Talk:Philadelphia Region

Birthplace
Regarding this edit, do note that both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were drafted in Philadelphia. I'm certain that's what was meant by "birthplace". (WT-en) LtPowers 11:23, 7 December 2011 (EST)
 * Fair enough, but "cradle" doesn't seem controversial to me. (WT-en) Ikan Kekek 11:33, 7 December 2011 (EST)
 * It's not, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. It is, however, somewhat more ambiguous in meaning than "birthplace", as lots of places can claim to be "cradles" of some such or other.  (WT-en) LtPowers 13:45, 9 December 2011 (EST)

Nine cities
There should be only nine cities listed in the Cities section. Which ones? Powers (talk) 23:12, 13 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Very well. Each county seat? Philadelphia, Norristown (Montgomery), West Chester (Chester), Media (Delaware), Doylestown (Bucks), Allentown (Lehigh), Easton (Northampton), and Reading (Berks). And add Bethlehem, which is not a county seat because it part of two counties, to make nine? I could see an argument for replacing Media with Chester and Doylestown with Bensalem. Thoughts? Memberx0 (talk) 14:29, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
 * I don't know the region at all, but in general we should try to choose the 9 cities most relevant to travellers. That can be because of sights or transportation hubs or whatever. Administrative reasons (such as that they are county seats) are less important. JuliasTravels (talk) 14:34, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Okay. The three cities with airports that are also the centers of their respective MSAs: Philadelphia, Reading, and Allentown. Bethlehem and Chester for all the casino visitors coming in from out of state (and frankly, as a soft encouragement for others to improve that Chester article). Then, I guess King of Prussia for the Valley Forge historic site & shopping. New Hope seems to have developed itself into a nice B&B community, but I think it might be better suited to the 'other destination' section. I would entertain an argument for West Chester's inclusion, but I personally think it probably falls short of being relevant to most travelers. Memberx0 (talk) 14:46, 14 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Strictly speaking, "Other Destinations" is for destinations that aren't communities (like parks). So New Hope wouldn't belong there. We might be able to fudge it a bit and put King of Prussia in that section, though, if we hide it behind a link to Valley Forge. But it sounds like there's plenty of room under Cities, so we don't need to do that. So we've got Philly, Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Chester, and King of Prussia. That's six; we could add New Hope and West Chester, but I can't say one way or the other if they're important. Powers (talk) 00:28, 15 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Well, right now, Honey Brook and Kutztown, both described as "small towns" are in "Other destinations," which is wrong. Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:39, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I'd agree with simply moving these to the "cities" section for now. The problem is that some people assume the "cities" section includes only cities and not towns and villages, so they add towns and villages to "other destinations." I've seen dozens of region articles across WV that list towns as other destinations. I wonder if we should change this heading to make it easier to understand. --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 17:19, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Done. I agree with your idea, but I'm not sure how best to accomplish that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:58, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I deleted Honey Brook to reduce the number of "Cities" to 9, but I still think the Lehigh Valley is not part of the Philadelphia Region, so I would remove Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Ikan Kekek (talk) 16:02, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

[unindent] By the way, this is the current lineup:


 * — Pennsylvania's third largest city is the center of the Lehigh Valley region and home of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom.
 * — Originally settled by Moravian missionaries, Pennsylvania's seventh largest city was once a major center for the U.S. steel industry. Now, the city is home to a vibrant arts scene and Pennsylvania's largest casino.
 * — A struggling city located between Philadelphia and Wilmington, the city's redeveloping waterfront is home to a casino and a Major League Soccer team.
 * — Home of Valley Forge National Historic Park and one of the largest malls in the United States.
 * — A popular culinary destination accessible by SEPTA regional rail in neighboring Delaware County.
 * — Pennsylvania's largest city is the birthplace of American democracy and home of the cheesesteak.
 * — As the urban center of mostly rural Berks County, Pennsylvania's fifth largest city hosts a number of cultural festivals each year.
 * — Pennsylvania's largest city is the birthplace of American democracy and home of the cheesesteak.
 * — As the urban center of mostly rural Berks County, Pennsylvania's fifth largest city hosts a number of cultural festivals each year.

No New Hope and no West Chester, but the small college town of Kutztown is included. Is this the best lineup of cities for the region? Also note that a couple of cities need 1-liner listings. Ikan Kekek (talk) 16:05, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

Allentown in the Philadelphia region
At this time of night (almost 3:30 AM), it's 64 miles and an estimated 1 hr 6 minutes' drive from Allentown to Philadelphia, and it's 94 miles and an estimated 1 hr 51 minutes' drive from Allentown to New York. I feel like the Lehigh Valley is not really part of either city's metropolitan area, though the situation is complicated. According to Lehigh Valley:

The Lehigh Valley (/ˈliːhaɪ/), known officially by the United States Census Bureau and the United States Office of Management and Budget[3] as the Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area and referred to colloquially as The Valley,[4] is a metropolitan region officially consisting of Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania and Warren County in northwestern New Jersey.[5] The Lehigh Valley's largest city, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census, is Allentown.[6] Within the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh and Northampton Counties are part of Philadelphia's designated media market, Warren County is part of New York City's media market, and Carbon County belongs to the Wilkes-Barre–Scranton–Hazleton media market.

So it's its own metropolitan area. However:

''The Lehigh Valley is located approximately 60 mi (97 km) north of Philadelphia, 80 mi (130 km) northeast of Harrisburg, and 90 mi (140 km) west of New York City, the country's largest city. The area is home to more than 820,000 people as of the 2010 U.S. Census. Recent census studies show it to be the fastest-growing region in Pennsylvania, due in part to its growing popularity as a bedroom community for the highly populated neighboring regions of Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York City as well as its favorable business climate and much lower cost of living in comparison to surrounding areas.[27]''

So there are people who commute from there to Philadephia, New Jersey and New York City.

All things being equal, I would spin it off from this region. However, if we do that, which region of Pennsylvania should it be moved to? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:37, 29 December 2021 (UTC)


 * I still think the Lehigh Valley is not part of this region, and in fact, I started removing information about it from this article until I noticed that it wasn't recently added. Can we please do something about this? Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:59, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * There is a discussion on Pennsylvania regions underway at Talk:Pennsylvania. I think this would be better addressed there. Ground Zero (talk) 01:04, 23 July 2022 (UTC)