Sweet graphic provided by uwishunu.com

Sorry to beat the proverbial “DNC dead horse” again, but what can I say, it’s big news for Philadelphia!

There have been countless articles, blog posts, and tweets about the Democratic National Convention choosing Philadelphia as its host city in 2016 (Sorry, Brooklyn, NY + Columbus, OH).

But rather than make this the same-old, same-old post about how awesome the exposure will be for our great city, I’d rather focus on what it means for locals: 1) Growing skyline, 2) Transportation improvements, and 3) Social scene. Just by having the DNC come to town means that shovel ready projects, as well as those already in progress, will get higher priority than they did before the announcement was made.

Might I also add that all 3 of those previously mentioned elements are important/related to real estate, which makes this particular post even more appropriate.

See … part of the reason the Dems picked Philadelphia (aside from us being the city that gave birth to liberty and freedom … oh, and the fact that our city is awesome), is that they saw what we all currently see: opportunity.

That’s the American dream, right? D*mn straight it is.

Okay, let’s get started.

In typical PhillyUrbanLiving.com fashion, I’m going to break down my favorite points from this Philadelphia Magazine article (you can find more great articles on Twitter, @phillymag):

– The Changing Skyline: Of course, this one is the easiest one for me to talk about seeing that real estate is my profession. Plus, I just enjoy talking about new development in Philly. Projects like the FMC Tower and the new Mormon Temple should both be completed by the time the DNC rolls into the city, but unfortunately, the Comcast Center for Innovation + Technology will not be up yet; bummer. For the FMC Tower especially, it will definitely represent itself well as the largest Philadelphia skyscraper west of the Schuylkill River.

– How the Dems will get around: This one specifically addresses the strides Philadelphia is making not only toward its public transportation infrastructure, but also toward its bicycling culture (which we are tops in regularly). For SEPTA, the long-awaited SEPTA Key program should be fully operational on all Philadelphia buses, subways, and trolleys; but most likely, not on trains come DNC time. Also, Philadelphia’s bike share system (now being referred to as Indego) will be in full rent-a-bike mode for the DNC. Lastly, Uber will most likely be the taxi of choice. I mean seriously, it’s just too easy, for both tourists and locals alike.

– Hillary at The Gallery?: I used to visit The Gallery as a kid; it was the “city mall” to us suburban folk. As the 90s and 00s passed, the mall became less cool and more unappealing; but its new image is already starting to change. With all of the recent press The Gallery has received, I can almost guarantee that visitors will want to do some “I’m on vacation” shopping at Philadelphia’s version of Century 21 (which just recently took up about 100K sq ft of space at The Gallery). Lots of positive changes are coming to one of the largest urban malls in the US, and the investors/city are just getting started on its transformation.

So as you can see, I really believe that Philadelphia will shine brightly on the DNC’s international stage come July 2016.

From one local to other locals, our city deserves it.