Historical and cutting-edge, monumental and quaint, traditional and trendy: Philadelphia is a city of contrasts. Nowhere else in America will you find all the trappings of an international metropolis with the accessibility and friendliness of a small town. Contradictions like this abound in Philadelphia, a unique city that’s just waiting to be discovered...by you!

Philadelphia was always destined to be one of a kind. Founded on principles of religious tolerance and freedom in a time of political
persecution, Philly has remained ahead of the curve. Its revolutionary atmosphere attracted the likes of Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine: movers and shakers whose presence is still strongly felt in the city today.

The cobblestone streets and lively taverns of Society Hill, remarkably unchanged between then and now, were the setting for their discussions that led to our independence. 230 years later, great minds continue to debate the biggest questions, develop innovative technologies, and challenge the status quo: the minds of the quarter million students who live, work and play in Philadelphia.

There are many things unique to Philly that make it seem as if it were built specifically with students in mind. Its rectangular street grid and convenient public transportation put everything within reach, making it one of the most navigable cities on earth.

With a free afternoon and a comfortable pair of shoes, students can meander from the Italian
Market in Bella Vista to dim sum in Chinatown; from picnicking on the Schuylkill River to fireworks on the Delaware River; from the student hub of University City to the chic shops of Rittenhouse Square. Small enough to master but impossible to outgrow, Philadelphia is full of unlikely juxtapositions which give its streets a distinct flavor and its residents a one-of-a-kind spirit.

Take Old City, for example. The city’s first neighborhood, filled with some of the nation’s most cherished historical treasures, is also the epicenter of cutting-edge cuisine, avant-garde art galleries and groundbreaking live performances. A yearly Fringe Festival and Live Arts Festival, monthly gallery open houses, and too many music venues and lounges to name; it all adds up to an area that somehow combines colonial tradition with 21st century innovation.

Of course, Philadelphia’s arts and culture scene is not exclusively modern. The city has more impressionist art than anywhere else in the world except Paris, in places like the Barnes Foundation, the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Dozens of critically acclaimed theater companies call Philly home, meaning you might be able to catch the world premiere of a new Tom Stoppard or Christopher Durang before it heads to New York.
Of course, this also means you get to avoid the New York prices!

Outside of the arts realm, Philly continues to be a place where the envelope is pushed, and where firsts happen every day. Work is nearing completion on a network that will turn the entire city into one enormous WiFi hotspot, which will make it one of the only metropolises worldwide
to achieve 100% WiFi coverage indoors and out.

Philadelphia is also one of the only places that can be so many things to so many students at once: artistic capital, scientific research hub, corporate headquarters, major sports town. The city is all of these things, and this range of opportunity will ensure you feel at home while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of the familiar. You’ll always have the opportunity to do what you know and try what you don’t, both in
the classroom and outside of it. We think you’ll find it’s hard to tell where one stops and the other begins in Philadelphia, the only city that’s one big campus.