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Sports (teams/fans)
Transportation(roads/airport/PT)
Downtown(city)
Shopping(city/suburbs)
Location
International Feel
Food
Any other catagories you feel are worthy of discussing
These MSAs and CSAs are fairly similar in population, which each metro area having 4 sports teams, and each city being the 2nd largest in their respective regions of the country. Which do you think is better overall?
Last edited by usernameunavailable; 01-29-2016 at 09:47 AM..
Sports teams/fans: Detroit for teams- the Red Wings success in 2nd to none, and the Tigers as well as the Pistons have recently been good. Plus having 5 FBS football teams within 100 miles helps. Fans:even. Each metro area has among the best sports fans in the country
Transportation: Airport-Detroit. But this is fairly close. More international destinations as well as more passengers, and more modern as well. Roads-Detroit. Less congestion, and better planned. PT: Philly by a mile. That is no contest
Downtown: Again, Philly by a mile. No contest
Shopping: City-Philly Suburbs-tied
Location: Philly. Though both have very good locations
International Feel: Detroit. Close to Canada, and also has the largest Arabic population in the US
Food: Philly. Philly is one of the best foodie cities in the country
Overall: Philly by a hair. Though Detroit has more advantages, The margins why which Philly has their advantages are simply too much for Detroit to overcome.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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Sports: Got to go with Detroit on this one, though I do think Philadelphia has more passionate fans. Detroit has a winning history (mainly the Red Wings) that Philly comparatively lacks. Pistons > Sixers, Red Wings > Flyers, Tigers > Phillies, Eagles > Lions.
Transportation: Philadelphia. Amtrak, SEPTA, PATCO, Megabus, etc. Top 5/6 public transit city in the nation.
Downtown: Philadelphia. Center City is a top 3 downtown in this country.
Shopping: Philadelphia. King of Prussia plus Cherry Hill plus Walnut Street plus Exton Mall plus Christiana Mall equals hard to beat.
Location: Philadelphia. 90 min to NYC, 90 min to Baltimore, 135 minutes to DC. And the train is faster. No contest.
International Feel: Philadelphia. Not just black/white, but notably South Asian, Puerto Rican/Dominican, East Asian and African as well. Throw in the cosmopolitan nature of the rest of the NE, with visitors from there constantly flowing through the city, and Philly, while not at NYC/DC/Boston levels, very much feels international.
Food: Philadelphia. Best Italian food in the nation, awesome foodie city in general.
Detroit is a noticeable tier lower than Philadelphia, in my opinion. I don't think Philly has bombed out as bad as Detroit has (though I understand that the D is going through a renaissance, which is great). Detroit probably has a case for better rappers than Philly, and a better overall black musical tradition (Motown vs Philly Soul), but that will be a dog fight that can go either way.
Sports: Got to go with Detroit on this one, though I do think Philadelphia has more passionate fans. Detroit has a winning history (mainly the Red Wings) that Philly comparatively lacks. Pistons > Sixers, Red Wings > Flyers, Tigers > Phillies, Eagles > Lions.
Transportation: Philadelphia. Amtrak, SEPTA, PATCO, Megabus, etc. Top 5/6 public transit city in the nation.
Downtown: Philadelphia. Center City is a top 3 downtown in this country.
Shopping: Philadelphia. KoP plus Cherry Hill plus Walnut Street plus Christiana Mall equals hard to beat.
Location: Philadelphia. 90 min to NYC, 90 min to Baltimore, 135 minutes to DC. And the train is faster. No contest.
International Feel: Philadelphia. Not just black/white, but notably South Asian, Puerto Rican/Dominican, East Asian and African as well. Throw in the cosmopolitan nature of the rest of the NE, with visitors from there constantly flowing through the city, and Philly, while not at NYC/DC/Boston levels, very much feels international.
Food: Philadelphia. Best Italian food in the nation, awesome foodie city in general.
Detroit is a noticeable tier lower than Philadelphia, in my opinion. I don't think Philly has bombed out as bad as Detroit has (though I understand that the D is going through a renaissance, which is great). Detroit probably has a case for better rappers than Philly, and a better overall black musical tradition (Motown vs Philly Soul), but that will be a dog fight that can go either way.
While I agree with you on Public Transit, you fail to mention that Detroit's airport is bigger than Philly's, and probably also has a better planned freeway system (I'd hope so considering it is the motor city)
Sports teams/fans: Detroit for teams- the Red Wings success in 2nd to none, and the Tigers as well as the Pistons have recently been good. Plus having 5 FBS football teams within 100 miles helps. Fans:even. Each metro area has among the best sports fans in the country
Transportation: Airport-Detroit. But this is fairly close. More international destinations as well as more passengers, and more modern as well. Roads-Detroit. Less congestion, and better planned. PT: Philly by a mile. That is no contest
Downtown: Again, Philly by a mile. No contest
Shopping: City-Philly Suburbs-tied
Location: Philly. Though both have very good locations
International Feel: Detroit. Close to Canada, and also has the largest Arabic population in the US
Food: Philly. Philly is one of the best foodie cities in the country
Overall: Philly by a hair. Though Detroit has more advantages, The margins why which Philly has their advantages are simply too much for Detroit to overcome.
you said 5 FBS within 100 miles, believe it or not Philly is actually close here but College football is more a back seat to Pro in the NE in general
(Temple, PSU (180 miles I believe so a little further), Rutgers (60 miles), Un of MD (120 miles)) but still more for Detroit and Univ of MD has little connection at all to Philly nor does Rutgers for the most part though some NJ folks, seems PSU would be more dominant even in S Jersey and Temple sadly has little following even in Philly proper even with a pretty good year
Actually not sure if Navy or Army are FBS but both (maybe Army a tad further) are within that 150 mile range
Transportation(roads/airport/PT)
PT Detroit probably doesn't even come close to Philly. Detroit's airport is better however. So I guess this would kind of play on which one you needed to use the most. (I have a car so I don't care about PT). Detroit's freeway system is one of the best imo, very well planned. I guess this could go either way.
Downtown(city)
Philly
Shopping(city/suburbs)
Idk. Detroit has pretty good shopping, are there any stores/ brands in Philly that you can't get in Detroit?
Location
Detroit. Philly is in the Bos-Was corridor but Detroit is across the river from another country, and easy access to lots of outdoor Michigan activities and scenery. And a small plus is right between Toronto and Chicago, also not far from Cleveland.
International Feel
Never been to Philly so idk about the "feel" but I'll give this to Detroit as well. International metropolitan area. We have people who work, play, shop, ect in Detroit and live in Canada and Detroit also has the largest middle eastern population and one of the largest African American populations and both are pretty obvious to see. Also the largest Mexican population in Michigan.
Food
Detroit's food scene is very underrated, alot of good stuff in Detroit. Idk about Philly's food scene except for the Philly cheese stakes. I'll put this as a tie.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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Quote:
Originally Posted by usernameunavailable
While I agree with you on Public Transit, you fail to mention that Detroit's airport is bigger than Philly's, and probably also has a better planned freeway system (I'd hope so considering it is the motor city)
I don't really think an airport's modernity and size really impacts the day-to-day living of most people. The vast majority of people in this country might use an airport 3-4 times a year, at most (obviously, there are exceptions, but frequent fliers tend to be outliers). While PHL could definitely use upgrades and more service, I don't particularly think it's a bad airport, per se. Detroit and other cities just have better ones. Not a huge point for Detroit when compared to public transportation, which is far more vital to day-to-day living.
As far as freeways, I've never driven on Detroit's, so I can't comment from experience. You're most likely right though, given that the highway infrastructure in and around Philly is pretty dated, severely congested during rush hour, and often downright dangerous (merge-or-die exits, narrow lanes, left exits, etc.). I personally avoid I-76 (the "Surekill Expressway) entirely at all costs, and stay off of I-95 from 4-7 if I can.
All that said, Philly is one of the few cities in this country where a car-free lifestyle is entirely possible--I'm not sure if the same thing can be said of Detroit. It is very much desirable and doable to commute to work via public transportation, while using a personal car only for certain trips (weekends, grocery runs, etc.). I'd say that is a reality for many Philadelphians. So Detroit might have a better freeway system, but I'm still willing to bet that it can get backed up at certain times. With no viable alternative to alleviate/circumvent congestion, I still have to give this one to Philly. And apparently, the roads in Metro Detroit, my personal anecdotes not withstanding, are in much worse condition than Philadelphia's.
Last edited by qworldorder; 01-29-2016 at 01:53 PM..
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