Why is New York City and Philadelphia not viewed as Mid-Atlantic cities? (suburbs, title)

[2e1m5a]

Originally Posted by AdamBpa

Despite that, I'd still say Baltimore and Philly are culturally two of the closest major cities in the U.S., and even the BosWash corridor. Philadelphia is just more a bigger and more of a major city and is thus more diverse. I think Philadelphia is like the geometric mean between Baltimore and New York, if you want to use the math metaphor to describe differences in accent, diversity, size, influence, Southern/Northern-ness, etc., if that makes sense.

Interesting! That makes a lot of sense the more I think about it.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by jm02

I'd probably ask the same question of Boston or NYC.

The only similarity I see between Philly and B-more is the rowhouses. Other than that, there aren't too many.

Philadelphia obviously has more in common with NYC than any other city. It's second only to NYC in its numbers of Italians, Irish, and Jamaicans. It has the third largest Puerto Rican population behind NYC and Chicago (the PR community in Baltimore is virtually non-existent). There are plenty of differences between Philly and NYC, but fewer than there are between Philly and B-more.

[nephi215]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

The only similarity I see between Philly and B-more is the rowhouses. Other than that, there aren't too many.

Philadelphia obviously has more in common with NYC than any other city. It's second only to NYC in its numbers of Italians, Irish, and Jamaicans. It has the third largest Puerto Rican population behind NYC and Chicago (the PR community in Baltimore is virtually non-existent). There are plenty of differences between Philly and NYC, but fewer than there are between Philly and B-more.

Exactly that's what I'm saying

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by TMR23

Do u honestly think Philly has more in common with some where in Rhode island than it does with Baltimore.... I highly doubt that.

I'm wondering when geography and regional designation became about who has what in common?

[jm02]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

The only similarity I see between Philly and B-more is the rowhouses. Other than that, there aren't too many.

Philadelphia obviously has more in common with NYC than any other city. It's second only to NYC in its numbers of Italians, Irish, and Jamaicans. It has the third largest Puerto Rican population behind NYC and Chicago (the PR community in Baltimore is virtually non-existent). There are plenty of differences between Philly and NYC, but fewer than there are between Philly and B-more.

Don't disagree. Baltimore has more in common with Norfolk than Philly.

I was responding to a person who brought "somewhere in RI" into the dialogue (see quoted text in post above).

[TMR23]

What does Baltimore and Norfolk have in common?

[AdamBpa]

^I'm not sure. Maybe the ethnic make-up of their populations, but other than that not much.

[jm02]

Originally Posted by TMR23

What does Baltimore and Norfolk have in common?

Originally Posted by AdamBpa

^I'm not sure. Maybe the ethnic make-up of their populations, but other than that not much.

Actually, quite a lot, besides demographics. Each has major harbors on the Chesapeake . . .

All sizes | Norfolk Skyline | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8399703@N02/1113040944/sizes/z/in/photostream/ - broken link)

. . . similar architecture, including rowhouses . . .

All sizes | Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgrendelx/5638878282/sizes/z/in/photostream/ - broken link)

. . . and waterfronts similar to in feel to Fells Point . . .

All sizes | Blakeney, Norfolk | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordshirechurches/2633731335/sizes/z/in/photostream/ - broken link)

[The above images are Norfolk.]

. . . and somewhat similar demographics:
Norfolk: 47.1% White, 43.1% African American, 6.6% Hispanic, 3.3% Asian
Baltimore: 33.1% White, 63.2% African American, 3% Hispanic, 2% Asian

The significance of the Chesapeake on the history and topography of these cites, as well as how it features in their recreational focus further drives the similarity of their cultures. For these reasons, I contend Baltimore has much more in common with Norfolk than with Philadelphia.

[AdamBpa]

You do have a point with the cities' histories as ports on the Chesapeake Bay, though I really have no knowledge of the history of industry in Norfolk. That may be just ignorance on my part.

However, I disagree with the architecture bit. This may sound superficial, but if you go into Google Maps, and drop the Street View icon in any random residential section of Baltimore, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single home. They're all rowhomes, except in a few areas. In Norfolk, though, you'd be hard-pressed to find a row of rowhouses. The vast majority are singles homes.

But Baltimore has the following in common with Philadelphia that are different from Norfolk:
-Architecture/street layout (Norfolk is not full of rowhomes)
-Density/walkability (as far as I know, I could be wrong though)
-Part of the BosWash corridor, so pretty connected to other major metropolitan areas
-I'm not certain about this, but I'm sure the political environments of Philadelphia and Baltimore are closer than those of Norfolk and Baltimore
-Has many suburbs, but none that are close to being like a twin (or quadruplet, or whatever) city of Baltimore (Norfolk has Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Portsmouth, and Newport News. Even if Norfolk is the biggest, the others are too big to be suburbs really)
-Working class reputation (again, don't really know about Norfolk)
-Major industrial center, though it was previously bigger (Rust Belt-ish but not quite)
-I know Baltimore and Philadelphia experienced a lot of white flight to nearby suburbsin the second half of the 20th century. I'm not sure if the same thing happened in Norfolk (well, there really weren't suburbs to go to)
-The dialects of Philadelphia and Baltimore are very close.

So despite the ethnic diversity (among whites) and lack of immigrants in Baltimore, and Philadelphia's lack of a Chesapeake Harbor, I think Baltimore and Philadelphia are much closer than Baltimore and Norfolk. All those reasons outweigh these and the recreational focus in my opinion.

[gwillyfromphilly]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

The only similarity I see between Philly and B-more is the rowhouses. Other than that, there aren't too many.

Philadelphia obviously has more in common with NYC than any other city. It's second only to NYC in its numbers of Italians, Irish, and Jamaicans. It has the third largest Puerto Rican population behind NYC and Chicago (the PR community in Baltimore is virtually non-existent). There are plenty of differences between Philly and NYC, but fewer than there are between Philly and B-more.

I wonder if Puerto Ricans are the largest Hispanic ethnic group in Baltimore like it is in New York City, Philadelphia and Boston.