Those who think Philadelphia is the 'next New York' may need to set their sights across the Atlantic instead.
In a recent article on Philadelphia's urban revival, Elle Decor magazine went beyond the little-Big Apple analogy, all the way to Madrid.
The article calls Philadelphia a "Madrid on the Delaware River" because of its "experimental new culture, ambitious student life, and cunning luxury condo developers."
But Penn students and faculty who are familiar with both cities are not sure that the comparison holds.
Wharton junior Cameron Smalls, who is currently studying abroad in Madrid, said there is a likeness between the dining scenes of the two cities, but the similarities stop there.
"An ambitious and optimistic comparison, but not accurate," Small said in an e-mail interview. "I love Philadelphia, but it's no Madrid."
He added that Philadelphia's "ambitious student life" does not equal Madrid's.
"The night life and women are beyond compare," Smalls said. "Even the hottest girl in Philadelphia's best and most exclusive club doesn't compare to any one of the 12 girls in my Mergers and Acquisitions class in Madrid."
Daniel Sabido, a Wharton junior who lived in Madrid for five years, agreed that the comparison is weak.
"I don't see it," he said.
Though the Elle Decor article praised Philadelphia's public transportation system, Sabido said that SEPTA "has got nothing on Madrid."
But for some Philadelphia institutions mentioned in the article, he says that the connection is valid. The article specifically mentioned Center City's La Colombe Torrefaction cafe, as "cosmopolitan and upbeat ... Euro-chic."
Doug Wolfe, a barrista at La Colombe, said the cafe earned its mention from its European attention to simplicity.
"We'll do one flavor, like cafe mocha," he said. "We don't have vanilla-decaf-mint-pumpkin-spice-chai with extra whip."
Whether or not the comparison is valid, it is not the first time that Philadelphia has enjoyed such Euro-flattery.
"This is yet another in a long line of comparisons that people make of Philly," Urban Studies lecturer Domenic Vitiello said.
Vitiello said that when William Penn designed Philadelphia at the end of the 17th century, he imagined that it would become "the London of the New World."
Later, he said, Philadelphia's democratic role in the American Revolution brought comparisons with Athens.
By the mid-nineteenth century, however, Vitiello said the the city was viewed as the next Manchester due to its role as "the most important industrial center in the United States."
The architecture of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway has often "drummed up a Paris comparison," he said.
"From a historian's perspective, this is yet another statement about what we might aspire to," Vitiello added.
