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.
Urban Feel - Philadelphia (being from Brooklyn, I feel more at home in Philly as opposed to DC, even though I have some relatives from DC. Everything feels almost familiar here in Philly.)
People - Philadelphia (the diversity is much more apparent inside and even outside of Philadelphia. If you want to Vietnamese, Koreans, or even South Americans, you have to go to VA for that, Philadelphia has just about those ethnicities within the city.)
Better life - tie (I feel both cities offer a better quality of life due to each city promoting themselves. While I still feel Phila needs to do more economically and logistically, it does enough as far as quality of life is concerned while DC is constantly growing, the sky's the limit for that city.)
Entertainment - Philadelphia (Phila does offer a lot of Broadway shows along the Avenue of the Arts, as well as many museums, galleries, parades, and festivals. DC, however is catching up to the entertainment side, but I'll give this one to Phila.)
Architectures - tie (DC is a lowrise city, while Phila since the 1980's is highrise, but both cities have their distinctive architecture throughout their city limits.)
Economy - DC (With Amazon moving it's second HQ in DC, the District just has a much stronger economy due to the federal gov't offering those six figure jobs. Some of the most richest counties and enclaves are within the DC metro area and PG County is the richest county for black Americans. Need I say more?)
Downtown - Philadelphia (Phila's downtown feels more organic plus you don't see it overrun with much tourist the way DC's downtown is.)
Suburbs - Philadelphia (Probably the better looking suburbs are in Phila. From the Main Line to South Jersey town like Marlton, Medford, Moorestown, etc. and even DE.)
Future possibilities - DC (The sky's the limit when it comes to DC. We don't know how far DC will continue to grow. It's possible that DC could reach 1 million people but could it reach 2 million? It may not even reach 2 million people in my lifetime but I could see DC hitting 1 million in about 20 years time, if the city's gov't and planners do the right thing by allowing mixed-income housing as well as improve DC's density because it's not so much just the size of the city, but the density which is why DC, Boston, SF, and Miami remain popular because despite the size of the city limits, they're the most densest and powerful cities in America.)
Public transportation - DC (Philadelphia just has the better infrastructure, as our rail lines used to go to Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Reading, Lancaster, and even West Chester, but no more. Our commuter rail system is a shell of it's former self. Also, because we have a stunted subway system with only two heavy rail lines when we should've had a lot more, our bus system does go around w/o having dedicated routes for certain streets. DC looks like it has a much better rail and subway system as opposed to Phila. Fifty years ago, Philadelphia would've won this argument, but DC just has the better mass transit system and it's still expanding to who knows where, but at least DC is expanding unlike our system.)
Shopping - DC (While Philadelphia has made leaps and bounds to improve it's shopping selections, DC just has a much better selection than Phila. Just hit Connecticut Ave and see the boutiques it had compared to Walnut St.)
Open mindness - tie (both cities are diverse enough plus they're both relatively liberal cities)
Schools - Philadelphia (Temple, Penn, Drexel, LaSalle, and St Joes comes to mind. And let's not forget Villanove in the Main Line. All DC has is Georgetown and the University of MD just outside College Park, MD.)
wanderer34: I'd also rank Philadelphia above DC on education (both higher and K-12), but to be fair to the Washington area, both George Washington and American universities in the District are well-regarded schools (and DC's NPR news and information station is based at American University). It's also home to "the Black Harvard," Howard University, and the nation's leading institution of higher education for the Deaf, Gallaudet University.
There are also some lesser-known schools in the DC education firmament: Catholic University of America and the public University of the District of Columbia in the District, George Mason University in Virginia. Their Philadelphia-area analogues would be schools like Widener University in Chester, Holy Family University in the Northeast, and Eastern University (nee Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary) somewhere in the 'burbs.
But on the reputation scale, you also have to add Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore colleges to Philadelphia's side of the scale. These are three of the top liberal-arts colleges in the country, and AFAIK they have no Washington-area equivalents.
No one will (or should) criticize you for an opinion, but I just don't understand posts like this without elaborating.
It really would help the thread be more informative/interesting if you would just give even just a few reasons as to why you hold that opinion.
I think because Philly isn't as... Polished or vibrant as DC and the others. So it puts a bad wrap on the city.
Philadelphia has a lot of potential, but everyone I know who lives in Philadelphia also says it's not a real fun city and are either planning on/have already moved back to NY or Boston. My best friend goes to Drexel and hates Philly, already has a job lined up in Raleigh post grad in May.
I like Philly but everyone who lives there, doesn't. So I mean that has to mean something. I would live there but I want to see Philly fill out and become as cool/vibrant/eclectic as Boston, NYC and DC
I like Philly but everyone who lives there, doesn't. So I mean that has to mean something. I would live there but I want to see Philly fill out and become as cool/vibrant/eclectic as Boston, NYC and DC
No joke: back in the 1970s, the city's marketing slogan was "Philadelphia isn't as bad as Philadelphians say it is." (In the 80s they went with "Get to know us," which was definitely more aspirational.)
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.
