The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, as part of their gophila.com site, have a directory of "Itineraries and Tours" which appears to be the best collection of Philly walking tours available. They place staff-created, self-guided walking tours into the "Itineraries" category; the "Tours" category provides basic descriptions and contact information for guided ones.
The "Itineraries" section does have some interesting self-guided tours of Philly already available, though they seem to emphasize either the typical touristy stuff (Liberty Bell, art museum, etc.) or shopping/dining. One tour, "Philadelphia: Off the Beaten Path" sounded most promising, and included some good "unknown" spots such as the mosaic in the Curtis Center lobby (see photo). However, it also makes very odd choices such as having the person go from Melrose Diner (way down in South Philly) straight to the University of Pennsylvania; packing the tours with suggestions of bars and coffeeshops (as though such places are hard to find); and even suggesting that the tour-taker go bowling! I hardly think most tourists (probably from more suburban and rural areas) need to come to Philly to go bowling...
So this encourages me that I could do better than many of these tours. One site that does have better content, at least from a historical/architectural perspective, is "Seven Walking Tours of Philadelphia," posted on the Independence Hall Association's website, www.ushistory.org. Unfortunately, the site is greatly outdated in its design and its maps. But it does craft some densely packed tours of Center City neighborhoods like Washington Square (see photo), Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, and Old City north of Market, in which even I--as interested as I am in the city's history and historic neighborhoods--found much that I did not know. The site does not venture beyond Center City, however, except into Fairmount Park.
The other most notable tour site, if only for its marketing, is "The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia." This tour--available either guided or self-guided--is advertised heavily and is the first site that pops up on Google when doing a search for Philadelphia walking tours. The tour of the historic district isn't bad, but makes a few odd choices as to what to include and not include (William Penn's home site of Welcome Park--see photo--is out-of-luck, but the "Lights of Liberty" gift shop is apparently a must-see) and, of course, only includes sites within four blocks of the Liberty Bell...Earlier today I thought of another subject I like and which might make a fun site--holidays, especially the minor ones, and the history/culture of them in the United States--but I think I'll most likely stick with the tour ideas. Next I suppose I'll think about possible areas/routes for the tours and try to pick a handful for the site.
How would you document and share a walking tour? Like, what does the user take with them? You could offer a podcast, or a series of landmark photos mashed into a map.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like if you took the sneaky marketing techniques out of those city guide books, you'd have some pretty thin books.
Hey, I really like this idea and hope that you move forward with it. Have you thought about including many of the "secret" Philly spots? It seems to me that Philly could use a site highlighting the little seen, oft-neglected, locations that many tourists or residents aren't aware of.
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious as to what a person taking one of your tours would take with them. Simply offering people suggestions for lesser known sites to see might be enough. good luck.
ReplyDeleteMelrose to University City? What a crazy suggestion! This is absolutely a topic worth a website, especially for a history buff such as yourself.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the Curtis Center mosaic look so familiar to me? This may sound crazy, but is there a GRE testing facility in the basement there?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really solid idea. As far as what other classmates are asking regarding the "take-along" material, my recommendation would be to create something that's not going to require a lot from the printer. I'm saying this as someone who really hates buying new ink cartridges all the time. Alternatively, (and this is probably a really crazy idea for an introductory course) maybe you could create a site that's accessible via mobile browser, such as an iPhone. Take the tour without any paper at all! But I understand there's a whole host of complications in creating a website that's viewable in that format, so maybe that's not possible.
I don't even own a real cell phone (just a couple cheap Tracfones for emergencies and meeting up with people) so I would definitely not be the right person for the iPhone idea. I'll keep in mind the suggestion about keeping any printable material simple though. Having some experience in publication design (at my previous job I edited/designed/wrote most of the monthly employee newsletter for a year) I would be tempted to make spiffy brochures for each tour, but probably would be better served saving my energy for the site itself and just typing up simple Word-turned-PDF things for the print versions. Ideally with maps, but not much more.
ReplyDeleteI think your idea is great, though I think it may be better to have some sort of theme to your tour. Since there's been a bit of hubbub about the accuracy (or lack thereof) with carriage tours, maybe you could focus on the lesser known, but true history of Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Curtis Center - there is a Sylvan testing center in the basement - it's a shame you have to associate the mural with taking the GRE :).
Great idea! Though you're right about a lot of tour sites not venturing beyond Center City - maybe it's something you could use to your advantage?
ReplyDeleteAs an example, here's some great photo tours of non-CC-n'hoods here:
http://phillyskyline.com/hoods/index.htm
Dana, thank you for clearing that up about the Curtis Center! The thing that I remember most clearly about taking the GRE (other than the fact that I was late because I couldn't find a parking space) was that the lobby of the building was absolutely beautiful and it was a shame I couldn't stop to enjoy it.
ReplyDelete