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Looking forward over the next 10 years or so, which will have the brighter future in terms of development?
Seems like they have opposite challenges. Philly is more accommodating to development and has put up some awesome building in the past 20 years. But it doesn't have the SF/NYC style yuppie economy to attract the same level of investment.
Boston can attract the investment, but development is fought tooth and nail. The city cant seem to build anything above 20 story stumps anymore.
Having just visited both. I would say philadelphia. They have tall buildings right in the middle of rowhouse areas. /oston only seems to allow tall buildings in a couple of areas.
Seems like they have opposite challenges. Philly is more accommodating to development and has put up some awesome building in the past 20 years. But it doesn't have the SF/NYC style yuppie economy to attract the same level of investment.
Boston can attract the investment, but development is fought tooth and nail. The city cant seem to build anything above 20 story stumps anymore.
These are two salient points. I started to vote for Boston, as I think the high-tech industry, one of Boston's great strengths, offers a critical mass for continued growth. In the end, I voted Philly since they simply seem more eager to encourage development compared with the stronger anti-development sentiment I find quite common in Boston. Philly would seem a "no-brainer" if I was an executive looking to locate my business in one vs. the other - do I want to fight to get in or rush into open arms? This climate in Boston may end up being a continued boon to its suburbs (such as Waltham) to the city's detriment.
EDIT: I see we are just talking about skyscrapers. Now the answer is seriously Philly.
A little bit of a nitpick: Philadelphia is certainly maxed-out in terms of development, but unlike Boston, it has much more land ripe for redevelopment (i.e., under-utilized former industrial sites and surface parking lots).
To be sure, zoning in both cities is very much on the strict side, with plenty of NIMBYism to boot. However, due in no small part to the availability of more land for re-development and much more affordable real estate (outside of Center City and its enviorons), Philadelphia would seem more amenable to developers.
Also, in terms of skyscrapers, high-rises tend to be confined to being between Market & Arch Streets in Philly, but there is very ample space for CBD growth north of the Vine Street Expressway. Unfortunately, Boston does not have the luxury of being able to re-develop a plethora of under-utilized space.
All in all, though, I think both cities will be prime targets for future growth, particularly because these are well-planned, walkable cities with robust transit systems and great residential neighborhoods in close proximity to their CBDs.
definately philadelphia. There are hundreds of proposed plans aiming to make the future brighter for the city. Philly was in a condo boom as well as having a mjor expansion period for colleges and hospitals. There has been some down time because of the recession, but i think within the next 10-20 years there will be some big changes, such as the new proposed water front, more highrised, college and hospital expansion, comcast and its taking over of NBC.
Ive said this before boston is farther along than philly, i really dont see boston changing that much. I think the city is pretty much as good as it will ever be. PHilly is much larger, and still behind because the development period hit the city later. Also phillys location helps it out a lot more as well.
Boston by a mile.. Its workforce is much more educated by far.
boston has the better educated work force and that's a great positve atribute... But I struggle to see why that is so important here. Madison wisconsin has a better educated work force than nyc; this doesn't mean that madison has a brighter devepmental future than nyc. Boston may indeed have the brighter future here but if tjat's the case it won't be because of it's highly educated work force... A topic which is at best, only distantly related to the topic at hand.
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