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It's bookended by the nation's capital and largest city.
Scenery - Push (all three cities)
All three cities seem to located in equally unimpressive environs.
K-12 schools - Boston
Philadelphia and Washington DC still have a ghetto problem, so Boston wins by default.
Higher education - Boston
Boston has two elite universities. Philadelphia and Washington DC have one apiece.
Diversity - Washington DC
Philadelphia and Boston are more rooted than Washington DC, and are somewhat less diverse as a result.
Food - Philadelphia
Philadelphia has all the ethnic cuisines that Boston and Washington DC have, but they also have plenty of kick-ass junk food and Le Bec Fin.
Shopping - Philadelphia
Technically it's King of Prussia, but people from up and down the East Coast travel to shop there, which is testament to how significant that mall is.
Economy (GDP) - Boston
Boston has the most innovative economy of the three.
Economy (employment) - Washington DC
As the U.S. Government goes, so goes Washington DC.
Attractions - Washington DC
The nation's capital better have the most sights to see.
Parks - Philadelphia
In some of Philadelphia's parks, you can forget you're in a city of over 1.5M people.
History - Push (Boston and Philadelphia)
Boston is where the American Revolution started. Philadelphia is where the American Revolution reached its boiling point.
Safety - Boston
See "K-12 schools" above.
Cost of living - Philadelphia
Philadelphia's cost of living is an absolute bargain for a city its size, let alone a city on the East Coast.
Waterfront - Boston
Duh.
Culture - Philadelphia
Boston and Washington DC have plenty of high culture, but Philadelphia has both high and low culture, so I'd say it's more representative of American culture overall than the former two.
Key industries - Boston specializes in higher education, and in Washington DC it's the U.S. Government. Philadelphia doesn't specialize in anything, but instead does a little bit of everything.
Regional influence - Boston and Washington DC seem to exert more influence over a larger area than Philadelphia does. Some of this might have to do with the former two being the bookends of the East Coast megalopolis.
My thoughts - I predict that Philadelphia will get the fewest votes of the three cities, but nonetheless, I think I'd feel most at home there, so it gets my vote. All three are elite U.S. cities on their own.
Princeton is a part of the philly area as well as penn, and just because a school isnt ivy league doesnt mean they are not "elite". there are more elite schools in each of these cities.
Seems like all 3 are quite diverse to me. I dont see the landslide you are talking about here.
Haha, nahh. I didn't mean to say any of them aren't diverse. Ethnically they all are, most large metros are. But racially Washington DC is a tad bit more. (Or actually a good bit more racially)
Here's some on it: All of these numbers will be from 2009 for everything you're about to see!
Boston MSA Racially:4,588,680 White: 3,702,548 (80.7%)
Black: 319,678 (7.0%) Asian: 275,250 (6.0%) Hispanic (of any race): 382,375 (8.3%)
Minority-Majority Status:
3,702,548/4,588,680 = 80.6% (Racially-White are majority by 80.6%)
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Originally Posted by HtownLove we didn't say it does matter we said it doesn't matter much and I did mention that the only place it does matter is in food/ shopping, hence the little Italy, Chinatown etc
Ethnical diversity is fleeting, more ethereal. racial diversity is more corporeal.
The only big Ethnicity groups in the US that I see make it past the 1st generation consistently are Italians and Mexicans.
Use your self as an example and you will see what I mean. What percentage by Ethnicity would you attribute to American for yourself? Do the same for race. To the day you die you will tell people you are half Indian/ half Singaporean. At the same time you would tell anyone who ask that your Ethnic identification matches up closer to the american lifestyle. Your main language is american English, your
culture is mainly american culture, etc. Race sticks with you (unless your last name is Jackson) but Ethnicity is lost in a generation.
That is my thesis on Diversity
I agree with what you're saying, we're all American first and then we're whatever we are haha. I mean I've always thought of myself as American first and everything else second.
Take for example. I am half Asian Indian & Half Singaporean. In Houston I feel comfortable being able to find the direct food for my culture. Personally I don't like being around people of the same race as me. Its never been my thing, I hate hanging out with Indian people and stuff, but that's because its a culture I just don't comprehend well with. All my friends are everything besides Asian Indian, I only have one of them as a friend, that's pretty much it.
I was born in USA, I was born in Chicago. I love every part of it.
But I would never live in a city that doesn't have the basic amenities for me culturally. I like a variety in food, I like to see people of all backgrounds everywhere, cities that provide that are just places that I prefer more.
Take my grandmother for example, she was nor born here, but she was 73 years old, and all her friends would be Asian Indian, most of the time she would only eat either Italian food, Chinese food, or Indian food, nothing else. Religiously we're Hindu, Chicago & Houston are great cities for that, so many temples, I don't take religion seriously and barely ever go, but for my grandmother its important, for my parents its important. They would never live in a city that had a lack of our cultural amenities.
In Chicago there is Devon, the street looks and functions exactly like a street in India. In Houston there is Hillcroft, it doesn't look like its a street in India but it functions as such. These things are simple for my family to get food and whatnot.
I think diversity is important, its a reflection of Americanism, the country that coined the term "melting pot" is solely defined by that term. Ethnic diversity rocks, I've met so many people of so many backgrounds living where I do and its just phenomenal. I go to school in Austin, besides when I'm on campus, when I decide to leave campus there goes the ethnic diversity (going from extremely diverse to generic) and then I just feel like the odd one out everywhere I go. I never have that problem in Chicago or Houston.
^^ I used those as examples because those are two cities I live in, so I am familiar enough with it to use as an example, if I knew more about enclaves and temples and whatnot in the cities for this thread I would have used those as examples instead.
Are just nice to see. Personally I see a Chinatown, and its exhilarating having that option of even having an ethnic enclave, it really shows of world cultures in one city thousands of miles away. Its awesome (in my opinion).
Anyways in summary, all of these cities here are ethnically diverse, Boston & Philadelphia specialize in European ethnicity and its diversity, but Washington DC leads (by a good margin) in Asian, Latin American, & African American diversity ethnically with a good sizable European ethnicity for its diversity. (I didn't say in everything like Boston has a larger Chinese population, etc.. but for the most part Washington DC leads in that Asians, Latin Americans, etc)
To add to DANNYY's comment regarding racial diversity, here's the 2010 data:
Washington, DC MSA
48.6% non-hispanic white
26.5% non-hispanic black
13.8% hispanic
10.4% asian
Boston, MSA
74.9% non-hispanic white
7.4% non-hispanic black
9% hispanic
7.1% asian
Philadelphia MSA 65% non-hispanic white
21.2% non-hispanic black
7.8% hispanic
5.4% asian
Consequently, the DC area is significantly more diverse than either the Philadelphia or Boston regions. The western half of the DC area can give the Bay Area and Southern California runs for their money in the diversity department.
To those saying that you don't see many European immigrants in the DC area, head to anywhere in DC west of 16th street or to Bethesda, Potomac, Chevy Chase or North Bethesda in MD, or McLean or Great Falls in VA and you'll regularly encounter European immigrants.
It's true that the Boston area has a much more prominent Carribean population than either the DC or Philadelphia Areas, but the DC area has a much more promiment population of African immigrants, Central Americans, South Americans, Asians (other than chinese), and Arabs than either the Philadelphia or Boston MSAs. The DC area has three counties that are over 14% asian (four if you include Howard County, MD); I don't think that the Boston of Philadelphia MSA's has any that are even over 10% asian.
I would also like that you said philly doesnt specialize in anything, Philadelphia specializies in the pharmaceutical industry, and medicine, as well as higher education.
It's true that the Boston area has a much more prominent Carribean population than either the DC or Philadelphia Areas, but the DC area has a much more promiment population of
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South Americans,
I'm not sure how Philadelphia compares to DC, but DC certainly doesn't have a more prominent population of South Americans than Boston. This is due to the Brasilian population in Boston, which is the largest in the country. According to this source, there are roughly 336,000 Brasilians in Massachusetts...most of which reside in/around Boston.
There is a huge Brasilian influence in the area.
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Asians (other than chinese),
Why exclude Chinese? Even if you include Chinese, Washington's Asian population is greater than the other two...but it seems odd to exclude the most prominent Asian country.
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and Arabs than either the Philadelphia or Boston MSAs.
Arab populations
DC: 52,881
Philadelphia: 32,526
Boston: 49,933
It has a pretty solid gap over Philadelphia here, but not Boston.
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Yeah a do agree about the Philadelphia MSA being pigeon-holed and doesn't really reflect the whole regions growth rate. As for who is the largest European ethnic group in the Philadelphia area, most people would assume Italians are the largest European ethnic group like New York City area but the Philadelphia area actually has one of the largest Irish populations in the county. There are a lot of Irish Americans that live in the suburban PA counties and they makeup a huge percentage of the population on that side of the Philly MSA. But I do know that Italians are the largest European ethnic group in South Jersey and there presence there is definitely known. And even if the Irish are the largest European ethnic group in Philly it shouldn't be to far ahead of the Italian population in the city.
I never said that the Irish was never a major ethnic group in Philly. It was just the impression of such figures like Rocky, Frank Rizzo, Pat's and Geno's, and South Philly and South Jersey as well as recent mafia activities that would suggest that the Italians had the greatest impact and influence in this city and the surrounding area rather than the Irish. The Germans have the same impact around a huge portion of the state (Lancaster, pretzels, Amish, etc.). The Irish seem to be scattered everywhere, but like I said, I just can't see them being the largest European ethnic group in Philly and the metro area.
I look at Philly as having more in common w/ NYC rather than Boston for this reason. I honestly think that the current census will reflect a huge shift from the Germans in Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Montgomery, and Bucks Counties to the Italians as the dominant European group, and Philly will eventually revert back to a big Italian majority (similar to NYC and Providence, RI) like before since the 1990's after the Irish had a brief period of dominance in this city as well as Chester County and maybe even Delaware County and The state of Delaware. It's possible since a lot of Italians are moving out of NYC and NJ to cheaper places like PA and DE.
Honestly, I prefer the Italian neighborhoods better than the Irish ones since they tend to take better care of their homes. The same can be said of the Greeks, Portuguese, and Albanians (must be a Meditteranean trait). The Irish neighborhoods look too rundown ( just look at certain parts of Fishtown, Kensington east of Kensington Ave, and Upper Darby ). I wouldn't live in an Irish neighborhood just because of that. No offense, but it is what it is!!!!!
I just hope that there is a more accurate picture of Philadelphia and it's CSA, and hopefully the Lehigh Valley can be added into Phila's CSA, as well as the return of Atlantic-Cape May NJ and Mercer County NJ from NYC's CSA.
Yeah, you're correct about the Brazilian population in the Boston area; it's definitely very prominent. I meant that if Brazilians are excluded (since they're Portugese-speaking South Americans), the DC area has a vastly larger South American population that either the Boston or Philadelphia areas.
Regarding the Chinese population comment, I meant that the DC Area has a significantly larger populations of those of individuals of those of Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and Filipino descent (the frequently encountered US Asian diaspora population) than either the Boston or Philadelphia areas, but a smaller Chinese population than the Boston area (but larger than the Philadelphia area); I didn't mean to "exclude" the Chinese population.
Yeah, you're correct about the Brazilian population in the Boston area; it's definitely very prominent. I meant that if Brazilians are excluded (since they're Portugese-speaking South Americans), the DC area has a vastly larger South American population that either the Boston or Philadelphia areas.
Regarding the Chinese population comment, I meant that the DC Area has a significantly larger populations of those of individuals of those of Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and Filipino descent (the frequently encountered US Asian diaspora population) than either the Boston or Philadelphia areas, but a smaller Chinese population than the Boston area (but larger than the Philadelphia area); I didn't mean to "exclude" the Chinese population.
Haha why does it matter that Brasilians are Portuguese-speaking? Not a criticism, just a question. Brasil is about 50% of South America's population and 48% of its land area...it's far-and-away the dominant culture of South America. Just seems sort of weird to exclude it.
@tmac9wr; I was going for South Americans who are a subset of "Hispanics."
I do agree with you, though, that Brazil is dominant in South America. My exclusion of Brazil in South America is similar to why I'd exclude Guyanese from a discussion of South Americans; for example, Toronto has a substantial Guyanese population (Indo-Guyanese), but few people would recognize that Toronto has a substantial South American population.
Current capital versus our former capital (well your ancestors former capital, I wasn't alive back then) and then our educational capital!
The criteria:
- Best Location- Philly
- Best Scenery- Boston
- Best schools (K-12) Boston
- Best Universities (Yes I mean higher ed) Boston
- Most diverse (by ethnicity/race) DC
- Best food- Seafood- Boston, African (besides Cape Verdean)- Philly, Asian- DC
- Best shopping- Tie
- Best economy (by sheer size of GDP) DC, cheap because it includes Baltimore
- Best economy (by employment opportunities) DC, public sector, Boston Private sector
- Best attractions- DC, Smithsonian nuff said
- Best parks- Boston
- Best history- Tie between Boston & Philly
- Most safe place Boston
- Costs (I mean EVERYTHING, highs, lows, whatever) Highest- Boston, Lowest Philly
- Best waterfront- Boston, Duh the only one with a good waterfront
- Best culture- Most Distint- Boston, Most mixed DC
- Name key industries in this Metro
- Does it influence its region, or does it get influenced itself from the region? Boston controls 6 states, DC and Philly control a much smaller region
- Anything else you can think of that I've missed here
Anyways you don't have to follow every single criteria when answering, but at least attempt at it and try to provide reason for your choice.
Stay civil.
This is very close, but based on Criteria,
Boston- 5
DC- 3
Phillly- 2
However this does miss some of DC's and Phillies strong suits, but I don't feel like adding them now.
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we said it doesn't matter much 
