A: Philadelphia’s creative class is currently concentrated heavily in 2 major areas: Center City (e.g. Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill, Old City, etc.) and Northwest Philadelphia (e.g. Manayunk, Roxborough, Chestnut Hill, etc).

First off, what exactly does creative class even mean?

Well, today’s standard definition is “workers in science and technology, business and management, arts, culture media and entertainment, and law and healthcare professions.” In other words, it’s a pretty wide variety of white collar workers.

If you’re looking for more information on the creative class in general, check out the Wikipedia page here.

So, why am I even blogging about this?

Because it’s an important topic centered around Philadelphia’s current demographic trends, which also plays heavily into real estate (e.g. Buying, Selling, Investing, and Renting). I just finished writing a post yesterday about the recent population increases that Philadelphia has been experiencing, so I figured this article would piggyback nicely off of that (map included).

When most people think about the hippest part of Philadelphia, they immediately think of Center City and its surrounding neighborhoods. Manayunk, Roxborough, and Chestnut Hill are all hip neighborhoods that are nationally recognized, but in general they all play second fiddle to Center City.

Please don’t think I’m favoring one side or the other. As an agent who works in all different parts of Philadelphia (and the surrounding suburbs), with clients from all over the US, I’m just speaking in generalities.

It’s mainly because Center City is the center for business, contemporary living, culture, etc. Northwest Philadelphia’s neighborhoods also possess these traits, just in smaller, less-dense doses. Hence, the generalities.

The bad news is that this article only embitters the fact that Philadelphia’s working class population is shrinking; just as it is in other major US cities. The good news is that the incoming, creative class population is spreading out in Philadelphia; which creates more opportunity for other adjacent neighborhoods to follow, and strengthens the city as a whole.