Comments by Robert Butera
Former Executive Director
Pennsylvania Convention Center

Condensed from "Urban Convert: How 'Mr. Suburbia' Learned to Love Center City." Philadelphia Forum, July 11, 1996.

"You left the suburbs to move to the city?" someone asked me the other day. "You, of all people! That's like Charles de Gaulle moving to Spain!"

At a time when Philadelphia (except Center City, where population is increasing) continues to lose population to the suburbs, I guess it's noteworthy when any suburbanite swims against the tide by moving into town. And I concede that it might be mind-boggling when the suburbanite making the switch is me—that is someone who represented Montgomery County in the state legislature for 15 years and who ran for governor supported largely by a suburban constituency.

Personally, I never thought of myself as a symbol. But for whatever it's worth, the deep dark secret of my life is this: After growing up in Norristown and spending most of my life in the suburbs, I now live quite happily in Society Hill. When suburbanites ask me why I moved to the city, I offer a one-sentence reply: "We can walk everywhere!" In the suburbs, walking anywhere is inconceivable. But in Center City, walking is so ingrained that most people don't realize what a blessing it is.

I love to walk. I love to explore. I love to meet people. I especially love to explore Philadelphia. Where else can you walk through America's architectural history in a stroll from the Schuylkill to the Delaware? And now I can engage in these stimulating activities every day in my own neighborhood. Imagine spending your whole life in the suburbs and then waking up one day to discover that you live within walking distance of the Academy of Music, the Walnut Street Theatre, the Arden Theatre, Independence Hall, a dozen museums, and two-dozen movie screens. That's my happy situation, and I want to savor every bite of this cultural feast.

My neighborhood consists of people who have lived in all parts of the Philadelphia region, of the United States, and, indeed, in all parts of the world. It's this wide variety of people and the interaction among them that distinguishes the city form the suburbs. To me, life's daily routine is more fascinating in the city; a casual walk to the local bakery might result in three or four conversations with people who have vastly different backgrounds and interests but a commonality of neighborhood.

I am an early riser. An early morning walk to work watching the city wake up is a joy. The street cleaners are fast at work, and so are the shopkeepers opening their businesses. We're a comfortable walk to a hundred restaurants that literally cover the cuisine globe. I enjoy cooking. In town I can't even count the number of specialty food shops within walking distance of our house. The bakeries, of which I frequent six, rival those of any city in the world. I haven't even mentioned the "special spaces": a jog or bike ride along the River Drives; a Saturday morning breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market; walking in Rittenhouse and Washington Squares, Independence Hall Park, Logan Circle, and Fourth Street below South; the Delaware waterfront; the Italian Market. They are the icing on my cake. This is where we city dwellers rub shoulders and share our lives. It is in these "special spaces" where people from all backgrounds become one. And now I'm one of them.