Change is in Philadelphia's air

by Dante Chinni | The Christian Science Monitor

PHILADELPHIA - This city – more famous for its cheesesteaks and soft pretzels than for culture and job opportunities – is feeling a little better about itself these days.

In the mix of the major Northeast cities, Philadelphia has long been the odd one out while the other three are always in the limelight. To the north is New York, which conjures up images of Wall Street bankers and fashionistas, while Boston is synonymous with scholars. To the south is Washington, the place for policy wonks.

And even though Philly is home to more people than Boston or Washington and sits along the East Coast's I-95 corridor like the others, it's generally the city everyone passes through to get to someplace else.

The forgotten little brother is known for regrettable incidents – such as when Eagles fans pelted Santa Claus with snowballs at Veterans Stadium in 1968. Even residents here will say that the City of Brotherly Love is not always so friendly.

But Philly's famous cynicism is starting to wane, residents say. That's partly because a new mayor, Michael Nutter, assumed the reins in City Hall in January and has promised to bring change.

Like other big urban areas, Philadelphia is the Democrats' turf – and has been for the past 50 years. Even the daily newspapers here, the Daily News and the Inquirer, tend to agree on politics.

Such one-party rule has created a list of ethnic and political fiefdoms, all of which want a seat at the power table and a cut of the pie before anything gets done.

"There is an old-fashioned Democratic machine in this city," says Brendan Boyle, a political advertisement producer and Democrat who ran for state representative in Philadelphia in 2006 against an incumbent and lost. "Change has been difficult."

It's also true on the national level. Philadelphia voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election by 80 percent to 19 percent.

The city's political ethos is often described in three words: "corrupt and content," says Sandy Shea, editorial page editor of the Daily News.

But Mayor Nutter has the potential to transcend that, people here say. He was a city councilor for nearly 15 years. Despite his experience, he garnered no major political endorsements or support during his campaign, aside from the media. The father of two kids – one of whom attends the city's public schools – arrives in office owing nothing to any political faction, says Wendy Warren, the Daily News's assistant managing editor, and that has people optimistic.

The old political lines, meanwhile, seemed to dissolve in last year's mayoral election. The racial divide that has dominated this city shrank in 2007 as Nutter won in a landslide with 83 percent of the vote.

"There is a lot here that can happen if we start looking out at the world and stop looking in and just focusing on ourselves," Ms. Warren says.

As the city works to rewrite its old narrative, several issues will be at the forefront this year.

Change may be at the top of the list.

It's a common theme in many of America's big cities as a new, younger generation of leaders takes the helm. In recent years, mayors in Washington and New York also rode into power advocating new approaches to solving problems. In Philadelphia, change is far-reaching.

"A lot of people will tell you the Democratic Party machine is dying here," says Marcia Gelbart, the Philadelphia Inquirer's City Hall bureau chief.

Nutter defeated two of the city's most prominent Democrats in the primary, six-term US Rep. Robert Brady and seven-term US Rep. Chaka Fattah. Representative Brady, the party chairman in the city, didn't even win his home ward and will now face a Democratic challenger in the state's primary in April.

Other traditional big-city issues are driving the agenda here, too, community leaders say.

"My parishioners are thinking about economic security, healthcare, gas prices, education, and safety – especially safety," says the Rev. James Moore, pastor of Second Mount Zion Baptist Church, located near the train station, just off the tracks, in a blighted section of the city.

Philadelphia's high poverty rate is a glaring problem. So is the city's rising crime rate. In 2002, there were fewer than 300 murders. The number jumped to more than 400 in 2006, and 2007 was not much better with 369 homicides.

Crime was a key issue among voters in the mayoral election. Even before Nutter was sworn in, he declared a "war on crime" and promised it would be the No. 1 priority of his administration. "It's ripping the heart out of the city. It's damaging the morale of the city. It's damaging all of us," Nutter said in a post-election interview with The Washington Post.

But Philadelphia's crime surge is not an aberration. Violent crime throughout the country has risen since 2004. In particular, cities of more than 250,000 are experiencing the biggest increase in the number of murders, according to Department of Justice figures.

Like Washington and other cities, high taxes and stringent government regulations are concerns to some residents in Philadelphia. Many residents and business owners worry that such laws have placed too many obstacles to development.

Then there's the "business privilege tax" that businesses must pay for setting up shop within the city limits – whether they make a profit or not. This policy is not a help in attracting new stores downtown despite a need for investment to revitalize some parts of the city. Philadelphia can no longer rely on manufacturing, which accounted for more than 50 percent of the city's local jobs decades ago. That industry now provides 5 percent of jobs here.

For Reverend Moore, the city regulations hit close to home. His church wants to buy nearby properties, he says, but City Hall is standing in the way.

Second Mount Zion is also grappling with the effects of gentrification, which has become a significant issue citywide as people seek to gobble up land in Philadelphia and property values soar.

Philadelphia's downtown area, called Center City, has become especially desirable, with the young and affluent (including some New York commuters) and empty nesters buying up high-priced condos.

It's true that cities including New York, Washington, and Chicago have seen their fair share of educated monied newcomers in recent years, too. Even depressed Detroit sold its first million-dollar condos in 2006.

The influx of people is creating a cultural change in this once-sleepy city for sure.

"The Center City area has really come alive in the past few years," says Zack Stalberg, president and CEO of the Committee of the Seventy, a nonprofit devoted to ethical government in Philadelphia. "I have been amazed in the past few years walking around how busy the streets are after dark."

Downtown is hopping after 6 or 7 p.m. as the young and old snake through the narrow streets shuffling between hip bars and restaurants.

Now filtering into the urban core are the quality of life concerns that have long dominated conversation in the Main Line suburbs just outside the city. Ten years ago, issues in Philadelphia were different from ones in the suburbs, but that's not generally true anymore, Mr. Stalberg says.

While some lines blur between city and suburb, new distinctions are emerging. As the number of wealthy Philly dwellers climbs, some here see two different cities. In such an atmosphere, a word like "gentrification" has taken on two opposite meanings: Newcomers take pride in "restoring" neighborhoods, while longtime residents fear they will be pushed out as Starbucks and Whole Foods grocery stores move in.

It all means that talking politics may become more complicated for the White House wannabes of 2008. For instance, the speech at the downtown fundraiser may sound a lot different from the one given at the church on Sunday.

One thing seems clear: More issues are on the table in Philadelphia and other big cities.