Overview
In response to The Philadelphia Daily News series (November 2002) entitled "Let's Get Growing," by Carla Anderson/ Urban Warrior, Campus Philly has worked with the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce to prepare additional information about the issue and related City of Philadelphia initiatives. At the present time, the City of Philadelphia does not plan a general campaign as presented in advertising examples published by The Philadelphia Daily News. However, the City has reviewed all of the proposed ideas and will refer to them in future planning. Of particular note, there are more targeted campaigns that either already exist or are in the works -- aiming to attract new residents to Philadelphia. Please click on the following links for more information:

• Links to articles by The Philadelphia Daily News
• Replies to the City of Philadelphia
• What the City of Philadelphia is doing about it
• What other cities are doing

Links to articles by The Philadelphia Daily News
The below links refer to the original stories by Carla Anderson, DN's Urban Warrior. They present a good overview of the issues surrounding Philadelphia's population growth and information about potential solutions and reader opinions.

• March 7 article, (including mentions of Campus Philly!)
• Original "Call to Action" by Urban Warrior, The Philadelphia Daily News
• Link to Let's Get Growing Home Page
• Why This Issue Affects All City Residents

Replies to the Department of Commerce
Many local citizens, both in Philadelphia and the suburbs, have written e-mails to the Department of Commerce with comments and ideas. Crushed Ice Media even produced their own advertising campaign plan along the lines of those presented by The Philadelphia Daily News.

Below are some other replies from local citizens -- these do not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Philadelphia or Campus Philly, but rather represent the opinions of those citizens who contacted us:

• Link to new ideas by Crushed Ice Media
• Many citizens appreciated the ideas put forth by the proposed ad campaigns -- they said to focus on positive aspects like all of the local cultural opportunities, rather than imply that Philadelphia is "Philthy"
• Some offered to volunteer their help if needed
• The only way to attract new residents is to focus on the basics: Education, Taxes, Crime, Public Transportation
• "Make a haven for art -- business will come"
• Three groups should be targeted: young people craving an urban lifestyle, older people who want nearby amenities, and working professionals who have difficult commutes
• People in the suburbs have misperceptions about the City, so work to correct that
• SIGNAGE -- focus on creating signs for Philadelphia on major highways from Washington and Baltimore, and make sure maps of Philadelphia keep current on the various moving tourist attractions (namely the Independence Visitors Center)
• Include "everyday people" in the ads, not actors
• Work with local direct mail companies to target regional residents
• Highlight that Philadelphia ROCKS!
• Although we love the Mummers, perhaps we need to also include more modern establishments in our ads, like featuring students from the High School for Creative and Performing Arts
• Philadelphia needs a new and stronger brand
• Philadelphia doesn't need to be "ultra-chic" like New York and San Francisco. a 20-hour city is ok. We need JOBS
• Focus on encouraging small business development
• Focus on activities of interest to young people rather than just the mainstream sports and cultural activitie
• Other feedback compiled by Young Involved Philadelphia:
  On January 15, 2003, Young Involved Philadelphia hosted an event in Center City featuring Carla Anderson and attended by area young professionals and representatives from the City and other economic development organziations. Citizens at the event also provided the following feedback on the issue of growing Philadelphia:
• Philadelphia does not lose population more than other major cities that are comparable, with the exception of New York, which has attracted a substantial immigrant population
• Some citizens suggested Philadelphia should do more to attract new immigrants to the City
• Philadelphia should focus more on promoting the City as a place to live, not just to visit
• Many big Philly "boosters" are people who moved here -- some people think that some local residents don't alway appreciate their city
• Philadelphia residents do receive good services compared to other cities
• One person even suggested updating neighborhood names, such as changing Fish Town to a French translation that means 'Place of Fish' to make it sound 'upscale'

What the City of Philadelphia is doing about it:

Marketing to College Student Demographic
The City of Philadelphia has, since 1997, developed and maintained programs to retain college graduates in the City of Philadelphia. At the present time, it is incubating the Campus Philly initiative as a regional program organized by area college students, and the Office of the City Representative organizes the annual Philadelphia College Festival to showcase the City to thousands of area students. These programs address an important group of potential long-term residents by letting them know how to get off-campus and experience Philadelphia. They are tied to a larger initiative, called the Knowledge Industry Partnership, which addresses three areas of policy: 1) ARRIVE: Attracting more high school students to attend college in Philadelphia; 2) EXPLORE: Engaging students in the communities and lifestyles locally;3) ACHIEVE: Connecting students to jobs, internships and professional opportunities in Philadelphia. The Knowledge Industry Partnership is sponsored by Pennsylvania: Stay Invent the Future.

• Link to Campus Philly
• Link to the Knowledge Industry Partnership

• Greater Philadelphia Marketing Tourism Corporation regularly promotes Philadelphia's assets regionally, nationally and internationally. They are currently developing a new program called "Friends and Family" that will focus on connecting tourists to local residents for a greater impact and view of the various Philadelphia neighborhoods. GPTMC is also working with Campus Visit/ Philadelphia and the Knowledge Industry Partnership to launch the One Big Campus marketing campaign, to be announced in April 2003, as an effort to marketing Philadelphia colleges and universities to high school seniors, their parents and their guidance counselors.
• Center City District is working with partners to develop a marketing campaign attracting residents to six targeted neighborhoods: Cedar Park, East Mount Airy/Pelham, Fox Chase, Overbrook Farms, Roxborough, and Southwest CenterCity. CCD also provides "Walk Philadelphia" tours and regularly promotes Center City's assets to various target demographics.
• Greater Philadelphia First, now part of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, recently conducted their Left Brain/ Right Brain marketing campaign to promote Philadelphia to businesses. The Chamber is also heavily involved with regional efforts to retain college graduates. Another partnership between GPF and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission focuses on identifying New Communities ideal for college graduates to live in.
• In Philly is a new group of passionate Philadelphians who want to serve as ambassadors to the City
• PECO's Economic and Business Development Department runs a web site promoting Philadelphia to new employers
• The Philadelphia Convention and Visitor's Bureau is working with the Delaware River Port Authority to launch an international marketing campaign

Developing New Business and Job Opportunities
Many organizations in Philadelphia promote the development of business opportunities, and the Department of Commerce's role, in part, is to provide resources, information, and collaborative opportunities to these organizations to ensure that the City is best served. Two initiatives of note:

• In the past year, the City of Philadelphia funded the creation of Innovation Philadelphia. One of IP's many new programs provides resources to area entrepreneurs. New businesses lead to new jobs, and new jobs lead to new residents. The most recent initiative includes IP's Entrepreneurship Guide
• Governor-elect Rendell has announced plans for the creation of the Keystone Innovation Zones, new areas that will be targeted for student and college graduate entrepreneurship near colleges and university centers.

What other cities are doing:
It's always important to learn about what other cities are doing in the area of attracting new residents. Here are links to two interesting intiatives in nearby cities:

• Link to article about Baltimore and other cities | LiveBaltimore.com
• Washington D.C.'s efforts to attract new residents