I don't know where you were, but as recently as last weekend I was in Center City Philly on a Sunday afternoon, walking all around the area between Broad Street and Rittenhouse Square. The streets were full of people enjoying the beautiful weather, the many open shops, galleries, restaurants, and sidewalk cafes, and bucolic Rittenhouse Square itself. And other areas of Philly's central core I've visited on recent weekends (e.g., Old City, Society Hill, Market Street East) have been equally as bustling. Not to mention other restaurant and shopping districts in other parts of the city (e.g., Manayunk, Chestnut Hill). So wherever you were is not representative of much of Philly. Ironically, the most aggresive "street person" I've ever encountered was in Chicago, right outside the Drake Hotel of all places. And having lived in NYC, DC, Miami, and Texas (Austin and Houston), I can assure you that the panhandlers in Philly's central core are no more aggressive or plentiful than in the central cores of those other cities.
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What about 9th Street?