But the old skin finally has a new sheen , especially in the booming downtown neighborhoods known collectively as Center City. The commercial spirit is filling formerly dusty warehouse and row house spaces with clubs and restaurants. Staid old apartment buildings are turning into new hotels. And with love and money, the city's grand public buildings are being reclaimed and spruced up. This renaissance spirit was perhaps best captured in the photos of Philadelphia's inexhaustible mayor, Edward G. Rendell, swabbing City Hall rest rooms shortly after he took office in 1992.
Outsiders know to marvel at Philadelphia's combination of gentility and Rockyesque parochialism .
You have New York, the spoiled, overachieving oldest sibling, and Boston, the smart kid. Philadelphia is the one who'll throw a punch on your behalf. 1,585,577 in the city proper, nearly six million in the larger metro area. It was the nation's first capital and once its biggest city. Don't Miss Rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel take in Swann Fountain, with three bronze swans cast in 1924 by sculptor Alexander Calder.