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This is really a toss-up. All 4 cities are strong in most of the categories. The one thing I can say for certain is that Baltimore will be unrated in this thread. Hopefully we will surprise some people.
This is really a toss-up. All 4 cities are strong in most of the categories. The one thing I can say for certain is that Baltimore will be unrated in this thread. Hopefully we will surprise some people.
They all have strong areas and none are “lacking“ in any category... seemed like a sensible match up.
I personally voted Philly but a genuine case could be made for any of them
I agree with you that a case could be made for any of them and that this really is a toss-up, even though I voted Philly largely on homer grounds.
I'm going to attempt a rank order of the items on your list. If a city's name appears in italics, I think it has a clear advantage in the category; a vertical bar separates cities where I think there's a significant gap between the city(ies) to its left and those to its right
Colonial architecture: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore | Washington, which really has next to none, as only Georgetown existed before 1800. If you include Alexandria as part of Washington and count Colonial Revival as "Colonial," the picture changes, and so does the order of cities, with Philadelphia vaulting ahead of Boston and Washngton pulling even with Baltimore
Diversity of architectural styles (Art Deco, Beaux Arts, Georgian, Gothic, Modern, Tudor, etc): Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, with the main difference being that Washington has a sort of overarching character that runs across all building styles thanks in part to the Federal government and in part to the height limit
Grandness and monumentality:Washington | Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore
Height: Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore | Washington, which has a strict height limit
Historic districts: Tie
Industrial architecture: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington
Intact and cohesive architectural neighborhoods and districts:Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington
Lack of monotony: Boston, Washington | Baltimore, Philadelphia (these two cities could swap places in this category)
Maritime architecture: Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington
Nature and its inclusion to the urban fabric: Washington | Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia
Non-building architecture (train stations, street signs, terminals, stadiums etc.): I'd call this category "Public-structure architecture." Washington, Philadelphia | Baltimore, Boston. Special shout-out to Philadelphia in the street-sign category.
Pre-War architecture: Tie
Preservation of historic buildings: Boston, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia (the head of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, with whom I'm acquainted, would probably be disappointed to read this but agree with me anyway)
Beauty: Boston=DC>Philadelphia=Baltimore
Colonial Architecture: Philadelphia>Boston>Baltimore>DC
Diversity of architectural styles: Boston>DC>Philadelphia>Baltimore
Grandness and monumentality: DC>Philadelphia>Baltimore>Boston
Height: Philadelphia>Boston>Baltimore>>>DC
Historic districts: Boston=Philadelphia>Baltimore=DC
Industrial architecture: Philadelphia>Baltimore>Boston>DC
Intact and cohesive architectural neighborhoods and districts: Philadelphia>Boston>Baltimore>DC (As nice as DC is today, a lot of old neighborhoods like Southwest were razed for urban renewal, and a good chunk of the main downtown (around K St.) once had a lot of nice townhouses and even some apartments that were torn down. Baltimore is losing a lot of old rowhouse neighborhoods even as we speak thanks to decay, and even the Guilford Tower downtown, once the tallest in Baltimore until 2 Light St. was completed in the late 1920s, was razed back in the 1980s.
Lack of monotony (this is basically the same as diversity of architectural styles)
Maritime architecture: Baltimore>Boston>DC>Philadelphia
Nature and its inclusion to the urban fabric: DC>Boston>Baltimore>Philadelphia
Night-time landscape: Philadelphia>Baltimore>DC>Boston
Non-building architecture: Boston>Philadelphia>Baltimore>DC
Pre-War architecture: Philadelphia>Boston>DC>Baltimore
Preservation of historic buildings: Boston>Philadelphia>DC>Baltimore
This a great match-up and a tough thread! Before I rank, any of these cities have a place at the table, not a thread where it will make one city look bad.
Beauty - DC..Boston..Philadelphia....Baltimore
Colonial architecture - Philadelphia & Boston..... Baltimore & DC
Grandness and monumentality - DC...Philadelphia..Boston....Baltimore
Height - Philadelphia, Boston, Balitmore, DC
Historic districts - Philadelphia & Boston... DC.. Baltimore
Industrial architecture - Boston & Philadelphia..Baltimore..DC
Intact and cohesive architectural neighborhoods and districts - All have a presence of this, but the MOST I would say Boston,DC,Philadelphia, Baltimore
Lack of monotony - Philadelphia & Boston, Baltimore, DC
Maritime architecture - Baltimore & Boston, DC, Philadelphia
Nature and its inclusion to the urban fabric - DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore
Night-time landscape (neon, LED, lighting schemes) - Philadelphia (Center City mostly), DC, Boston, Baltimore
Non-building architecture (train stations, street signs, terminals, stadiums etc.) - Train stations its easily Philadelphia and DC. The other items are more subjective and all seem to do well, so I will say a tie?
Preservation of historic buildings - This is where Philadelphia loses points with me. The city is a true architecture gem, but A LOT of wonderful buildings have been lost throughout the years. Most of the preservation efforts are guarded by fierce city residents and you would think in 2020, the city would join the battle... or at least step-up new construction design requirements.
But here I vote: DC/Boston/Philadelphia, Baltimore
Overall, its a close one, but I would give the edge to Philadelphia due to size, and most architectural diversity. Plus, there are a lot of areas outside of Center City that feature stunning architecture.
Beauty
DC, Boston, Philly/Baltimore. Really its in eyes of the beholder
Colonial architecture
Boston, Philly, Baltimore, DC. All have their colonial area, but Boston has by far the largest and most preserved. Philly has Old City and Baltimore has Fells Point but nothing on the scale of North End, Beacon Hill or Back Bay. DC unfortunately is almost all post 19th century and later with just a sliver of Georgetown being built in the very late 1800’s
Diversity of architectural styles (Art Deco, Beaux Arts, Georgian, Gothic, Modern, Tudor, etc)
Philly, Baltimore, Boston, DC. Philly & Baltimore have retained a good bit of their old school masterpieces, Boston and especially DC have bulldozed **** to the ground
Grandness and monumentality
DC/Philly, Boston, Baltimore
Height
Philly, Boston, Baltimore, DC (side note: DC has the most high-rises by official count)
Historic districts
Tie, they all have some of the best in the country
Industrial architecture
Baltimore, Philly, Boston, DC. Baltimore still looks and feels industrial and actively tries to replicate that look in its more recent developments. All the others tend to stay away from that and go for modern developments as opposed to throwbacks
Intact and cohesive architectural neighborhoods and districts
Philly/DC, Boston/Baltimore. Philly/DC don’t have harbors the break up seamless development so there going to carry the win in this category
Lack of monotony
Boston, DC, Baltimore/Philly. Boston has the most diverse housing stock, DC is limited by its height limits so it resembles a faux Paris, while Baltimore & Philly are a utopia of rowhomes
Maritime architecture
Baltimore, Boston, Philly, DC. Baltimore’s brutalist National Aquarium is all that needs to be said
Nature and its inclusion to the urban fabric
Tie. Baltimore & Boston make great use of their harbors, DC & Philly make grate use of their parks with DC getting the edge due to its waterfront development.
Night-time landscape (neon, LED, lighting schemes)
Philly/DC, Baltimore, Boston. Center city is a just a light show at night while DC’s monuments are lit up just enough for one to take notice but not to the point when there trying to hard, it just works. Despite Boston have a larger skyline than Baltimore, the latters layout on the harbor allows for better views and more immersion.
Non-building architecture (train stations, street signs, terminals, stadiums etc.)
Tie. All have historic train stations (DC & Phillies shine bear). Baltimore has the best stadiums. Boston street layout makes for interesting designs.
Preservation of historic buildings
Boston/Baltimore, DC, Philly. Boston & Baltimore have a NIMBYISM in their historic districts so tearing down old building is met with massive resistance. DC & Philly are the opposite
I agree with you that a case could be made for any of them and that this really is a toss-up, even though I voted Philly largely on homer grounds.
I'm going to attempt a rank order of the items on your list. If a city's name appears in italics, I think it has a clear advantage in the category; a vertical bar separates cities where I think there's a significant gap between the city(ies) to its left and those to its right
Colonial architecture: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore | Washington, which really has next to none, as only Georgetown existed before 1800. If you include Alexandria as part of Washington and count Colonial Revival as "Colonial," the picture changes, and so does the order of cities, with Philadelphia vaulting ahead of Boston and Washngton pulling even with Baltimore
Diversity of architectural styles (Art Deco, Beaux Arts, Georgian, Gothic, Modern, Tudor, etc): Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, with the main difference being that Washington has a sort of overarching character that runs across all building styles thanks in part to the Federal government and in part to the height limit
Grandness and monumentality:Washington | Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore
Height: Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore | Washington, which has a strict height limit
Historic districts: Tie
Industrial architecture: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington
Intact and cohesive architectural neighborhoods and districts:Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington
Lack of monotony: Boston, Washington | Baltimore, Philadelphia (these two cities could swap places in this category)
Maritime architecture: Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington
Nature and its inclusion to the urban fabric: Washington | Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia
Non-building architecture (train stations, street signs, terminals, stadiums etc.): I'd call this category "Public-structure architecture." Washington, Philadelphia | Baltimore, Boston. Special shout-out to Philadelphia in the street-sign category.
Pre-War architecture: Tie
Preservation of historic buildings: Boston, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia (the head of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, with whom I'm acquainted, would probably be disappointed to read this but agree with me anyway)
Nature and its inclusion to the urban fabric
Tie. Baltimore & Boston make great use of their harbors, DC & Philly make grate use of their parks with DC getting the edge due to its waterfront development.
Don't forget Washington's urban tree canopy, which outpaces all three of the other cities' by a large margin.
Don't forget Washington's urban tree canopy, which outpaces all three of the other cities' by a large margin.
DC definitely has a substantial tree canopy
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