Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Philadelphia, Boston, and DC all have great downtowns, without a doubt the best aside from NY, Chicago, and SF. They are all vibrant and filled with an endless array of things to do and see.
These are some of the things that make a great downtown:
Restaurants
Food Trucks/Food Stands
Museums
Art Scene
Diversity
Vibrancy
Pedestrian Friendly
Transportation
Architecture
Work Force
Skyline
Cleanliness
Nightlife
Hotels
Housing Stock
Shopping
Parks/Squares
Live Music Venues
Tourist Attractions
Philadelphia, Boston, and DC all have great downtowns, without a doubt the best aside from NY, Chicago, and SF. They are all vibrant and filled with an endless array of things to do and see.
These are some of the things that make a great downtown:
Overall, which of the 3 has the best downtown?
Restaurants - Right now edge to Philly (then Boston then DC)
Food Trucks/Food Stands - probably Philly
Museums - DC -Smithsonian all free (Boston and Philly also both good)
Art Scene - Tough call here, not sure
Diversity - Hmm - I say DC
Vibrancy - Philly (To me 2nd after NYC in downtown)
Pedestrian Friendly - Boston/Philly tie - DC close
Transportation - Boston then DC then Philly
Architecture - Philly then Boston then DC (though if you like monuments etc would be DC
Work Force - DC
Skyline - Philly
Cleanliness - Boston then DC then Philly
Nightlife - Philly
Hotels - Crap shoot a bit probably DC
Housing Stock - Boston then Philly then DC
Shopping - Boston then Philly then DC
Parks/Squares - Personal Preferance Boston then Philly then DC
Live Music Venues - Philly then DC then Boston
Tourist Attractions - Wow all good Say DC then Philly then Boston
Just on purely dowtown overall I think Philly is arguably number 2 in the country (not talking skyline here Chicago) so of these three I will vote for Philly but all are among the 6 or so best downtowns in the country and all great US downtowns
My ranking on the 6 best would be
1 NYC
2 Philly
3 Chicago
4 SF
5 Boston
6 DC
Last edited by kidphilly; 11-20-2010 at 06:07 AM..
Philly- Holds its own against most other big cities its the best out of the three,
Boston- Almost as good as Philly
DC has a long way to go, even it is getting better. It's biggest downside is its height limit, but theres a lot of new projects underway that should transform the CBD int a more vibrant, liveable, and entertaining area. Right now it pretty much dies down after 5pm, except certain areas like Gallery place and K street.
Restaurants - Philly
Food Trucks/Food Stands - I think Philly (I don't see much in DC and I don't remember seeing much in Boston)
Museums - DC, but the others are no slouch here. I prefer the Philly MoA over anything in DC, but DC has so many and many are free.
Art Scene - I'm not sure, but I'm going with Philly because I feel like I run across more small art shops, plus all the murals around the city and the artwork inscribed into the buildings, fences, etc.
Diversity - I guess it would be DC, but I'm not sure if this is because of all the tourists (vs residents)
Vibrancy - Philly, Boston and DC are vibrant, but I find CC and South Philly very very vibrant.
Pedestrian Friendly - Philly, then Boston, then DC. I hate DC's large blocks of Government buildings.
Transportation - Boston - I think the Subway is in great shape, plus it's more efficient than the Metro in DC (or SEPTA for that matter)
Architecture - Philly, then a tie between Boston and DC (there are some amazing structures in DC)
Work Force - Not sure, probably DC due to our bloated Government
Skyline - Philly easily
Cleanliness - Boston, DC then Philly (by quite a distance)
Nightlife - They're just different. I prefer Philly, because I'm not a huge club person, but the others are probably right on par
Hotels - I can't speak across the board, but from experience, I like Philly. I love how some of the hotels are in historic buildings (e.g. the Ritz in CC).
Housing Stock - Philly, then Boston, then DC - DC gets too suburban for my tastes a little further from downtown.
Shopping - Downtown shopping is the only kind I care for. That being said, I hate Tysons and other DC shopping. I'm going with Philly, then Boston, then DC.
Parks/Squares - Tough one. DC has so many, but nothing compares to Rittenhouse to me. Philly, DC, then Boston
Live Music Venues - Don't know on this one.
Tourist Attractions - DC, then Philly, then Boston
Overall - I like Philly the best, followed by Boston, with DC as a distant runner up.
I've not yet been to Boston, but I'm pretty sure that it and Philly rank ahead of DC here. DC's downtown isn't bad, but it's not gritty and organic like Philly and probably Boston.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,053,483 times
Reputation: 4047
Restaurants: Tie, food is extremely subjective
Food Trucks/Food Stands: Boston
Museums: Washington DC
Art Scene: Boston
Diversity: well Ethnic Diversity is impossible (and I do mean impossible) to figure out in Metropolitan Areas that are similar in size as all have something the other lacks in. But racially Washington DC wins here.
Vibrancy: Philadelphia
Pedestrian Friendly: Philadelphia (although all are close up)
- Philadelphia:
+ City Center East: 98
+ City Center West: 97
- Boston:
+ Central: 96
- Washington DC:
+ Downtown: 96
Transportation: Washington DC has the edge but all are good
Architecture: Philadelphia for some of its skyscrapers like Comcast Center & Washington DC for their crazy monuments
Work Force: Washington DC
Skyline: LOL serious? Philadelphia by light years
Cleanliness: Boston
Nightlife: Never experienced it in any. Whichever one has the best collection of Bars wins for me
Hotels: Boston (This was my personal preference actually)
Housing Stock: Washington DC (for me)
Shopping: LOL don't care
Parks/Squares: Boston
Live Music Venues: Philadelphia
Tourist Attractions: Washington DC has a bit of an edge being the national capital with all these other things like Monuments and whatnot
Overall, which of the 3 has the best downtown? Philadelphia has the best
All three are very good cities. Overall, Philadelphia and Boston have better downtowns than DC, although DC actually has more office space.
But I find DC somewhat more interesting because of it's unique status as the nation's capital and everything that goes with that - federal architecture, memorials, monuments, historic sites, museums, etc. DC probably also has more fine dining options than Philadelphia or Boston.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 11-21-2010 at 11:19 AM..
Boston>Philly>DC..imo.
All some of the country's best though.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
