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.
At the summit of their power in 1950? Boston is now a global city. Philly Center City has seen a huge amount of growth. Metro DC has exploded all around the beltway. The Northeast Corridor and the West Coast are the dominant part of the US economy.
I would say there's an argument for Philly having reached its summit in 1950, at least in influence, but as you said, they are all numerically more productive today I'm sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp
I don't think Philadelphia will hit 2M people again, but it it poised to definitely close its lose gap as the city continues to grow.
It's kinda sad how Philly is the only US city to have fallen from 2 million people, and I imagine it will always hold that distinction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakeesha
Considering the competition, Boston's rise in prominence is nothing short of remarkable, despite the lackluster skyline.
Had the tallest building in the world outside of New York from 1964 to 1969 though. I'd say that's pretty impressive!
Last edited by KoNgFooCj; 03-14-2020 at 12:38 AM..
Which region was more powerful and dominant in 1950, the year arguably both regions were at the summit of their power?
This (probably) wouldn't be a serious poll today, but it looks like it certainly would have been in 1950.
RUST BELT:
Buffalo (1950 pop. 580,000)
Pittsburgh (1950 pop. 676,000)
Cleveland (1950 pop. 914,000)
Cincinnati (1950 pop. 504,000)
Detroit (1950 pop. 1,850,000)
Milwaukee (1950 pop. 637,000)
Chicago (1950 pop. 3,620,000)
St. Louis (1950 pop. 857,000)
vs.
NORTHEAST:
Boston (1950 pop. 801,400)
New York City (1950 pop. 7,892,000)
Philadelphia (1950 pop. 2,072,000)
Baltimore (1950 pop. 950,000)
Washington D.C. (1950 pop 802,178)
Providence (1950 pop. 248,000)
Newark (1950 pop. 439,000)
Hartford (1950 pop. 177,000)
It is an interesting comparison, but Baltimore and DC are not (and definitely were not back then) in the Northeast. I would have replaced them with New Haven and maybe Trenton for a real NE vs Rustbelt battle.
I think the reason the Rust Belt is winning is because while the east had/has NYC, the 1950 lineup of Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh doesn't seem to have a peer from any time period. Then add Cleveland, Cincy, STL, Buffalo and MKE on top of that.....wow.
Economically, I don't think Philly would have even been considered a competitor to Detroit then, with Pittsburgh not being that far behind.
I think the reason the Rust Belt is winning is because while the east had/has NYC, the 1950 lineup of Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh doesn't seem to have a peer from any time period. Then add Cleveland, Cincy, STL, Buffalo and MKE on top of that.....wow.
Economically, I don't think Philly would have even been considered a competitor to Detroit then, with Pittsburgh not being that far behind.
Philly would be in the same bracket in that time period I think, but maybe a little behind Detroit. Pittsburgh was a bit behind Philly , probably in a lower bracket. They were all rust belt. Philly grew out of that better than Detroit and Pittsburgh, due to close location to NYC and the concentration of poeple there, and not so single industry focused. but Philly was still down on its luck through the 80s. it really just started to come back in the 2000s in the city. I remember going to center city back in that era and it was very rough. But it revitalized quickly, not like Detroit and Pittsburgh which are doing it slowly. Pittsburgh much ahead of Detroit in that regard. Baltimore was a different dynamic - it was thriving in the 90s through about 2005 then just went downhill. The Wire era. then the riots. there was a time in the 90s when people from DC went to Baltimore for a nice city experience, when DC was the murder capitol
No, not remarkable considering all of those colleges & university, plus the relatively tiny black population that precluded the massive white flight that devastated other northeast and midwest cities.
Boston lost 250k people in thirty years.
Back in the day Schools and hospitals did not equate to money or profit. They were more seen as uncommoditized public goods. If anything all the hospitals, universities, and city/state buildings was just untaxed land...the harbor and central artery were money pits for cleaning/rehabilitation. The city had a huge glut of public housing, it had clear dozens of acres of land in the heart of a city for a freeway that was never built that lay fallow for 15 years (and they still haven’t completely infilled), a thoroughly corrupt system of governance, and lost a whole generation of kids due to busing violence and the subsequent 40% drop out rate that plagued the system for 15 years after that. As to this a general unattractive housing stick (triple deckers), poor weather, and high violent crime- its not amazing it rebounded but it is amazing it is where it is today. Rents are 3-4x as much as they were 25 years ago.
Black population wasn’t really ‘tiny’ by the mid 60s by that time there were about 90k blacks the city and in the 70s/early 80s it was more like 100-130k. Smaller than most great migration cities but not tiny. Especially for a city of only 48 square miles. White flight in Boston continued through the entire 1990s.
DC being part of the Northeast was not a new concept in the 1950s. The Northeast corridor was widely accepted and studied back than and one result of the study of the relationship among clustered cities came in 1961, a new term for the area.
Jean Gottman in 1961 coined the term megalopolis (Megalopolis, the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the Unites States) to describe the massive concentration of population extending from the core of New York north beyond Boston and south encompassing Washington DC.
DC being part of the Northeast was not a new concept in the 1950s. The Northeast corridor was widely accepted and studied back than and one result of the study of the relationship among clustered cities came in 1961, a new term for the area.
Jean Gottman in 1961 coined the term megalopolis (Megalopolis, the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the Unites States) to describe the massive concentration of population extending from the core of New York north beyond Boston and south encompassing Washington DC.
Even if it wasn't a "new" concept, the mass consensus of DC being a Northeastern city didn't really gain traction or solidify until roughly a quarter century later...
It's going to be unfailingly hilarious if I'm still here in 40 years when the mass consensus has eastern Virginia (chiefly Richmond) as Northeastern...
I think the reason the Rust Belt is winning is because while the east had/has NYC, the 1950 lineup of Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh doesn't seem to have a peer from any time period. Then add Cleveland, Cincy, STL, Buffalo and MKE on top of that.....wow.
Economically, I don't think Philly would have even been considered a competitor to Detroit then, with Pittsburgh not being that far behind.
Detroit never eclipse Philadelphia in economic power. Detroit's heavy reliance on the auto-industry still weighs on it today. The diversity of the northeast cities economies was a big reason why they didn't gain the term "rust-belt". They were able to transition more easily from being industrial manufacturing hubs to places of business, trade, technology, law, healthcare, etc. This distinction between the two parts of the country was clear by the 1980s. In 1978, Detroit's MSA Real GDP was 148 billion. In 2010, it was 179 billion. An increase of 29 billion dollars. Philadelphia's in 1978 was 156 and and in 2010, 314 billion. An increase of 158 billion.
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/m..._1978_2010.PNG
^while showing a different time frame, I feel this graph does a good job of illustrating the difference between the two areas of the country in terms transitioning from the industrial age to the postindustrial age.
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.
