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.
What street is Philly's version of Michigan Avenue?
Philadelphia has two main shopping streets. If I had to give just one street I would say Walnut Street... specifically between Broad and 19th (Intermix, BCBG, Burberry, etc. etc.).. Chestnut street is also picking up as well with several high end stores now on Chestnut (Boyds, Express, 3 floor Macy's which is expanding to 7 floors, Godiva, Swarovski, H&M, LOFT, Victoria's Secret, etc. etc.).. also, Market East between City Hall and 6th is on it's way to becoming a large middle class shopping destination akin to Times Square. Huge plans for Market East.
P.S.... don't use Google Maps as a judge, the images for Center City street view are like 3 or 4 years old now.
Here are some images I took of Walnut Street in October:
Philadelphia has two main shopping streets. If I had to give just one street I would say Walnut Street... specifically between Broad and 19th (Intermix, BCBG, Burberry, etc. etc.).. Chestnut street is also picking up as well with several high end stores now on Chestnut (Boyds, Express, 3 floor Macy's which is expanding to 7 floors, Godiva, Swarovski, H&M, LOFT, Victoria's Secret, etc. etc.).. also, Market East between City Hall and 6th is on it's way to becoming a large middle class shopping destination akin to Times Square. Huge plans for Market East.
P.S.... don't use Google Maps as a judge, the images for Center City street view are like 3 or 4 years old now.
Here are some images I took of Walnut Street in October:
I am not agreeing or disagreeing, just curious to the following:
1. what is your definition of "downtown" Chicago?
2. what is the population of center city?
3. what does urban mean to you?
1. Not sure... just know there are more office buildings in the downtown area of Chicago and more residents living in Center City... as has been proven several times. If you include the North Side however, I think Chicago passes Center City Philadelphia... but if you added that to Chitown, you would have to add Unviersity City as a part of Center City Philadelphia.
2. From Vine to Pine, River to River, Center City Philadelphia's population is 57k. From Spring Garden to South Street, River to River (which is now becoming the accepted boundaries of Center City), the population is over 90k. Add in University City, there is another 60k+ living in the area. That's not including the over 200k+ students living in the UCity/CCity area.
3. I'm not saying Chicago is non-urban... because it obviously is... and I consider it among the top 5 most urban cities in the country along with NYC, Philly, Boston and San Fran... but I always just felt like Center City was slightly more urban than Chicago only because the streets are narrower and everything feels closer to you. You feel more closed in and claustrophobic in Center City. It's easier to just cross the street wherever instead of having to go to the intersection to cross. There are only four wide streets in Center City (Market, Broad, JFK and the Parkway)... where as in Chicago, EVERY street seems so damn wide haha.
I am not agreeing or disagreeing, just curious to the following:
1. what is your definition of "downtown" Chicago?
2. what is the population of center city?
3. what does urban mean to you?
That would put it at about 3.37 miles in length and 1.32 miles wide.
As you can see, the "Downtown Areas" of both cities are pretty similar in size, with Chicago only being slightly larger in both length (about a mile) and width (about a half a mile)... also, "Downtown" Philadelphia seems more densely and consistently developed compared to Chicago and also connects seemlessly to it's surrounding neighborhoods where Chicago does not. Chicago is built higher though and has more taller buildings, making the skyline seem much larger and making the Downtown area seem much larger. When in reality, Chicago's skyline is only about 1 mile longer than Philadelphia's (Philadelphia just has shorter buildings, because of a height limit in the city until 1989).
1. Not sure... just know there are more office buildings in the downtown area of Chicago and more residents living in Center City... as has been proven several times. If you include the North Side however, I think Chicago passes Center City Philadelphia... but if you added that to Chitown, you would have to add Unviersity City as a part of Center City Philadelphia.
2. From Vine to Pine, River to River, Center City Philadelphia's population is 57k. From Spring Garden to South Street, River to River (which is now becoming the accepted boundaries of Center City), the population is over 90k. Add in University City, there is another 60k+ living in the area. That's not including the over 200k+ students living in the UCity/CCity area.
3. I'm not saying Chicago is non-urban... because it obviously is... and I consider it among the top 5 most urban cities in the country along with NYC, Philly, Boston and San Fran... but I always just felt like Center City was slightly more urban than Chicago only because the streets are narrower and everything feels closer to you. You feel more closed in and claustrophobic in Center City. It's easier to just cross the street wherever instead of having to go to the intersection to cross. There are only four wide streets in Center City (Market, Broad, JFK and the Parkway)... where as in Chicago, EVERY street seems so damn wide haha.
1. Downtown Chicago doesn't really have defined borders, but if you call it Roosevelt-Division-Halsted-Lake Michigan you are looking at a population of roughly 100,000
2. If the 200k+ student population is accurate it def has more people than the boundaries I listed above
3. Well, the entire north side has a higher population than all of Philadelphia, so that wouldn't be a fair comparison to center city. I would probably call Philly and Chicago equally urban at peak, with Chicago just having more of it.
1. Downtown Chicago doesn't really have defined borders, but if you call it Roosevelt-Division-Halsted-Lake Michigan you are looking at a population of roughly 100,000
2. If the 200k+ student population is accurate it def has more people than the boundaries I listed above
3. Well, the entire north side has a higher population than all of Philadelphia, so that wouldn't be a fair comparison to center city. I would probably call Philly and Chicago equally urban at peak, with Chicago just having more of it.
Wouldn't the map shown of downtown Chicago would make the population about 186,000
Near North: 80,000
Loop: 30,000
West Loop: 55,000
South Loop: 21,000
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.
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.
