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View Poll Results: Which one?
Boston 102 75.00%
Philadelpha 12 8.82%
New York 22 16.18%
Voters: 136. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 01-23-2013, 01:47 AM
 
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Okay, forget the fact that there's what seems to be an infinitely lot more people in New York than the others-- that's irrelevant to the culture of a place in this comparison.

I've often heard people call San Francisco the Boston of the west, I've even seen the two paired up with each other in literature, media (think the Hotwire commercial for immediate thought), politics, hell even on this forum, so on.

I've actually to be frank never heard of it being paired with Philadelphia in media or actual life but it's a notion I've seen on this forum quite a lot-- so there has to be some weight into it. For example:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toure View Post
San fransisco is the only city on the west coast IMHO can equally compare to a east coast city ( in city limits). San Fran beats B more in mostly every catagory. I believe that out of ALL cities in the USA Philadelphia and San Fransisco are most similar. In size, GDP. Just About errr thing. They are truly equal cities.
Now the comparison to New York may be superficial but people like A-Rod and many many others have called on their "similarities" and both cities seem to attract some overlapping common crowds I suppose.

So which of the three have most in common with San Francisco/Bay Area?

I know, I know-- San Francisco is San Francisco (I agree) but which one is it MOST like?

Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 01-23-2013 at 01:55 AM..
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Old 01-23-2013, 02:33 AM
 
Location: San Francisco
21,397 posts, read 8,612,797 times
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I would say that San Francisco compares best to Boston because they're both coastal cities with harbors, because tourism is an important part of both economies, and because they are most similar in size. New York City, of course, also is a coastal city and a tourist destination, but it's on a much larger scale and has its own unique culture that makes it hard to compare with anyplace else in the U.S. Philadelphia doesn't have the ocean setting and the hilly topography that Boston and San Francisco have, and it isn't the tourist destination that New York, Boston and San Francisco are.
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Old 01-23-2013, 05:34 AM
 
Location: Denver
6,625 posts, read 14,391,282 times
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Boston & San Francisco are very similar. The cities themselves are of small geographic size, but are very dense by US standards. They also achieve their density in similar ways: with beautiful row homes and tight streets. Beautiful architecture can be found all of the place in both cities (though this is very true for Philly and NYC too)

They've each got several very intresting cities in close proximity which complement them well (Boston:Cambridge/Brookline; SF: Oakland/Berkeley; obviously there are others, but these are the names that pop off the list).

They're both beacons for liberal America, have some of the world's finest institutions of higher education close by, which gives them a highly intellectual vibe and helps them be major players in high technology, biotech, nanotech, and life sciences. Though Boston is currently ranked higher by the GFCI, the two are pretty much interchangeable for the 3rd & 4th spots in the US for financial services.

There are plenty of other similarities too, but these are what grab my attention the most.
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Old 01-23-2013, 07:32 AM
 
Location: The City
22,379 posts, read 38,675,909 times
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Would think Boston, but SF is (and Boston) is its own place

For SF I might say this order

Boston
Philly
NYC

NYC is just too large to compare to any of these really


Boston and Philly may be the most similar out of the group in actuality
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Old 01-23-2013, 07:54 AM
 
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If you have been to downtown SF and Center city, you would clearly see that they are on par with eachother... Boston is below them two powerhouses by the slightest. And even in our density they compare at the centers. If Philly did not have northeast or northwest Sections the density would be the same...
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Old 01-23-2013, 08:09 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn, New York
432 posts, read 605,954 times
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Chill toure.... They might take that as an insult being compared to bad ol Philly

SF is more similar to Boston hands down however. Reasons could be seen above.


Also who said Boston was more of a tourist destination than Philly? What a lie lol
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Old 01-23-2013, 08:32 AM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,625 posts, read 67,140,815 times
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Actually SF is not really like any of these places aside from anecdotal similarities. Boston is not weird enough, or mediterranean enough, or liberal enough, or asian enough, or mexican enough, etc

These are 2 completely different places that don't look or feel anything alike. What they are similar sizes and both are on the water but that's pretty much it. Boston is also more blue collar than SF.
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Old 01-23-2013, 08:35 AM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
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Boston

But San Francisco is much more hilly and even more connected to the water. Extremely different history, obviously.
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Old 01-23-2013, 09:13 AM
 
Location: Baltimore / Montgomery County, MD
1,196 posts, read 2,516,411 times
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Boston.
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Old 01-23-2013, 09:21 AM
 
1,449 posts, read 2,168,674 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Hill View Post
Chill toure.... They might take that as an insult being compared to bad ol Philly

SF is more similar to Boston hands down however. Reasons could be seen above.


Also who said Boston was more of a tourist destination than Philly? What a lie lol
Yeah Philadelphia receives more domestic tourists than Boston but Boston receives more foreign tourists. However when you add it all up, overall Philadelphia receives more tourists than Boston yearly. On topic San Francisco is most similar to Boston out of the 3 cities
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