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I'm with you....Dwell's story on Indianapolis a few years ago was equally insulting.

I was there a week ago and its totally a walking city. I did a food tour too.
In addition there is a wonderful store called Open House.

These sorts of stories should be written by a local writer, otherwise they're pretty much always insulting and/or dull.

When I think of Philadelphia, I think of American history and...the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

I love Philly!

Thanks for standing up for my hometown. I haven't spent enough of my adult years there to really appreciate it, but I know how much potential it does have and how awesome it is as a general place.

Emily

My hometown never gets any love. :( Zombie horror films? Come on! As far as the MOVE bombing referenced, it was a horrible time but my God, I hardly hear people talking about that anymore. I would venture to say that most people outside the city don't remember the incident, so I doubt it's still affecting the city's image. It's reputation as a rude city is what hurts us the most, frankly, and our vocal sports fan base is probably fueling a lot of that perception ('course it would help if our freakin' Eagles would stop falling flat!). I always tend to think any "attitude" is offset by the great many things to see and do around town and in the suburbs. Culturally we're very rich and as a people we're quite diverse. Give me that any day over the bland homogeneity of other U.S. cities.

It's not "colonial kitsch"; it's real colonial! In grad school, we used Philadelphia as a laboratory for Georgian architecture.

Colonial kitsch is what you buy in a discount store (40% off.. now only 19.99!!!). Philadelphia is historical. It's lovely... just like downtown manhattan or boston harbor. glad I missed that article. Nothing like slamming an urban area that has quietly held its place as one of the premier american cities for about 300 years!

I also want to mention the city's thriving and eclectic restaurant scene. There are plenty of interesting options at all price ranges. Anyone who thinks Philly's only about cheesesteaks obviously hasn't visited in the past 15-20 years or only sticks to tourist hotspots.

Thanks for setting the record straight. I live here and this article doesn't even scratch the surface about what this city offers. The Parkway is stunning as is the Art Museum. We have an incredible range of food - hello? Jose Garces? Stephen Starr? Marc Vetri? And the neighborhoods are a fascinating mix of history and new design. Society Hill, Washington Square West, and Northern Liberties are some great examples.

ah, welcome to the club. Being from Detroit, I don't think I've ever seen an article in a national publication that doesn't mention my hometown's crime/murder/unemployment/foreclosure rate. There's so much more to us than that!

Thank you for this post!

I graduated from Penn and had four wonderful years in Philadelphia.

The city has tons of things to offer. The architecture is diverse from Old City with places such as City Tavern to the beautiful row houses on Baltimore and other streets in West Philadelphia, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the modern business buildings in center city. Additionally, the city has tons of cultural offerings and a great restaurant culture!

Agree wholeheartedly with the restaurant scene - so much to choose from, and my favorite dessert: Brown Betty cupcakes (www.brownbettydesserts.com). And what about the cool boutiques in Old City and Northern Liberties? Art Star Craft Bazaar, Reading Terminal Market, Films at International House, Spiral Q Puppet Theatre, Smith Playground, and the park/playground at Franklin Square. C'mon, Dwell! Get with it!

I'm a downtown San Francisco hyper-urban snob, and really enjoyed my few days in downtown Philadelphia last summer. There was a great mix of historic and new architecture, and the neighborhoods were very mixed even within the downtown core. Very walkable, dense and packed with things to see & do on every block. While parts are run-down (like any older downtown), other sections were alive with construction & renovation.

Also, Philadelphia leads the way in making way for public art---both modern and more conventional. Every public building must budget X % (dont know the specific amount) to provide for public art.

Philly is a great town with lots of culture and great design. When visiting Philly/area for the Barnes Foundation, Soma Furniture store or architecture, I found that the delicious cheesesteak is really the icing on the cake!

philly is a great city with good food, architecture, history, & some of the best museums around. as Peter knowstead above noted it's known for its public art. boston could learn a few things from philly (although boston is great too, just wish it had a more nontraditional art scene!).

My husband and I were so livid with Dwell's article about our beloved city. I moved here in '94 for Penn and have loved this place ever since. We are now center city home owners raising our 4 year old and cannot dream of living elsewhere. Of course, there are things about this city that drive me crazy (why do the local news channels freak out over 1-3 inches of snow?) but we've had an inferiority complex for too long. If you don't like Philadelphia, you haven't spent enough time here.

when i lived in philly (under rizzo), the city had a contest to come up with a slogan and i believe one of the top voters was, "philadelphia, gateway to new jersey." philadelphia definitely has its charm. i've lived near boston now for 28 years and still miss philly, especially katz' deli.

AMAZING restaurants, historical architecture, walkable city, tons of CULTURE. What more could you ask for?
I went to school there, and Philly will always have a special place in my heart.

There's also a thriving contemporary art scene in Philadelphia. For instance, hometown artist Zoe Strauss has been in the Whitney Biennial, but still puts on free exhibitions for the Philadelphia public, and lets them take the images home afterwards (for free). When do you see THAT in New York?

RITTENHOUSE SQUARE! Best city park in the world. I lived in Center City for 20 years, now I live in Manhattan, and I still miss the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. Its such a livable city.

Glad I discontinued my subscription to Dwell. Philadelphia is a much under-appreciated city...and is far more than cheesesteaks. Spend some time here and find out.

I've been living in Philly for 3 years now (I'm a Temple U student) and the cheesesteaks don't even make the top 10 list of great things in Philly. There's great architecture, food, history, art galleries, etc.

philadelphia always gets a bad rap in the media, culture and design rags. i agree with terra. it's not colonial "kitsch" this is real colonial. when you walk down a tiny alley street in philadelphia you are walking down the same street that ben Franklin and john hancock and george washington walked down. Philadelphia was once the political and financial capital of the country. Every time i go to DC or NYC i feel completely overwhelmed and there is so much traffic that i wouldnt want to walk or ride a bike here. i can't remember the last time i had to ride a subway or a bus because i can walk across this city in less than an hour. we have beautiful parks, neighborhoods and museums. I am so glad i live in Philadelphia. this city is really trying to advance past the post rizzo years into a new beautiful city, but the mainstream media continues to call us the Ugliest, rudest and fattest city in america. clearly they've never been to atlanta or charlotte. Frankly im pretty miffed that Philadelphia doesnt have its own section on apartment therapy. come on guys! it's about time!!!

I agree. I only lived in Philly for about 2 years, but loved it! I walked everywhere...to work, to get groceries, to go out to eat and drink. Jim's cheese steaks on South Street were great, but there were so many other amazing restaurants. I worked at a coffee shop in Old City and the art scene definitely had a life to it for sure. The building in the last photo (an art gallery...it made me reminiscent) is near where I worked and recognized it instantly. The Painted Bride Art center usually has tons of cool events. Even looking at event calendars online...there was ALWAYS tons to do, even lots of free events. I love living in Portland, but I also loved Philly. Whoever wrote the Dwell article didn't try very hard. I can't imagine such a bad article about Philly.

Hey, it's always sunny in Philadelphia! (whatta great show)

Hear, hear!

For design, you must check out the Perelman Building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Amazing design, there.

What about shops like Hello Home, Minima, or Bulb?

Designers like Josh Owen or Jaime Salm of MIO Culture?

And to step away from design for a moment: Philly has incredible BYOBs and non-BYOB restaurants (think Jose Garces, Marc Vetri). We have adorable boutiques (Sugarcube, JimmyStyle). Our neighborhoods are walkable. We have loads of bike trails. Our beer scene is consistently praised. Our schools are impressive, and our people are friendly.

I, clearly, am a huge Philly fan.

Wow, that Dwell article is really sad. Maybe they should've interviewed Inga Saffron instead of her husband. (At the same time, I kind of like that Philly's still a well-kept secret.)

There's a ton going on in Philly, designwise, enough for me (and plenty others) to write about it frequently as a journalist and on blogs. Here's mine: http://www.designphan.squarespace.com

Thank you for this; I was very disappointed with the Dwell article - an extremely negative, and ultimately dated view of the actually beautiful and thriving city of Philadelphia.

I'm loving all this Philly love in this post! I grew up in the 'burbs of Philly and went to school there, so it will always have a dear place in my heart. Also, I second pretty much what everyone else has said about Philly.

What a fantastic post. Being a local, I definitely appreciate you taking the time to write a post in defense of one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the country. Philadelphia is full of history, good food, beautiful parks, and a TON of stuff to do. Moreover, just because our city isn't always on the cutting edge of design, we've got something better: Rocky. So there.

I absolutely love all of this Philly love! As a Philly girl myself (who has now been transported to San Francisco) I was also deeply insulted by Dwell's article. I am so glad AT spoke up for the city that first helped me fall in love with interior design. Philadelphia is a city full of culture and inspiration. I always remind people that we have the nation's first art museum. The Rodin Museum on the Parkway is one of my favorite places to go. The galleries in Old City are a wonderful view into the new and budding artists the city has to offer. Our music scene showcases some of the most creative singers and songwriters in the business - The Roots, Jill Scott, Musiq! Philly is constantly growing and changing, and at the same time it is a city with deep roots and a history. That's why I love it there. Thank you AT!

I've hung out with Ken Kalfus, whose views are expressed in this article, a couple of times before and I get the sense that this interview was heavily edited.

I lived in West Philly for six years until my recent move to New York. I can sing the entire theme song to the Fresh Prince.

Food in Philly is great - priced right for normal humans and while I've yet to have a really good Indian meal there, pretty much everything else is represented - as a small sample: I lived a block from a good Ethiopian place and a great Jewish deli. Design is alive in Philly - from DIY/home made to super fancy names. There's a music scene as well. Museums, yup. In addition to the museums mentioned by others, The Institute of Contemporary art at Penn always has something interesting going on. The city's vast collection of murals is worth a tour or two.

I'm not going to say Philly doesn't have problems - there are blocks that are half abandoned and there are areas of high crime and schools where the kids go through metal detectors for a reason. Any major city has these problems.

One of my favorite Philly moments:
I went on a first date to the art museum and then we sat on the steps talking. It was a weekend afternoon and there were wedding parties getting their pictures taken on the steps of the museum. There's just something happy about seeing people on their wedding day. Most of the grooms and groomsmen took the canonical Rocky Balboa picture - arms thrust up in the air - but my favorite was the bride who insisted on taking her picture in the same pose.

Philadelphia is an integral part of American history: Constitution Hall, Benjamin Franklin, and so on. Just walking around the historical district is great if you've recently read any overview of American history.

Philly is passionate about its sports teams - any guy on the train with an Eagles hat will get into a detailed conversation about this years draft picks, Andy Reid's genius/flawed coaching decisions, and be happy to talk about it.

As a resident of West Philly, I'd like to add to all the great posts above that Philadelphia is the nation's leader in public murals (see www.muralarts.org), home to the amazing Barnes Foundation (tons of impressionist and modern art), & the nation's #1 city for walking to work...

Thank you so much for setting the record straight regarding the Dwell article. I was livid after reading it and sent Dwell a long email letting them know how bad I thought it was.

Like any big city, Philly has its faults, but we also have living history, not 'historical kitsch' along with a thriving art scene, great design and home stores (Foster's, Open House, and more), new sustainable buildings going up, and so much more to offer.