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surprised I missed this one (although maybe not as I'm hit or miss on this section of the forum)
having lived in both places (moving from philly to mpls) here are my thoughts
1) Which city has the better weather?- Philly - it can get a little hot and a little nasty in winter, but nothing extreme - Minneapolis is frigid and summer is no guarantee to be great either
2) Which city has the more friendly people?- I found both to be about equal, although vastly different - I found the professional atmosphere in Philly to be much better, a lot more open and accepting - I found the people in Philly to be more direct, more willing to initiate a conversation or let their opinion be known ..... sometimes this works for the worse as I really don't care to hear your thoughts on everything - but such is life.
Minneapolis seemed a lot more closed off - I still have some really good friends there and people will either completely ignore your presence or be surface nice (I actually prefer the former) - Mpls seemed a lot more passive aggressive and you could tell that it's a fairly isolated community with very modest migration
On the whole though, once you broke through to either I found the people to be mostly the same - I didn't find the people in Philly to be any less friendly
3) Which city has better food and restaurants?-Philly - Philly does food well, from the market to street food (before the street food craze), to high end restaurants, to the wide variety of ethnic options .... they cover the spectrum ... Mpls is improving, but not really close here
4) Which city is a better sports town? - tie - Philly has better teams and better facilities ... however, both have a passion for their teams and will generally support them well .... both have good participation opportunities .... philly is unique in that they have some good college athletics while you can't top the hockey tradition in mpls
5) Which city has the arts scene?- tie - philly has a bit of size and location advantage, but mpls is really solid here as well and is very accessible to the public (in fairness, so is philly)
6) Which city is more Liberal?- I really don't know - again I think there are differences - I think minneapolis would be a little bit more of the crunchy, accepting social liberal while philly is more of a union town type of liberal
7) How would you compare the racial diversity of these two cities?- Philly has the better statistics, but I don't think either city is really that diverse .... both seem to be enclave driven - diverse looking silos that are generally grouped together throughout the whole farm
8) Which city is cleaner?-Minneapolis - very clean city
9) Which city has the better air quality?-Minneapolis - also some really big and clear skies
10) Which city has more crime?- Philly - both cities are safe at their core and can get sketchy just outside of it .... just the level of sketchy is a lot more intense in philly .... at their core it's not that much different though today (with the trend of philly getting better and mpls getting worse over the past couple decades)
11) Which city has the better Downtown?-Philly - a little more active on all nights - a little more bustle - the skyway system in Mpls is unique and a lot different than what you see in philly - but mpls is still emerging some of the neighborhoods around the downtown core
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13) Which city has the better nightlife?-Philly - but it's really close - again I think Philly is just more active every day
14) Which city has the prettier natural setting?- Minneapolis
15) Which city has the better economy?- Minneapolis - a pretty good powerhouse with some diversity for it's size
16) Which city has more potential for growth?- Philly - so much potential in the city
17) Which city is more educated?-Minneapolis, although Philly has better universities and would probably fare better if you looked at it in levels ... problem is the educated in philly get pulled down by the many who are far from it - in mpls the bottom isn't so low or large
18) Which city has the better and more affordable cost of living? - I think Philly is better for city living - Mpls is better for suburban living
11) Which city has the better Downtown?-Philly - a little more active on all nights - a little more bustle - the skyway system in Mpls is unique and a lot different than what you see in philly - but mpls is still emerging some of the neighborhoods around the downtown core
Is the skyway in Minneapolis all that different from the concourse in Philadelphia?
surprised I missed this one (although maybe not as I'm hit or miss on this section of the forum)
having lived in both places (moving from philly to mpls) here are my thoughts
1) Which city has the better weather?- Philly - it can get a little hot and a little nasty in winter, but nothing extreme - Minneapolis is frigid and summer is no guarantee to be great either
2) Which city has the more friendly people?- I found both to be about equal, although vastly different - I found the professional atmosphere in Philly to be much better, a lot more open and accepting - I found the people in Philly to be more direct, more willing to initiate a conversation or let their opinion be known ..... sometimes this works for the worse as I really don't care to hear your thoughts on everything - but such is life.
Minneapolis seemed a lot more closed off - I still have some really good friends there and people will either completely ignore your presence or be surface nice (I actually prefer the former) - Mpls seemed a lot more passive aggressive and you could tell that it's a fairly isolated community with very modest migration
On the whole though, once you broke through to either I found the people to be mostly the same - I didn't find the people in Philly to be any less friendly
3) Which city has better food and restaurants?-Philly - Philly does food well, from the market to street food (before the street food craze), to high end restaurants, to the wide variety of ethnic options .... they cover the spectrum ... Mpls is improving, but not really close here
4) Which city is a better sports town? - tie - Philly has better teams and better facilities ... however, both have a passion for their teams and will generally support them well .... both have good participation opportunities .... philly is unique in that they have some good college athletics while you can't top the hockey tradition in mpls
5) Which city has the arts scene?- tie - philly has a bit of size and location advantage, but mpls is really solid here as well and is very accessible to the public (in fairness, so is philly)
6) Which city is more Liberal?- I really don't know - again I think there are differences - I think minneapolis would be a little bit more of the crunchy, accepting social liberal while philly is more of a union town type of liberal
7) How would you compare the racial diversity of these two cities?- Philly has the better statistics, but I don't think either city is really that diverse .... both seem to be enclave driven - diverse looking silos that are generally grouped together throughout the whole farm
8) Which city is cleaner?-Minneapolis - very clean city
9) Which city has the better air quality?-Minneapolis - also some really big and clear skies
10) Which city has more crime?- Philly - both cities are safe at their core and can get sketchy just outside of it .... just the level of sketchy is a lot more intense in philly .... at their core it's not that much different though today (with the trend of philly getting better and mpls getting worse over the past couple decades)
11) Which city has the better Downtown?-Philly - a little more active on all nights - a little more bustle - the skyway system in Mpls is unique and a lot different than what you see in philly - but mpls is still emerging some of the neighborhoods around the downtown core
removed - see room sticky please
13) Which city has the better nightlife?-Philly - but it's really close - again I think Philly is just more active every day
14) Which city has the prettier natural setting?- Minneapolis
15) Which city has the better economy?- Minneapolis - a pretty good powerhouse with some diversity for it's size
16) Which city has more potential for growth?- Philly - so much potential in the city
17) Which city is more educated?-Minneapolis, although Philly has better universities and would probably fare better if you looked at it in levels ... problem is the educated in philly get pulled down by the many who are far from it - in mpls the bottom isn't so low or large
18) Which city has the better and more affordable cost of living? - I think Philly is better for city living - Mpls is better for suburban living
Great post, except I kind of disagree with the last part.
Is the skyway in Minneapolis all that different from the concourse in Philadelphia?
IMO, yes.
In scope the skyway system is about 11 connected miles ..... the concourse is about 3 miles.
Also, for me the concourse always felt more like commuter infrastructure - a place to unload from suburban station or the subway system and then disperse - the shops and everything that followed seem more geared towards the commuter system ... either connections between methods, some coffee shops, snack places, a couple stores - but long stretches of connectors that really didn't have anything
in mpls the actualy skyways are very short and since they aren't underground you get some natural light and views from them - they then spill you into the 2nd or 3rd floor of a building which is lined with shops & services
This image is fairly typical of what "skyway level" looks like in a building
Although one of the skyways goes through Macys (which is kind of odd when you are going to meet up with people or going from where you entered to work to just kind of pass through a department store)
If the building was one of those that had the open atrium style then the skyway would ring around it - kind of like this one from the Gaviidae Commons - food court was a fairly popular lunch spot
Minneapolis doesn't have the suburban rail like philly with big stations - they do have a light rail that covers a lot of ground and the bus system isn't bad .... but there really isn't a major terminal for transport
Another thing specific to the skyway and how it can be a little different ... when I first moved there I was walking around downtown mpls, mid-week in August and it was very quiet .... I was getting frustrated trying to find some options to grab a snack - there were some places, but I was shocked at how few and far between they were ........... then about a week later I started working down there, discovered skyway level and it all made sense .... street level is basically moved up a floor and faces inside
Great post, except I kind of disagree with the last part.
I haven't been to the Twin Cities yet, but my girlfriend says the MSP suburbs are overwhelmingly on the soulless and sprawling side. Philadelphia has solid strings of historic, charming, walkable suburbs in every direction.
I haven't been to the Twin Cities yet, but my girlfriend says the MSP suburbs are overwhelmingly on the soulless and sprawling side. Philadelphia has solid strings of historic, charming, walkable suburbs in every direction.
I really don't, but please care to explain. I've showed her around the type of Philly suburb I mentioned in my post, and she really liked them, remarking that there's very little like them in the Twin Cities.
Last edited by ElijahAstin; 11-14-2012 at 03:03 PM..
The bartender wasnt being blunt, he just had whats called a sense of humor. Your friends OTOH must be utter dolts. That's being blunt.
Yeah, that's quintessential Philly charm. Those that get it, find it charming. Which is how it's meant to be taken. Those that don't, often take offense. Many-to-most people that don't live in the immediate region won't get it. It's a good natured jab meant to break the ice or otherwise start and/or keep a friendly state-of-joust going. Believe it or not, that type of quip starts and builds relationships in this city. The trick is to view the quip in the relatively good-natured context in which it was intended. However, this approach is not for rookies. Tell someone from the wrong neighborhood in Philly that "you're sorry to hear that they are from there" and you may get the opposite of the above described intended effect. However, own your frame like the bartender did, in the before referenced anecdote, and you may be able to get away with it in most cases. If you do, you'll have gone native. If you don't, you may have done it wrong or you may be dealing with a legitimate a-hole. The city is chock-full of 'em, both those that are justified in being-so by their life experiences (growing up and living in the lower class culture here can be rough) and fake tough-guys. Confused? It's a confusing deeper culture as far as the social function of aggressive banter is concerned. You know your not doing it right if you or someone else gets mad.
10%? You're clearly not well-familiar with the city.
"Most" is more accurate, if the crime ridden declining areas are included with the areas that look like outright bombed-out warzones. For instance, although most of North and Southwest Phiilly may be at arguably different levels of decline and decay, they are equally dangerous. Especially for those that look out-of-place there or who otherwise make good targets. The only truly good parts of the city left are center city, very select parts of south philly, parts of roxborough and east falls, and the wealthy outer limits of the city. The northeast is functionally gone as a desirebale place, even though crime may not yet be at the level it is in North Philly, it's certainly headed there and is already there for much of it. Most of Philly will be a cesspool to those who have a concept of the quality of life that is available to them in other places. Those that have the money to never leave center city or the main line, essentailly have to put blinders on to justify living near what surrounds them.
10%? You're clearly not well-familiar with the city.
"Most" is more accurate, if the crime ridden declining areas are included with the areas that look like outright bombed-out warzones. For instance, although most of North and Southwest Phiilly may be at arguably different levels of decline and decay, they are equally dangerous. Especially for those that look out-of-place there or who otherwise make good targets. The only truly good parts of the city left are center city, very select parts of south philly, parts of roxborough and east falls, and the wealthy outer limits of the city. The northeast is functionally gone as a desirebale place, even though crime may not yet be at the level it is in North Philly, it's certainly headed there and is already there for much of it. Most of Philly will be a cesspool to those who have a concept of the quality of life that is available to them in other places. Those that have the money to never leave center city or the main line, essentailly have to put blinders on to justify living near what surrounds them.
I wouldn't call most of Philly dangerous. Maybe 35% of it. You are forgetting that aside from the nice areas in the core, there are also Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia. Also, the areas on the borders of the city like Wynnfield or Oak Lane for instance are middle class african american areas and are often mistaken for being ghetto and dangerous... they are not. Not all of Southwest Philadelphia is dangerous either... it is mainly just Kingsessing. The areas closer to the airport really aren't that bad.
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