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Old 02-15-2013, 11:46 AM
 
735 posts, read 1,126,115 times
Reputation: 290

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Quote:
Originally Posted by foo cities View Post
The skyline of Philly looks puny from several directions: North and East. Not a fat chance until 2100.
Puny, huh?

Compared to Chicago and NYC but definitely not compared to the cities you try to boost as being "so much better" than Philadelphia.
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Old 02-15-2013, 01:02 PM
 
Location: East Brunswick
208 posts, read 543,910 times
Reputation: 147
I love Philly's skyline, I think it beats all others in the US hands down, save for the two in this thread's title.

Having said that, I've noticed that many Philadelphians (here and on other forums) are obsessed with comparing their city with others, especially NYC. I'm not sure if that's a healthy attitude to be honest. Philly is Philly and NY is NY. They may have been competitors over a century ago, but now for better or worse, NYC plays in a different league. I'm not suggesting it's better, superior, nicer or anything...but you cannot seriously keep comparing Philly to a city of 8 million that has a metro population of over 20 million and is furthermore the center of international finance. It strikes non-natives as being delusional...

Philly should focus on maintaining and preserving its countless historic buildings and streets...and rebuilding its less fortunate neighborhoods. Skyscrapers do not make communities.
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Old 02-15-2013, 01:28 PM
 
735 posts, read 1,126,115 times
Reputation: 290
It's probably a good thing that it's non-natives who compare the two most often, then.

Philadelphia does not want to be NYC. It never has. Philadelphians do not care and never have. Philadelphia and New York were "not comparable" a century ago. Philadelphia was a much more prestigious Old World city. It was more innovative. It was the center of art in the US. It was a culinary center, much more of a center of education than New York. It wrote the blueprint that many cities, including New York, followed.

New York and Philadelphia play in completely different leagues and always have.

Thinking Philadelphia cares or wants to be like any other city is what is delusional. It's not Philadelphia that starts those comparisons in this or other forums. People do not care. It's unbelievably annoying hearing this tripe that people in the city or the metro give a crap what anywhere thinks of them or the city or that they care about how they compare to LA or Seattle or any other of these self-proclaimed "superior" cities. It's the other way around. Philadelphia was the city in the US before any of those cities even existed. New York became "New York" after the Erie Canal was built in the 19th Century but moreso with the rise of show business. Philadelphia's population and industry might've exploded in the late 19th and early 20th Century but its status started before the United States even existed.
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Old 02-15-2013, 01:39 PM
 
725 posts, read 1,207,394 times
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Thats what I always tell people. Many non-natives believe that us Philadelphia's have an "inferior complex. But to be compleatly honest, our city really doesn't care for other cities. While that does have some bad things to it, its the truth and our way of thinking. Philadelphia started the country you see today. We held the ball in mostly everything with no competitors. But cities stole our ideas, and ran with it, thus we lost power. But still to this day many Philadelphians think they have the best city. Tho I know thats not true, its how we think.
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Old 02-15-2013, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
8,700 posts, read 14,649,518 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bryson662001 View Post
Check your facts friend. Sad as it makes me, metro Dallas has already passed Philly and Houston is nipping at our heels..... that's in size. I wouldn't give you a quart of pee for either of those sorry towns but an awful lot of Americans seem to approve of them. As for skylines, Houston has way more tall buildings than Philly, Dallas I don't remember. Go ahead, check it out.
I would not consider Dallas OR Houston to be larger than Philadelphia even though the numbers say so. If you look at the facts, they are both MUCH larger in land area than Philadelphia. Philadelphia is also much denser on every aspect. Even the suburbs tend to be denser than most of the city limits of both cities.
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Old 02-15-2013, 04:31 PM
 
Location: a swanky suburb in my fancy pants
3,391 posts, read 8,759,892 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Summersm343 View Post
I would not consider Dallas OR Houston to be larger than Philadelphia even though the numbers say so.
It's kind of hard to argue with logic like that. The illusion counts for more than the facts?
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Old 02-15-2013, 06:44 PM
 
Location: East Brunswick
208 posts, read 543,910 times
Reputation: 147
Quote:
Originally Posted by Summersm343 View Post
I would not consider Dallas OR Houston to be larger than Philadelphia even though the numbers say so. If you look at the facts, they are both MUCH larger in land area than Philadelphia. Philadelphia is also much denser on every aspect. Even the suburbs tend to be denser than most of the city limits of both cities.
I'd actually agree to an extent...Houston is over four times the size of Philadelphia in area. Philly should have annexed towns along the Delaware back when it could.
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Old 04-07-2014, 12:07 AM
 
3 posts, read 3,789 times
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**** new jersey it's wack Camden Trenton blah blah blah Philadelphia all day
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Old 04-07-2014, 03:06 AM
 
14,612 posts, read 17,424,739 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YBE View Post
Philadelphia is by far my favorite city. Compared to other places (Chicago, NYC) Philly was late to the skyscraper party. Do you think Philly will catch up to them in the next 20-30 years? I know NYC is a behemoth but, is it a possibility for Philly's skyline to ever rival Chicago's?
No, it is not possible for Philly to rival Chicago. Even if Philly starts a building spree, it is nearly impossible to imagine an economic scenario that wouldn't have Chicago also building some tall buildings as well.

The third place city has always been wide open with various cities jostling for position since the early 1970's. The list below is for number of buildings over 800'. It includes the following three buildings under construction

Wilshire Grand Tower Los Angeles (US) 1100'
Transbay Tower San Francisco (US) 1070'
181 Fremont San Francisco (US) 802'

4 Philadelphia (US) (including proposed new Comcast building)
3 Los Angeles (US)
3 Atlanta (US)
3 Houston (US)
3 San Francisco (US)
2 Dallas (US)
1 Charlotte (US)
1 Cleveland (US)
1 Oklahoma City (US)
1 Pittsburgh (US)
1 Seattle (US)

With Comcast announcing plans for a 59-story, 1,121-foot tower, (21' taller than the Wilshire Grand Tower) Philly has made a credible start to securing the third place position.

It should be noted that the "Comcast Innovation and Technology Center'' and the "Wilshire Grand Tower" are both aiming for completion dates in 2017. If past is prologue, and considering that the buildings are so close in height, a last minute design change may be instituted to push LA ahead of Philadelphia.

Personally, I like the gentleman's decision to build the New York Times Building in 2007 to the exact height of the Chrysler Building (1930) so that they would equally share the #4 position in NYC.

A Chinese construction company has announced new techniques in pre - assembly which would allow construction of a 1000' building in 90 days on site. They may not be the best looking buildings, but they sure could go up fast.

Last edited by PacoMartin; 04-07-2014 at 03:22 AM..
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Old 04-07-2014, 05:49 AM
 
Location: Philly
10,223 posts, read 16,773,376 times
Reputation: 2972
Quote:
Originally Posted by taha-nj View Post
I'd actually agree to an extent...Houston is over four times the size of Philadelphia in area. Philly should have annexed towns along the Delaware back when it could.
montgomery county was originally part of philadelphia but they seceded. as far as i can see its a shame the city isnt smaller, plenty of nice neighborhoods trapped inside a failed school system
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