game is held every year, now played at Lincoln Financial Field.

In the past Philadelphia has also been home to the Philadelphia Athletics (MLB, now the Oakland Athletics), and the Philadelphia Warriors (NBA, now the Golden State Warriors). The city's original NFL team was the Frankford Yellow Jackets (Frankford being a neighborhood located in Northeast Philadelphia); the club disbanded during the 1931 football season, then re-emerged under the same ownership two years later as the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Manayunk area is also home to the annual USPRO bicycle race, which is the US road racing national championship race. The main feature of the race is the "Manayunk Wall", an inclined street including all of Levering Avenue and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue. The race has been largely credited with the economic revival of the neighborhood, and cycling is a prominent theme of many of the shops and restaurants in the area.

Philadelphia is also home to the Big Five, a unique rivalry consisting of Temple University, St. Joseph's University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, and La Salle University's basketball teams. Originating in 1955, the Big Five plays their games at the Palestra, a venerable brick building housed on the campus of Penn. In the past, fans would throw streamers of their school's colors onto the court when their team scored their first points. Often games come down to the final shot, giving their school bragging rights for the rest of the year.

Philadelphia is considering a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Crime

Like many American cities, Philadelphia saw a gradual, yet pronounced, rise in crime in the years following World War II. Murders peaked at 503 in 1990, for a rate of 31.5 per 100,000, and they averaged around 400 a year for most of the nineties. In 2002 the murder count hit a low of 288, but by 2005 the annual total had surged to 380, for a rate of 25.85 per 100,000.

According to statistics from 2004, there were 5,513.5 crimes per 100,000 people in Philadelphia. In 2005, going by these statistics, Philadelphia was ranked by Morgan Quitno as the sixth-most dangerous American city with a population of over 500,000, out of a total of 32 such cities. Among its neighboring Northeastern cities in the same population group, Washington, DC and Baltimore were ranked second- and third- most dangerous, while New York City was ranked fourth-safest; Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, was ranked most-dangerous overall.

See also:

• Article detailing the rise in homicides in 2005
• Philadelphia Police Department

Telecommunications

The city area code has been 215 since 1947.

• The 215 / 267 area code covers the following areas: Ambler, Bristol, Churchville, Doylestown, Hatboro, Kulpsville, Langhorne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Quakertown, Warrington, Willow Grove.

• Pennsylvania residents must dial a full ten digit number (including area code) to make a phone call.

Government & Politics

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.

The city is headed by an elected mayor who is limited to two consecutive four-year terms, but can run for the position again after an intervening term. The incumbent is former Philadelphia City Council President John Street (D), who was elected in 1999, and re-elected by a larger majority in 2003. Philadelphia's mayors have been Democrats since 1952.

The legislative branch of Philadelphia is the Philadelphia City Council, which consists of seven council members elected at-large and ten council members from individual districts. The current council president is Anna C. Verna.

The Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, is the trial court of general jurisdiction for Philadelphia. It is funded and operated largely by city resources and employees.

The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles matters of limited jurisdiction as well as landlord-tenant disputes, appeals from traffic court, conducts preliminary examinations for felony-level offenses, and the like. Traffic Court is a court of special jurisdiction which hears violations of traffic laws.

Pennsylvania's three appellate courts also have sittings in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is 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.

From the American Civil War until the Great Depression, Philadelphia was a bastion of the Republican Party, which came from the extreme pro-northern views of Philadelphia residents during and after the war. After the Great Depression, the city swung Democratic, although it was not won by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first landslide victory in 1932 (which helped make Pennsylvania one of the few states Herbert Hoover carried that year.)Since then, the city has never voted for a Republican in a Presidential Election, despite Republicans being elected to statewide offices very often since the 1930's and in 2004, Democrat John Kerry won 80% of the vote in Philadelphia despite only narrowly winning Pennsylvania.

As of November 2004, 16.5% of registered voters in Philadelphia are Republicans, 74.9% are Democrats, and 8.6% are other or unaffiliated.

Education

Public schools

All of Philadelphia is served by the School District of Philadelphia. All schools in the district are required to have a school uniform or a similar dress code.

Private schools

Philadelphia is home to the most extensive Catholic education system in the nation. Along with hundreds of parish-driven elementary schools, there are also twelve Catholic high schools within the city ranging from Archdiocesan high schools to private Catholic high schools.

Higher education

Transportation

Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA. SEPTA runs buses, trains, subways, trolleys, and trackless trolleys around Philadelphia and into the suburbs.

Philadelphia lies directly on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. Amtrak's 30th Street Station is a major railroad facility which offers access to Amtrak, SEPTA, and NJ Transit rail lines.

PATCO provides subway service to Camden, Collingswood, Haddonfield, Cherry Hill, Ashland, 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, Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport, reside within the city limits (Philadelphia International also lies in the city limits of Tinicum Township, Delaware County). Philadelphia International Airport provides domestic and international scheduled air service, while Northeast Philadelphia Airport serves general and corporate aviation.

Roads

Interstate 95 (I-95) runs through the city along the Delaware River, providing transportation from Florida to Maine.

The city is also served by Interstate 76, the Schuylkill Expressway, which runs along the Schuylkill River. It meets the Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia and provides access to Harrisburg 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 beneath street level through Center City, and connects to the Ben Franklin Bridge at its east end.

Roosevelt Boulevard and the Roosevelt Expressway (US 1) connect Northeast Philadelphia with Center City. The boulevard was built for the Lincoln Highway as part of the City Beautiful movement. In recent years, it has become a traffic bottleneck and includes the second and third most deadly intersections in the country about a mile from each other, according to a study by State Farm Insurance.

The Woodhaven Expressway (PA 63), was built in 1966 to serve the neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia, and runs between Interstate 95 and Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1). Plans to extend the highway west into the suburbs were killed by community opposition when the highway was first built. The subsequent severe traffic congestion over the past four decades on adjoining Byberry Road has led to renewed plans for some sort of extension and expansion. Several plans have been suggested that would expand different roads using different design methods to connect to the highway. A final decision has not yet been reached, and undoubtedly the construction phase will continue for several years after the planning stage is completed.

The Delaware River Port Authority operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area over 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 (NJ 90), and the Commodore Barry Bridge (US 322). The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge connects PA 73 with NJ 73, and is maintained by the Burlington County Bridge Commission.

Other planned freeways have been cancelled, such as an Interstate 695 running southwest from downtown and a freeway upgrade of Roosevelt Boulevard.

References

• Woodhaven Road Project
• Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Philadelphia Region

Rail transportation

Since the early days rail transport in the United States, Philadelphia has acted as hub for several rail companies. The two most notable companies to have major operations in Philadelphia were the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and the Reading Railroad (Reading), with both operating hubs out of Philadelphia, the PRR operating first Broad Street Station then 30th Street Station and Suburban Station, and Reading operating out of Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The two companies also operated separate competing commuter rail systems in the Philadelphia area, known collectively as the Regional Rail system. The two systems today, for the most part still intact, now operate as one whole system under the control of SEPTA, the regional transit authority.

Philadelphia is also notable for being one of the few North American cities to maintain some of its streetcar lines. In addition to the "subway-surface" trolleys (so called because during the years when the city was served by over 2000 trolleys and more than 65 lines, these were the "surface" cars which also ran in the subway). The city has recently reintroduced the Girard Avenue Line, Route 15. Thought by some to be a "heritage" line, its use of rebuilt 1947 streetcars was done primarily for budgetary reasons, and not necessarily as an historic tribute.

Today Philadelphia serves as a major rail transportation hub for the nationalized Amtrak system, with 30th Street Station serving as its main station. As well as serving as a major station on Amtrak services running on the Northeast and Keystone Corridor's it also services as a major station for services PRR's former Pennsylvania Main Line to points west such as Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Chicago, Illinois. 30th Street Station currently is the 3rd busiest station in terms of passengers in the Amtrak system.

Sister Cities

Philadelphia has ten sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

Logan Square, found only a few blocks south-west of City Hall on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, is home to the Sister Cities Plaza, which commemorates Philadelphia's special relationship with Tel-Aviv and Florence. The plaza occupies the southeast corner of the square.

References