Is Philly catching up to Boston in desirability? (state, better, America)

[jpdivola]

Back15 years ago, Boston was in an elite club with just SF, NYC and Chicago as desirable urban cities. Boston was polished, affluent, and desirable. Philly was blue collar, insular and run down. The perception was that everybody lived there because they were born there.

Since then, Boston seems to have fallen a bit in RELATIVE desirability. Of course, Boston is still an amazing city that continues to grow/improve. But, it has a lot more urban competition now (revitalization in Philly and DC and strong urbanization in Seattle and LA). With the rise of more alternatives for urban living, some of Boston's short comings seem to be a little more noticeable: the urban core is kind of small, the nightlife is underwhelming, the hippest neighborhoods are in Cambridge/Somerville, which feel less urban than hip areas of SF Philly/Chi/Brooklyn.

Philly, on the other hand, seems to have really turned it's reputation around. Center City went from run down to desirable. Philly is still nowhere near as prestigious as Boston. But, the city has gained a hip/artsy reputation. A cool urban experience at barging prices.

I now hear people talking up Philly over Boston. That was completely unimaginable back in 2000.
Does anyone else get this sense as well or is it just me?

[kidphilly]

Philly has improved more in this period but Boston has not stopped improving

Boston is still more polished IMHO, was there yesterday but the gap is closing

Boston is still more polished on the whole to me perosnally but maybe a tad more sterile too I like both very much

preference will be in the eyes of the beholder

if anything I chose your first option but maybe better stated is Philly is closing the gap

[jpdivola]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

if anything I chose your first option but maybe better stated is Philly is closing the gap

Yeah, I meant to write "closing the gap", not closed the gap.

[RightonWalnut]

Philadelphia is definitely closing the gap, and on some metrics has surpassed Boston. Philadelphia certainly feels larger while Boston a little more polished.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Where is Pilly? I never heard of it.

[RightonWalnut]

Says the poster with next to nothing as far as "posting history" goes.

This isn't necessarily pitting the cities against each other, but rather comparing the two cities.

[mvpsharky]

I think they are both equally desirable urban areas , depends on what your looking for. Philly is a bit larger, closer to NY. Boston has the ocean and close to the Cape and islands. Both are beutuful, historic cities. They both saw a population decline around the same time , and now both are also rebounding emensely.

[kingtutaaa]

I see no bashing going on here . Philly is closing the gap but it's not at Boston's expense .

[Jhenma]

I've been following this thread since it started and just now noticed that it says "Pilly". I guess my mind was playing tricks on me and for some reason I was seeing "Philly".

[Pine to Vine]

The poll doesn't offer the 3rd option which I would choose: Philly (or Pilly) is closing the gap on Boston. Boston never fell as deeply as Philly and began to rebound before Philly. Philly is experiencing quite a resurgence, yet still, Boston is not standing still. Philly's long term advantage is its size. Should Philly be able to maintain this rate of improvement, it has more potential than smaller Boston.

Let's hope, however, that both of these great American cities continue to grow and prosper. I've noticed on CD that posters from each city rarely attack one another with the exception of the occasional friendly jab. Probably because the cities share a lot of the same DNA.