Portland-Seattle vs Boston-D.C- vs Dallas-Austin (live, metropolitan, highest, quality)
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Why else would the two other regions happen to be neighboring metros if the point isn't that they may share a commuting population and similar cultures as a result?
Boston and DC are pretty far apart geographically, and to me on a surface level analysis because I know next to nothing about Boston would share little in common except they are part of the Northeast Corridor as both the north and south ends of it. They may share some things being that they are both part of the biggest economic region of our nation, and reap benefits of such, but I'm struggling to find the logic in "randomly" selecting these two cities that are so far apart if we are not including the fact that they share this corridor. Boston has weird cultural quirks that DC does not have. Like culture and just being in Massachusetts alone is enough of a reason to consider it polarizing from DC.
Whereas the other two metros share a geographic and cultural region Boston and DC do not share UNLESS we are considering the Northeast Corridor as a whole. They do share that. DC is not in New England and doesn't do New England things. Boston is not filled with a bunch of bureaucrats who choose to abide by bland lifestyles so to not raise any suspicions for their high security jobs.
To put it in the form of an analogy using food:
Portland and Seattle might be salmon and Dallas and Austin might be BBQ, but Boston is clam chowder and DC is a cherry tree.
I promise you it's not nearly as serious as you're making it out to be. The OP merely chose an East Coast pair, a Texas pair, and a Pacific Northwest pair--that's it. DC is unique and stands out even among the cities in the NEC that it's closer to so if DC were paired with Philadelphia instead of Boston, you could still make note of several cultural differences between the two.
And given the distances between Dallas and Austin and Seattle and Portland, I'm certain there are no real shared commuting populations to speak of between each pair of cities, a few rare supercommuters notwithstanding.
1. Downtown/Density/Walkability
Boston/DC by Miles
2. Jobs
Boston/DC though Austin/Dallas does pretty well here too.
3. High culture like sports, media, nightclubs, bars
Boston/DC on the first two, not sure about other two compared. None of these cities tbh are really nightclub cities to me. Bars... I’d say Boston, Portland and Austin do comparatively well...
4. Schools: Boston/DC by miles
5. Airports: Even here, Boston/DC by miles
6. Mass Transit: Boston/DC
7. scenery: Seattle/Portland
8. Nearby suburbs which is better: All have nice suburbs IMO, depends on what you’re looking for
9. Walkabiliy areas near Downtown? Again Boston/DC and it’s not close
10. Attractions: I guess it depends on what kinda attractions: to me, Boston and DC have the most clearly related to the city itself, but I could see Portland/Seattle tying or taking this one if factoring in outdoor attractions
Boston/DC clearly takes most of these-that doesn’t mean anything against the other ones, but on these criteria Boston/DC runs away. You mention the cities are of a similar population which maybe in limits is true... but DC at this point has 10 million in metro and Boston 8 million, and that is noticeable when you are in the city center of both. That’s 18 million people, nearly double the size of the other pairings overall, and with a 200 year head start of being the primary region in the US importance and influence wise-with both having that similar urban development start and being global leaders in politics and education respectively-just not an even match IMO.
You mention the cities are of a similar population which maybe in limits is true... but DC at this point has 10 million in metro and Boston 8 million, and that is noticeable when you are in the city center of both.
Using CSA population here is unwarranted and what you say really isn't true. DC's CSA is shared with another large MSA whose primary city feels similar in size to DC itself; you're not going to get the feel of being in a 10M person region in the city center of either. As far as Boston goes, it feels like the center of an MSA of 6M or so like its peers Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, etc.
Using CSA population here is unwarranted and what you say really isn't true. DC's CSA is shared with another large MSA whose primary city feels similar in size to DC itself; you're not going to get the feel of being in a 10M person region in the city center of either. As far as Boston goes, it feels like the center of an MSA of 6M or so like its peers Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, etc.
I guess what I'm meaning to say (or emphasize more) is you are going to get the feel of being in an important global center. Sure, maybe it doesn't feel like a megacity in density in the way that you do in certain other 10M regions-but with respect to any of the others, I think this evokes a certain level of prominence and imagery that would be difficult to replicate:
But even the factor of being at North Station in Boston, and knowing people are coming in and out from as far as Providence, and seeing it... or the probably regular number of people coming in and out from Baltimore-I feel that is at very least somewhat visible, and even from Google Streetview the level of street activity is immediately evident.
I am not with any particular bias or leaning towards one or the other-but having visited Austin and Dallas last year, and DC and Boston a few years prior to that-I do think Dallas/Austin could potentially compete in any number of areas, including Quality of Life, Jobs, etc... but given that these criteria are primarily urban focused-I don't think Dallas/Austin or Portland/Seattle can compete in terms of how large or urban they feel, with Boston or DC (though Dallas is quite big, and Seattle is relatively urban).
Why else would the two other regions happen to be neighboring metros if the point isn't that they may share a commuting population and similar cultures as a result?
Boston and DC are pretty far apart geographically, and to me on a surface level analysis because I know next to nothing about Boston would share little in common except they are part of the Northeast Corridor as both the north and south ends of it. They may share some things being that they are both part of the biggest economic region of our nation, and reap benefits of such, but I'm struggling to find the logic in "randomly" selecting these two cities that are so far apart if we are not including the fact that they share this corridor. Boston has weird cultural quirks that DC does not have. Like culture and just being in Massachusetts alone is enough of a reason to consider it polarizing from DC.
Whereas the other two metros share a geographic and cultural region Boston and DC do not share UNLESS we are considering the Northeast Corridor as a whole. They do share that. DC is not in New England and doesn't do New England things. Boston is not filled with a bunch of bureaucrats who choose to abide by bland lifestyles so to not raise any suspicions for their high security jobs.
To put it in the form of an analogy using food:
Portland and Seattle might be salmon and Dallas and Austin might be BBQ, but Boston is clam chowder and DC is a cherry tree.
The two cities are way more alike than you realize and the cultural differences are not that big. More similar than dissimilar tbh.
I guess what I'm meaning to say (or emphasize more) is you are going to get the feel of being in an important global center. Sure, maybe it doesn't feel like a megacity in density in the way that you do in certain other 10M regions-but with respect to any of the others, I think this evokes a certain level of prominence and imagery that would be difficult to replicate:
But even the factor of being at North Station in Boston, and knowing people are coming in and out from as far as Providence, and seeing it... or the probably regular number of people coming in and out from Baltimore-I feel that is at very least somewhat visible, and even from Google Streetview the level of street activity is immediately evident.
I am not with any particular bias or leaning towards one or the other-but having visited Austin and Dallas last year, and DC and Boston a few years prior to that-I do think Dallas/Austin could potentially compete in any number of areas, including Quality of Life, Jobs, etc... but given that these criteria are primarily urban focused-I don't think Dallas/Austin or Portland/Seattle can compete in terms of how large or urban they feel, with Boston or DC (though Dallas is quite big, and Seattle is relatively urban).
I have no qualms with anything you've stated here.
^This right here speaks volumes about the foot traffic and walkability in Boston.
DC is very walkable too but more so bikeable. It ha swdier straighter and more direct streets which makes it preferable for biking, its also 20% physically larger..not great for walking.
According to this site, the annual median tech wage in DC is roughly 108K and for Boston it's 98K; both Austin and Dallas post figures of roughly 88K.
In medians thats probably true but in range Austin pays between $67k and $121k meaning its very possible to find high end work there with six figure salaries and $80k in Austin will go alot further than $100K will in Seattle or Boston. For example here are figures showing what Software Engineering roles range between in Austin and Dallas: https://flatironschool.com/blog/texa...ngineer-salary
Quote:
Originally Posted by whereiend
I'm in the industry and don't agree whatsoever about Seattle vs. Boston being a close race. Seattle is the HQ for both Amazon and Microsoft and has large offices for Google, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, etc, etc.... IMO Austin vs. Boston is close, though I would pick Boston. DC and Dallas both have a lot of quantity but low quality.
Surpassing even Seattle and Boston. Also Austin has just about all of those corporations that you mentioned save for Microsoft and replace Airbnb with Vrboo
1. Downtown/Density/Walkability: Boston / D.C with Seattle / Portland shortly behind. Dallas trails, Austin is pretty decent.
2. Jobs: Dallas / Austin - They pay similar wages and are the most affordable of all three metros.
3. High Culture: Dallas / Austin
4. Schools: Boston / D.C. Austin is good here but Dallas trails.
5. Airports: How are we measuring this? Airport efficiency or connectivity? TBH I'm not the best one to answer this as I am not a frequent flier. I would say probably Boston / D.C. but Dallas is also an important hub as well. Likewise is Seattle so I cant really judge this one.
6. Mass Transit Boston / D.C. and it's not even close. Seattle however is vastly improving especially with implementation of Heavy Rail.
7. Scenery: Seattle and Portland easily.
8. Suburbs: Hard to say as I havent spent enough time in D.C. or Boston to make an accurate judgement. Almost all of Austin's suburbs are generally upscale. DFW's northern suburbs are quite nice but its southern suburbs leave much to be desired. I'm not going to vote here. I would say its PROBABLY going to be Boston / D.C. with Seattle / Portland shortly behind. Bothell, Bellevue and Mulketeleo are quite nice suburbs.
9. Walkability: See #1
10. Attractions: Its a tossups between Boston / D.C. and Seattle / Portland. I rate them about equal just depending on what you're seeking.
I think people on the coasts get paid more than in Texas Austin easily has the lamest suburbs of the bunch
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