FOUNDING CITY
Fearing the London disasters of plague in 1665 and fire in 1666, William Penn laid out Philadelphia in 1682 as a utopian "greene town," one "which will never be burnt and always be wholesome." Once the second largest city in the British Empire, it was host to deliberations that produced the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It has since flourished in philosophy, science, medicine, art, tolerance, and commerce.
ECONOMYLife sciences and health care (hospitals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology), finance, information technology and communications, manufacturing, warehousing/distribution, transportation equipment.Text source:
National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition, 2004
