What kind of a Philadelphian are you - mad, sad, bad, glad?

MOST Philadelphians are either down on the city, or skeptical of its chances for future success.

That's my reading of a novel city survey assessing attitudes rather than demographics, from the always engaging Pew Charitable Trusts.

Rather than lump Philadelphians into the familiar categories of age, income, race, gender, religion or political party, it harnessed computer power to create four attitudinal groups: Dissatisfied Citizens, Die-hard Loyalists, Uncommitted Skeptics, Enthusiastic Urbanists. This is a first attempt, I'm told by Larry Eichel, Director of Pew's Philadelphia Research Initiative, who laughed when I told him I fit into three of those groups.

Dissatisfied is the largest, with 30 percent, says Eichel. This group, not surprisingly, has large percentages of low-income and non-white Philadelphians. Combined with the 25 percent of Uncommitted Skeptics, that's a 55 percent majority expressing what we know as Negadelphia.

In Philly, maturity seems to incubate optimism, which surprises me, but the overall picture is grim, with 61 percent saying they'd find it easy to leave.

Die-hard Loyalists are 25 percent, with the Enthusiastic Urbanists bringing up the rear at 19 percent. The hear-see-speak no evil optimists are a minority.

In reality, people's opinions can change from day to day. If you get a raise, you see life differently than if you got laid off. Affluent people generally are more optimistic about their lives and society than those at the bottom of the ladder.

How did the polling happen, I ask Eichel? (Personal disclosure: Eichel's wife used to be my boss, but I do not hold that against him. Oh! And he hosted me in his London home a long time ago. I don't hold that against him either.)

Pew polled 1,603 Philadelphians, asked some 26 questions which were actually a series of two statements, in what's called a "balanced alternative" format. People were asked to select the statement that closest reflected their views. (Eichel brushed aside my suggestion for additional categories, such as Smart/Dumb, Bicyclist/Driver, Fighter/Lover.)

Sample questions: In Philadelphia, is race often a major factor in government decisions and policies or not? Would you or would you not recommend Philadelphia to a friend as a place to live? Are things in Philadelphia headed in the right direction or on the wrong track? Immigrants add vitality to Philadelphia's neighborhoods or add to problems? (The report, methodology and a quiz can be found at http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2015/11/a-new-way-of-looking-at-philadelphians.)

Once the answers were collected, they were fed into a computer, sliced and diced, shaked and baked, tickled and poked until the computer spat out distinct groups. The computer did not name the four groups. That was a creative, collaborative effort among humans.

The largest group, Dissatisfied Citizens, the report says, are "unhappy with their neighborhoods, disenchanted with city government, and not optimistic about Philadelphia's prospects." Many are low-income Philly lifers who would move if they could.

The smallest group, Urban Enthusiasts, 19 percent, "are excited about the city and its future." In contrast to the Dissatisfied, many are relative newcomers "who view Center City as vital to the entire city's well-being" and have "high regard for city government and want to see more economic development."

Everyone wants economic development and their high regard for city government may be explained by their lack of long-term exposure to it.

Many of the Die-hard Loyalists, 25 percent of us, are older, lifelong Philadelphians, who "see a bright future for Philadelphia" and feel deeply tied to their neighborhoods. "They believe in hard work but want government to help people when necessary," the report says.

The Loyalists are canceled by the equal 25 percent of Uncommitted Skeptics - the youngest cohort - who see their future elsewhere and have "doubts about the effectiveness and true goals of local institutions," including business, police and government generally.

To my surprise, the quiz says I am mostly Urban Enthusiast, even though I am personally not as optimistic as are they.

To me, Philadelphia is a beautiful city filled with too many ugly people, a city desperate for an inspirational figure to lead us to the greatness we think we deserve.

Email: stubyko@phillynews.com

Phone: 215-854-5977

On Twitter: @StuBykofsky

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