Classic Towns News

Spring is slowly getting here, but down in Clearwater, it arrived nearly a month ago when the Phillies opened spring training. Sure, we’re all excited for Cliff Lee’s return, but many eager fans may forget just why Cliff, his wife, Kristen, and two children — son Jaxon, 9, and daughter Maci, 7 — chose to return not just to the Phillies, but also to Philadelphia.

For Cliff, baseball obviously had something to do with it. But that’s not all. His family played a large part, too. When asked about his wife and children, Lee said. “They enjoyed their time here and that was a big part of my decision…what they preferred… and this was it.” Kristen cited Philadelphia’s cultural amenities, transportation system, neighborhoods, and sense of place. “It’s easy to live here, easy to be here,” Kristen said, which is the easiest way to summarize all of the reasons for their return.

“There’s so many things that were so great,” Kristen recalled in a Philadelphia Inquirer interview , like “the proximity from the city to the ball park, how easy it is to get from point A to point B.” Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which provides the Lee family with transportation to games in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., also proved to be a winner for the family. “The kids and I took a train to New York during the World Series (2009) and it was a great experience. It was so easy.”

What else could the Lees ask for? Not only is Philadelphia known for great food, history, and a growing art scene, but what sets it apart from other cities, is that these perks can be found throughout the Greater Philadelphia region, including its Classic Towns. While each Classic Town is considered a great place to live, work, and play, they also offer so much more, like universities, access to transit, world-class medical services, beautiful parks and open space, and historic main streets.