Down the list of transgressions, but not that far down, is the bitter memory of an article that ran 13 years ago in this newspaper’s Style section claiming Philadelphians occasionally refer to their city as the “sixth borough.” The writer, Jessica Pressler, lived in Philadelphia at the time but, according to the bio on her own website, “was virtually run out of town, and was fortunately granted asylum by New York.” She was excoriated for insinuating that Philadelphia was some appendage of New York.

Looking back on it now, Ms. Pressler said that the piece “tapped into this resentment” that Philadelphia has toward its “big brother that lives really close and is cooler and gets all the attention.” But that perception may now be outdated, and for one major reason. “New York has gotten in that time so prohibitively more expensive,” she said.

“People don’t see leaving New York as a failure anymore like they used to. Now it’s like, ‘That’s a smart thing to do, why would you suffer here?’” Ms. Pressler said. “You’re going to be able to walk to work and have a grocery store and have a patch of grass — that’s really cool.”

She herself now lives in Queens but said that two neighbors, both of immigrant backgrounds, recently told her they were moving to Philadelphia. “That sounds like a good idea,” she told them. “That sounds really nice.”