Survey: Philadelphia Ranked 2nd Dirtiest City In America

June 14, 2011 11:59 PM

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The City of Brotherly Love has been ranked the second dirtiest city in the U.S., according to a recently released survey by Travel and Leisure magazine.

The magazine included 35 cities ranked on cleanliness, culture, shopping, nightlife, restaurants, pizza, historical sites, museums and more.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation isn’t taking this lying down. The agency decided to pull it ads from the publication that is talking trash.

“When you’re getting out an image of the city on one page and you are saying we love you, we love you back, and on the next page they’re saying it’s dirty, that is not a good context for an ad,” said Meryl Levitz, CEO of the GPTMC, which has been advertising in Travel and Leisure for years. “It felt kind of good to pull it.”

Levitz pointed out, a record 37 million people visited Philadelphia and the surrounding area last year, including Marjana Martic, a tourist from Canada who says, “It’s not dirty. It’s nice and neat.”

Last year, the city ranked fourth in the cleanliness category, but this year it moved up to second. The dirtiest city was found to be New Orleans.

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One gripe Levitz says she hears from tourists is the high price of parking. However, cleanliness is not a major concern.

Center City, where many tourists spend their time, certainly isn’t spotless, and that does not go unnoticed by visitors.

“It is a little bit more dirty than other cities I have seen, but I would say the bigger the city is, the more dirty it tends to be,” Ashesh Belapure, a tourist from India said.

“I see a big effort just to make it nicer,” said Jasmina Landekic, from Toronto.

Los Angels, Memphis and New York City rounded out the “dirtiest” five, according to the survey.

Although Philly ranked among the dirtiest, our pizza, historical sites and museums ranked among the best. Philadelphia ranked number four for pizza, behind Chicago, New York and Providence.

Levitz also points out a new poll coming out in U.S. News and World Report which ranks Philadelphia in the top 10 of family friendly summer destinations.

VIEW: Philadelphia Survey Results

Reported by Todd Quinones, CBS 3; Jessica McWilliams, CBSPhilly.com

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Survey: Philadelphia Ranked 2nd Dirtiest City In America

j Kahan

I am from Philly and I have complained about this for years.

Visit DC, San Francisco, Toronto, Chicago, Boston – then visit Philly, we look like a dump.

This has little to do with politics, it is more about how proud the resident’s of these cities are of their neighborhoods.
James – Longdrycreek Ranch, Texas Panhandle

Philadephia has incredible art and entertainment venues. Yet east of the Convention Center, I walked from a parking lot to the Center. The litter, obviously there for some time, indicates the City has major problems with organzation of its overpaid unon man power.
The PHL Airport restrooms are a disgrace. I fly out of PHL several times a year, and nothing seems to improve. No management at the Airport either.
When the flower show comes to the Convention Center, the restrooms are clean. Once the show ends, back to normal. Part of the problem is the low life that gathers in Market East and trashes the place. Flash gangs are a symptom of the City’s inadequate preparation for keeping the city clean or maintaining order. A clean city and maintain order are related.
I hope Mayor Nutter understands the problem, and the lack luster city council and city administration understand: The time for PHL is running out. Once gone, curtains.
George

I guess Philadelphia has not learned that the truth hurts. Philadelphia also drove Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity off the air when they made truthful derogatory remarks about the city center. I live here and I will tell you that, except for a very few square miles, the city is a toilet.

j kahan

Having good taste in our media is completely different…..

John Williams

The left loves to censor unless it’s an “artist” dipping a crucifix in urine. That needs protection at all cost.

The Spartan

Here’s the answer: issue a broom, dust pan, a large box of Glad bags – Lawn Sized – and a city-issued baseball cap to all welfare recipients living in Philly. They pay them according to the number of bags of garbage they collect in an 8 hour period. And fire the overpaid union workers who apparently aren’t doing the job.

j kahan

I do like this idea a lot. People complain about Chicago politics, Philly’s is worse. It is rotten to the core from just below the Mayor’s office and there isn’t anything he can do about it.
RufusVonDufus

Great idea, but you know the unions and the Dem politicians will not go along with you. You need another mayor like the governor. What a crumb he was/is!

FreedomScribe

They don’t call it Philth-adelphia for nothing.
Mark Matis

Now isn’t THIS a real surprise! Wonder what these two cities might have in common…
Pepecito

A UNION PRO CHOICE City you must be so proud… all the Paid people can’t pickup all the McDonald Wrappers left in every corner of philly
popseal

There is a direct corelation between the rate of welfare payments and violence in any neighborhood in any city in America. Welfare strips the recepients of dignity and self esteem, resulting in the typical inner city environment.
Herr

excellent Olenka, I admired
popseal

Fly into Phoenix’s Sky Harbour and then fly into New Orleans’ Armstrong Intl. The N.O. facility is like a Bolivian third world terminal, to say nothing of the filthy drive into the CBD’.

New Orleans

Are you freaking kidding me? The drive from MSY to the CBD is not nearly as bad as coming in from the East or the Westbank. If you think you saw filth, you have no idea what you are talking about. Have fun puking your guts out on Bourbon St. when you find out how little you can handle your liquor. I hope you don’t get rolled in the gutter, but it could happen. A fair number of drunken tourists wander off of Bourbon street and head towards Rampart Street. You know what happens then? You get killed. So if you think it is bad, you really don’t know the half of it, do you? Be smart, watch your back and watch your mouth.

The Cheetah

Yeah and Louis Armstrong Park is not a tourist destination unless you wish to commit suicide. This commenter is right, stay away if you value you life. New Orleans is not a place to go and relax, you must be on guard at all times. Not to mention 90% of the citizens are con artists.

L Dan

Hey, This something Mayor Nutter should be proud of.
P_Kersey

It is the same in EVERY major city in USA to some extent.
It will not change UNTIL enough good people rise up and shout truth to power. The government is at fault for this on every level. The media has also propped this idiocracy up since the 60′s. Many are waking up – and they are fed up with the excuses… A day of reckoning is inevitable, or America will become 3rd world shi@hole!

RufusVonDufus

And what do these big cities all have in common? Yea, you only got one guess and you nailed it. Congratulations!

Dan

Lincoln tried that and they shot him.
Midia-LifeLongPhillyDude

Unions.
bob

Only democrats litter
barbarab

They don’t call it “FILTHADELPHIA” for no reason. LOL
IrisE

I grew up outside Philadelphia and went to college there. We own a Townhouse in Philly. I can say that as the # of no show jobs in Philadelphia’s public sector has increased exponentially – they cleanliness of the city has gone DOWN. If they want to fiscally turn the city around they have to significantly decrease the government and sub-contract the cleaning to private companies. At least they can fire them when the work isn’t done. I do have to say when Rendell was Mayor the city was somewhat cleaner.
RobininSC

Seriously, what is/are the common denominators of all these filthy cities?
Melissa

Having traveled recently, Philly has the dirtiest airport of the four I was in. First impression to people arriving by plane.

Marbran

It’s an east coast thing. Whenever I return thru Philly or Baltimore airports, from other parts of the country or abroad, the first thing I notice is how rude the workers are at both airports. It is stunningly apparent to anyone not exposed to it every day.

Coleen Sherry

I moved here in 2002 when my husband was recruited for his job, and after riding in the cab from the airport to the hotel, I cried. During that short trip, I saw a very dirty city, and my opinion has not changed in the nearly nine years that we’ve been here. Before moving, I had read a blurb in the USA Today about a revitalization plan for Philadelphia, which gave me some hope, but if it’s made much of an impact, I don’t see it. I avoid the city when I can. There are certainly areas that are much cleaner and neater than others, but compared to Seatte, from where we came, people here seem to be content with a much lower standard of cleanliness. Philly is a wonderful city with a lot to offer families, but its image could certainly use more attention to detail where cleanliness is concerned.
S Lauren

This city is disgusting. Gum, cigarette butts, and garbage all over the place
I travel quite a bit. You know how I can tell I’m home in Philly? By getting on the Broad Street Line, which reeks of urine. It’s like, “Ahhhh…I’m home.” Seriously, none of the other cities’ subways [that I've used (London, NYC, DC, et al)] have that unique Philly odor.
My favorite Philly story: A woman changed her kid’s diaper on a SEPTA bus. She threw the diaper out the open bus door. Classy.
So, the Philadelphia Tourism board pulled their ads? The truth must hurt.
SJ

Dirtiest, only exceeded by New Orleans. HAHAHAHA.
Sick of Philly

Philly is a cesspool. It’s an absolute filth pot. The restaurants are a disgrace, the parks are littered with trash, the stadiums stink like a carnival and the restrooms haven’t been cleaned since the 60s. I would never get food from any street vendors and most of the public walk ways are plastered with cig butts, gum, spit, and other gross items. This article is dead on! No money to clean up when the democrats have taken the tax dollars for their pensions and pet projects.

grumpy

In Philly, they blame the Dems. In Chester, they blame the Repubs. None of these political parties care about anything except their own perks!

privatouring

Would anyone like to compare the mid-line of cleanliness and honest administration between Republican and Democrat administration? The Golden Rule of the Democrats, socialists, marxists, and msm is that if a Republican double parks he should be shot before a firing squad, and if a Democrat rapes little boys he should have a standing ovationon the floor of the House of Representatives.