From the Editor

I often speak to groups about what it is we do and don't do here at Philadelphia magazine. We seek to reveal the region to itself. We don't mix advertising and editorial. We take issues seriously. We don't take ourselves too seriously. The question I'm asked the most, however, is one for which I don't have an easy answer: How do you come up with your stories?

Usually, it's just a function of being engaged, of asking questions and questioning answers. With this issue, though, I have a concrete example. About a month ago, my friend Bob visited from upstate New York. He was struck by the vibrancy on our streets; Bob hadn't been here in years, and he recalled how Center City was a ghost town in the early '90s. "I even remember your mayor had to announce a special program to compel businesses to stay open until eight o'clock—all of one night a week," he said. We looked at each other, my so-called brain trust and I; that was a mere decade ago, we realized. Now the New York Times is calling us the Big Apple's "Sixth Borough," and National Geographic Traveler has anointed us the nation's "next great city." So our cover package was born: How the hell did we not only rebound, but suddenly become nationally known as—dare I say it—hip? In "The Next Great American City" (page 106), executive editor Tom McGrath describes how we've arrived at our very own tipping point, with the sort of perspective that only long-form magazine journalism provides. And he posits some

creative ideas on how we can keep the momentum going.

From there, our cover image choice was a no-brainer, especially when Rick Stengel — author, former editor at Time magazine, and current CEO of the Constitution Center — observed to me that if Ben Franklin were alive today, he'd be a condo-flipping blogger in Northern Liberties. So we asked Rick, whose museum this month unveils its exhibit celebrating Ben's 300th birthday, to expand upon just how Franklin is the perfect symbol for our town's modern-day renaissance (page 112). Ben, Stengel points out, would exhort us to do what McGrath prescribes—to see ourselves as innovative, and to get beyond our Schuylkill-half-empty self-image.

This issue also marks the debut of "Couplings," Jessica Pressler's column on relationships and sex (page 82). Pressler, who made a name for herself skewering local blowhards (yours truly among them) in the pages of the Philadelphia Weekly, has recently written for us about Jennifer Weiner, Gervase Peterson, and the glamour girls of local PR. Now she unleashes her unique insights and wit on the local dating scene. Her column will run every other month, rotating with "Loco
Parentis," Sandy Hingston's award-winning meditations on parenting. It promises to be a fun read, but, like "Loco," one that sheds light on increasingly complex social phenomena; it's harder to have a relationship than ever, it seems. Pressler will look into why that is, and she'll certainly entertain while doing so.

Count me among those Iggles fans who loved Terrell Owens last year but now consider him a smacked ass. At least, that's what I thought until senior writer Matt Teague did something none of the local scribes ever thought to do: traveled into T.O.'s past in search of the roots of his apparent psychosis. (That's another way stories here get generated: We realized that even with all that's been written about T.O., we didn't know much about who he really is.) Knocking on doors in Owens's hometown of Alex City, Alabama, Teague came up with plenty—including an exclusive interview with Terrell's dad—that helps you understand the tragic beginnings of the superstar's narcissism (page 114). After reading Teague's piece, I'm not saying I'm ready to be in T.O.'s corner. In fact, I'm still sure he's a smacked ass. But I understand him a lot better. That's what great magazine writing can do—take you beyond the headlines to a deeper level of understanding. Enjoy.