The city of
Philadelphia is the largest city in
Pennsylvania and the
sixth most populous city in the
United States. It is conterminous with
Philadelphia County, and serves as the county seat. It is colloquially referred to as "the City of Brotherly Love" (from
Greek:
Φιλαδέλφεια, [pʰi.la.ˈdel.pʰeː.a], Modern Greek: [fi.la'ðɛl.fi.a], "brotherly love" from
philos "love" and
adelphos "brother"). The city is commonly and informally referred to as "Philly" by residents.
In 2006 the
United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city proper to be over 1.4 million. Philadelphia is a commercial, educational, and cultural center. As of the 2006 population estimate, the
metropolitan area was the fifth-largest in the United States with a population of 5.8 million.
The city was once the second largest in the
British Empire and most populous city of the United States. It was one of the first
capitals. During the 18th Century, it briefly eclipsed
Boston and
New York City in political and social importance, with
Benjamin Franklin taking a large role in Philadelphia's early rise to prominence. It was the social and geographical center of the
original 13 American colonies. It was in this city that some of the ideas, and subsequent actions, gave birth to the
American Revolution and American independence.
History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the Philadelphia area was inhabited by the
Lenape (Delaware) Indians. Europeans arrived in the
Delaware Valley in the early 1600s, with the first settlements being founded by the
Dutch,
British and
Swedish. In 1681, as part of a repayment of a debt,
Charles II of England granted
William Penn a
charter for what would become the
Pennsylvania colony. Part of Penn's plan for the colony was to create a city on the
Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Despite already having been given the land by Charles II, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape to be on good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for his colony. 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
Kensington section. Having been a
Quaker, Penn had experienced religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely despite their religion. Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is
Greek for brotherly love (
philos, "love" or "friendship", and
adelphos, "brother").
Penn's plan was that Philadelphia would be like an English rural town instead of a city. The city's roads were designed with a
grid plan with the idea that houses and businesses would be spread far apart and 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. Before Penn left Philadelphia for the last time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing Philadelphia as a city. The city soon grew and established itself as an important trading center. Conditions in the city were poor at first, but by the 1750s living conditions had improved. A significant contributor to Philadelphia at the time was
Benjamin Franklin. Franklin helped improve city services and found new ones, such as the American Colonies'
first hospital. Due to Philadelphia's central location in the colonies, during the
American Revolution the city was used as the location for 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. A
number of battles during the war were fought in Philadelphia and its environs as well. Unsuccessful lobbying after the war to make Philadelphia the United States capital helped make the city the temporary U.S. capital in the 1790s.
The state government left Philadelphia in 1799 and the federal government left soon after in 1800. However Philadelphia was still the largest city in the United States 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 large 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. 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. 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.
By the 20th century Philadelphia had become known as "corrupt and contented." Philadelphians were content with the city's lack of change or excitement, and single-party politics, centered around the city's entrenched
Republican political machine, allowed corruption to flourish. The machine and corruption permeated in all parts of city government and reformers had little success. The first major success in reform came in 1917 when outrage over the murder of a police officer during that year's election led to the shrinking of the
Philadelphia City Council from two houses to just one. 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.
After struggling through the
Great Depression,
World War II created jobs and brought the city out of the Depression. However, after the war there was a severe housing shortage with about half the city's housing being built in the 19th century, many of which lacked proper facilities. Adding to housing problem was
white flight, as African Americans and
Puerto Ricans moved into new neighborhoods resulting in racial tension. After a population peak of over two million residents in 1950 the city's population declined while the suburban neighboring counties grew. After a five year investigation into corruption into city government, the outcry with what the investigation found led the drafting of a new city charter in 1950. The city charter strengthened the position of the mayor and weakened the city council among other changes to help prevent the corruption of the past. The first
Democratic mayor since the first half of the 19th century was elected in 1951. However, after two early reform mayors, a Democratic political organization had established itself replacing the old Republican one.
Protests, riots and racial tensions were common in the 1960s and 70s. Mostly drug related gang violence plagued the city and
crack houses invaded the city's slums. Confrontations between police and the radical group
MOVE culminated when the police dropped a satchel bomb on their headquarters starting a fire that killed eleven MOVE members and destroyed sixty-two neighboring houses. 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 and historic areas such as
Independence National Historical Park were improved. This has slowed the city's forty-year population decline after losing nearly a quarter of its population.
Geography
Topography
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 369.4
km² (142.6
mi²), of which 349.9 km² (135.1 mi²) is land and 19.6
km² (7.6 mi², 5.29%) is water. Bodies of water include the
Delaware and
Schuylkill Rivers, and
Cobbs,
Wissahickon, and
Pennypack Creeks.
The lowest point lies above sea level near
Fort Mifflin in
Southwest Philadelphia at the convergence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The highest points are in
Chestnut Hill, at above sea level (one at the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike and the other nearby in a few backyards off Evergreen Place).
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.
Climate
Philadelphia falls in the
humid subtropical climate zone, although it's the northernmost U.S. city that falls in this classification. Because Philadelphia lies in the northern end of this zone, some of its outlying suburbs, especially to the north and west, fall in the
humid continental zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Snowfall is variable, with some winters bringing light snow and others bringing some significant snowstorms. It is common for the heavier snowfall to occur
north and
west of the city. Annual snowfall averages 21 in (534 mm). Precipitation is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to eleven wet days per month, at an average annual rate of 42 in (1068 mm).
January lows average 23 °F (–5 °C) and highs average 38 °F (3 °C). The lowest officially recorded temperature was –11 °F (–24 °C) on
February 9,
1934, but temperatures below 14 °F (–10 °C) occur only a few times a year. July lows average 67 °F (20 °C) and highs average 86 °F (30 °C), although heat waves see highs above 95 °F (35 °C) with the
heat index running as high as 110 °F (43 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on
August 7 1918. Early fall and late winter are generally driest, with February being the driest month, averaging only 2.74 in (69.8 mm) of precipitation.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
Rec high °F
(°C) | 74
(23) |
74
(23) |
85
(29) |
94
(34) |
97
(36) |
100
(38) |
104
(40) |
101
(38) |
100
(38) |
89
(32) |
84
(29) |
72
(22) |
104
(40)
|
Avg high °F
(°C) | 39
(4) |
42
(6) |
51
(11) |
63
(17) |
73
(23) |
82
(28) |
87
(31) |
85
(29) |
78
(26) |
67
(19) |
55
(13) |
44
(7) |
64
(18)
|
Avg low °F
(°C) | 24
(–4) |
26
(–3) |
33
(1) |
43
(6) |
53
(12) |
62
(17) |
68
(20) |
66
(19) |
59
(15) |
47
(8) |
38
(3) |
29
(–2) |
46
(8)
|
Rec low °F
(°C) | –7
(–22) |
–4
(–20) |
7
(–14) |
19
(–7) |
28
(–2) |
44
(7) |
51
(11) |
44
(7) |
35
(2) |
25
(–4) |
15
(–9) |
1
(–17) |
–7
(–22)
|
Precipitation in.
(mm) | 3.2
(81.3) |
2.8
(71.1) |
3.7
(94.0) |
3.4
(86.4) |
3.6
(91.4) |
3.4
(86.4) |
4.2
(106.7) |
3.9
(99.1) |
3.3
(83.8) |
2.7
(68.6) |
3.3
(83.8) |
3.3
(83.8) |
40.9
(1038.9)
|
| Source: Weatherbase |
Cityscape
Neighborhoods
Philadelphia has many neighborhoods, each with its own identity. The large Philadelphia sections,
North,
Northeast,
Northwest,
West,
South and
Southwest Philadelphia surround
Center City, which falls within the original city limits prior to consolidation in 1854. Numerous smaller neighborhoods within the areas coincide with the boroughs, townships, and other communities that made up Philadelphia County before their absorption by the city. Other neighborhoods formed based on ethnicity, religion, culture, and commercial reasons.
Architecture
Philadelphia's architectural history dates back to
Colonial times and has included a wide range of styles that, in certain areas, are showcased within a range of several blocks. The earliest structures were constructed with
logs, but by 1700 brick structures were common.
Georgian architecture dominated the
cityscape during the 18th century with the most notable Georgian structure being
Independence Hall. In the first decades of the 19th century
Federal architecture and
Greek Revival architecture were popular. In the second half of the 19th century
Victorian architecture was common. In 1871 construction began on the
Second Empire style,
Philadelphia City Hall. Even with the construction of steel and concrete
skyscrapers in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, the 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 with the largest being the
Comcast Center. In 2007 the Comcast Center surpassed One Liberty Place and officially became the tallest building in Philadelphia.
For much of Philadelphia's history the typical Philadelphia 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". There is a variety of row houses 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 Philadelphia's housing is from the early 20th century or older. The age of the city's homes has created numerous problems which has led to blight and vacant lots in many parts of the city, while other neighborhoods such as
Society Hill, which has the largest concentration of original 18th century architecture in the United States, have been rehabilitated and gentrified.
Culture
Philadelphia has become notable in various arts and in culture. Philadelphia has had a prominent role in
music — including, starting in the 1970s,
Philadelphia soul, which had a major impact in 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. On
July 2 2005,
Bob Geldof, who organized the Live Aid concert, chose Philadelphia as the American host of the
Live 8 concert. This time the show was held as a free concert on the
Ben Franklin Parkway, where an estimated 600 000 - 800 000 people showed up for the global supershow. The city is home to many art galleries, many of which participate in the First Friday event. The first Friday of every month galleries in Old City are open late and for free. Annual events include film festivals and parades, the most famous being
New Year's Day Mummers Parade. In
cuisine the city is well known for its
hoagies,
soft pretzels,
water ice, and is home to the
cheesesteak.
Tourism
Philadelphia contains 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 and
Betsy Ross and early government buildings like the
First and
Second Banks of the United States.
The city contains many
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. Philadelphia's major science museums include the
Franklin Institute, which contains the
Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, the
Academy of Natural Sciences, 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
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the state of Pennsylvania and Masonic Museum and
Eastern State Penitentiary. Philadelphia is home to the United States' first
zoo and
hospital.
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, and the
Academy of Music, the nation's oldest continually operating venue, home to the
Opera Company of Philadelphia.
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.
WIP, then owned by
Gimbel's department store, became the first on
March 17 of that year. Also launched that year were
WFIL,
WOO,
WCAU and WDAS. The highest-rated stations in Philadelphia include
soft rock WBEB,
KYW Newsradio, and
urban adult contemporary WDAS-FM.
During the 1930s, the experimental station W3XE, which was owned by Philco Corp, became the first
television station in Philadelphia. The station, which would later become
KYW-TV (
CBS), became
NBC's first affiliate in 1939. By the 1970s
WCAU-TV,
WPVI-TV,
WHYY-TV,
WPHL-TV, and
WTXF-TV were founded. 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, plus ME-TV and CW. On the public media side, the Philadelphia region is served by WYBE (Philadelphia), WHYY (Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia), WLVT (Lehigh Valley), and New Jersey Network. In September, 2007, Philadelphia approved a public access cable channel. On the radio side, Philadelphia is served by three large public radio stations, plus several smaller ones; the larger ones are WHYY (NPR), WRTI (jazz, classical), and WXPN (adult alternative music).
Philadelphia has a competitive rock radio market, especially between
WMMR and
WYSP, which both specialize in playing modern and classic rock. The two stations enjoy a very intense rivalry with each station's listeners being faithfully loyal to their favorite station in most cases. Since 2005, WMMR now plays more music due to a shift in WYSP's programming from a rock station (which also carried controversial
shock jock Howard Stern) to a
Free FM station (which now carries the syndicated
Opie and Anthony morning show and The
Kidd Chris afternoon show). WYSP also carries live radio broadcasts of all
Philadelphia Eagles home and road games. WMMR has the top rated morning show in the Philadelphia area, The
Preston and Steve Show, which has been at the top of the ratings since leaving former rock station
Y100.
Philadelphia's four
urban stations (
WUSL ("Power 99"),
WPHI ("100.3 The Beat"),
WDAS and
WRNB) are popular choices on the FM dial.
WJJZ is the city's smooth jazz station. When WJJZ was discontinued in August 2006, it caused an uproar among listeners, but it was revived three months later, under new ownership (
Greater Media) and with a new frequency (97.5). The former WJJZ is now
WISX, "Philly's 106.1".
Sports
| Club |
League |
Sport |
Venue |
Established |
Championships |
| Philadelphia Eagles | NFL |
American Football |
Lincoln Financial Field |
1933 |
1948, 1949, 1960
|
| Philadelphia Flyers | NHL |
Hockey |
Wachovia Center |
1967 |
1973-74, 1974-75
|
| Philadelphia Phillies | MLB |
Baseball |
Citizens Bank Park |
1883 |
1980
|
| Philadelphia 76ers | NBA |
Basketball |
Wachovia Center |
1963 |
1966-67, 1982-83
|
| Philadelphia Wings | NLL |
Lacrosse (Indoor) |
Wachovia Center |
1987 |
1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001
|
| Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL |
Hockey |
Wachovia Spectrum |
1996 |
1997-98, 2004-05
|
| Philadelphia Soul | AFL |
Arena Football |
Wachovia Center & Spectrum |
2004 |
none
|
| Philadelphia Barrage | MLL |
Lacrosse (Outdoor) |
United Sports Training Center |
2001 |
2004, 2006, 2007
|
| Philadelphia KiXX | MISL |
Soccer (Indoor) |
Wachovia Spectrum |
1995 |
2001-02, 2006-07
|
Philadelphia has a long history of professional sports teams, and is one of thirteen 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. The last major professional sport team to win a championship was the 76ers, which won the
NBA Championship in 1983. The failure of Philadelphia's major professional sports teams to win championships since that date is sometimes attributed, in jest, to the so-called "
Curse of Billy Penn". The
Oakland Athletics and
Golden State Warriors were originally from
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia also is home to professional, semi-professional and elite amateur teams in other sports, including
cricket. Philadelphia also hosts major
amateur sporting events, including the
Penn Relays,
Stotesbury Cup,
Philadelphia Marathon, and
Philadelphia International Championship bicycle race.
Economy
Philadelphia's economy is heavily based upon manufacturing, refining, food, and financial services.
The city is home to the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange and a few Fortune 500
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, chemical makers
Rohm and Haas Company and
FMC Corporation, the pharmaceutical company
GlaxoSmithKline,
Boeing helicopters division, and automotive parts retailer
Pep Boys.
The federal government has several facilities in Philadelphia as well. 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.
Partly because of 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.
The city is also a national center of law because of the prestigious
University of Pennsylvania Law School,
Temple University Beasley School of Law,
Villanova University School of Law,
Widener University School of Law, and
Drexel University College of Law. Additionally, the headquarters of the
American Law Institute is located in the city.
Philadelphia is also an important center for medicine, a distinction that it has held since the colonial period, when
Pennsylvania Hospital was North America's first hospital. The
University of Pennsylvania, the city's largest private employer, runs an extensive medical system. There are also major hospitals affiliated with
Temple University School of Medicine,
Drexel University College of Medicine, and
Thomas Jefferson University. Philadelphia also has three distinguished children's hospitals:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (located adjacent to the Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania), St. Christopher's Hospital, and the Shriners' Hospital. In the city's northeast section are Albert Einstein Hospital and the
Fox Chase Cancer Center. Together, health care is the largest sector of employment in the city. Several medical professional associations are headquartered in Philadelphia.
In part because of Philadelphia's long-running importance as a center for medical research, the region is a major center for 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.
» See also: List of companies based in the Philadelphia area, List of foreign consulates in Philadelphia.
Shopping
Center City is home to
The Gallery at Market East, The Shops at Liberty Place and The Shops at the Bellevue, and a variety of standalone retail stores. Rittenhouse Row, a section of
Walnut Street in Center City, has higher-end stores and boutiques. Old City and Society Hill, as well, feature upscale boutiques and retailers from local and international merchandisers. Philadelphia also has several neighborhood shopping districts, including
Manayunk and
Chestnut Hill. Also noteworthy is
South Street with blocks of inexpensive boutiques.
The
Italian Market in South Philadelphia offers groceries, meats, cheeses and housewares from Italy and other countries.
Geno's and
Pat's, two famed
cheesesteak outlets, are located here. The
Reading Terminal Market in Center City includes dozens of restaurants, farm stalls, and shops, many run by Amish farmers from Lancaster County. There are also neighborhood farmers' markets throughout the city.
The Philadelphia metropolitan area has many malls, including the
King of Prussia Mall, the second-largest mall in the United States and the
Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the first enclosed mall on the East Coast. The region was also the home to the first
Ikea in the United States. There are also several large outlet malls in the area, including
Franklin Mills in
Northeast Philadelphia, which saw over 18 million visitors in 2006, and the Lancaster Outlets of
Lancaster County.
Philadelphia is the birthplace of the secondary ticket marketplace.
Wanamaker Ticket Office
, located in Center City, is among the Nation's oldest ticket agencies.
Innovation
Philadelphia is home to many "first-in-America" institutions, including:
Demographics
]
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 1,517,550 people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the city. The
population density was 4,337.3/km² (11,233.6/mi²). There were 661,958 housing units at an average density of 1,891.9/km² (4,900.1/mi²). 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.
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 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, 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.
Philadelphia has the second largest
Irish,
Italian, and
Jamaican populations and the fourth largest
African American population in the nation. In recent years, the
Hispanic and
Asian American populations have significantly increased. Hispanics, mostly
Puerto Ricans, have settled throughout the city, especially around
El Centro de Oro, and the city now has the third largest Puerto Rican population in the continental United States. The
Asian population was once concentrated in the city's thriving
Chinatown, but now
Korean Americans have come to
Olney, and
Vietnamese have forged bazaars next to the
Italian Market in
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, Chinese, and Koreans in
United States. The Philadelphia region also has the fourth largest population of Indian Americans. The
West Indian population is concentrated in
Cedar Park.
Germans,
Greeks,
Chinese,
Japanese,
English,
Pakistanis,
Iranians, and other ethnic groups can be found throughout the city.
Government
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 F. Street, elected in 1999 and re-elected by a larger majority in 2003. He is a
Democrat, as all Philadelphia mayors have been since 1952.
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.
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, preliminary examinations for felony-level offenses, and the like.
Traffic Court is a court of special jurisdiction that hears violations of traffic laws.
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.
The
Philadelphia Housing Authority is the biggest landlord in Pennsylvania. It was established in 1937 and is the nation’s fourth largest housing authority. It houses approximately 84,000 people in Philadelphia and employs 1,250 people. In 2006, its budget totaled $313 million.
Politics
Presidential election results>
| Year |
Republican |
Democratic |
| 2004 |
19.3% 130,099 |
80.4% 542,205 |
| 2000 |
18.0% 100,959 |
80.0% 449,182 |
| 1996 |
16.0% 85,345 |
77.5% 412,988 |
| 1992 |
20.9% 133,328 |
68.2% 434,904 |
| 1988 |
32.5% 219,053 |
66.6% 449,566 |
| 1984 |
34.6% 267,178 |
64.9% 501,369 |
| 1980 |
34.0% 244,108 |
58.7% 421,253 |
| 1976 |
32.0% 239,000 |
66.3% 494,579 |
| 1972 |
43.4% 340,096 |
55.1% 431,736 |
| 1968 |
30.0% 254,153 |
61.8% 525,768 |
| 1964 |
26.2% 239,733 |
73.4% 670,645 |
| 1960 |
31.8% 291,000 |
68.0% 622,544 |
As of May 2007, there are 993,334 registered voters in Philadelphia.
Democratic: 750,829 (75.59%)
Republican: 150,450 (15.15%)
Other Parties: 92,055 (9.27%)
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 wasn't 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 didn't 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 2004, Democrat John Kerry drew 80% 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, 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; no Republican has represented a significant portion of Philadelphia since 1983. However, Pennsylvania's Republican Senator, Arlen Specter, is from Philadelphia.
Crime
Like many American cities, Philadelphia saw a gradual yet pronounced rise in crime in the years following World War II. Murders peaked in 1990 at 503, for a rate of 31.5 per 100,000. There were an average of about 400 murders a year for most of the 1990s. The murder count dropped in 2002 to 288, then surged four years later to 406. Out of the ten most populous cities in the United States in 2006, Philadelphia had the highest homicide rate at 28 per 100,000 people, and is on pace for a significantly worse year in 2007.
In 2004, there were 5,513.5 crimes per 100,000 people in Philadelphia. In 2005, Philadelphia was ranked by Morgan Quitno as the sixth-most dangerous among 32 American cities with populations over 500,000. 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 across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, was ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States.
Recently, statistics released in 2006 named Camden the fifth-most dangerous city in the country, representing a minor improvement from its 2004 ranking. Philadelphia now ranked 29th.
On September 12 2007, police commissioner Sylvester Johnson called on 10,000 African American men to patrol the streets to lessen crime. Johnson, who is black himself, set up the program as a means of countering the city's disproportionate homicide rate of African Americans. Dennis Muhammad, Nation of Islam official and Mayor John F. Street, supported the project. The city has hit 300 homicides this year, of which 80% of the victims were African American. The "Call to Action: 10,000 Men, It's a New Day" program is to be initiated on October 21 2007.
Education
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 210,432 students in 346 public and charter schools.
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. Schools within the city's borders include Drexel University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Peirce College, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, The University of the Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Thomas Jefferson University, Moore College of Art and Design, The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, La Salle University, Philadelphia University, Saint Joseph's University, Chestnut Hill College, Holy Family University, and Community College of Philadelphia.
Infrastructure
Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which operates buses, trains, rapid transit, trolleys, and trackless trolleys throughout Philadelphia and the four Pennsylvania suburban counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. The city's subway system, first opened in 1907, is the third oldest in America.
One of the seven SEPTA Regional Rail lines (the R1) 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.
PATCO 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: Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), straddling the southern boundary of the city, and 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, and is also a primary hub for US Airways.
Roads
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. Route 1) connect Northeast Philadelphia with Center City. The Woodhaven Road (PA Route 63), built in 1966, serves the neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia, running between Interstate 95 and the Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 1). The Fort Washington Expressway (Pennsylvania Route 309) extends north from the city's northern border, serving several suburbs to the north.
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.
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 with New Jersey's Route 73, and is maintained by the Burlington County Bridge Commission.
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 — Bieber Tourways, Capitol Trailways, Martz Trailways, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Susquehanna Trailways, and the bus division for New Jersey Transit.
Rail
Since the early days of rail transport in the United States, Philadelphia has served as hub for several major rail companies, especially 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 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the regional transit authority.
Philadelphia is one of the few North American cities to maintain streetcar lines. In addition to "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 that ran also in the streetcar subway), the city recently reintroduced trolley service to the Girard Avenue Line, Route 15, considered by some a "heritage" line, although the use of rebuilt 1947 PCC streetcars was primarily for budgetary reasons, rather than as an 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. It is also a terminus of New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line.
Telecommunications
Southeastern Pennsylvania was served only by the 215 area code beginning in 1947 when the North American Numbering Plan 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. Overlay 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.
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.
Sister cities
Philadelphia has ten sister cities, as designated by the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia (IVC):
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