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.
I agree Philly is better overall, but Seattle being on the verge of the top 10? Come on now - go ahead and name 9 downtowns better than Seattle. I'd say after the big 6, theres a significant drop off, but DT Seattle is right there at 7 or 8. It definitely beats Denver, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Portland, or Baltimore. You may prefer one of those downtowns, but looking at objective criteria Seattle is clearly at or near the top of that pile - again, it's 7th or 8th at the lowest.
I don't know if it definitely beats those downtowns, Minny and Pittsburgh are both very solid and underrated. I certainly would have no issue in placing Seattle above any of them though.
You could make a strong argument that the only cities that definitely have a better downtown are NYC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, San Fran, and DC, so I wouldn't have a big problem with naming Seattle the 7th best DT in the country. Though the DTs you've mentioned in addition to LA, Atlanta, San Diego, Cleveland, NOLA, and Miami could all be thrown into the mix too so I also wouldn't have much of a problem with someone ranking Seattle out of the top ten behind some of those other downtowns. Seattle may just be the best of that bunch, but I think it's close enough. Though the more I think about the more I think that personally I'd rank it closer to 7 or 8.
The point I was trying to make though, is that Seattle has an excellent downtown and is easily among the best in the country. If you were to rank the DTs in order, seattle would be very close to Philly on that list. But the drop from Philly to Seattle is rather severe. In the same sense that Boston would likely be right after NYC in such a list... and yet Boston's DT obviously pales in comparison to NYC.
I'm sure I'll be branded a homer, but to me this isn't even close. I can't even understand how a sane person who has been to both cities could even begin to compare the two. I mean honestly of ALL of the categories listed, how many can you honestly give to Seattle? Cafes and Markets I would give to Seattle. After that though what else could you possibly give Seattle? Shopping might be a tie. You could add Cleanliness as a category and give that to Seattle as well.
Other than that every single other catagory isn't even CLOSE! I mean honestly Philadelphia has the third largest downtown population of any city in the country.
Seriously I'd like to hear from the seatle boosters, which catagories listed above that you think Seattle bests Philadelphia in besides cafes and markets. I'll throw in shopping as well even though I think that's likely a tie and I'll give you the bonus category of cleanliness. That's 4 for Seattle and that's generous.
That leaves like 15 for Philly including basically all of the really important ones like vibrancy, nightlife, culture, etc.
Agreed, this thread is a joke. I like the west coast but some of the delusions of grandeur are crazy. I said in the other thread comparing it to Lower Manhattan that same thing about boutiques. For the entire U.S. .. best case scenario I'd say Philly is 3rd best DT at best, 5th at worst. Seattle is 7th at best, 9th at worst.
I don't know if it definitely beats those downtowns, Minny and Pittsburgh are both very solid and underrated. I certainly would have no issue in placing Seattle above any of them though.
You could make a strong argument that the only cities that definitely have a better downtown are NYC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, San Fran, and DC, so I wouldn't have a big problem with naming Seattle the 7th best DT in the country. Though the DTs you've mentioned in addition to LA, Atlanta, San Diego, Cleveland, NOLA, and Miami could all be thrown into the mix too so I also wouldn't have much of a problem with someone ranking Seattle out of the top ten behind some of those other downtowns. Seattle may just be the best of that bunch, but I think it's close enough. Though the more I think about the more I think that personally I'd rank it closer to 7 or 8.
The point I was trying to make though, is that Seattle has an excellent downtown and is easily among the best in the country. If you were to rank the DTs in order, seattle would be very close to Philly on that list. But the drop from Philly to Seattle is rather severe. In the same sense that Boston would likely be right after NYC in such a list... and yet Boston's DT obviously pales in comparison to NYC.
This is a tangent, but I disagree with you there as well - I think Chicago and SF have downtowns at least as good, if not better than Boston andn Philly. But you are right that they all fall well below NYC.
Location: NY-NJ-Philly looks down at SF and laughs at the hippies
1,144 posts, read 1,295,279 times
Reputation: 432
Honestly, this comparison is a joke. If we are going to compare Philly to a hippie mecca out west then it should be SF. SF is world class and has a world class downtown along with Philadelphia, not Seattle.
Honestly, this comparison is a joke. If we are going to compare Philly to a hippie mecca out west then it should be SF. SF is world class and has a world class downtown along with Philadelphia, not Seattle.
Philly and SF are much more comparable. They are both well above Seattle as to not warrant a comparison.
Honestly, this comparison is a joke. If we are going to compare Philly to a hippie mecca out west then it should be SF. SF is world class and has a world class downtown along with Philadelphia, not Seattle.
From the standpoint of livability, what does Downtown Seattle lack compared to Downtown Philadelphia?
I think they are both terrific downtowns, but it all depends on what a person is looking for.
These outright dismissals are very strange and reak of insecurity.
Seattle has a spectacular downtown. People need to get real.
Seattle was on the way to making it, but never got there because of their gloomy weather, and isolated location. Philadelphia may have gone up and down the rollercoaster and may top be at the top of the rung right now, but at least they have been at the top. Seattle never had enough momentum to make it to the top once
So Seattle's economic and population growth suddenly stalled when people realized it rained in the winter there... Good one.
Location: NY-NJ-Philly looks down at SF and laughs at the hippies
1,144 posts, read 1,295,279 times
Reputation: 432
Quote:
Originally Posted by 18Montclair
From the standpoint of livability, what does Downtown Seattle lack compared to Downtown Philadelphia?
I think they are both terrific downtowns, but it all depends on what a person is looking for.
These outright dismissals are very strange and reak of insecurity.
Seattle has a spectacular downtown. People need to get real.
When you have seen world class cities like London, Paris, NY, Chicago, Amsterdam, Brussels and even Philly.....Seattle is a joke on every level starting with vibrancy, transit, foot traffic, architecture, culture, etc. The only thing going for the city is natural beauty which can be found on a higher level in other cities. Seattle is not worth the plane ticket IMO, too many other cities to see in the world.
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.
