Philadelphia is the largest city of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States of America. Philadelphia is a potpourri of cultures and mores as people from practically all parts of the globe reside in the city. Philadelphia is a microcosm of the entire United States of America as its citizens belong to different races, communities, religions, and ethnicities.
The Past
The history of Philadelphia is inextricably woven with the history of the United States of America. Before William Penn, after whom the state of Pennsylvania has been named, left Philadelphia finally, he promulgated the Charter of 1701. This Charter formally declared Philadelphia to be a city. Initially, Philadelphia was a city that was steeped in poverty but gradually through trade and commerce, the inhabitants of the city started becoming affluent. Benjamin Franklin, a well-known citizen of Philadelphia who lived during the mid eighteenth century, initiated and spearheaded the development of the city on many fronts such as infrastructure, reforms and living conditions. Under him, many industries kick-started their business operations and automatically, there was a positive influence on the living conditions of the burghers.
Philadelphia was noted for its flourishing textile industry and its many textile mills. However, the city underwent a major transformation during the 1800s and the 1900s when it came under the sway of the Industrial Revolution that had already made significant strides in Great Britain and parts of the British Empire. During this time, several locomotive and engineering companies cropped up in Philadelphia. The railroad network that runs across the state of Pennsylvania came into being at this stage. With the help of the Act of Consolidation, 1854, the city grew even larger and became home to African Americans, Russians, and Europeans.
The Present
Currently, Philadelphia is a very well-developed city and houses many centers of higher education. Its unique culture and milieu draws many immigrants and tourists to it. All parts of Philadelphia are well connected to each other by means of large and arterial roads, lanes, by-lanes, and railways. Philadelphia is linked to its suburbs, other cities of the US and the world by expressways and airports respectively. The Philadelphia International Airport is one of the largest airports of the US. Flights operating in the airport link Philadelphia to many big global cities.
Architectural Splendor
The entire city of Philadelphia is an architectural splendor. The city is dotted with imposing edifices that sport the Georgian, Victorian, and Greek Revival styles of architecture. If you are a tourist in Philadelphia, you will find the city simply a treat for the eyes. Philadelphia is also a city of contrasts. Several glass, granite and steel skyscrapers have mushroomed in the city over the last couple of decades. These stand adjacent to Philadelphia's old and majestic buildings and lend the cityscape a peculiar and droll charm. Philadelphia is admired by its tourists and its denizens alike.
Hotspots
Philadelphia is filled with museums, art galleries, parks and historical sites. The museums, historical centers and parks are visited by its citizens as well as by its tourists as they showcase many old relics and exhibits and for their natural beauty. Chef d'oeuvres, artistic works, paintings, sculptures and objets d'art are displayed with much eclat in the repositories and art galleries of Philadelphia. The exhibits manage to arrest the attention of many with the skill with which they have been crafted.
Drama and Music
Philadelphia boasts of many theatres too. Various plays are staged in these theatres for the benefit of intellectuals and theatre aficionados. Philadelphia has much to contribute in the field of music as well. There are several musical ensembles and musicians in Philadelphia who perform regularly in orchestras and soirees. The musicians of Philadelphia play classical as well as modern music. The choirs sing songs such as folk songs, oldies, and pop songs. Hip-hop, rap and rock music have prospered in the city too.
What to Eat?
If you have a healthy appetite and enough money, fly to Philadelphia. The city satisfies every need of the fastidious foodie with its various concoctions. Fat submarine sandwiches stuffed with layers of pork, tomato, lettuce, cheese and other yummy ingredients; cheese steaks, which are sandwiches comprising cheese and steak; pretzels, the staple diet of Pennsylvania; cakes; and Italian ice, a dessert that consists of thickened and sweetened syrup blended with fruit; are the main foodstuffs of Philadelphia. The city is literally crowded with restaurants that offer filling and tasty platters to their diners.
Economy, Healthcare and Retail
Philadelphia vaunts a booming economy. The city is full of big industries and corporate houses, which employ thousands of people. Philadelphia bustles with activity in the corporate sector. Its people are extremely busy with their jobs and professions from morning till night. Offices and centers of business and commerce in the city never sleep. Philadelphia is always trying to expand its business prospects. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange constantly drives business forward. The bourses are always active as businesspeople in Philadelphia are always on the move, always trying to invest in profitable schemes.
Apart from business and economy, which have catapulted Philadelphia to becoming one of the major destinations of the world, the city places a lot of weight on healthcare. Philadelphia is home to countless state-of-the-art hospitals and medical colleges. Most of the medical colleges are part of the universities of the city. They train their students thoroughly in the various specializations and branches of medicine so that by the time they graduate from medical school, they are excellent and reliable doctors and surgeons. The various hospitals of Philadelphia take very good care of their patients so that all of them get well soon. Innumerable pharmaceutical companies are situated in Philadelphia. Their presence is an added bonus for the hospitals and for the residents of the city.
Philadelphia is also home to myriads of shops, stores, retail chains, department stores and malls, which sell every possible item that a human may require to journey from the cradle to the grave. There are many apparel shops in Philadelphia, given the city's strength in the textile industry. The various department stores and malls of Philadelphia sprawl across many square kilometers and are attractively decorated so that they look appealing to the modern-day consumer. Car parks are attached to the malls so that shoppers can have a wholesome shopping experience. You can shop till you drop in the many stores of Philadelphia.
Education
If you are a student seeking admission in a reputed American university, you should apply to the various colleges and universities of Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Drexel University are the primary universities of the city. The city boasts of many other colleges and universities that are situated on the fringes of Philadelphia. These colleges and universities along with those that are located within the city offer comprehensive bachelor's and master's degree courses in humanities, the languages, the sciences, medicine, law, management and in other fields.
Thousands of students from different parts of the globe sit for their SAT or GRE, LSAT, MCAT, or GMAT examinations to secure places as undergraduate or graduate students in the many prestigious universities of Philadelphia. The many universities also grant scholarships and fellowships to deserving students and research scholars so that they may pursue academics to their hearts' content in these seats of higher learning. The universities observe rigid procedures while admitting students and awarding degrees and bursaries to ensure that those who obtain degrees are really meritorious and worthy of them.
Philadelphia is also famed for its public and private schools, which offer excellent education to school-going students.
Sports
Philadelphia is also a sporty city. The city is involved in sporting activities and games such as hockey, baseball, football, basketball, cycling, cricket, relay races, boating, sprinting and marathons. Each school and college of Philadelphia has its own teams for each sport. Inter and intra school and college competitions and championship matches are often held in the city with a lot of fanfare. Teams try their hardest to win matches, trophies and awards while cheerleaders and fans cheer and holler to egg their respective teams on. In Philadelphia and in the rest of USA, a lot of importance is placed on sports and sporting activities. This is because sports have been found to be useful for team building and for generating a spirit of cooperation and camaraderie, between people. Sports encourage people to bond irrespective of their races, creeds, religions and other diversities. Sports is also very good for the body and the mind.
The Flip Side
Philadelphia is not wholly aboveboard, or a Utopian city. There are some skeletons in Philadelphia's cupboard of which the city is highly ashamed. These skeletons take the shapes of thefts, robberies, mugging incidents and murders. The number of homicidal cases in Philadelphia has oscillated repeatedly between high and low in the last few years but has never been quite absent. As the world becomes more competitive and hungry for money, Philadelphia grows into a den of greed and corruption too. But the city is to be only partially blamed for this deterioration as avarice and corruption are affecting almost all big cities of the world.
The redeeming factor is that all said and done, Philadelphia is still not as corrupt as some of the other cities of the US and the world. Something about the city, perhaps its architectural beauty or the broadmindedness of its people, has helped it to remain untainted by corruption.
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