From the Editors: Is Philly ready for America250?

Today marks America’s 249th birthday. It’s a special time for all Americans as we remember the sweeping vision of liberty and equality promised in the Declaration of Independence, along with the blood and toil required to win our freedom in the Revolution.

It is especially noteworthy for those of us here in the Philadelphia area, since our hometown was the birthplace of this American republic. For the centennial of the nation’s birth in 1876 and for the bicentennial in 1976, Philadelphia was the centerpiece of a nationwide celebration.

So as we enter the final 365 days before the semiquincentennial sestercentennial 250th anniversary, we must look around the city and ask: are we ready for this? 

At first glance, it does not appear that we are. The city workers’ strike will be resolved long before the festivities of next summer, but the piles of garbage mounting up — and stinking up — across Philadelphia are a quick, pungent reminder that city government is always just a few steps away from failing. 

Crime, though lower than 2020 and 2021, remains stubbornly high. It’s not just a matter of the murder rate, which thankfully has dropped — and for which we must give credit to Mayor Parker and her more sensible and active approach to crime and other city issues. But there remains the widespread low-level lawlessness of traffic infractions, SEPTA fare jumping, smoking on the el, littering on the streets, harassment by unmedicated vagrants, and other incidents that don’t cost lives or even money, but do make the city a less pleasant place to live, work, or visit. 

Some of the big ticket items are coming together. As our friends at the Inquirer note, “Philly is hosting six FIFA World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game, and a pumped-up Fourth of July concert that will officially commemorate America’s big anniversary.” That’s all good. But the details, the little things that would make someone want to come here from out of town, these things are still lacking. 

And it’s getting late.

Cooperation with the federal government is at an all-time low for reasons we need not explain, but an event like the 250th requires us all to rise above these disagreements — without downplaying them — and work for the thing we all agree on: that America is a place worth celebrating and that Philadelphia is the place to do it.

We have a year to make sure the streets are clean and safe, the buses and trains are running, and the events are coordinated. That’s not a lot of time.

But with all that said, the bicentennial in 1976 wasn’t exactly held at a high point for the city. The 70s were rough generally for America, and cities especially faced rising crime and widespread jobs loss. That national political scene was also tumultuous, and not everyone loved the mayor. But it did come together. With some hard work, it will come together again in 2026, and we all can come together as Philadelphians, Pennsylvanians, and Americans in celebration of the birth of the great republic we all share.