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Strange how people seem to think that the third most populous downtown in the country (only behind New York and Chicago) can't compete with San Francisco. I have been to SF and was very impressed with the vibrancy and the city life in general. However if you think Philly cannot compete, than you have obviously never been here.
Philly has everything a downtown needs and more. Hundreds of bars, world class restaurants, theaters, the world renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, Operas, music halls, art galleries, all types of museums. There are three subway lines, 8 regional rail lines, dozens of bus lines and trolley's. All this packed in one of the most dense urban environments in the country.
If architecture is your thing than SF does not come close to touching Philadelphia. Architecture from the 1700's-Today. A few blocks away from the oldest street in America is a very lively district known as Old City (where Real World Philly was filmed). And a few blocks from there is Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center.
Philadelphia... Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia gets my vote; it has a relatively large resident population and you must have people actually living in center city to have a vibrant 24/7 downtown. Last time I was visiting it was still "hopping" at 4 AM..
Last edited by PITTSTON2SARASOTA; 12-05-2009 at 12:58 PM..
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Philly has everything a downtown needs and more.
Not shopping.
San Francisco really is on a different level as far as Downtown Shopping is concerned. Most of Philadelphia's most prominent boutiques and department stores are in a suburban mall.
Quote:
If architecture is your thing than SF does not come close to touching Philadelphia.
I think most people are more apt to find DT SF more memorable.
San Francisco really is on a different level as far as Downtown Shopping is concerned. Most of Philadelphia's most prominent boutiques and department stores are in a suburban mall.
I think most people are more apt to find DT SF more memorable.
Great pictures, can you find downtown San Francisco's population??? I believe the CBD's are determined by The Census Bureau...but to find that detailed info...for Philly...,I would have had to go to the stacks at Penn State's Patee library, but a poster before me found a link......I have no idea; where to glean that kind of detailed data on the net.
I am relatively new to computers; perhaps you could find the info..I'm sure San Francisco has a sizeable resident population within it's CBD boundaries? PS..Philadelphia has Malls in center city...Galleria and Shops at Liberty Place.... I did find this very unexpected graph on population growth though... http://www.demographia.com/c-sfphi.jpg
Last edited by PITTSTON2SARASOTA; 12-05-2009 at 02:31 PM..
Im not sure what this has to do with the topic, but between 2000 and 2004, The SF Bay Area lost 300,000(or 1 in 10) jobs in the dot com bust. As a result people left and actually we would have a net loss overall if it werent for immigrants that kept the pace of growth on the positive side.
On the other hand, the Census Estimates for 2007-2008 reveal something totally different.
2007 Population
Philadelphia CSA 6,385,000
San Francisco CSA 7,264,000
2008 Population
Philadelphia CSA 6,398,000
San Francisco CSA 7,354,000
Net Change, 2007-2008
Philadelphia CSA +13,000...+0.2%
San Francisco CSA +90,000...1.2%
In fact if we look at estimates from the state of California, which are always proven to be correct come Census time, the San Francisco CSA has 7.702 Million people in 2009.
How are we defining these two central dusiness bistricts?
"Downtown" and "CBD" are kind of arbitrary. For the purpose of this thread, I meant for CBD to include whatever your definition of downtown is plus any adjacent, easily accessible neighborhoods, because, as one poster noted, most financial districts are dead when the sun goes down.
I don't know, but as evidenced by the pictures that really is a moot point in this discussion because SF is incredibly vibrant day and night.
Im not sure what this has to do with the topic, but between 2000 and 2004, The SF Bay Area lost 300,000(or 1 in 10) jobs in the dot com bust. As a result people left and actually we would have a net loss overall if it werent for immigrants that kept the pace of growth on the positive side.
On the other hand, the Census Estimates for 2007-2008 reveal something totally different.
2007 Population
Philadelphia CSA 6,385,000
San Francisco CSA 7,264,000
2008 Population
Philadelphia CSA 6,398,000
San Francisco CSA 7,354,000
Net Change, 2007-2008
Philadelphia CSA +13,000...+0.2%
San Francisco CSA +90,000...1.2%
In fact if we look at estimates from the state of California, which are always proven to be correct come Census time, the San Francisco CSA has 7.702 Million people in 2009.
Nothing of importance...the graph by that company surprised me;( I was looking for San Francisco's CBD population and stumbled across that graphic)...and I assume you too; only reason I posted it .Also, as you mention...the detail for these types of statistics are found at state level demographics and I believe that is how "they determine" what constitutes a given city's CBD...for their purposes.
Last edited by PITTSTON2SARASOTA; 12-05-2009 at 03:38 PM..
Lots of Wharton grads in SF/SiliconValley so an easy comparo
Population stats mean very little; need to know where are the $200K+/yr yuppie jobs in a region and where do those workers live...and whether town has a busy industry of hosting business conferences/business dinners (like LV or NYC or SF)
SF/SV is one of world's two wealthiest regions (along w/Manhattan) so have many yuppies who went to college in Phila at Wharton...and immediately left once graduated...thus Phila (like Bos w/Harvard) is a fairly dead region in terms of its economy, major companies, start-up cos., yuppies and nightlife (need lots of money and business expense acct entertaining to pay for a vibrant dining/drinking culture)
Most of high-income jobs in SF/SV are in suburban SV but many yuppies live in SF's PacificHts, CowHollow, FinancialDt....but SF's great weather/topography and workaholic culture of SV mean late-nt stuff has little appeal to many (unlike NYC where weather sucks and offices generally start day later)
Have far better food and cocktails in SF than Phila, but stuff ends early as many work long hrs and arrive at office <7AM...and on wkends prefer to do outdoor stuff in early AM, not just nurse a hangover
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PS..Philadelphia has Malls in center city...Galleria and Shops at Liberty Place.... I did find this very unexpected graph on population growth though... 
