Introduction to this special report
The Philadelphia described on these pages does not yet exist - at least in steel, brick and macadam. But it began to come to life last month in the imaginations of the nearly 500 area residents who took part in the first round of community forums in The Inquirer Editorial Board's Citizen Voices '99 project....

A livable city
Eleven years ago, the city was wracked by a contentious mayoral race, crime, racism, an insensitive police department, high unemployment, substandard housing, substance abuse, economic chaos and homelessness....

Neighborhoods
Philadelphia is the safest city in America in 2010 because it has a police management team that requires patrol officers to respect its citizens and do all they can to protect them. When patrol officers don't provide services of respect, protection and combating violence, they are punished....

Education
Philadelphia learned something that everyone else is trying to get: Cooperation, focus, innovation, accountability and dedication all lead the way to success....

Taxes
As the millennium dawned, we Philadelphians agreed that our worst problem was the grievous tax burdens, both on wages and real estate. Taxes, more than anything else, had caused the hemorrhaging jobs and population since 1950....

Business and Jobs
The fortunes of Philadelphia turned brighter when former Mayor, Ed Rendell convinced a major pharmaceutical manufacturer to cancel plans for a new plant in Blue Bell, and build in the city instead.

Community and Mutual Concerns
It is the year 2010 and the neighborhoods of Philadelphia are alive and full of energy. Neighborhood revitalization started with the Welfare to Work Program.

Most livable city
The transformation of Philadelphia over the last decade has been nothing short of amazing. Following Ed Rendell’s successful campaign of making the city attractive to tourists and outsiders, his successors have made the city desirable and viable to insiders.

Schools and Youth Programs
Back in 1999 the new Citizen Voices movement convinced the new mayor and city council that the most important issue was not how to grant hundreds of millions to build new stadiums, but how to use that money to make the educational system of the city the best in the country. Now in the year 2010....

Another look at taxes
Greetings….and welcome to Philadelphia – America’s best city! ...We eliminated, in phases, our regressive and rusty city wage tax, commerce tax, business taxes, fees et al such that we could attract world-class corporations and employees here, as well as making Philadelphia the lowest (least) taxing region in America!

Tourism and Appearance
...we have the most celebrated history in the nation; we should continue to make it more visitor-friendly, accessible, and publicized. We have an impressive set of cultural fora....

Abandoned Housing and Homelessness
...the most serious problem facing our city today is one that may seen superficial, but actually runs deep. It’s the number of abandoned buildings all over the city.