This looks like a regular photograph of the area, but it actually uses modeling data to enhance the buildings.

By Jason Kleinman

I have a confession to make. Even though I’m an intern for It’s Our City, I don’t actually live in Philadelphia. My experience here is limited to my short walk from the Market East SEPTA station the WHYY building. Occasionally I’ll walk across the street to pick up some lunch, but that’s about it. I haven’t done any of the touristy things that a person spending this much time in Philadelphia should do at least once: run up the art museum steps with my arms raised over my head, visit the new sports stadiums, take a walk past City Hall.

I was going to be a great tourist and do all of these things last week, but it was a bit chilly outside and I was feeling lazy. Instead of leaving my cozy cubicle here, I took a virtual tour of Philadelphia via Google Earth. For those of you who don’t know, Google Earth is a virtual map that uses satellite images to display pretty much anything on the Earth’s surface. You can zoom all the way out and see the whole globe, or zoom into your address and see your house from almost angle you want.

Recently, the folks over at Google expanded the program to include new technology that allows users to see certain buildings or landmarks in 3D. I know this may not sound too cool, but the results are pretty incredible. I spent hours virtually touring the city. I was so amazed that I decided to share my results with the It’s Our City readers. So for those of you who haven’t seem some of the sights in a while, don’t live in the area, or just want to see the city in a new way, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I take you on my virtual tour (click on any image to see a larger version).

We’ll start in the center. High above city hall.

This is where the fun really begins. Google Earth actually lets you see the inside of some buildings. I just walked through the arch and into the courtyard. Here’s the view looking straight up at City Hall.

The sky appears darker in Google Earth even in the day. It makes for a surreal environment.

Ok, Anyone hungry? Let’s stroll over to Chinatown. This is one of my favorite images from my tour. If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you’ll notice that the brown puddle in front of you is actually the Friendship Arch. Apparently it hasn’t made the transition to 3D yet…I’m sure virtual gentrification will happen soon enough.

This is looking north on 10th st at Arch st. It’s not very busy today. Time to walk off that meal. Let’s head over to Rittenhouse Square and check out the views from there.

The flat trees provide for a better view of the buildings. It’s time to head east. Next stop is Independence Hall. I was here once during my fifth grade field trip to Philadelphia, but I think these pictures are better. The first is an aerial view looking north.

I cheated a little bit to get this second one. One of the many fun features of Google Earth is that you can simply remove a building if it’s in your way. I did some remodeling to snap this close-up from the front.

Now it’s time to head over to the Art Museum. I’m sure any kid who grew up in my generation dreamed about running up these steps with Rocky. It wasn’t quite the same, but I got to do this without even sweating.

You can tell that this picture relies more heavily on modeling than the others, so it looks a bit less realistic (the flat trees don’t help, either).

And finally, what tour of Philadelphia would be complete without a trip over to Citizens Bank Park, home of the world champion Philadelphia Phillies. The first shot is an aerial view with the city in the background. The second one is more fun. Using Google Earth, you can actually go into the stadium and check out the view from different seats. There’s nothing better than catching a game from behind plate, so in my tour, that’s where we’re going. It’s a bit hard to see from these pictures, but you can see the actual signs and advertisements in the stadium. Now if I could only figure out how to order a roast pork sandwich from Tony Luke’s…

This is a view from behind home plate. One of the great things about Google Earth Philadelphia is there is no admission to visit the ball park.

I hope you enjoyed my tour of Philadelphia. I’m not suggesting that this takes the place of actually putting on your shoes and checking out these sites in real life, but I think the technology is pretty amazing. I encourage you to download a free version of Google Earth and play around with it for yourself. After you do, tell us what you think:

Do these images do the sites any justice?

Did you take any pictures you’d like to share with other readers?

If so, feel free to email them to us at city@whyy.org and we’ll post them on our site.

Jason Kleinman is an intern for It’s Our City. When he finishes his Master’s in Public Policy from Rutgers University in May, he plans on moving to Philadelphia, a city with which he is now well-acquainted.

Related link:

Google Earth website