On the Rise
Most commonly referred to as the City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia is the city that signed the Declaration of Independence, the home of Rocky Balboa, and ranked the 5th largest city in the United States. Despite Philly’s impressive history in recent years it has been somewhat glanced over or forgotten, known for being the less successful little brother to New York City. However while the rest of world seemed to forget about us, Philadelphians didn’t give up so easily, and the city is in the midst of a comeback.
Last September, Pope Francis came to visit Philadelphia, and the whole world had their eyes on us. Since then Philadelphia has been named the first World Heritage City in the U.S.; Lonely Planet named it the #1 Place to Visit in the U.S. for 2016; and this year we will be hosting the Democratic National Convention. It is safe to say that the eyes of the world have been on Philly and we are making an unexpected comeback… just like Rocky!
Philadelphia has become an East Coast mecca for technology start-ups and innovation, with an influx of young, well educated, technical professionals, which has upped Philly’s game in the tech world. In fact, the Huffington Post named it #5 on a 10 Cities Techies Should Consider Moving to in 2016 list.
Bringing your Tech to Philly
Why would a techie want to move to Philadelphia?
There are a lot of factors that will draw younger tech start-ups and people to Philly. One of which is the prime location of the city, sandwiched between the hotspots cities of Washington DC and New York, and a short ride from weekend getaways like the beach and the Pocono Mountains. No matter your taste for big city or small town, Philly has it all within arm’s reach.
We are starting to see a trend in start-up companies coming to Philly. They are selecting offices either in the high rises in Center City, or going into the more popular trendy neighborhoods for young professionals like Fishtown and Northern Liberties where they rehab an older structure which helps in the revitalization efforts of the area.
Below is a data set for major U.S. cities that includes all buildings, including government, owner-occupied, and small (less than 5,000 square foot) buildings provided by Peggy Gallagher a Philadelphia Commercial Real Estate Tenant Representative with ITRA Global which shows how advantageous it is to open a location in Philadelphia, especially compared to other tech heavy markets like NYC and San Francisco.
| City | Total Square Feet | Vacancy | Available Space | Average Rent |
| Boston | 391.9 M | 8.8% | 34.7 M | $21.27 |
| Los Angeles | 428.1 M | 11.0% | 47.3 M | $31.60 |
| New York City | 557.5 M | 7.5% | 41.9 M | $59.58 |
| Philadelphia | 411.4 M | 10.0% | 41.0 M | $22.16 |
| San Francisco | 164.7 M | 7.1% | 11.6 M | $51.49 |
| Washington D.C. | 468.2 M | 14.3% | 67.0 M | $34.42 |
The city government even has a dedicated Office of Technology and Innovation which includes a Chief Data Officer whose department goal is to “oversees all major information and communications technology initiatives for the City of Philadelphia – increasing the effectiveness of the information technology infrastructure.”
Philly and its Future
For a city that is known primarily for it’s past, Philadelphia is making great strides to be on the cutting edge of technology and writing a story for its future as a strong player in the tech industry. Everything from location, to city government, to a big city with a neighborhood feel is making Philadelphia a rising star in the tech industry and a city to watch in the future. Learn more about Kane Partners jobs in Philadelphia.
