Without a doubt, it's bleak out there at the moment, with urban mayors whacking at budgets like samurai warriors. But once the dust settles, I suspect the last decade will be seen as a time when a select group of cities - Philadelphia included - tipped from dying to dynamic.
Philadelphia may not have been the star performer in that lucky bunch, but look what this old rust-belt town accomplished since the millennium began: City Hall issued 24,000 residential building permits, the largest number since the creation of the Far Northeast in the '70s. Taxpayers reached deep into their pockets to pay for five museum buildings, two sports stadiums, one enormous vaulted concert hall, and, soon, an enlarged convention center.
And, at a time when corporations around the country are consolidating operations, Philadelphia welcomed two gleaming office towers, including one, Comcast, that broke the city height record. Like Carrie Bradshaw's heels, our condo towers - nine by my count - grew ever higher as the years went on. Some good architecture even slipped into the party, notably the Piazza at Schmidts and Penn's Skirkanich Hall.
Of course, Philadelphia has seen up-cycles before, most recently in the pre-crack cocaine days of the '80s when Liberty Place was the skyscraper muscling its way to the top of the skyline. The city has an old habit of taking one step back for every two steps forward. It's still putting up too many parking garages on prime corners. But this time, there is a sense that the accomplishments will stick.
