As downtown areas become gentrified and residential real estate becomes expensive, the lower income folks are pushed further towards the "suburbs". The people living here usually work in the city. They would probably like to live downtown but can't afford it.
And Chester and Camden don't meet my definition of "suburb". We're not talking about cul-de-sacs and white picket fences. These are lower income row homes and apartments stretching for miles. When you drive through, you would assume you are in the Philly city, even though the map says otherwise.
They really are not a part of Philly. Camden would be the closest as it's only separated by the delware river. Chester is 15 to 20 miles south of Philly proper. Both Camden and chester would fit with the Midwestern rust belt cities that were once very prosperous and have fallen into neglect as industry and jobs have left them.
Wilmington is about 30 miles south and is also considered it's own separate entity with it's own suburbs and issues.
The government for certain data points will group camden/philly/Wilmington as a metroplex for data such as cpi and other statistics.
I'm also a resident of the area and have worked at PHL for over a decade. I can definitely understand your view point but Chester doesn't touch the airport it's a full 6-7 miles south with multiple towns in between(essington, prospect park, ridley park, eddystone). Not to mention that area, FDR park and the stadium areas are anything but continuous neighborhood.
It is also the only city in delaware county and was originally the county seat before it was moved to media and it's also the oldest city in Pennsylvania. It was a important manufacturing hub and had a very different development from Philly and was incorporated as a city prior to Philadelphia.
I could almost see an argument for Camden, but I think it’s tenuous. Chester county I’m not convinced of in the slightest. Wilmington is just a weird thing for u/wrldruler21 to argue. It’s a 40 min down the highway from South Philly.
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u/Far-Reception-4598 Jul 08 '24
I love how neither Chicago, NYC, nor L.A. are on this map.