Welcome to the Greater Delaware Valley
For over 300 years, this region has nurtured tradition, forged progress,
and has become the standard by which a high quality of life is defined.
The region is represented by a nine-county area: Philadelphia, Bucks,
Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania; Gloucester,
Burlington, and Camden Counties in New Jersey; and New Castle County in
Delaware. Wherever you choose to live in the Greater Delaware Valley,
you'll find an outstanding selection of fine communities, each geared
to provide a lifestyle to meet your own exacting standards. You
can get a flavor of the communities by
clicking here.
We can help you become a part of this exciting
region.
Benjamin Franklin Parkway, architecturally reminiscent of the
Champs-Elysees, is home to more museums than any other boulevard in
the world. Among them stands the internationally renowned Philadelphia
Museum of Art, including highlights of 2,000 years of world art and one
of the finest collections of impressionism ever assembled. Aside from
the many wondrous art treasures, the most significant cultural asset
might well be Philadelphia Orchestra, often feted as the "greatest
orchestra in the world".
And nowhere in the world are there so many fine educational
institutions as centrally located in the Greater Delaware Valley,
including such prestigious schools as the University of Pennsylvania,
Bryn Mawr College, Villanova University, the University of Delaware,
and Rutgers University. Twenty colleges and universities are located within the city limits,
including 5 teaching hospitals. The outlying area is home to 50 or more, making the region
a vanguard in education. Since the 18th century, Philadelphia has been internationally
recognized as a leader in industry, science, law, and medicine. Now in the 1990's, the area
has been transformed from a manufacturing center to a service center for insurance,
finance investments, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
The economic climate in the Greater Delaware Valley has never been
better. Prosperity flourishes not only in the 202 corridor, but
also along Interstates 476, 95, and 76. The high-tech business boom
has had a revolutionary impact on local businesses. Many areas have
top-notch industrial parks, as well as corporate and regional
headquarters, nestled in some of the most lush and plush suburbs
found anywhere.
Every summer the region puts on its party-best and is abuzz
with continuous and wide-ranging festivity. From Rittenhouse
Square to Newtown Square, celebration of the rich legacy left to
today's Philadelphians by their benevolent founding fathers abound.
From the restored splendor of Society Hill to the countrified
charm of Chadds Ford, each community offers its own hometown hallmark.
For example, Philadelphia's Main Line has a cachet of its very own.
Here, traditions, customs and manners handed down through the
generations, have preserved a gracious way of life seldom found
today. Home range from charming cottages and carriage houses to
palaces modeled after Versailles.
Social calendars are jam packed year-round, whether they belong
to the city slicker or the country squire, because there is so
much to do. Since the mid-seventies, the entire Philadelphia area
has been caught up in the "restaurant renaissance," in which over
500 restaurants have opened their doors to rave reviews nationwide.
Menus and settings cater to every imaginable palate. Offerings range
from caviar-pearled quail eggs, served amidst Louis XVI furnishings to
yum num tok, a Tai speciality, served with the glow of lantern light.
Throughout the Greater Delaware Valley, the after-dinner night life
throbs with energy and excitement, from spectacular nightclub revues
in Valley Forge to intimate piano bars in Center City, Philadelphia.
Just a short distance away is Wilmington's Hotel Dupont, the city's
own grandame, with dinner in the fabulous Green Room featuring fine
cuisine impeccably served-amidst the warmth and sophistication that
is hers alone.
The shopping opportunities are extraordinary. The region combines a
connoisseur's paradise with bargain-hunter's bounty by providing
virtually every type of shopping experience.
The Bourse is an opulently restored cosmopolitan marketplace that
houses a discriminating selection of Philadelphia's most elegant shops.
For suburban shopping, there's the Court and the Plaza at King of Prussia,
one of the largest shopping complexes in the world.
The area's best selection of off-price shopping is found just a
short drive from the city. Places like the renowned Flemington Mall
and the Reading Outlets offer not only great discounts on designer
clothes, but tremendous bargains on furs, fine china, silver, home
furnishings, and just about any other imaginable item. And when it
comes to fine older collectibles, some have been known to "antique"
their way clear from the thriving artist colony of New Hope to the
restored town of West Chester, negotiating all the way! When all that
shopping works up an appetite, gourmets-on-the-go turn to some of the
area's own originals: soft pretzels with mustard and the ever-popular
Philadelphia cheese steak sandwich.
For those who prefer more peaceful pastimes, within a short drive
of the hustle of Center City, Philadelphia, the city gives way to rural
grandeur that typifies the Greater Delaware Valley. Many find the peace
and tranquility of the surrounding suburban communities is the perfect
antidote to the executive headaches. Charming covered bridges and 18th
century fieldstone farmhouses are scattered throughout the pristine
meadows of Chester county. Bucks county, with its wonderful mix of
historic and artistic tradition, has some of the most quaint architecture
found on the east coast, including covered barns, restored grist mills,
and gingerbread Victorian homes.
Even though locals enjoy such a comfortable lifestyle they have never
lost their competitive edge. Especially when it comes to their favorite
sports. Crew racing is the sport Philadelphians feel they have
perfected. The Independence Day Regatta draws thousands to the banks
of the Schuylkill River to watch that elegant sport immortalized by
painter Thomas Eakins. The golf tradition and facilities here are superior. The area has top
flight professional sports teams- the Philadelphia Eagles, 76er's, Phillies, and the Flyers.
It's all here: competitive sports, excellent cultural institutions,
unrivaled educational opportunity, and a great economic climate. All
this combined with that subtle, wondrous blend of old ways with new
ideas, of the familiar with the extraordinary, makes the Greater
Delaware Valley a wonderful place to call home.
Philadelphia and the surrounding communities
One of the most endearing of characteristics is that such a wide
range of people call themselves Philadelphians. It doesn't seem to
matter whether they are from Cherry Hill, NJ or Chestnut Hill PA,
Philadelphia is their home.
The Philadelphia Story
The Philadelphia story is told by a people who are a bountiful mix of tradition and
Joie de vivre, a distinctive blend of old and new. For today's
Philadelphians are a contemporary breed with great difference
for yesterday and yet an eye toward tomorrow. They take great pride
in maintaining that uniquely balanced perspective. In fact, a lot of
people feel that the American tradition of intellectual pioneering
was born here. And no wonder: Not only were the roots of the American
nation forged here, but Philadelphia hosted the first theater, first
opera house, first zoo, first library, first hospital, and first mint
to name a few regional innovations. Today, the Greater Delaware Valley
remains one of the world's foremost centers of education and culture.
The Greater Delaware Valley
The Greater Delaware Valley celebrates the nation's birthday on
July 4th with high style... after all the party did start here.
The city-wide Freedom Festival is one of the biggest and the
brightest celebrations found anywhere, complete with
fireworks, summer Mummers and a hot air balloon race. The whole year
through, the festivity doesn't stop. And yet for those who could
benefit from an occasional change in scenery, a convenient trip by car
or train finds one in the hustle and bustle of New York City, or the
quiet dignity of Washington, D.C. Even closer is the razzle-dazzle
excitement of the Atlantic City Casinos.