Philly Is Ready to Make More History

Everyone remembers Philadelphia’s cliches: former Mayor Frank Rizzo wearing a nightstick in his cummerbund, a dopey-eyed boxer named Rocky Balboa yelling “Yo, Adrian!” and locals shoving cheese steaks in their mouths.

They’re pretty inaccurate images these days.

Rizzo’s been dead for years, “Rocky” movies are relics and some Philadelphians are devout vegetarians. In fact, the city’s downtown has been renovated and infused with cultural activity and gourmet restaurants. And in preparation of the convention, streets were swept clean, signs were repainted and bunting and flags were hung, giving downtown a sharp spit polish.

But a racially charged atmosphere and a threatened strike by city workers this month robbed some of the glory from those cosmetic and commercial victories as the Republican National Convention kicks off.

A black carjacking suspect (who then stole a patrol car) was detained and beaten by a crowd of white and black officers. Even though the details of Thomas Jones’ arrest were different from those of the 1991 beating in Los Angeles of Rodney G. King, the parallels were easy to make. It also seemed like a throwback to this city’s police corruption scandal of the 1970s, which is captured in a Showtime movie, “The Thin Blue Lie,” scheduled to air Aug. 13.

“We don’t want 30 seconds of videotape to define Philadelphia,” said Barbara Grant, director of communications for Mayor John Street.

But Street followed up the Jones incident with controversial comments to a reporter from George magazine. Street, a black Democrat, told the national magazine in its August edition that he once tried to introduce a man to the City Council and he couldn’t remember his name.

“I said, ‘You know, all you white guys look alike!’ ” Street was quoted as saying. He went on to tell the reporter that the convention protesters were “idiots.”

The remarks caused a stir in the city, but the reaction was even greater elsewhere, again making some Philadelphians worry about their city’s image.

Street refused to speak to The Times, and Grant said his printed comments were “taken out of context,” but many Philadelphians said Street’s remarks and the Jones video were more alarming to people visiting the city than to longtime residents.

“Racial problems?” asked Tony Fletcher, a 53-year-old black auto mechanic who was born and raised in West Philadelphia, the predominantly black section with row houses that sit underneath the elevated railroad tracks. “No more than usual.”

Street replaced Ed Rendell, the two-time mayor who now heads the Democratic National Committee. Rendell was instrumental in bringing the GOP convention to Philadelphia, the first one to be held here in more than 50 years.

“I’m the person who planned the party, who’s now outside in the rain peering in through the window,” he said, laughing.

Locals had feared the big party would be marred by the threat of a strike by thousands of sanitation workers. But an agreement with the workers averted a crisis, and many Philadelphians said the rest of the country now might finally see the roaring comeback made by some of the city’s neighborhoods.

“It’s still a gritty, blue-collar union town, but I think people are going to be surprised to see some parts of Philadelphia look like the best parts of the Upper West Side in New York,” said Peter Nicholas, former Philadelphia Inquirer City Hall reporter who now works in the paper’s Washington bureau.

The $500-million downtown renovation gave way to a dignified cultural district near City Hall, now called Avenue of the Arts. The Avenue boasts three theaters, a symphony, a ballet and the University of the Arts, which is devoted to the education and training of performance arts.

Gourmet restaurants that cropped up in response to the Avenue’s demand grabbed the attention of Conde Nast, which two years ago christened Philadelphia the country’s best per-capita restaurant city.

“People in Philadelphia . . . are very eager to have their city better known and to have the accomplishments of the city better known,” said Miguel-Angel Corzo, former director of the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, who this summer took over as president of the University of the Arts.

“[But] they’re not used to talking about themselves. Remember, this is in comparison to Los Angeles, where people really like to boast about themselves for a long time.”

Silicon Valley Bank, the country’s largest lender to early-stage technology companies, opened an office here last July with one person. “Even after being selective, the deals are just overwhelming,” said Senior Vice President Ash Lilani, who on average has hired a new employee every eight weeks. Some people call the city’s high-tech center Philicon Valley.

And a section of the city called Manayunk has become a charming European-looking neighborhood/artists’ colony with cafes and restaurants.

But of the city’s 1.4 million people, there are plenty who remain in the cycle of poverty. The country’s fifth-largest city has not brought everyone along during the economic boom, and while most of the country’s largest cities have seen their populations grow in the last decade, Philadelphia has watched its shrink by more than 9%.

Admittedly, Grant said, it is a difficult balance to strike. The Cradle of Liberty is trying to map out its new identity while holding on to its history, its character and even a few cliches. “We’re not ready to throw cheese steaks out the window just yet,” she said.

That point was made at dawn on New Year’s Eve. Then-Mayor Rendell and 2,000 supporters gathered at the bottom of the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dressed in gray sweatsuits and blue knit ski caps, they jogged the famous climb to the top of the stairs where the name “Rocky” is engraved near a pair of bronzed Converse footprints.

“We got up there,” Rendell said. “We did the dance. You know the dance.”