Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, the
population was 1,517,550. It is one of the oldest cities of the country
(dates from 1681) and, as the original capital and then-largest city of the
United States, at one time eclipsed Boston, Massachusetts and New York, New
York in political and social importance. Benjamin Franklin, who played an
extraordinary role in 18th-century Philadelphia, came from Boston.

Philadelphia is well-known for several distinctive foods:

   * cheesesteaks, a kind of humble culinary masterpiece, made of cheese
     (usually either Cheez Wiz(tm) or provolone) and slices of ribeye steak
     fried together with ketchup on a hoagie roll, sometimes combined with
     onions and/or mushrooms
   * unusually shaped soft pretzels, served with mustard
   * scrapple -- corn meal mush cooked up with every part (scrap) of the pig

It is the county seat of Philadelphia County6. From a governmental
perspective, Philadelphia County is a legal nullity, as all County functions
were assumed by the City in 1952, and the city limits have been coterminous
with the county since 1854.

Philadelphia's business district is not known as "downtown", but rather as
Center City.

History

Philadelphia was a planned city founded and developed by William Penn, a
Quaker. Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme, laid out the city in a strict grid,
with all streets running either north-south or east-west. The north-south
streets are numbered sequentially from Front (instead of First), along the
Delaware River, to 13th, followed by the main north-south thoroughfare,
Broad Street (instead of 14th).

The numbered streets then resume, continuing in the original plan to 28th at
the Schuylkill River. The east-west streets, most of which are named for
trees, parallel the main thoroughfare named High Street by Penn, but called
Market Street since at least the early 18th century. He also planned five
public parks, one at the intersection of High and Broad Streets in the very
center of the city (now occupied by the City Hall) and four others (now
called Washington Square, Rittenhouse Square, Logan Circle and Franklin
Square) set equidistantly around it. Rittenhouse Square is named after a son
of the first paper-maker, William Rittenhouse. Rittenhousetown is a
delightful rural setting in Fairmount Park. David Rittenhouse was a
clockmaker and friend of the American Revolution.

In 1876 Philadelphia hosted the World's Fair known as the Centennial
Exposition. Memorial Hall and the expansive mall in front of it are remnants
of this fair. In 1926, the city held the Sesquicentennial Exposition.

Government

Executive

The City is headed by an elected mayor who is limited to two, four-year
terms. The incumbent is former City Council President John Street (D), who
was first elected in 1999. He is up for re-election in 2003.

Legislative

The Philadelphia City Council consists of a President elected at-large; ten
members elected by district; and six members elected at-large. Each member's
term is four years, and there are no limits on the number of terms a member
may serve.

The current members of City Council are:

At-Large

   * Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown
   * Councilman David Cohen
   * Councilman W. Wilson Goode, Jr. (son of former Mayor W. Wilson Goode)
   * Councilman James Kenney
   * Councilman Angel Ortiz
   * Councilman Frank Rizzo, Jr. (son of former Mayor Frank Rizzo)

District

  1. Councilman Frank DiCicco
  2. Council President Anna Verna
  3. Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell
  4. Councilman Michael Nutter
  5. Council Darrell Clarke
  6. Councilwoman Joan L. Krajewski
  7. Councilman Richard Mariano
  8. Councilwoman Donna Miller
  9. Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco
 10. Councilman Brian J. O'Neill

Judiciary

The Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Court of
Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, is the trial
court of general jurisdiction for Philadelphia. It is funded and operated
largely by City resources and employees.

The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles matters of limited jurisdiction as
well as landlord-tenant disputes, appeals from traffic court, conducts
preliminary examinations for felony-level offenses, and the like.

Traffic Court is a court of special jurisdiction which hears violations of
traffic laws.

Pennsylvania's three appellate courts have chambers in Philadelphia. The
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is the court of last resort in the
state, regularly hears arguments in Philadelphia City Hall. Also, the
Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
sit in Philadelphia several times a year.

Judges for all of the above courts are elected at large.

Business

Philadelphia's economy is heavily based upon manufacturing, refining, and
financial services. Philadelphia has its own stock exchange.

Major companies headquartered or doing business in Philadelphia include:

   * Aramark (catering and hospitality)
   * GlaxoSmithKline (pharmaceuticals)
   * Comcast (cable television, telecommunications, and sports holdings)
   * CIGNA (insurance and financial services)
   * Crown Cork & Seal
   * Keystone Blue Cross/Pennsylvania Blue Shield (insurance services)
   * Pep Boys (automotive parts and services)
   * Sunoco (oil refining)
   * Tasty Baking Company (makers of Tastykake pies and cakes)
   * Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic) (telecommunications)

The Federal government plays a large role in Philadelphia as well. The
east-coast operations of the United States Mint are based near the historic
district, and the Federal Reserve Bank's Philadelphia division is based
there as well.

Geography

Philadelphia is located at 39¡59'53" North, 75¡8'41" West (39.998012,
-75.144793)1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
369.4 km² (142.6 mi²). 349.9 km² (135.1 mi²) of it is
land and 19.6 km² (7.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is
5.29% water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 1,517,550 people, 590,071 households,
and 352,272 families residing in the city. The population density is
4,337.3/km² (11,233.6/mi²). There are 661,958 housing units at an
average density of 1,891.9/km² (4,900.1/mi²). The racial makeup of
the city is 45.02% White, 43.22% African American, 0.27% Native American,
4.46% Asian American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.77% from other races, and
2.21% from two or more races. 8.50% of the population are Hispanic or Latino
of any race.

Of the 590,071 households, 27.6% have children under the age of 18 living
with them, 32.1% are married couples living together, 22.3% have a female
householder with no husband present, and 40.3% are non-families. 33.8% of
all households are made up of individuals and 11.9% have someone living
alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.48
and the average family size is 3.22.

In the city the population is spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18,
11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who
are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100
females there are 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
are 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $30,746, and the median
income for a family is $37,036. Males have a median income of $34,199 versus
$28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,509. 22.9% of
the population and 18.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the
total people living in poverty, 31.3% are under the age of 18 and 16.9% are
65 or older.

Transportation

Public transportation

Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority, or SEPTA. SEPTA runs buses, trains, subways, trolleys, and
trackless trolleys around Philadelphia and into the suburbs.

Philadelphia lies directly on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. Amtrak's 30th
Street Station is a major railroad facility which offers access to Amtrak,
SEPTA, and NJ Transit rail lines.

Two airports, Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia
Airport, reside within the city limits. Philadelphia International Airport
provides domestic and international scheduled air service, while Northeast
Philadelphia Airport serves general and corporate aviation.

Roads

Interstate 95 runs directly through the city along the Delaware River,
providing transportation from Florida to Maine.

The city is also served by Interstate 76 (also known as the Schuylkill
Expressway) which runs along the Schuylkill River. It meets with the
Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia and provides access to Harrisburg
and points west.

Interstate 676, or the Vine Street Expressway, was completed in 1991 after
years of planning as a link between I-95 and I-76. It runs beneath city
level through Center City.

Colleges and Universities

   * Bryn Mawr College (nearby)
   * Drexel University
   * Haverford College (nearby)
   * Hahnemann University (subsumed by Drexel University College of Health
     Sciences)
   * Medical College of Pennsylvania (subsumed by Drexel University College
     of Health Sciences)
   * University of Pennsylvania
   * Philadelphia University
   * Saint Joseph's University
   * University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
   * Swarthmore College (nearby)
   * Temple University
   * Thomas Jefferson University
   * Villanova University (nearby)

Sports Teams

   * Philadelphia Eagles
   * Philadelphia Phillies
   * Philadelphia 76ers
   * Philadelphia Flyers
   * Philadelphia Charge
   * Philadelphia Wings
   * Philadelphia Phantoms
   * Philadelphia Kixx

Museums

   * Philadelphia Museum of Art
   * Rodin Museum (largest collection of Auguste Rodin's works outside
     France)
   * Barnes Foundation
   * Atwater-Kent Municipal Museum
   * Rosenbach Foundation
   * Liberty Bell & Independence Hall
   * Franklin Institute
   * Please Touch Museum
   * Fort Mifflin
   * Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (museum of
     medical and pathological oddities and curiosities)
   * Edgar Allan Poe House
   * Rosenbach Museum
   * National Constitution Center

Sites of Interest

   * Independence Hall External Link: *[1]
   * Love Park
   * Betsy Ross House External Link: *[2]
   * Penn's Landing External Link: *[3]

Famous Philadelphians

   * Stanley Clarke - bassist
   * Marian Anderson - opera singer/contralto
   * Benjamin Franklin - statesman, Revolutionary War patriot, inventor
   * Bill Cosby - comedian/actor
   * Pearl Bailey - singer, dancer, actress
   * John Coltrane - saxophonist
   * Philip Syng Physick - father of American surgery
   * John Barrymore - Actor
   * John Wanamaker - department store founder
   * Patti LaBelle - singer
   * Paul Robeson - singer/activist

Television Shows and Films Made in Philadelphia

   * 1776 (Film version of Broadway musical, 1972)
   * American Bandstand (Dance party show, 1952-?)
   * Beloved (Oprah Winfrey feature film, 1988)
   * Fallen (Feature film, 1988)
   * Philadelphia (feature film, 1993)
   * Philly (TV Series, 2001-2002)
   * Rocky (Feature film, 1976)
   * Rocky II (Feature film, 1979)
   * Rocky III (Feature film, 1982)
   * Rocky V (Feature film, 1990)
   * Se7en (Feature film, 1995)
   * Taps (Feature film, 1981) (also filmed at adjacent Valley Forge
     Military Academy and other nearby locations)
   * The Sixth Sense (Feature film, 1999)
   * Trading Places (Feature film, 1983)
   * Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam feature film, 1995)
   * Unbreakable (Feature film, 2000)
   * Witness (Feature film, 1985)

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