When I saw this today, my first reaction was, of course, "Oh shit." Because parking is already hard enough around here. But then I remind myself that GOP convention we had here in 2000 wasn't really that big an inconvenience, and I'll live. Mostly, it's that this really is a great place to live and I don't want yet another wave of newcomers driving up the rents. (The rents are already too damn high since all the refugees from Brooklyn started moving here.)
But it's an honor, I suppose. And the city I love will be on its best behavior:
Washington (CNN)Philadelphia will host the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, a source with knowledge of the selection process tells CNN.
While the Democratic National Committee would not confirm Philadelphia's selection, the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the official announcement would be made Thursday.
New York and Columbus, Ohio, were the two other cities vying for the right to host the Democratic convention. The event is scheduled for the week of July 25, 2016.
Democrats' decision to nominate the party's presidential nominee in Philadelphia is a major win for former Gov. Ed Rendell, who had been spearheading efforts to convince Democrats to choose the city he once led. Rendell served as Philadelphia mayor from 1992 to 2000.
The Republican Party previously announced it would hold its presidential nominating convention the week of July 18, 2016, in Cleveland.
The last time Philadelphia hosted a presidential convention was in 2000, when Republicans chose then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush as the party's nominee.
Presidential conventions are expensive endeavors for cities, which are expected to shoulder more than $60 million in costs to stage the event. But the payout could be triple that investment or more. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz told local officials last year that past presidential conventions "have injected approximately $150 million to $200 million directly into the host city's economy."
