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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo I can't believe so many are voting for Philly. Are they doing it just in spite? Because Philly "feels" MUCH smaller than Atlanta outside of Center City and even downtown and midtown Atlanta give Center City Philly some good competition.
I know Philly is more dense and is much busier at the urban street level, but personally, I feel like Atlanta blows away Philly with this specific topic.
Once again, this topic is completely subjective to begin with. There is no right answer when it comes to how something "feels," because it's entirely qualitative and completely depends on individual experiences.
Hence, I think the overall answer for the OP is "it depends." The much more bustling, dense nature of Philly's urban core absolutely can allow it to feel much larger than a more decentralized city like Atlanta. But if we're talking about a moderately dense edge city outside of a traditional CBD -- which is much more common in the Atlanta area compared to Philly -- I can definitely see arguments for Atlanta.
I agree with you; the reason I created this thread is that everyone is going to take different stuff into account presenting their necessarily subjective opinion (since the question was necessarily subjective) on which feels like the bigger MSA. Some are going to lean towards Philly due to the CBD with ~100% greater employment, far more foot-traffic, etc. Others are going to lean towards Atlanta, since its "office park sprawl" seems to extend further and since there are more highrise clusters spread over a larger geographic footprint (creating the illusion of many mini CBDs)- though in reality not many people live in or in the immediate environs of those highrise clusters (at least not compared to a traditional CBD), but the mere fact that they're highrise clusters gives people the *impression* that they're pieces of urbanity. Also, still others may lean towards Atlanta due to its wider freeways; posts from the US-outside the Northeast- probably notice that freeways in the metropolitan areas surrounding their states' largest cities are almost always wider than those in the surrounding small towns, so they'll inherently associate wide freeways with "big city." (though cities in the Bos-Wash corridor DON'T have a plethora of especially wide freeways relative to their population sizes).
But in summary, I could see how different ppl's perceptions of massive (at the MSA level) could lead to different results, so that's why I thought this poll would be pretty interesting, as it would reveal which factors people tend to perceive as being associated with a "massive" metropolitan area.
HAHA what? First, this is a subjective poll. There really isn't a right or wrong. Obviously the majority FEEL as if Philadelphia feels larger.
Second, Midtown and Downtown ATL give Center City Philly good competition? HAHA, no. Not even close. Center City has more jobs, residents, hotel rooms, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, etc. etc. than both Midtown and Downtown ATL combined.
BTW, Midtown and Downtown ATL are about the same size in square mileage as Center City alone. Throw in University City into the equation for Philadelphia and Philadelphia's core absolutely demolishes ATL in every single measurable and statistical metric.
You might want to check your hotel stats. If anyplace is 'demolishing' the other, it is Midtown & Downtown demolishing Center City is this category. There are thousands more hotel rooms here than in Center City. You must not be aware that this is a top five convention city, and has been for decades.
And your map of Midtown is way off. In reality it extends to the west of 75/85.
With this comparison atlanta looks like a small town compared to philadelphia. Amazing how much of philly people magically disregard so they can compare their city to it lol.
^That's because certain Philly posters ignore facts, manufacture mystery maps and are so obviously threatened by Atlanta they resort to simply making things up. Pretty sad, actually.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JMatl
^That's because certain Philly posters ignore facts, manufacture mystery maps and are so obviously threatened by Atlanta they resort to simply making things up. Pretty sad, actually.
^That's because certain Philly posters ignore facts, manufacture mystery maps and are so obviously threatened by Atlanta they resort to simply making things up. Pretty sad, actually.
Manufacture mystery maps? Lol. I used a map of both Atlanta and Philadelphia from Google maps. What is mystery about that? Did you mean to say fantasy?
What facts am I ignoring? Philadelphia is much more built up and urban than Atlanta. I was extremely generous in what I included as a part of "Atlanta's Downtown" in that map. Most if it is extremely suburbanesk and low density sprawl. I could have included much more in the Philadelphia map that is denser and more built up than what is included in the Atlanta map. Center City and University City in Philadelphia is much more built up, urban and city like that Downtown and Midtown Atlanta. MT/DT ATL also have a 12 lane highway separating the two. Wow, really urban and walk-able! Center City and University City have a river separating the two with a park and highrises lining it.
Philadelphia has a much larger Downtown... in every single metric.
I mean, just look at the surrounding area of each cities current tallest building.
The fact is that Philadelphia is better than Atlanta in almost every single measurable aspect. It is bigger and more populated, much denser, way more urban, way more walkable, more jobs, lower crime rates, better public transit, better nightlife, better shopping, better food, better attractions, parks, museums, theater, culture, etc. etc. the list goes on and on.
No body in Philly is threatened by the overgrown suburb of Atlanta. Trust me. Maybe Atlanta is good competition for Montgomery County, PA, but not the city of Philadelphia.
Manufacture mystery maps? Lol. I used a map of both Atlanta and Philadelphia from Google maps. What is mystery about that? Did you mean to say fantasy?
What facts am I ignoring? Philadelphia is much more built up and urban than Atlanta. I was extremely generous in what I included as a part of "Atlanta's Downtown" in that map. Most if it is extremely suburbanesk and low density sprawl. I could have included much more in the Philadelphia map that is denser and more built up than what is included in the Atlanta map. Center City and University City in Philadelphia is much more built up, urban and city like that Downtown and Midtown Atlanta. MT/DT ATL also have a 12 lane highway separating the two. Wow, really urban and walk-able! Center City and University City have a river separating the two with a park and highrises lining it.
Philadelphia has a much larger Downtown... in every single metric.
I mean, just look at the surrounding area of each cities current tallest building.
The fact is that Philadelphia is better than Atlanta in almost every single measurable aspect. It is bigger and more populated, much denser, way more urban, way more walkable, more jobs, lower crime rates, better public transit, better nightlife, better shopping, better food, better attractions, parks, museums, theater, culture, etc. etc. the list goes on and on.
No body in Philly is threatened by the overgrown suburb of Atlanta. Trust me. Maybe Atlanta is good competition for Montgomery County, PA, but not the city of Philadelphia.
It seems like the Atlanta skyline looks pretty huge from a far way distance but up close it lacks that big city feel that you find in cities like Philly, New York, and Chicago. I think it's largely due to Atlanta not having a dense cluster of skyscraper buildings. It's too spread out.
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