Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
View Poll Results: More active/entertaining CBD:
Philadelphia 44 42.72%
San Francisco 59 57.28%
Voters: 103. You may not vote on this poll

Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-04-2009, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Spain
1,854 posts, read 4,905,274 times
Reputation: 973

Advertisements

Which city do you think boasts the better downtown?

In terms of accessibility (public transit and walkability), dining, venues, unique surrounding neighborhoods, architecture, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-04-2009, 10:56 PM
 
2,352 posts, read 2,267,344 times
Reputation: 538
SF. Not close.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 04:24 AM
 
593 posts, read 1,756,811 times
Reputation: 314
I think Philly's downtown is underrated, but it still doesn't compare to San Francisco.

As someone said, it's not close.

San Francisco by a long shot.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 04:25 AM
 
221 posts, read 795,871 times
Reputation: 169
In terms of vibrancy and energy, SF is second only to Manhattan in my opinion.

So naturally, San Francisco.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 09:27 AM
 
Location: Boston Metrowest (via the Philly area)
7,256 posts, read 10,512,646 times
Reputation: 8787
Considering there's more downtown residents in Philadelphia than SF, I'm not exactly sure where the "SF by a long shot" comments are coming from. It has 92,000 downtown residents, third behind Chicago.

http://www.centercityphila.org/busin...arketFacts.php
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 10:02 AM
 
Location: Cardboard box
1,909 posts, read 3,769,693 times
Reputation: 1339
Yea people are waay off when they say downtown sf is more active than down town philly. People don't really live in down town SF. The financial district and SOMA shut down at night and downtown SF shuts down at night, dense as it may be; save the tourist corridor on embarcaderro on the water.

In terms of neighborhood vibrancy sf takes this pretty solid, but Downtown vibrancy not so much. SF is known for having a sub par night-life. Not close to the big three and really not even comparable to DC or Boston, Maimi, Vegas and other second or third tier cities. Sf is uber nanny state, and they like to have their tourists out during the day, where they can be controlled, SF is not very tourist friendly at night..(Bart transit shuts down just after midnight for example)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 10:30 AM
 
Location: NYC
1,213 posts, read 3,598,559 times
Reputation: 1254
Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeShoreSoxGo View Post
Yea people are waay off when they say downtown sf is more active than down town philly. People don't really live in down town SF. The financial district and SOMA shut down at night and downtown SF shuts down at night, dense as it may be; save the tourist corridor on embarcaderro on the water.
Tons of people live in downtown SF. There's more to downtown than the Financial District and SOMA. Union Square, points west around Geary, etc. definitely do not shut down at night and I consider that to be a part of downtown.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeShoreSoxGo View Post
Not close to the big three and really not even comparable to DC
How can you claim that downtown SF isn't vibrant, yet claim that DC of all places is more vibrant? All those huge government buildings downtown completely void of any street level businesses? If you're going to judge, at least use the same standards for all cities. You use the Financial District (which is usually pretty inactive at night in MOST cities) to make a case against SF, yet completely ignore the all those Federal Government buildings in DC?

Now before the DC posters jump down my throat, let me just say that DC definitely does have a vibrant downtown. But when a poster claims that DC's downtown is vibrant and SF's downtown isn't even comparable to that, it makes absolutely no sense.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 11:20 AM
 
672 posts, read 1,783,326 times
Reputation: 499
According to Travel and Leisure, America's favorite cities category for "wild weekend":
America's Favorite Cities 2009 - Categories - Type of Trip - Wild weekend - Travel + Leisure (http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2009/category/10/subcategory/53 - broken link)

SF ranks # 9, while ranks Philadelphia #21.

Typical cities perceived as having world class nightlife ranked 1, 2, 3, and 4, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Miami, and New York, respectively. So this ranking is pretty accurate.

The person ranking Boston and DC above SF is delusional. DC ranked dead last.

It's basically the same story with their nightlife ranking.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2009/category/12

Food and dining.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2009/category/15

Quality of life and visitor experience.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2009/category/16 (broken link)

In fairness, I will admit that Philadephila has more cultural offerings though.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2009/category/13 (broken link)

Last edited by Rhymes with Best Coast; 12-05-2009 at 11:37 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 11:40 AM
 
Location: yeah
5,717 posts, read 16,304,118 times
Reputation: 2974
How are we defining these two central dusiness bistricts?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2009, 11:57 AM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,635 posts, read 67,223,385 times
Reputation: 21169
Quote:
Originally Posted by krudmonk View Post
How are we defining these two central dusiness bistricts?
I was just thinking the exact same thing.

First of all, not even New York's Financial District is vibrant at night-the activity moves elsewhere. The same can be said of London, Chicago, Boston, SF etc.

Second of all, San Francisco's Union Square are is considered part of Downtown and Philadelphia doesnt have anything that compares to Union Square in terms of shopping and dining amenities. Union Square also has a number of live theater venues, bars, restaurants and nightlife.

Thirdly,
If we include the Civic Center area, that throws into the mix opera, ballet, symphony and a whole other focal point of acitivity.

Fourthly,
SOMA, probably the hottest neighborhood on the west coast, over the last 15 years, has seen a level of development that pound for pound is unmatched by probably any urban neighborhood in the country. There are museums and cultural venues, A MLB stadium and its own nightlife and entertainment scene.

Fifthly,
North Beach, Chinatown, Waterfront(including Fisherman's Wharf) all could lay claim to being part of the downtown action-and that combined with Union Square, SOMA and the Civic Center area really puts this comparison out of reach for Philadelphia, which has a great scene as well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top