More important overall: Greater Boston or Greater Philadelphia? (best, bigger, metropolitan)
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Finance is probably seen as the most important industry and the one that makes the world go round above all others.
If a city has a strong finance sector, it's a global player. Boston has that. It's a huge part of it's economy. The most important part arguably.
Philadelphia has a number of industries that are all pretty average to above average, none of which really identify with the city other than probably pharma.
Philly is eds and meds. So is Boston. They're pretty close here.
Finance however is what separates them. Philly may do better in law though. Not sure.
You said Boston benefits from doing well in niche industries, please list these niche industries. I would also say Boston is clearly above Philly in high tech.
If you're going to include Princeton in with Philly, then you should add Brown in with Boston as both are roughly the same distance from Philly and Boston.
Forbes Top 10 College Rankings. Lets say both Boston and Philadelphia excel in higher education.
3 of top 10 are from Boston area( Harvard,MIT,Brown)
3 of top 10 are from Philly area(Princeton,Penn, Swarthmore)
Finance is the only one that is head and shoulders above though.
Not really...
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Philly is literally the next city in line in terms of biotech
It certainly isn't. Boston & the San Francisco Bay are head & shoulders above the rest, with other cities like New York City, San Diego, Philadelphia, DC and Seattle coming in behind them. It's also not close when it comes to high tech. Look at the Venture Capital difference last year between the two:
Philadelphia: $424.26 million
Boston: $4.443 billion
This gives a good idea how far apart these two are when it comes to startups in high tech/biotech. It's not close.
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and higher education
Again, it's really not. While Philadelphia has some fantastic institutions, I'd say the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York are all above Philadelphia.
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so it's not like it's Flint, Michigan or something.
Absolutely not...Philadelphia is a fantastic city with tons going for it. It's certainly a powerhouse and any mention I have of Boston over Philadelphia isn't intended as a slight towards Philly.
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Does "Greater Philadelphia" include Princeton? Because that's an interesting point to be made considering Princeton is the #1 ranked University over Harvard and MIT and Penn is just behind them.
I'd consider Princeton to be Princeton. It's in a unique situation where it's basically equidistant between NYC & Philadelphia, and isn't part of the fabric of either metro area...it's surrounded by farms.
When it comes to schools in the upper-echelon like Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Penn, Stanford, Yale, etc, I really do believe it's splitting hairs...however, I think cities like MIT, Harvard, and Stanford have begun to put themselves into a unique category of also being huge economic forces since they've becoming driving forces in their major economic areas. It doesn't necessarily make Harvard or Stanford better than Princeton or Yale, but it does make me believe that the future is brighter since their economic prospects are so high in the tech sector. This is an area where Penn can really thrive, though the Philadelphia startup scene isn't on the same level as Boston or New York, nevermind the Bay Area.
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They're the two most similar cities I think.
I would agree with you here.
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But again, why just economics?
Last time I checked, there is more to a city than it's economy.
I don't think it's just economics, but it's the vast majority of a city's importance.
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New Orleans is rich in culture, music and history but so-so economically. Doesn't mean it's any less important than a lot of other cities, no? That would be a major loss.
It's far less important than most cities. I think it has a lot of cultural relevance, but that's not the same as being important...at least in my opinion.
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Boston benefits a lot from it's niche industries while being average in most others.
You're either totally wrong, or misusing the word "niche". Nobody would call finance, biotech, high tech, or higher education "niche" industries. "Niche" industries are small sectors which are within these major industries...robotic vacuums would be considered a niche industry.
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Philadelphia has a diversified economy that for some reason suffers from having an identifiable industry. Same with Chicago for that matter.
Boston has a very diverse economy, and Philadelphia certainly has an identifiable industry in pharmaceuticals, though it seems to be suffering a bit recently--or at least not growing as much as it should be in this economic climate.
I'd also argue Boston has a lead over Philly when it comes to education. Looking at the top 75 national universities by US News, here is what Boston has vs. Philly:
Boston
Clark University #74
WPI #60
Northeastern #39
Boston University #39
Brandeis University #34
Boston College #31
Tufts University #27
Brown University #12
MIT #7
Harvard #2
Other notable schools:
Wellesley College
Bentley University
Emerson College
Simmons College
Assumption College
Babson College
College of the Holy Cross
Philadelphia
Villanova #50
Lehigh #44
Penn #8
Princenton #1
Other notable schools:
Drexel University
Temple University
Haverford College
St. Joseph's University
Swarthmore College
Bryn Mawr College
Why is Boston's GDP impressive despite the fact that it sits by itself but Philadelphia's GDP isn't despite the fact that New York and Washington are in the same region?
They're virtually the same GDP.
It doesn't matter so much that New York and (much further out) Washington/Baltimore are closer. You're measuring pretty similar areas with 4.7 million versus 6 million people within spitting distance of each other. Divide that up by the population and you see why that makes the difference.
As an aside, Boston is one major transit project away from jumping out of this bracket and into the same as the Bay Area, DC/Baltimore, and Chicago. It's something that can be done--a RER/S-Bahn type system making electrified rail linking North Station and South Station for the MBTA Commuter rail. Boston is sadly lacking in the political will to do so, but that alone would push Boston pretty far.
Why is Boston's GDP impressive despite the fact that it sits by itself but Philadelphia's GDP isn't despite the fact that New York and Washington are in the same region?
They're virtually the same GDP.
I don't think people say Philadelphia doesn't have an impressive GDP. I think most of it is just praise for Boston because it punches well above its weight.
GDP Per Capita (based on 2015 GDP, Population Estimates):
Philadelphia: $67,738
Boston: $83,058
On top of that, GDP isn't necessarily the sole identifier of strength. Things such as Assets Under Management, medical research, etc. won't necessarily show up in the GDP. It's necessary to look at the big picture.
I'm just gonna cut out a piece from your own link.
Before the recession, in 2007, Montgomery County's 11,578 biotech research and development jobs ranked second in the nation, behind only the Boston suburb of Middlesex, Mass., home to Cambridge and 14,889 biotech R&D jobs at the time, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Since then, as Merck, Pfizer, and others have trimmed operations, Montgomery County has fallen 56 percent to fourth at the end of 2014, with 5,053 high-paid biotech R&D positions, while the number in Middlesex County has climbed more than 40 percent, to 21,338.
Philadelphia is formidable in industry rankings(top 5-10 in most industries) but Boston is a beast , usually ranking 1 or 2. In fact the Boston area has overtaken the one industry Philly excelled at (Pharma) Over the past 10 years a Ton of pharma jobs have been lost in the Philly area and redirected up to Boston.
One industry Philly may have an edge in is telecommunications with Comcast.
Years past Philly outpaced Boston on Fortune 500 companies but not sure if thats still the case. Philly doesnt seem to do well with mergers any longer and has lost a ton of companies over the years.
Its one thing to lose the capitol of the Nation but how do you lose the capital of your own state? Philadelphia is a disjointed mess bickering between 3 states who all seem to want its own solidarity . It has 2 state capitals(Trenton/Dover) closer to it than its own state capital(Harrisburg) .
Philadelphia is formidable in industry rankings(top 5-10 in most industries) but Boston is a beast , usually ranking 1 or 2. In fact the Boston area has overtaken the one industry Philly excelled at (Pharma) Over the past 10 years a Ton of pharma jobs have been lost in the Philly area and redirected up to Boston.
One industry Philly may have an edge in is telecommunications with Comcast.
Years past Philly outpaced Boston on Fortune 500 companies but not sure if thats still the case. Philly doesnt seem to do well with mergers any longer and has lost a ton of companies over the years.
Its one thing to lose the capitol of the Nation but how do you lose the capital of your own state? Philadelphia is a disjointed mess bickering between 3 states who all seem to want its own solidarity . It has 2 state capitals(Trenton/Dover) closer to it than its own state capital(Harrisburg) .
That's a interesting fact - thanks for sharing. I never thought of that.
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