Visitors know: There's a lot to love about being here

Jan. 28, 2007
By Nancy A. Goldenberg 
Vice president of planning for the Center City District

Many of us make New Year's resolutions, most of which are quickly broken. But this year, I made one that's easy to keep, the perfect antidote to the onslaught of negative news or the super-heated rhetoric of the mayoral campaign.

At least once a month, I'm going to visit a local attraction I've never been to before. Like the New Yorker who's never been to the top of the Empire State Building, many of us must meekly admit to never having been to some of the Philadelphia area's well-known cultural attractions.

I have a friend who spent most of his adult life working in City Hall yet had never ventured to its observation tower. Several of my born-and-bred Philly friends have told me they've yet to see the renowned Barnes Foundation collection or attend a concert at the Kimmel Center. And a colleague of mine, an ardent Philadelphia promoter and frequent tour guide for visiting groups,
recently sheepishly admitted he'd never been inside the Rodin Museum.

If this small sample is any indication, no wonder that tourists and newcomers to our region have a more positive attitude about our city than long-standing locals. They not only see the city with fresh eyes, they also experience places that natives never visit. While I've visited most of the region's big-name attractions, it's the smaller gems I've missed despite living here for more than 25 years. As a resident of northwest Philly, I've not been to the Woodmere Art Museum. I can only imagine how many South Philadelphians have yet to venture to the Fleisher Art Memorial, how many Germantown residents haven't entered the world of the Haines family by visiting the Wyck historic house, or how many residents of Northeast Philly have yet to experience the Glen Foerd Mansion.

I got a jump-start on my resolution last year by visiting the bizarre and beautiful Wharton Esherick home in Paoli, plus Henry Mercer's equally fantastic concrete castle, Fonthill, in Doylestown, and the peaceful pleasure garden Chanticleer in Radnor.

So if you're as disgruntled as I am with negative news and shortsighted politics, put the newspaper down. Turn off the tube. Shut down the laptop. Go lose yourself at one of the Philadelphia area attractions you've always wanted to visit but haven't. Be a tourist in your own city. Do it once a month. I guarantee you'll be glad you did. You may even make it an annual resolution.

Contact Nancy A. Goldenberg at ngoldenberg@centercityphila.org.