Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Location of Philadelphia, PA

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Philadelphia is located in Pennsylvania. The nearest major city to Philadelphia is Jersey City, which sits to the South East about 80 miles away.

The city is home to important archival repositories, including the Library Company of Philadelphia, established in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, founded in 1814. The Presbyterian Historical Society is the country’s oldest denominational historical society, organized in 1852

Philadelphia is home to many national historical sites that relate to the founding of the United States. Independence National Historical Park is the center of these historical landmarks being one of the country’s 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Liberty Bell are the city’s most famous attractions.

Other national historic sites include the homes of Edgar Allan Poe and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, early government buildings like the First and the Second Bank of the United States, Fort Mifflin, and the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church. Philadelphia alone has 67 National Historic Landmarks, the third most of any city in the country.

Transportation in Philadelphia PA

Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) which operates buses, trains, rapid transit (subway and elevated trains), trolleys, and trackless trolleys (electric buses) throughout Philadelphia, the four Pennsylvania suburban counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery, in addition to service to Mercer County, New Jersey (Trenton) and New Castle County, Delaware (Wilmington and Newark, Delaware)

The city’s subway system consists of two routes: the subway section of the Market–Frankford Line running east–west under Market Street which opened in 1905 to the west and 1908 to the east of City Hall, and the Broad Street Line running north–south beneath Broad Street which opened in stages from 1928 to 1938.[316]

Market–Frankford Line train departing 52nd Street station

Beginning in the 1980s, large sections of the SEPTA Regional Rail service to the far suburbs of Philadelphia were discontinued due to a lack of funding for equipment and infrastructure maintenance.

Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station is a major railroad station on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor with 4.4 million passengers in 2017 making it the third-busiest station in the country after New York City’s Pennsylvania Station and Washington’s Union Station. 30th Street Station offers access to Amtrak, SEPTA, and NJ Transit lines. Over 12 million SEPTA and NJ Transit rail commuters use the station each year, and more than 100,000 people on an average weekday.

The PATCO Speedline provides rapid transit service to Camden, Collingswood, Westmont, Haddonfield, Woodcrest (Cherry Hill), Ashland (Voorhees), and Lindenwold, New Jersey, from stations on Locust Street between 16th and 15th, 13th and 12th, and 10th and 9th Streets, and on Market Street at 8th Street.

Airports

Aerial view of Philadelphia International Airport, the busiest airport in Pennsylvania and 21st busiest in the nation

Two airports serve Philadelphia: the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is 7 mi (11 km) south-southwest of Center City on the boundary with Delaware County, providing scheduled domestic and international air service,[325] while Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) is a general aviation relief airport in Northeast Philadelphia serving general and corporate aviation.[326] Philadelphia International Airport is among the busiest airports in the world measured by traffic movements (i.e., takeoffs and landings).[327] More than 30 million passengers pass through the airport annually on 25 airlines, including all major domestic carriers. The airport has nearly 500 daily departures to more than 120 destinations worldwide.[325] SEPTA’s Airport Regional Rail Line provides direct service between Center City railroad stations and Philadelphia International Airport.[328]

Roads

William Penn planned Philadelphia with numbered streets traversing north and south, and streets named for trees, such as Chestnut, Walnut, and Mulberry, traversing east and west. The two main streets were named Broad Street (the north–south artery, since designated Pennsylvania Route 611) and High Street (the east–west artery, since renamed Market Street) converging at Centre Square which later became the site of City Hall.[329]

Vehicle traffic heading into Philadelphia on Interstate 95 during morning rush hour

Interstate 95 (the Delaware Expressway) traverses the southern and eastern edges of the city along the Delaware River as the main north–south controlled-access highway, connecting Philadelphia with Newark, New Jersey and New York City to the north and with Baltimore and Washington, D.C. southward. The city is also served by Interstate 76 (the Schuylkill Expressway), which runs along the Schuylkill River, intersecting the Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia and providing access to Harrisburg and points west. Interstate 676 (the Vine Street Expressway) links I-95 and I-76 through Center City by running below street level between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Vine Street. Entrance and exit ramps for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge are near the eastern end of the expressway, just west of the I-95 interchange.[330]

The Roosevelt Boulevard and Expressway (U.S. 1) connect Northeast Philadelphia with Center City via I-76 through Fairmount Park. Woodhaven Road (Route 63) and Cottman Avenue (Route 73) serve the neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia, running between I-95 and the Roosevelt Boulevard. The Fort Washington Expressway (Route 309) extends north from the city’s northern border, serving Montgomery County and Bucks County. U.S. Route 30 (Lancaster Avenue) extends westward from West Philadelphia to Lancaster.[330]

Interstate 476 (locally referred to as the Blue Route[331]) traverses Delaware County, bypassing the city to the west and serving the city’s western suburbs, as well as providing a direct route to Allentown and points north, including the Poconos. Interstate 276 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike‘s Delaware River extension) acts as a bypass and commuter route to the north of the city as well as a link to the New Jersey Turnpike and New York City.[330]

The 9,650 feet (2,940 m) long Benjamin Franklin Bridge spans the Delaware River and connects Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey

The Delaware River Port Authority operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area across the Delaware River to New Jersey: the Walt Whitman Bridge (I-76), the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (I-676 and U.S. 30), the Betsy Ross Bridge (New Jersey Route 90), and the Commodore Barry Bridge (U.S. 322 in Delaware County, south of the city).[332] The Burlington County Bridge Commission maintains two bridges across the Delaware River: the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge which connects PA Route 73 in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia with New Jersey Route 73 in Palmyra, Burlington County, and the Burlington–Bristol Bridge which connects NJ Route 413/U.S. Route 130 in Burlington, New Jersey with PA Route 413/U.S. 13 in Bristol Township, north of Philadelphia.[333]

Bus Service

The Greyhound terminal is at 1001 Filbert Street (at 10th Street) in Center City, southeast of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and south of Chinatown.[334] Several other bus operators provide service at the Greyhound terminal including Fullington Trailways,[335] Martz Trailways,[336] Peter Pan Bus Lines,[337] and NJ Transit buses.[338]

Other intercity bus services include Megabus with stops at 30th Street Station and the visitor center for Independence Hall,[339] BoltBus (operated by Greyhound) at 30th Street Station,[340] OurBus at various stops in the city.

Rail

Suburban Station with art deco architecture at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard

Since the early days of rail transportation in the United States, Philadelphia has served as a hub for several major rail companies, particularly the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad first operated Broad Street Station, then 30th Street Station and Suburban Station, and the Reading Railroad operated Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The two companies also operated competing commuter rail systems in the area. The two systems now operate as a single system under the control of SEPTA, the regional transit authority. Additionally, the PATCO Speedline subway system and NJ Transit’s Atlantic City Line operate successor services to southern New Jersey.[341]

In 1911, Philadelphia had nearly 4,000 electric trolleys running on 86 lines.[342] In 2005, SEPTA reintroduced trolley service to the Girard Avenue Line, Route 15.[343] SEPTA operates six “subway-surface” trolleys that run on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and subway tunnels in Center City, along with two surface trolleys in adjacent suburbs.[344]

Philadelphia is a regional hub of the federally owned Amtrak system, with 30th Street Station being a primary stop on the Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor and the Keystone Corridor to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. 30th Street also serves as a major station for services via the Pennsylvania Railroad’s former Pennsylvania Main Line to Chicago. As of 2018, 30th Street is Amtrak’s third-busiest station in the country, after New York City and Washington.[143]

Walk Score Ranks

A 2017 study by Walk Score ranked Philadelphia the fifth most walkable major city in the United States with a score of 79 out of 100, in the middle of the “very walkable” range. The city was just edged out by fourth place Miami (79.2), with the top three cities being New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Philadelphia placed fifth in the public transit friendly category, behind Washington, D.C., with the same three cities for walkability topping this category. The city ranked tenth in the bike friendly cities category, with the top three cities being Minneapolis, San Francisco and Portland.[345]

USA Today readers voted the Schuylkill River Trail the best urban trail in the nation in 2015.

Education in Philadelphia, PA

William Penn Charter School, established in 1689, is the oldest Quaker school in the nation

Education in Philadelphia is provided by many private and public institutions. The School District of Philadelphia is the local school district, operating public schools, in all of the city.[144] The Philadelphia School District is the eighth largest school district in the United States[145] with 142,266 students in 218 traditional public schools and 86 charter schools as of 2014.[146]

The city’s K-12 enrollment in district–run schools dropped from 156,211 students in 2010 to 130,104 students in 2015. During the same time period, the enrollment in charter schools increased from 33,995 students in 2010 to 62,358 students in 2015.[114] This consistent drop in enrollment led the city to close 24 of its public schools in 2013.[147] During the 2014 school year, the city spent an average of $12,570 per pupil, below the average among comparable urban school districts.[114]

Graduation rates among district-run schools, meanwhile, steadily increased in the ten years from 2005. In 2005, Philadelphia had a district graduation rate of 52%. This number increased to 65% in 2014, still below the national and state averages. Scores on the state’s standardized test, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) trended upward from 2005 to 2011 but subsequently decreased. In 2005, the district-run schools scored an average of 37.4% on math and 35.5% on reading. The city’s schools reached their peak scores in 2011 with 59.0% on math and 52.3% on reading. In 2014, the scores dropped significantly to 45.2% on math and 42.0% on reading.[114]

Of the city’s public high schools, including charter schools, only four performed above the national average on the SAT (1497 out of 2400[148]) in 2014: Masterman, Central, Girard, and MaST Community Charter School. All other district-run schools were below average.[114]

Higher education

The campus of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia and one of the highest-ranked universities in the world

The Wharton School of Business is one of the world’s most prestigious business schools.

Medical and research facilities of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Philadelphia has the third-largest student concentration on the East Coast, with more than 120,000 college and university students enrolled within the city and nearly 300,000 in the metropolitan area.[149] More than 80 colleges, universities, trade, and specialty schools are in the Philadelphia region. One of the founding members of the Association of American Universities is in the city, the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution with claims to be the First university in the United States.[150][31]

The city’s largest university, as noted by number of students, is Temple University, followed by Drexel University.[151] The University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, and Thomas Jefferson University comprise the city’s nationally ranked research universities. Philadelphia is also home to five schools of medicine: Drexel University College of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, and Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Hospitals, universities, and higher education research institutions in Philadelphia’s four congressional districts received more than $252 million in National Institutes of Health grants in 2015.[152]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Philadelphia Pennsylvania, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Liberty Bell Pavilion

Addres: 526 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19106, United States

Website: https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm

Phone Number: (215) 871-6100

Since the beginning of American independence, the liberty bell has been a symbol for freedom and independence. Although it rang in celebration of the signing of the Constitution in 1787, the bell rang in honor of George Washington’s birthday in 1846.

This and many other facts about the bell are available in the exhibits. A film also shows how abolitionists and suffragists adopted the bell to symbolize freedom. The bell was sent on a tour of the country in the late 1800s to try and conquer the divisions created by the Civil War. In Philadelphia, the bell reached its destination in 1915. It has remained there ever since.

Independence Hall

Addres: 520 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106, United States

Website: https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/independencehall.htm

Phone Number: (215) 965-2305

Independence Hall was originally the State House of the Colony of Pennsylvania. It is most famous for being the location where the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 2017, was adopted. It is also where the Continental Congress met 11 years later to create the United States Constitution.

Assembly Hall is the highlight of the tour. This is where the Second Continental Congress met behind closed-doors to discuss independence from Britain. Here the Declaration of Independence was signed. This is also where George Washington was elected Commander-in-Chief of The Continental Army.

Independence National Historical Park

Addres: Philadelphia, PA 19106, United States

Website: https://www.nps.gov/inde/index.htm

Phone Number : (215) 965-2305

The Independence National Historical Park is America’s oldest square mile. This historic area is home to many important attractions, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Independence Hall is home to some of America’s most significant historical moments, as well as some of America’s most prominent founders. It was witness to the Declaration of Independence’s adoption on July 4, 1776, and the creation of the United States Constitution on August 7, 1787.

It is flanked on the right by Congress Hall, where the United States’ first Congress met between 1790 and 1800. George Washington and John Adams were elected President respectively. Old City Hall was also there, although it was not the actual town hall, but was the home of the Supreme Court from 1891 to 1800.

Philadelphia Museum of Art and the “Rocky Steps”

Addres: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA 19130, United States

Website: http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/the-rocky-statue-and-the-rocky-steps/

Phone Number: (215) 763-8100

The Philadelphia Museum of Art houses one of the largest collections of American painting and other artworks. The museum’s medieval galleries are one of its most treasured sections. They include photographs by Rogier van den Weyden, and the van Eyck brother.

Other rooms include Renaissance and Baroque art, as well as art from the 18th and 19th century, such pictures by Van Gogh and Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Manet, Cezanne and Monet. Picasso, Chagall and Matisse are among the artists that represent a collection of 20th century European art.

LOVE Park

Addres: Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19102, United States

Website: http://www.phila.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Phone Number: (215) 686-1776

Philadelphia’s most beloved photo-op celebrates “the City of Brotherly Love” by Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture. It was installed in John F. Kennedy Plaza in 1976 to mark America’s Bicentennial celebrations.

The LOVE Park plaza is now known as the Philadelphia Museum Mile. It’s the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s entrance. Here you’ll find The Franklin Institute, The Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philadelphia Zoo

Addres: 3400 W Girard Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States

Website: http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/

Phone Number: (215) 243-1100

Philadelphia Zoo houses a variety of animals from all over the globe. It is actively involved in wildlife rehabilitation and conservation efforts. The Zoo focuses on education and outreach to educate visitors about how humans affect the environment.

Big Cat Falls is one of the most impressive habitats. Here, the largest cats in the world can freely roam among the plants and waterfalls. They also have the opportunity to explore the park through tunnels that run above all other habitats, including humans. The African Plains habitat is another favorite among both children and adults. Here you can see some of the most remarkable residents of the zoo, such as giraffes and hippos.

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