Philadelphia Vs. Washington D.C. Which is more urban/dense (better, population)
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Philadelphia Vs. Washington D.C.
Over at the Boston Vs. D.C. Thread a few posters from the DMV Argued that DC is more built up/urban then Philadelphia. I tried to explain that DC is no where near Philly in this regard and they continue to post stats about a 0.87 sm neighborhood called Columbia Heights. I know Philly is more urban at the core, and over a wide span. Philly has the 3rd highest population from city hall after SF, and NYC.
D.C is in a building boom right now, as well as Philly to a lesser extent, cranes everywhere. Philadelphias density is only topped a little by SF, and alot by NYC.
Philly also has a x2.5 larger population. So what do you all think? Which is more build up, and which is denser?
Philadelphia, definitely. Far narrower streets, much tighter density, and was a big city many decades earlier than DC, so pre-auto density extends way the heck out.
Hell, Philly is arguably #2 after NYC in terms of pre-auto density. You see rowhouses and narrow streets many miles out from downtown in all directions, even in some suburbs. In DC, you have postwar suburban-style development just a few miles from downtown.
Philadelphia (11,457/sq mi) is only slightly denser than Washington (10,298/sq mi).
Which is the whole point. It's nearly three times the size, has huge abandoned areas, and still higher density than DC. And that density extends well into the suburbs, which isn't generally the case for DC.
Philly, DC, LA and Boston are all in about the same league of structural density, at least going by housing units per square mile. Where Philly pulls ahead is in the 7-10 miles from its most densest tract, which makes sense because it is a much larger city. Bajan's logic (might have been in the other thread) makes sense to me, DC has better inner neighborhoods but downtown DC is not quite up to par with Center City - with the addition that Philly again goes ahead in the inner suburbs / streetcar suburbs.
It does sound like DC has a much more dense future ahead of it, perhaps it will break into the league with Chicago and San Francisco in the next few decades.
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