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.
Boston's sterile and boring. Philadelphia has the best downtown, hands down. Once you visit Philly EVERY OTHER CITY will be underwhelming after that. The U.S. was founded here, for God's sake!
Dunno just in the US alone I can think of a half dozen or more that by no means seem underwhelming relative to Philly. NYC and Chicago obviously feel larger, Philly feels small to me when compared to NYC, always has since I was a kid and Chicago feels much larger on the whole. Also SF, Boston, LA, DC and even SSeattle can compare at worst
Maybe in 1776 only NYC or Boston felt comparable; but last i checked it is 2012...
Except NYC, of course. After NYC every city in the WORLD is sort of underwhelming. Yes, even megacities like Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Sao Paulo. There's just something so unique and special about the Big Apple.
Central London is quite fantastic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTL_urbanlover08
Boston's sterile and boring. Philadelphia has the best downtown, hands down. Once you visit Philly EVERY OTHER CITY will be underwhelming after that. The U.S. was founded here, for God's sake!
You're on a roll with these great posts. I have to think Enid, OK beats out Philadelphia, right?
Philadelphia is clearly the winner. There are several people that believe so too.
I spent a week in Philly last Summer (staying with friends in Old City). We walked all over the city daily to see the sights. We even got to meet and have a private tour with the player of the Wanamaker Organ. I generally had a good time. Although I thought that the city was pleasant, it sure didn't "feel" all that big to me. In fact, it felt small and manageable and not terribly crowded. It felt more like a network of small urban neighborhoods in which there was a great variance in activity level. Even the very center of the city felt manageable and smaller than I expected for a city of its size.
This is not an insult to Philly, it just didn't read "big city" for me.
I spent a week in Philly last Summer (staying with friends in Old City). We walked all over the city daily to see the sights. We even got to meet and have a private tour with the player of the Wanamaker Organ. I generally had a good time. Although I thought that the city was pleasant, it sure didn't "feel" all that big to me. In fact, it felt small and manageable and not terribly crowded. It felt more like a network of small urban neighborhoods in which there was a great variance in activity level. Even the very center of the city felt manageable and smaller than I expected for a city of its size.
This is not an insult to Philly, it just didn't read "big city" for me.
I'm a native Philadelphian and I think your impression is pretty spot-on. Philadelphia is a city that often feels much smaller than it is, which I think is a nice thing about it. But of course, this is city-vs-city, so...
I spent a week in Philly last Summer (staying with friends in Old City). We walked all over the city daily to see the sights. We even got to meet and have a private tour with the player of the Wanamaker Organ. I generally had a good time. Although I thought that the city was pleasant, it sure didn't "feel" all that big to me. In fact, it felt small and manageable and not terribly crowded. It felt more like a network of small urban neighborhoods in which there was a great variance in activity level. Even the very center of the city felt manageable and smaller than I expected for a city of its size.
This is not an insult to Philly, it just didn't read "big city" for me.
Yea, I don't get all the Philly is so huge and big city stuff.
I love Philly and it has an extremely vibrant and busy downtown, but I always though Philly's downtown should be much larger with more towers etc. for its importance, age and size and could never put my finger on why the city feels so much smaller than it is.
Philadelphia is clearly the winner. There are several people that believe so too.
It's nice to have pride in your city. It's quite another to remove the Brotherly Love sunglasses and see Philadelphia for what it is. Philly has a nice downtown (esp. around Rittenhouse to City Hall), with some hustle and bustle and vibrancy. However, if you're honest about it, when compared to NYC and Chicago, Philadelphia seems somewhat small and compact. It's nice, but after walking 10-15 minutes in any direction, you're essentially "out" of the downtown area. In NYC, you could walk for a day and literally still be laced in downtown urbanity. Chicago, while certainly not as urban is NYC (quantity), is also significantly larger than Philadelphia.
I suspect you may be at a disadvantage because I'm guessing you've never been to NYC or Chicago or you would not have made your original claim.
If you're going to claim Philly, claim it for the historical buildings that line many downtown streets. This is where it differentiates itself (IMO, even moreso than Boston and NYC). Philly has a great urban feel (even gritty and funky), the Reading Terminal is great, but it's just not that large. But for vitality, things to do, culture, pure size, please do not compare it to NYC or Chicago. Philly fares OK against Toronto (though Toronto is bigger and feels that way too) and SF. I will say Philadelphia seems bigger and more vibrant than Boston and DC.
Yea, I don't get all the Philly is so huge and big city stuff.
I love Philly and it has an extremely vibrant and busy downtown, but I always though Philly's downtown should be much larger with more towers etc. for its importance, age and size and could never put my finger on why the city feels so much smaller than it is.
I do think it's a little odd how people seem to equate tall buildings and skylines with importance, age & size. Many of the world's greatest, oldest, and most important cities do not have substantial skylines to speak of. Seems like a really American "me too!" sentiment that's' gotten ingrained in our culture (and yes I am American).
Philly doesn't really have any true demand for more office towers, as it can't really fill the ones it has without crippling tax incentives; and in recent decades, when a new tower has gotten built, it's basically just sucked tenants from another tower with less of a sweetheart tax deal, which then gets converted to a new use when they can't fill the empty office space (hotels, condos).
And yet people think if they don't keep building towers it somehow detracts from the city's status. But hey, I'll take Rome or Barcelona over Dubai any day!
I do think it's a little odd how people seem to equate tall buildings and skylines with importance, age & size. Many of the world's greatest, oldest, and most important cities do not have substantial skylines to speak of. Seems like a really American "me too!" sentiment that's' gotten ingrained in our culture (and yes I am American).
Philly doesn't really have any true demand for more office towers, as it can't really fill the ones it has without crippling tax incentives; and in recent decades, when a new tower has gotten built, it's basically just sucked tenants from another tower with less of a sweetheart tax deal, which then gets converted to a new use when they can't fill the empty office space (hotels, condos).
And yet people think if they don't keep building towers it somehow detracts from the city's status. But hey, I'll take Rome or Barcelona over Dubai any day!
Pretty sure Philadelphia had a moratorium on large buildings until early 80's. No building could be higher than the William Penn statue on City Hall, which is like 300-400 feet. Since that moratorium was lifted, Philadelphia has done pretty impressively to build its height in 30 years. IMHO, it's now one of the finest skylines in America. Imagine if there was no height restriction in place.
Pretty sure Philadelphia had a moratorium on large buildings until early 80's. No building could be higher than the William Penn statue on City Hall, which is like 300-400 feet. Since that moratorium was lifted, Philadelphia has done pretty impressively to build its height in 30 years. IMHO, it's now one of the finest skylines in America. Imagine if there was no height restriction in place.
Yes, the unofficial height restriction was broken in 1986 (I watched that building go up from my window), thus cursing the city to a 22 year championship drought, but that wasn't really the point.
I think your follow-up comment possibly reinforced my actual point about perceived american city status being too tied to skylines though
Yes, the unofficial height restriction was broken in 1986 (I watched that building go up from my window), thus cursing the city to a 22 year championship drought, but that wasn't really the point.
I think your follow-up comment possibly reinforced my actual point about perceived american city status being too tied to skylines though
Nope. It did not. I was just referring offhand about skylines and the fact that Philly has a nice one, that could have been taller had a height restriction not been in place for many years.
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.
