Exactly... great minds truly think alike :cheers:

I found this new website that lets you search neighborhoods in cities based on attributes (quiet, trendy, family, parks, etc). They are still new, so they don't have Philly yet, but on the front page you can suggest a city. May I suggest you ask for Philly?

http://nabewise.com/

I thought it was cool and would be helpful if you were moving to a new city (or someone was moving to our city).

There needs to be a changing of the guard in November 2011
 

Government says Phila. area lost 130,000 jobs in 3 years
Philadelphia Business Journal - by Athena D. Merritt Staff Writer

"The city of Philadelphia has lost jobs in eight of the past 12 months and as of August had an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent — the highest in the five-county region."

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/...l?surround=lfn

----------------------------------
Yes, the economy is terrible right now. But what has Michael Nutter done to keep/create jobs in Philadelphia. The answer is nothing. Sam Katz, Tom Knox, somebody, please help.

Wow, that's a pretty large space for a bar. Anything that brings more life to North Broad is a good thing IMO. Now we need someone to rehab the Divine Lorraine and we'd be on to something.

:previous: Maybe we can get Vetri and partners to open an Italian style hotel there... they're doing just about every style of italian restaurant... ;)

Once site of big plans, parking lot sells for just $12 million
By Suzette Parmley
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20...2_million.html

What city mayor can you point to as an example of someone who saved jobs for their city, amid the worst economic conditions in 70 years?

Additionally, reference the first data table from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/sae/eetables/sae_annavg209.pdf)

I think you'll find that our metro as a whole fared much better than many others. Also, the 130,000 job loss figure pertains to the entire region. Note that Philadelphia lost fewer jobs than many other large cities, even when population size is considered. To me, these statistics would actually play in Nutter's favor.

pwp,

The center city business district has not grown in 35 years. Are we faring better than others? Yes. Does that make it productive?

Here's a question. The Phillies (30MM) and Flyers (13MM) generated more than 43MM in revenue for the city last year...but the budget gap grew. Where did that money go? Just curious. I'm not trying to be argumentative to you or anyone else here. I'm simply questioning local government on where this additional revenue was spent.

And this year -

Phillies’ success means millions of bucks
Philadelphia Business Journal - by John George Staff Writer

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/...l?surround=lfn

The International house at Temple University seems too small, IMO. I was thinking it would be similar to the one at UC, but anything looks good for that area. Plus The city and Temple need to embark on a major infill program for Cecil B Moore Ave from Broad St to Ridge Ave. That stretch needs it big time!!!

Development on North Broad
 

Starr, Vetri in on N. Broad project
by Natalie Kostelni Staff Writer


http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/...l?surround=lfn

so... no new building fronting broad street? Are they just converting the 7 story structure behind it? If so, that is a little disappointing, tho its still good to see some development happening.

Edit: after looking at the street view, the building fronting 15th appears to be 6 stories not 7

Here's som new news on Foxwoods Casino. It's not very exciting or helpful, though.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local...principal.html:shrug:

That really is a monster of a project. Hope they pull it off. Everyone involved has a history of following through on large-scale projects, but I worry that Starr is becoming a little ADD. The Fishtown Beer Garden seems like a long forgotten memory at this point, but the proposal was presented what, last spring?

Financial firm moving into Liberty One from Suburbs
 

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/i...rty_Place.html

Firm buys NY company, moves to top of Liberty Place
That vacant former Cigna Inc. suite on the 54th floor of One Liberty Place has a new tenant: Philadelphia Financial, a $3.5 billion-asset insurer of private-placement investments and life insurance for rich people, has taken the space for its headquarters as it plans mergers and foreign expansion. The firm is paying more than $30 a square foot, competitive for Center City.

Philadelphia Financial CEO John Hillman, a St. Joseph's University and Bishop Egan High graduate who founded the company in 1996, says he expects to hire more workers as his company expands. "We are on an acquisition trail, and we will build out internationally," he told me.

The firm is moving its 35 people high above Center City from its previous headquarters in Blue Bell this fall, after completing the expected purchase of Phoenix Life and Reassurance Co. of New York and moving the work here. The firm's AGL Life Assurance Co. unit will be renamed Philadelphia Financial Life Assurance Co.; Phoenix will be renamed Philadelphia Financial Life Assurance Co. of New York.

Philadelphia's a convenient base because it's close to financial markets in New York and financial regulators in Washington, but it's also less expensive and "cluttered" than those cities, Hillman added.

How can Philadelphia Financial afford to grow when markets are so slow? Philadelphia Financial is majority-owned by Tiptree Financial Partners, an affiliate of Tricadia Holdings, a bargain-hunting New York financial-investments group run by Michael Barnes for a group of institutional owners including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS).

The companies Philadelphia Financial now owns have faced a tough couple of years since the financial markets crashed in 2008, A.M. Best & Co. analysts Ken Johnson and Rosemarie Mirabella worte in a report yesterday. The "global economic crisis" drove AGL sales down "significantly" as its "ultra high net worth" customers surrendeed their policies. "There remains some uncertainty" about AGL's regaining that business "in the near term," they added.

The business has "historically profitable" but "uneven" results, according to their report. Still, following the deal, A.M. Best boosted AGL's financial-strength rating to A- from B+. Phoenix is rated A-.

Broker William J. Hirschman of Cushman & Wakefield leased the space for One Liberty.

We need about 200 more 35 person firms to move here...

Pew: Rate of people moving into Philly exceeds rate of those moving out

By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer

In an encouraging trend, the number of people moving into Philadelphia has increased since 1993, according to a new report.

At the same time, the number of people moving out of the city remains greater than the influx. But the hemorrhage of residents is slowing, and the rate of people coming in is now higher than the rate of residents moving out.

That analysis comes from a report released Wednesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts' Philadelphia Research Initiative.

The report was based on IRS data, which is accurate but limited, and not as comprehensive as census data, scholars said.

Nevertheless, the report bolsters census estimates that the city's population has increased slightly over the last 10 years, said Larry Eichel, project director of the initiative and author of the report.

According to the 2000 census, 1,517,550 people lived in the city a decade ago. The latest population number, released last week in a 2009 census estimate, is 1,547,297 - an increase of around 30,000 people.

The city's population bump has been attributed to a greater number of births than deaths, and an influx of immigrants as well as empty nesters moving from the suburbs, scholars said.

According to the Pew report, the number of people moving into the city has increased steadily, up from 31,837 in 1993 to 42,250 in 2008.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_...#ixzz11iLAAtph
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else

Wow! This is huge for N Broad and will clearly send a strong signal to others that this is a viable area of the city to do business, considering 3 high-profile entrepreneurs are willing to invest here. I think this will do wonders for the area should it get off the ground and further bridge the gap between Fairmount and NoLibs.

As for the Fishtown beirgarten, rehab work on the site seems to be moving along. The exterior is looking good!

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/colum...nd_design.html
The article says it's supposed to be a massing diagram!

Also, I quite like the Pearl, you know, for being a dolled-up box. Methinks Inga's applying a double standard here, between architects she likes (Venturi), and those she doesn't (Blackney Hayes).

What's with the lack of talky?

Anys, I stopped by the site where they're building something next to the daycare in NoLibs and asked one of the employees what's going on, and he told me that it's basically going to be the urban equivalent of a cul-de-sac, with the houses arranged along, and at the end of, a driveway leading to a plaza close by the Orianna Street side. There will be a parking area on the south side of the development.