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Agreed. Girard to Tasker is pushing it. However, I really don't understand why they don't include University City in the "Downtown definition." Including Center City and University City, Downtown Philadelphia would rank about 4.18 square miles.
Within this area includes the 50,000 University City population and ~90,000 Center City population or approx. 140,000 in total.
Keep in mind that I combined the loop, near north side, and south side for Chicago numbers, so the Windy City isn't being pigeonholed when being compared to Philly. Some of these Chicago posters are just hating on Philly. Maybe it's a little jealously but who really knows. I personally like both cities.
Agreed. Girard to Tasker is pushing it. However, I really don't understand why they don't include University City in the "Downtown definition." Including Center City and University City, Downtown Philadelphia would rank about 4.18 square miles.
Within this area includes the 50,000 University City population and ~90,000 Center City population or approx. 140,000 in total.
I'll third that those borders are pushing it. I know there are quite a few small cities with SFHs in the downtown, but I don't think Philadelphia should be one of those:
It's quite funny to see people make excuses. Look, we all know Chicago is a great city but you gotta give credit to Philly on this one. Center City has improved so dramatically over the last 20 years. It was inevitable that it was going to surpass downtown Chicago in population. It was only a matter of time.
Idk if it's inevitable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NowInWI
I'm not hating, I'm stating a fact.
Yea, Yea. I was just messing around, stirring the pot. I wouldn't consider a good bit of what they included "downtown", maybe for people in fox chase or the northeast but yeah a lot of it isn't. Considering the office space, I would probably still say Chicago's is bigger but Center City definitely is an interesting and lively place.
Not exactly earth shattering numbers but quality over quantity in my opinion.
With 2400 retail stores, CC has the 4th most in the US, not all of your ultra fancy luxury brands that most of you guys drool over on this site though. 400 cultural institutions and enough good resturants to keep you happy for a very long time.
I'll third that those borders are pushing it. I know there are quite a few small cities with SFHs in the downtown, but I don't think Philadelphia should be one of those:
Pretty much every city is going to have some quirky areas on the extreme outer fringes of the downtown boundaries. LA has it, Philly has it, no big deal.
Speaking for SF, Nob Hill, parts of SoMa, Russian Hill, and North Beach would never be considered "downtown", and yet each is within 1-1.5 miles of the center of the Central Business District ("financial district" in SF). Going off of an earlier point, City Hall is in a loose definition of "downtown", but that area is commonly referred to as the Civic Center. It is 1.5 miles from the center of the financial district.
So the fact that someone who lives in Passyunk in Philly considers that to be downtown when at the same distance here in SF that would put someone in toney Pacific Heights (which nobody would ever confuse with a "downtown") is a little confusing. In Chicago, 2 miles north of City Hall and it's Gold Coast residential as well - I don't think anyone would confuse "Gold Coast" with "downtown". Neighborhoods with "Loop" in the name? I can see it - South Loop, West Loop, etc etc. River North, Streeterville, etc all are very downtowny areas, each one at least the same size as CC/Rittenhouse if not larger, though each not having as bustling a feel as CC (some exceed CC's bustling feel, some are quiet, but definitely more "downtown" to Chicago than Passyunk is "downtown" to Philly).
Then there are all the other measures of "largest". As we've proven out here, anyone can draw up a dynamic, arbitrary definition and boundary for downtown and then see how many people that area has and call their downtown the biggest. Ok...
What about:
Office space - Chicago, DC, SF, Boston, and Los Angeles are all larger with Seattle about the same size as Philly
Retail - estimating sheer space here: Chicago, SF, Boston are all larger with more offerings; Prominence? SF and Chicago, then Boston
Hotel Rooms - Chicago, SF, DC, Boston and I'm sure a host more have more downtown hotel rooms and in nearly all of these cases more downtown hotel rooms than all of Philadelphia has hotel rooms
Skyscrapers - Chicago, SF, LA?
Downtown Chinatown - SF, Chicago, insert 10-15 cities here before Philadelphia
The list goes on in terms of many other equally important if not more important things that can qualify a downtown as "larger", total office space being the most obvious.
Lol yeah this type of housing projects are scattered around. It's not like the street originally looked like that but at some point in time they decided it was smarter to get give people a little more space.
Speaking for SF, Nob Hill, parts of SoMa, Russian Hill, and North Beach would never be considered "downtown", and yet each is within 1-1.5 miles of the center of the Central Business District ("financial district" in SF). Going off of an earlier point, City Hall is in a loose definition of "downtown", but that area is commonly referred to as the Civic Center. It is 1.5 miles from the center of the financial district.
So the fact that someone who lives in Passyunk in Philly considers that to be downtown when at the same distance here in SF that would put someone in toney Pacific Heights (which nobody would ever confuse with a "downtown") is a little confusing. In Chicago, 2 miles north of City Hall and it's Gold Coast residential as well - I don't think anyone would confuse "Gold Coast" with "downtown". Neighborhoods with "Loop" in the name? I can see it - South Loop, West Loop, etc etc. River North, Streeterville, etc all are very downtowny areas, each one at least the same size as CC/Rittenhouse if not larger, though each not having as bustling a feel as CC (some exceed CC's bustling feel, some are quiet, but definitely more "downtown" to Chicago than Passyunk is "downtown" to Philly).
There's no rule that says all downtown's have to be the same size in terms of land area and layout. What works in Philly doesn't automatically mean it would be the same in SF or Seattle. Downtowns don't have to be measured equally.
Speaking for SF, Nob Hill, parts of SoMa, Russian Hill, and North Beach would never be considered "downtown", and yet each is within 1-1.5 miles of the center of the Central Business District ("financial district" in SF). Going off of an earlier point, City Hall is in a loose definition of "downtown", but that area is commonly referred to as the Civic Center. It is 1.5 miles from the center of the financial district.
So the fact that someone who lives in Passyunk in Philly considers that to be downtown when at the same distance here in SF that would put someone in toney Pacific Heights (which nobody would ever confuse with a "downtown") is a little confusing. In Chicago, 2 miles north of City Hall and it's Gold Coast residential as well - I don't think anyone would confuse "Gold Coast" with "downtown". Neighborhoods with "Loop" in the name? I can see it - South Loop, West Loop, etc etc. River North, Streeterville, etc all are very downtowny areas, each one at least the same size as CC/Rittenhouse if not larger, though each not having as bustling a feel as CC (some exceed CC's bustling feel, some are quiet, but definitely more "downtown" to Chicago than Passyunk is "downtown" to Philly).
Then there are all the other measures of "largest". As we've proven out here, anyone can draw up a dynamic, arbitrary definition and boundary for downtown and then see how many people that area has and call their downtown the biggest. Ok...
What about:
Office space - Chicago, DC, SF, Boston, and Los Angeles are all larger with Seattle about the same size as Philly
Retail - estimating sheer space here: Chicago, SF, Boston are all larger with more offerings; Prominence? SF and Chicago, then Boston
Hotel Rooms - Chicago, SF, DC, Boston and I'm sure a host more have more downtown hotel rooms and in nearly all of these cases more downtown hotel rooms than all of Philadelphia has hotel rooms
Skyscrapers - Chicago, SF, LA?
Downtown Chinatown - SF, Chicago, insert 10-15 cities here before Philadelphia
The list goes on in terms of many other equally important if not more important things that can qualify a downtown as "larger", total office space being the most obvious.
You really are hurt by this aren't you lol? Btw Kensington is not around Girard in any modern sense of how the neighborhoods are defined. Phillys Chinatown is pretty sweet too and you probably have never even been there, http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel...-food/6173601/
Downtown Chinatown - SF, Chicago, insert 10-15 cities here before Philadelphia
The list goes on in terms of many other equally important if not more important things that can qualify a downtown as "larger", total office space being the most obvious.
A few things... no one living in Passyunk Square considers themselves as living in Downtown Philly. No one South of South Street would... that's South Philly.
Second, there are 10-15 cities with better Chinatowns than Philadelphia? Lol. No.
Third, as far as Downtown's go, Philadelphia has more highrises/skyscrapers than LA downtown.
Pretty much every city is going to have some quirky areas on the extreme outer fringes of the downtown boundaries. LA has it, Philly has it, no big deal.
Of course, but they seem to be pushing the boundaries of what is "downtown" to its extreme.
If I was standing near there and said I was in downtown Philly, I think locals would laugh at me.
By the way I really have no dog in this race, I could not care less if Philly has more downtown residents than Chicago. Chicago's downtown is more of a business center, while it seems downtown Philly is much more residential and historic.
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