Philadelphia Ranks #17 in Schroders Global Cities Index

Submitted by ColdJay64 t3_11ecoeg in philadelphia

https://www.schroders.com/en/global/media-relations/media-centre/san-francisco-takes-top-spot-in-schroders-global-cities-index/

Hopefully this doesn't count as an editorialized title since this article is how they shared the entirety of the results.

"Schroders’ Global Cities Index seeks to rank global cities across four key criteria: Economic, Environmental, Innovation and Transport. It also aims to identify the cities which combine economic dynamism with world-class universities, forward-thinking environmental policies and excellent transport infrastructure."

“Today’s index shows that, despite the impact of the Pandemic and remote working, cities remain the economic drivers of the world economy. Their ability to provide collaborative spaces for work and deliver fantastic restaurants, theatre and retail experiences cannot be replicated online.

“In this context, cities will need to be armed with excellent transport links, affordable housing, green space and strong educational institutions to remain relevant. Furthermore, government policy will need to support the development of buildings that have excellent sustainability credentials.”

Edit: You can find the full breakdown of how cities are ranked/contributing factors here: https://www.schroders.com/en/schrodersglobalcities/blog/global-cities-index/

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Comments

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shnoogle111 t1_jad7t48 wrote

Philadelphia is very much a city of neighborhoods. Your experience in one neighborhood could differ greatly from another, even if it is in close geographic proximity.

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DonQOnIce t1_jaddwon wrote

It shows often on this sub. People will essentially talk past each other because we’re talking about completely different day-to-day life experiences depending on where we live and work, etc.

And that’s before we get to the people commenting who don’t live here at all.

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shnoogle111 t1_jadpgyn wrote

Spot on. In just a few miles of Germantown Ave, you have Chestnut Hill, Mt Airy, Germantown, and Nicetown all within close proximity and all with very different vibes.

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danstecz t1_jadxvtp wrote

Wissahickon Ave is crazy to travel on with the transition. Go from multi-million dollar homes to high rise apartments to industrial and ending in North Philly within three miles of each other.

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shnoogle111 t1_jady1b1 wrote

For sure. Hell I live in a few blocks of Gtown Ave in E. Mt Airy in a row home and a few blocks over from me are what could only be described as mansions.

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Zhuul t1_jaduis6 wrote

I’m in the latter category but at least I try to make that evident with my flair.

I pay city wage tax so I have at least some bitching privileges 😂

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LFKhael t1_jad8c3e wrote

This feels like it's incredibly biased towards North America or the anglosphere.

We're ranked higher than Shenzhen, Tokyo, and Berlin.

Uhhh, no. I love Philly, but any metric that puts us ahead of them has some major flaws.

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jad9732 wrote

Here's a further explanation of how they rank cities: https://www.schroders.com/en/schrodersglobalcities/blog/global-cities-index/

I don't think it's bias so much as the methodologies used, but I could be wrong. For example, Shenzen has a 28 out of 30 "environmental" rating.

The interactive globe tool is pretty cool. The data gets pretty granular but it takes some clickthroughs. It's probably what I should've shared in the first place.

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LFKhael t1_jadaejp wrote

> Physical risk

Okay, Philly is a damn good city for that. We get almost no disastrous weather, and we're too far removed from the Atlantic to get a proper punch from a hurricane. We're also pretty high above sea level.

> Policy risk

Eh, I guess.

> Median household income

That must be a low weight.

> GDP

There's the NA bias, we basically print money due to the post ww2 power structure.

> Transport

Yeah we got PHL, 30th St station, Septa RR, Septa BSL/MFL, and PATCO. We're a minor port, though.

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flamehead2k1 t1_jadk861 wrote

>> Policy risk > >Eh, I guess.

Policy risk for investors is high in places like Shenzen. Capital controls and CCP influence is high.

Berlin less so but strong organized labor is a potential policy risk.

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flamehead2k1 t1_jadfh3n wrote

>I don't think it's bias so much as the methodologies used, but I could be wrong. For example, Shenzen has a 28 out of 30 "environmental" rating.

Bias absolutely can exist in methodology

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SuspiciousOnion2137 t1_jadbsg2 wrote

I have lived in or near seven of the cities on this list (including Philadelphia). Based on my previous experiences living in the other cities I suspect this list is more about the availability of high-paying jobs and a good ecosystem for start-ups than cost and quality of living. Philadelphia’s presence on the list makes sense in that context.

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phlwhyamihere t1_jaedu20 wrote

Ecosystem for startups in Philly? Maybe I’m just unaware, but I can think of so many cities in the US who are far more startup friendly than philly

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SuspiciousOnion2137 t1_jaeirkw wrote

My husband is a UC Berkeley grad who works in technology and he says that Silicon Valley wouldn’t have seemed like a natural fit for start-ups in the early days either. Apparently, what it had going for it was being close enough to SF to attract a lot of Stanford and Berkeley graduates and inexpensive land for building fabrication plants. The Philly metro area has some great schools that churn out a lot of graduates, is conveniently located on the I95 corridor, has an airport with direct routes to major international hubs, and each funding round can probably last longer due to the lower rents and cost of living compared to other major cities.

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phlwhyamihere t1_jaelgiy wrote

Possibly, I work in tech as well and am living in Philly working remotely while my partner finishes grad school and just don’t see it personally but I might be wrong! Philly is just a tough sell to a lot of tech workers, and really only UPenn would feed into tech.

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phlwhyamihere t1_jaewk4g wrote

u/animadeup no shot would drexel be a feeder into any of the high flying tech startups, the tech world is just too silo'd and elitist right now. not saying that won't change, but as of now, just wouldn't happen

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rossdowdell t1_jadcbug wrote

ESPN still has the Cowboys ranked higher.

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crazy-puff t1_jaegzpu wrote

Am I missing something? Title says 17th but it looks like we’re 13th.

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LarryD217 t1_jada8uw wrote

Philly ranks significantly higher in the schroeder index

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researching4worklurk t1_jaf2yuf wrote

It’s kind of nuts, and telling, that when I saw the headline standing alone I couldn’t immediately tell if this is a good ranking (17th on the list of best cities??) or a bad one (17th on the list of worst cities??) and in briefly contemplating either case I was like “yeah, that’d make sense” to both.

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Mcjibblies t1_jad76hd wrote

600 homicides was not part of the scoring

Sorry…. San Fran has a notoriously crap housing situation. Boston… maybe. London post Brexit?!? Wow, they will spit on us and tell us it’s raining at this point!

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jad7m8u wrote

If it was, the only city that would've been omitted is Chicago. Certainly didn't take long for a negative comment though.

The point in sharing this is to show where we stack up against other cities globally, and to remind people that there is a lot of good about living here.

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Mcjibblies t1_jad7wnt wrote

“Top world wide Neo-lib rankings!”

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jad8ssw wrote

I don't think you are familiar with Schroders. Here is some more granular information on how they compiled the index, it's pretty interesting: https://www.schroders.com/en/schrodersglobalcities/blog/global-cities-index/

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flamehead2k1 t1_jadbtmq wrote

Do you have a link to the full 900 cities?

It does seem like there is bias toward certain nations and regions given the top 30.

They are also an asset manager so not surprising the top cities for asset management are on the list

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jadcaqi wrote

I can’t find the full 900, I’m not sure it’s available.

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flamehead2k1 t1_jaddh02 wrote

Yea, without that it is hard to really evaluate this list.

This is a list made for asset managers to evaluate investments.

I'd be really curious how they evaluate places like Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires in terms of environmental impact. Sure, they may feel the pain of climate change more than Chicago or Philadelphia but they aren't contributing to the problem nearly as much as Chicago or Philadelphia.

This is a good list for what it was made for but I don't think it should be taken beyond that.

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jadfvdw wrote

What aspects of their criteria would rank favorably only from an asset management perspective to the point that they aren’t relevant on a real-world level?

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flamehead2k1 t1_jadgytm wrote

It matters a lot. The places that are easy to invest in and extract profit aren't necessarily the best for actual living. Particularly in the regulatory environment category.

It is a really complex discussion I don't have time to explain in detail but kinda interesting you said "i don't think you're familiar with Schroders" and then subsequently say you know nothing about asset management.

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jadj22p wrote

You must’ve missed the “neo-libs” comment that I was responding to…. simply by knowing of the company I knew that was a foolish take. Thanks for the feedback though bud.

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flamehead2k1 t1_jadjbg7 wrote

That comment doesn't change what the intended audience for this list orv why using this list for other purposes is misleading.

Thanks for your feedback

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ColdJay64 OP t1_jadjyks wrote

“Schroders’ Global Cities Index seeks to rank global cities across four key criteria: Economic, Environmental, Innovation and Transport. It also aims to identify the cities which combine economic dynamism with world-class universities, forward-thinking environmental policies and excellent transport infrastructure.”

Sharing that our city ranks well among global cities in these areas is misleading? It wasn’t intended to be.

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flamehead2k1 t1_jadkqwc wrote

>Sharing that our city ranks well among global cities in these areas is misleading? It wasn’t intended to be.

Well in these areas from a global investor perspective is different than from a resident perspective.

Also, global asset management is probably peak neoliberalism. I say that as a neoliberal working in that industry.

>Neoliberalism is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers" and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity, state influence in the economy.

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