DENVER—Michael Nutter, the young, brainy, African-American mayor of Philadelphia, took a chance during the Democratic primary season. He vocally supported Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama, the candidate with whom he shares many qualities—and the overwhelming preference, as it turned out, of his constituents. He explained his decision by citing the Clintons’ track record of delivering for cities like Philadelphia, which experienced a revival during the 1990s. But in terms of raw political calculation, Nutter was picking sides in a battle that split Pennsylvania’s Democrats, from the highest levels (Governor Ed Rendell supported Hillary, Senator Bob Casey, Obama) right down to the neighborhood clubhouses that make up Philadelphia’s fabled—though somewhat diminished—Democratic machine.  read more »

Philadelphia home sales tumbled 25 percent annually in the spring, according to a new report from Wharton economist Kevin Gillen (hat tip: Matrix).

Meanwhile, the median house price there was roughly $109,000 by the end of June. In Manhattan, it was $1,025,000 (for condos and co-ops), according to Miller Samuel; and, in Brooklyn, $525,00.

No wonder so many New Yorkers are splitting for Philly.

The Manhattan rental market reports are popping out this week (I covered an authoritative one earlier this week). They show what many already know deep in their guts and wallets: Manhattan is the most expensive rental market in the United States.

How expensive?  read more »

Philadelphia recorded 392 murders in 2007, or about one murder for every 3,571 Philadelphians. New York City, on the other hand, had one of its lowest murder amounts ever in 2007, with 492--or, about one murder for every 16,260 New Yorkers. So, take note, before you or someone you love moves to Philly. (Hat tip to The Economist this week for the Philly stats.)

I wrote in this week's Observer about New Yorkers moving to Philadelphia. One of the statistics I dug up that didn't make it into the story was the amount of daily Amtrak commuters between New York's Penn Station and Philly's 30th Street Station. It turns out that annual daily round-trip ridership along the line peaked in 2004 and 2005, and has dropped precipitously ever since.  read more »

We all know one—that friend or relative who split New York City recently for the common cascade of reasons: high home prices, high rents, high living costs, high noise, high stress, or too much getting high or all of the above.

And when these people exit our five boroughs, they really exit: City Comptroller Bill Thompson’s office analyzed the Census Bureau’s recent American Community Survey and found that about two-thirds of the 190,150 people age 25 to 64 who left in 2005 moved not to the green suburbs to get just a daily break from the city grind, but outside of the metro area altogether.

Nearly a quarter of them split for the South, with 14.9 percent settling in Florida and 5 percent in Georgia, especially Atlanta. (And, no, the Florida settlers weren’t all ancient—far from it: over 90 percent were under 65.) Another 4.4 percent went to California. Only about 36 percent settled in New Jersey or elsewhere in New York state.

About 40 percent left big-city life altogether, opting out of the metro region as well as out of those large cities that traditionally compete with New York. L.A.? It claimed 2.6 percent of our people; Boston, even less at 2 percent. Wheezing Philadelphia (motto: Please Let Us Be Your Sixth Borough! We Got Rid of the Rocky Statue!)—claimed 3 percent; San Francisco and Chicago less than 2 percent. Atlanta led all cities with 4.5 percent. The rest of the percentages were dotted all over American exurbia.

In the end, of course, who went where depends on why. New Yorkers with younger children were more likely than childless people to leave the city, according to the comptroller, and those that left and stayed in the metro region—most of them still work in the city, trading the costs of living here for longer commutes.  read more »

A tipster found the above flier in his Cobble Hill mailbox and passed it along to The Real Estate. Universal City Studios plans a film called "Baby Mama" about a 35-year-old real-estate developer played by Tina Fey (that's believable) trying to have a baby by surrogate (the surrogate's "South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowski" -- yea, class stereotypes!).

"A ONE-FAMILY TOWNHOUSE/BROWNSTONE with a large living room and an adjacent dining room, den or study, on the parlor floor.

And know this, homeowners: "a fee will be paid."

I am anxious and jumpy. "I was leaning towards this Reem Acra dress," I say to anyone who will listen, "but you know what? I'm not sure I'm an embellishment kind of bride. Maybe I should focus on lace? What about ivory vs. white? Saks only had this one dress in a soft white. What exactly is soft white?"  read more »