Atlanta vs. Philadelphia (state, better, compare, place)

[darkone]

Having driven through Philadelphia recently, on my way to my current city of residence, Atlanta, I had some observations:

1.Philadelphia has a larger, denser and older city proper.
2. Atlanta has a more expansive metro area (suburban sprawl)
3.Atlanta has much greater highway traffic and capacity.
4. Overall, the Atlanta metro area feels larger (It has the feel of a metro area of 4.5-5 million whereas the Phila. metro area feels smaller than it supposedly is, more like a 3-3.5 million person metro area)

I want others' opinions:

- Which metro area feels larger?
- Why is there far less highway traffic in the Phila. area?
-Is the Phila. suburban sprawl hidden when traveling on the highways or is there simply less than in Atlanta?
-Which area offers a better quality of life overall (subjective)?

[tmac9wr]

Philadelphia has considerably more mass-transit than Atlanta, so it doesn't usually have as many cars on the road as cities like ATL. The only thing that feels larger about Atlanta in my opinion is how spread out it is. Philadelphia has many more people in a smaller area, which in my opinion feels much larger...though it should be noted that to me "larger" means it feels like there's a lot of people in a big city, not larger land area taken up.

Though I'm sure Philly has its fair-share of suburban sprawl, I would think that it was similar to Boston and New York City in the sense that many of its suburbs were well-established before the rise of the automobile. Therefore you won't see as many "Walmart, Target, Lowes, Olive Garden, Outback, etc" sprawl and that you see in cities like Atlanta, which have been sprawling out into formally rural areas and making them suburban.

This type of development happens in the older cities too, though not as much since the major growth of these cities happened a long time ago.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by darkone

Having driven through Philadelphia recently, on my way to my current city of residence, Atlanta, I had some observations:
3.Atlanta has much greater highway traffic and capacity.
4. Overall, the Atlanta metro area feels larger (It has the feel of a metro area of 4.5-5 million whereas the Phila. metro area feels smaller than it supposedly is, more like a 3-3.5 million person metro area)

I'm curious to which route you took and what areas of metro Philly that you saw?

If you came N-S down I-95 the area starts at about Trenton and ends in Newark De. Thats approx. 60 miles long, and from E to W you are looking at another 60 miles width. Downingtown Pa to Medford NJ.

Perhaps Philly seems smaller because its broken up into 3 different states. If you came thru NJ 295 or 495 you only saw 1/4 of the metro, if you came thru Philly I-95 you only saw 1/4 of the metro , if you came down 476 thru the near western Burbs you only saw 1/4 of the metro, and finally if you came down 202 thru the far western burbs you only saw 1/4 of the metro.

Here are some maps of the area rail systems to compare and may give a reason why Atlanta has much more highway traffic. Philadelphia being a much older region obviously has a more extensive rail network at this point and time. I'm not sure what you saw but my guess is that you saw 1/4 of the Philly metro.

http://www.itsmarta.com/images/rail_map_2008.jpg (broken link)

[darkone]

^ Thanks for the metro rail transit maps - I'm very familiar with MARTA, and know that it is not anywhere near as extensive as SEPTA.

I drove down I-295 to I-95 passing near Sesame Place, NE Phila, past center city, PHL airport, through the southern suburbs and Wilmington and Newark. To be fair, the south of Philly stretch of I-95 seemed a lot busier than the north of Philly stretch. My feeling is there is a lot of tree cover along I-95 north of town hiding dense development, but why is traffic so light on this stretch? Also why are I-276 and I-476 (which form the "beltway" of Philly) only two lanes for long stretches - for such a major metro area, this all seemed underwhelming to me ...

[lammius]

Originally Posted by darkone

^ Thanks for the metro rail transit maps - I'm very familiar with MARTA, and know that it is not anywhere near as extensive as SEPTA.

I drove down I-295 to I-95 passing near Sesame Place, NE Phila, past center city, PHL airport, through the southern suburbs and Wilmington and Newark. To be fair, the south of Philly stretch of I-95 seemed a lot busier than the north of Philly stretch. My feeling is there is a lot of tree cover along I-95 north of town hiding dense development, but why is traffic so light on this stretch? Also why are I-276 and I-476 (which form the "beltway" of Philly) only two lanes for long stretches - for such a major metro area, this all seemed underwhelming to me ...

I'm a bit of a transportation geek, and the interstate highways around Philly are such a weird case study. 276 and even much of 95 north of Center City are through interstates with little interaction with other roadways. For example, I-95 and I-276 cross paths but there is no interchange between them. They're through in the sense that there are infrequent interchanges, but they're not the through routes you'd use to travel very long distances (i.e. NYC to DC, in which case you'd take the NJ Turnpike and bypass the Philly area altogether). Unless you're going to/from somewhere between Trenton and Center City, you really have no reason to be on 95. Other roads make more sense. Weird, right? 95 and 276 are the products of odd regional and interregional politics. It's a little-known fact that I-95 is incomplete. The great north-south highway has a missing link, just north of Philadelphia. I-95 ends near Trenton (actually it makes a U-turn and becomes I-295 South, another pointless road) only to reappear again on the NJ Turnpike 10 miles away near Hightstown. The planned roads that would have made I-95 contiguous are today weird highway spurs and loops that don't really go anywhere.

Oh, and 476 isn't a very old road itself. The "Blue Route" as much of it is known opened, what in the late 90s?

[rainrock]

476 is only about 30 years old and passes through the affluent western suburbs of Philadelphia. Those towns/counties have a lot of clout and its a miracle they even allowed any highway to be built at all , the compromise was 2 lanes in the wealthiest of those towns.The 3 western counties Montgomery,Chester,Delaware counties represent nearly 2 million of Philadephia metroes 5.8 M people. If you saw the ridiculous standstill traffic on 476 at rush hour its anything but underwhelming.

The less traveled section of I-95 NE of Philly is in Bucks County which is more suburban in nature. Also the Philadelphia metro sprawls more than the locals would care to admit. I-95 which you traveled on is the main artery but the brunt of the newer growth is all happening 15-30 miles from 95 in every direction.

[lamexican]

I would have to vote Philadelphia. Philly is an awesome city with great history and culture. Atlanta is starting to come into its own, but its not yet in the league of a great city like Philly IMO.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by lammius

It's a little-known fact that I-95 is incomplete. The great north-south highway has a missing link. I-95 ends near Trenton (actually it makes a U-turn and becomes I-295 South, another pointless road) only to reappear again on the NJ Turnpike 10 miles away near Hightstown. The planned roads that would have made I-95 contiguous are today weird highway spurs and loops that don't really go anywhere.

The genesis of the NJ Turnpike + 295 really had a negative impact on Philadelphia and more specifically Pa. It basically became the Philadelphia bypass concerning travel + commerce between NYC/North Jersey + points south Bal/Wash. Coming Northward from Washington/Bal you wont see 1 sign mentioning Philadephia. Ditto coming south from NYC along the NJ turnpike, the signs point you to Baltimore /Washington,Philadlephia isnt even on the radar. The Philadephia Wilmington area is in its own little self contained bubble thanks to the NJ Turnpike.

Also 295 + NJ TPk in South Jersey are loaded with industrial parks filled with corporations that used to be located in Philadelphia and the PA suburbs. Stroke of genius for NJ.

[DailyJournalist]

Philly is much bigger than Atlanta! Its a true urban city.

[cdw1084]

I'll answer the quality of life question. If you like historic areas, public transportation and stacked houses, then Philly is for you. If you like a city that's booming, car dependent and a house with a backyard, then Atlanta is for you. It's all in the person.