Philadelphia
Written: Aug 06 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great information, cheap price
Cons: tends to include only high scale neighborhood/downtown information
The Bottom Line: Great if you live in the affluent sections of Philadelphia!
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| kld718's Full Review: Philadelphia Magazine |
Since I decided to move back to Pennsylvania sometime at the end of this year, I figured I had better catch up on learning about what is going on there. More specifically, I have chosen to move to Philadelphia or on the outskirts of the city. So when I saw Philadelphia magazine being offered through one of my credit cards, I immediately jumped at the chance to get the subscription.
THE MAGAZINE
Philadelphia is basically laid out like every other magazine out there. You have your basic important cover story along with some minor stories spread throughout the pages. There is also usually information about restaurants, stores, and real estate in the city included within the cover. This could be a tremendous asset for someone just moving to the area and having no clue where these places are. Using this magazine, you can discover what place has been voted as having the best food, or find out which doctor to take your child to.
January 2002 through July 2002 Issues
As with every other magazine, you have your basic cover story. In the issues that I mentioned above, those include “Best New Restaurants”, “The Ultimate Beauty Guide”, “Road Trips”, “Real Estate 2002”, “Top Docs 2002”, “Who’s Our Sexiest Single”, What’s Hot At The Shore”.
With all of these issues, you then have a few minor stories that are also covered. This theme is the same as any other magazine and does not set Philadelphia apart from any other. In each issue there is usually a couple of places about a certain part of town, usually downtown, that talks about the revival of a hot spot or a declining part of town. Along with your various stories on the media, local politicians, education, and popular real estate, you also get a social life column. This column usually displays the most recent society event that had occurred along with pictures of the people present. They will no doubt be dressed to the nines in evening gowns and tons of jewelry.
Flipping through the magazine, you notice that there are a lot of advertisements. They do not necessarily make up the bulk of the magazine because most of them do not take up a whole page, but share one with another advertisement. I found this a good idea because the companies doing the advertising get there exposure without taking up to much space within the magazine, thus leaving room for other things. I have found that the main focus of the advertisements, is either furniture, jewelry, clothing, restaurants, or vehicles. I am not always interested in a lot of advertisements, but the one’s in Philadelphia magazine are more than useful and expose you to different places in the community that I would have otherwise not known about.
One thing that you will notice in each issue is the presence of columns specifically set aside for different subjects. The “Beauty Buzz” will give you the hottest spots to go for a salon outing or a day at the spa. Your “Town & Country” section will provide you with some nice options for a getaway to a private retreat, such as a bed n’ breakfast or a posh hotel. The sports section will give you a glimpse of Philadelphia’s top professional athletes. There will also be pages full of places to go at the end of the magazine. You can find everything that has to do with the hot places in the city here. There is a “dining out” index that includes places in every county or township, “brunch notes” with great places to go for a quick meal, theater listings for every type of music, exhibits and galleries in the area, nightlife and concerts listings, as well as a schedule of upcoming events at the First Union Complex (better known as the FU Center). Special to this magazine is the “Best of Philly” section that includes places, such as restaurants, that have been voted as the hot spots in Philly. And the restaurants section has a mix of food, something for everyone. Not so special is the “Philadelphia Personals” that are listed at the very end. I simply have no use for this section as I seriously doubt that I will find the man of my dreams from a personal add and am adverse to doing so, but others might.
Another section that I have found convenient for myself is the real estate section. While I will not be buying a $790,000 luxury townhouse in Center City, Philadelphia has given me a glimpse of what is available in my price range. They do not just include expensive houses, but those in the lower ranges also for your perusal. While I seriously doubt that I will find the house I want and it still be available six months from now, I have the opportunity to see what I have to look forward to. Yes, the April 2002 issue talks about the rising real estate prices! Great...that’s what I have to look forward to! Also included is the ten best places to live, judged by the editors of the magazine. The overall look of the town and cost of living were just a few factors included to help the editors make their decision. This was a very useful section for me because it allowed me to see what neighborhood that I could possibly call my own and eventually start a family there, and know that they will be safe. There is also a retirement community guide located in this magazine. While not for me, I’m sure this would benefit the older readers of this magazine.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
As I mentioned previously, I received this subscription for free with an offer from one of my credit card companies. Philadelphia magazine actually comes with a really cheap subscription price at 12 issues for $12.00 for one year. That’s only $1.00 per magazine where you would spend $3.50 if you bought it by issue at the store. A savings of $2.50 an issue is a pretty good deal! The bad part about this deal is that it is available only to U.S. addresses. While that is not an issue for me, it may be for someone who is in say Canada. They state to allow 4-6 weeks for initial delivery, but I found that I received my first issue within 3 weeks.
MY THOUGHTS
Will I renew my subscription after this one has ended? Probably not, unless my credit card company offers it to me for free again. I have gotten more than my fair share of learning about the city for now and have to start saving for my move! No, I’m kidding…I’m just not a magazine kind of person and will usually not subscribe to a whole bunch of different one’s due to the fact that it takes me forever to get through them. They will sit around for a couple of months before I have time to read them and then be outdated when I get to them! I receive magazines only when offered to me by credit card companies...it’s a great way to save. But I would seriously have to say that I may renew this subscription for the next year so that I can learn a little more before I actually move to Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is not really a bad magazine and it gives you some great information about downtown areas, local restaurants, and events. This would be a good benefit for anyone just moving to the area and have no idea where things are. It is proving useful to myself because I haven’t lived there for years and know that things have changed some. It just does not offer a lot of information about the other parts of the city. Philadelphia is actually geared more towards the affluent sections of the city. And we are not talking Frankford Avenue…more along the lines of Bryn Mawr, Society Hill and Manayunk. But does that bother me? In a way yes, because the magazine does not offer a lot for lower or middle class families. It is more geared towards those that live downtown.
What does that have to do with me? Absolutely nothing, but I believe that a magazine with the name of Philadelphia should cater to everyone and not just the affluent people in the city. While I do enjoy going to salon or spa, I do not think that everyone in Philadelphia enjoys it, or can even afford it. So if you do not have the means to mingle with the high society folks in Philadelphia, then I do not recommend you subscribing to this magazine. But if you do, then this is a great magazine to own and flip through to find the most popular place (restaurant, theater, sporting event) to be downtown.
~ Thanks for reading!
Kim
Recommended:
Yes
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kld718
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Location: Central Florida
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