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Whoa, I wouldn't say Seattle is ****ty, that's a little far fetched. In fact one of their suburbs has the best skyline for a suburb in America, which is Bellevue, WA.
Why would people think Philadelphia feels like a big city ? The city has a small downtown for its size one and a half million people. It seems its center city is more along the size of a mid city. Like Seattle 608,000 people yet Seattle has more office space than downtown Philly. And Seattle has 60,000 people living now downtown but another 6,000 plus units under construction and will be 70,000 buy 2015. And I consider Seattle a normal size downtown for its population. Center city Philadelphia is lacking large retail like department stores also. And Philadelphia list 11,000 + hotel rooms nice but Seattle list 13,000+ with more under construction in there downtown. Sorry dont want to bash Philadelphia its a great city but lets not make it into somthing its not.
I don't know how you could say Philadelphia doesn't feel like a big city. Philadelphia is a small city? Maybe compared to NY or Tokyo.
Isn't the title of this thread "Biggest 'feeling' DOWNTOWNS in America"? It's not "Downtowns compared to Manhattan." And even if it were, I'd argue that Center City has enough bustle and plenty of street culture (let alone all the other things that produce a quality downtown) to hold it's head high.
I don't know how you could say Philadelphia doesn't feel like a big city. Philadelphia is a small city? Maybe compared to NY or Tokyo.
Isn't the title of this thread "Biggest 'feeling' DOWNTOWNS in America"? It's not "Downtowns compared to Manhattan." And even if it were, I'd argue that Center City has enough bustle and plenty of street culture (let alone all the other things that produce a quality downtown) to hold it's head high.
I think he was saying that Philadelphia IS a big city, but just that it's downtown feels small for the size of the city. I think it's a reasonable statement, and I actually tend to agree. I posted my reasons for why I think this is the case a few posts back.
That something is very simple... when you combine extremely high commercial density, residential density and entertainment density all on one tiny island in the wealthiest country in the world, you end up with a pretty intense outcome. That's why I always chuckle at the silly suggestions that I hear over here from time to time that Mexico City or Mumbai are more urban than NYC. Manhattan is the face of NYC, and no place in the world is more intensely urban than Manhattan. Not Tokyo, not Sao Paolo, not anything else.
I don't know, have you actually spent much time in any of those places?
I haven't been to Mumbai, but whenever I get back from trips to asia, I'm always struck by how antiquated and almost quaint NYC seems relative to places like Shanghai or Tokyo.
I think the general public has an undeservedly low opinion of Philly's urban core. It is really quite vibrant and large (BTW, I don't care for the term "downtown" b/c that is unduly restrictive...what I care about is overall urban core, not the specifics of whether a particular street is in one neighborhood or another).
I'll admit that I also wasn't that excited about going to Philly the first time, but after I visited I had a much higher appreciation. As I said in a previous post, I think it is *arguably* the third best downtown/urban core in the US. Others cities like SF and maybe Boston and DC also have an argument, but wherever you come down on a specific order, Philly is IMO absolutely one of the top six. It ain't New York or Chicago, but after those two it can hold its own w/ any urban core in the US.
I don't know, have you actually spent much time in any of those places?
I haven't been to Mumbai, but whenever I get back from trips to asia, I'm always struck by how antiquated and almost quaint NYC seems relative to places like Shanghai or Tokyo.
I have been to Tokyo, Sao Paolo and Mexico City and none of them measures up to Manhattan. They have a much lower commercial density and few areas of comparable residential density.
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