Spruce Street Harbor Park | Philadelphia

Wow … #3 … yo!

I think a lot of Philadelphians were taken aback recently by the high-praise we received from The New York Times (of all media companies, and of all places) which named our great city the third city you have to see in 2015 … oh and I forgot to mention, in the entire world (just behind Milan and Cuba).

That’s one h*ll of a list to land on, and even more so when you’re at the top of the pack. Way to go, Philly!

The title given to Philadelphia’s spot was “The making of an outdoor oasis.” I believe once most people read that part, they saw why we were listed so high (or why we were even listed at all). Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this town; and I think it has unbelievable assets, aside from our green space esteem.

But the focus of NYT choosing us was that they looked specifically at our recent outdoor projects and showed tourists why they need to come and see our beautiful city today.

Now, Philadelphia does have some other large assets that most big cities would kill for: Compact design, great public transportation, and lots of urban green space. Put all 3 of those things together, and it encourages both locals and tourists alike to traverse Philadelphia outside (and on foot). The winters can be tough, but spring, summer, and fall make up for the few cold months we have learned to live with.

Need a reminder about how large and expansive our urban green space actually is (and I’m not just talking about Fairmount Park)? Check out these locally filmed drone videos for a better look: Philadelphia 1 (with natural sounds), Philadelphia 2 (with some other local shots of New York), and Philadelphia 3 (all different shots of the city).

So as you can see from these well done videos, Philadelphia has great green space. Not only that, but its tied directly in with its local neighborhoods (e.g. Wissahickon Valley, Pennypack Park, etc), as well as with Center City (East Fairmount Park), University City (West Fairmount Park), and the Navy Yard (FDR Park).

The article also goes on to compliment Philadelphia on some of its new and ongoing projects: Dilworth Park, Spruce Street Harbor Park, Race Street Pier, and the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk. All four projects started out as grand ideas to connect the city with more green space, and today they are all big success stories!

Thanks for the kudos, NYT.