Is This Local Spot One of the 100 Greatest Places in the World?

Longwood Gardens, which TIME magazine just named one of the 100 greatest places in the world. / Photograph via Getty Images

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

TIME Magazine Names Longwood Gardens One of the 100 Greatest Places In the World

We here at Philly Mag love lists. We love making lists, whether it’s the Best of Philly or the 50 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia. And we love getting lists about Philadelphia. People send us lots of lists! Like the list that declared that this guy at NBC10 is the sexiest local male news anchor in the entire country. Or the USA Today list that inexplicably said that Manayunk had one of the best small town cultural scenes in the nation. And now, it’s another day, which means another list.

This one comes to us from TIME magazine, which just released its list of the 100 “World’s Greatest Places.” The list includes such far-flung attractions and destinations as Niue Blue on the South Pacific island of Niue, the posh Kasbah Tamadot hotel in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco, these crazy overwater villas in Saudi Arabia, the Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine and Seigantoji temple in Wakayama, Japan, and, oh look: Longwood Gardens!

That’s right, of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, TIME magazine has deemed Longwood Gardens one of the 100 greatest places on the planet. It’s one of 25 places in all of North America to make the cut. And it’s the only pick in Pennsylvania. What, no Fairmount Park? No Fallingwater? I could go on…

Here’s part of what TIME had to say about Longwood Gardens in justifying its prestigious inclusion:

Since 1906, Longwood Gardens, 30 miles outside of Philadelphia, has offered one of the world’s greatest horticultural displays, encompassing 1,100 acres of alluring gardens, woodlands, and meadows, plus a grandiose conservatory. In November it unveiled Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, an ambitious revitalization ahead of its 100th birthday. The renovation saw the addition of new buildings and landscapes across 17 acres of its central grounds.

The sparkling centerpiece is a newly built 32,000-sq.-ft. glasshouse that appears to float on water. Inside is a Mediterranean-inspired wonderland, featuring planted garden islands with 65 different species set amid canals, bridges, and fountains. The project also unveiled a 12,500-sq.-ft. outdoor Bonsai Courtyard and a new greenhouse dedicated to Brazilian landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx’s iconic tropical Cascade Garden, which has been carefully preserved and relocated.

You can read the full writeup on Longwood Gardens here.

Congrats to Longwood Gardens. To the rest of you, I’m wondering what places in the Philadelphia area — or in all of Pennsylvania, for that matter — deserved a nod. You can let me know via this link.

John Fetterman Slammed Over Hoodie Affinity

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a bit of a war going on in the Democratic Party, and Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman is doing his own thing and not making many friends (at least with Democrats) in the process.

His latest feud is with Jasmine Crockett, a Democratic congressperson from down yonder in Texas. Crockett participated with some other Democratic lawmakers in a “Choose Your Fighter” video that went viral on TikTok. Fetterman blasted his colleagues for the video, calling it “bizarre.”

And Crockett just shot back with this during an interview on CNN: “He’s not the one to talk about anything. I mean, this is a guy that doesn’t seemingly want to own a suit. I’m not really sure. But I don’t show up in hoodies when I’m going on the floor.”

So that’s where we’re at. It’s 2025. You’ve got one side firing everybody, deporting everyone they can deport, and doing God knows what to the economy. And you’ve got the other side dancing badly in viral TikTok videos and then talking smack about someone’s wardrobe. Calgon, take me away!

First the Measles …

Now the bird flu! Officials have revealed that the bird flu has been found at one of those live poultry markets in Philadelphia. I’m reminded of a scene in the pandemic movie Contagion, which I just, for some unearthly reason, rewatched last week, where some governmental figure asks Laurence Fishburne’s character if the mystery disease might be the result of someone weaponizing the bird flu. Fishburne responds: “Someone doesn’t have to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are already doing that.”

Reader Mail

Last week, I wondered if Philadelphia wants or needs the fancy $20 million monument that Ed Rendell is having a hard time finding a home for. And maybe the fact that a beloved and hugely connected figure like the Guv is having a hard time with that answers that very question.

In any event, I received lots of reaction to that story. Very few people seemed to love the idea. And many had suggestions as to what Ed should do with that cash instead of build this. And the one I liked the most came from Sarah, who suggested this: “Why not a shiny new bus terminal and he can even put his name on it for 20 mil.” Great idea, actually! We are definitely in need of a new bus terminal.

By the Numbers

$0: Federal funding that Opera Philadelphia says it will be seeking. The organization’s leader says that the Trump administration’s “shift in values” does not align with its own. And so it’s made the decision to neither ask for nor accept any federal money at this time. Meanwhile, Opera Philadelphia is offering $11 tickets to any of its shows in an effort to make opera more accessible.

0: Days this week with highs in the 70s. C’mon, spring! You can’t get here soon enough.

5:01 a.m.: Time this Thursday that spring officially begins.

1,000,000 to 1 against: Chances that I’m dropping $25 on a burger in Philly. Apparently, the fancy burgers trend is growing in this town. I’m with Philly chef Nick Elmi on this one. He once told me this: “A simple burger is great. But a burger with pork belly and fried onions and pickled chanterelle and foie gras? Gimme a break. It’s a fucking burger.”

Local Talent

As I mentioned last week, the set-in-Kensington crime series Long Bright River is now on Peacock. It’s based on a novel by South Philly writer Liz Moore, and Philly’s own John Doman (you’d recognize him from The Wire, among other things) has a pivotal role. And the reviews are, well, mixed. Variety calls it “fantastic” and “beautifully structured” while the New York Times complains that the series “neglects credible crime solving in favor of gothic melodrama that jumps between clichés of family reconciliation and feminist empowerment.” Did you watch? What do you think?