Philadelphia:
one of America’s last walking cities, and haven to a
refreshingly different lifestyle.
Philadelphia
was already a thriving metropolis at the advent of the automobile.
However, as America turned the majority of its human environment
over to the car, creating the suburban landscape, Philadelphia
retained its old-world scale and charm. As a result, it is
one of those rare American cities, built to human scale, abundant
in rich 19th century architecture and craftwork.
Philadelphia is a place where you can live in a beautiful
19th century townhouse with a small garden or roof deck, and
be able to walk to and from work, or to the local vegetable
markets, bakeries, boutiques and neighborhood parks where
people know you by name. Or you can walk to have dinner in
a fine restaurant followed by an avant-garde play at the Wilma
Theater, or a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra at the
Kimmel Center. You’ll find alternatives to the malls
in the Weaver’s Way Co-op and Chestnut Hill Shopping
District. All of these places and events are amenities to
your home in the city.
Philadelphia’s human scale also creates a strong sense
of community. The sidewalks of Philadelphia are where people
encounter and interact with their neighbors and community.
Whether it be a front stoop, a bench in Rittenhouse square
or a table at a sidewalk café, this public space is
where community is formed. A testament to this sense of community
is the large number of block parties and block clean-up days
one sees scattered throughout the city all year.
At a time when suburban dwellers are living a larger and larger
part of their lives caught in increasingly dense automobile
traffic, Americans are beginning to rediscover the qualities
and benefits of the walking-lifestyle offered by cities such
as Philadelphia. Evidence of this rediscovery is the impressive
restoration renaissance that the city is presently living.
Imagine. Spend your commute charting a path along the many
tiny tree-lined cobblestone lanes that weave throughout the
city, or along the handsome Schuylkill Drives bordering the
largest city park in the country. How could you arrive at
work in a better mood?
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