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It's superior commuter rail network, which is now going on 200-years old, has greatly shaped the suburban areas. A large number of Philadelphia's suburbs have, for well over a century, developed quaint downtown/Main Street-type areas clustered tightly near their train station. This opens up the areas beyond these cores to more woodsy, rustic residential areas. The famed "Main Line" is merely a series of planned wealthy communities the old Pennsylvania Railroad established along its string of train stations in the mid-19th Century. Others like Doylestown, Swarthmore, Hatboro, Media, Landsdale, and on and on and on share these traits. Because of this huge commuter train system, Philadelphia's local freeway system is small and underdeveloped compared to even cities half its size... and to me that's a good thing. 2-lane country roads dominate in suburban Philly -- loaded with country pubs, inns and farms -- and oftentimes its hard to conceptualize that the nation's 5th largest city is just a half hour (or so) drive (or train ride) away.
This doesn't mean Philly doesn't have its share of highways, malls, sprawl and cookie cutter cul-de-sac development... It most certainly does. But that 'junk' is far less in suburban Philly than in your typical American big city.
Hear hear. Philadelphias suburbs are exquisite, especially right now in spring. None better for beauty, tradition, regional character. Part of it to me is the romance of the railroads, Phila having been a center of railroading and having built great rail infrastructure back in the day with lots of electrified lines and great suburban service. It has also long since connected the two old center city rail hubs, Penn Center and Reading Terminal, something they're only beginning to argue about doing in Boston!
Just wanted to chime in and say I've changed my opinion regarding Philly suburbs. I drove through Bala Cynwyd the other day and thought it was awesome. I still sort of stand by what I said about Philly's suburbs not being sprawly enough (I know that sounds weird but it's true) Either way I loved all the hills the green and the old homes. As a whole I still prefer Atlanta, D.C and Dallas. But Philly may have moved up to 4 for me.
The thing about philly suburbs is that it's inner suburbs, it's true suburbs are basically completely overlooked in these comparisons, and that's not a slight on the outer town oriented suburbs that dot the region. They are very well connected to the city and are full of amenities. The descriptions on this site are always of the chester, bucks, and upper montco variety with rolling hills and whatnot, but that is a completely different element from most of delco, and the lower part of montco which manage to be well developed without being bland or cookie cutter.
Are we talking true suburbs, or urban areas that have bled over from the city? If the latter, then you have places like Arlington, Bethesda, Brookline, Cambridge that aren't really suburbs in the true sense, and shouldn't really count.
For true, more than 5 miles from the city center suburbs, I'd go with Seattle - Kirkland, Woodinville, SF - Mill Valley, Walnut Creek, Lamorinda, San Mateo, and Boston - Swampscott/Mahblehead, Ipswich, Hingham. DC outside-the-beltway suburbs are super boring, Philly Main Line is kinda strong, Atlanta OTP is like DC OTB, makes me want to go to sleep.
The historical assets/charm of suburban DC pale in comparison to suburban Philadelphia, so I think that's a glaring difference between the two.
Cannot believe you are not impressed by the charm of Reston Town Center. There is plenty of history there, the Clyde's hasn't changed its menu since 1998. And I love the "midtown" Starbucks, cleverly placed between the downtown CVS and the Upper West Side Panera. And c'mon, the mall cops patrolling the place in walkie talkies? That evokes a common American history experienced in 1988 from places as diverse as the Mall at Paramus to the Beverly Center.
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