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History -- Baltimore, because both cities were affected by the War of 1812.
Culture -- DC is all about power and status and connections. In these ways, it reminds me the most of New York.
Politics -- Extremely liberal city where the mechanics of governance play an outsized role; I'll say this is most similar to Boston.
Jobs -- One of the best employment markets in the country, for the simple reason that the Federal Government does nothing but grow larger, always. Maybe Boston?
Economics -- Same as above.
Demographics -- A majority black city that has been steadily gentrifying in recent years. Atlanta, I suppose, though the gentrification aspect reminds me the most of Boston.
In terms of the built environment, I cannot think of any American cities that compare.
In terms of people, I would say Baltimore.
In terms of outskirts of the city, I would say Atlanta.
So it's really a hybrid between Baltimore and Atlanta to me. That said, the monuments, low rise downtown (i.e. no skyscrapers), and being the nation's capital makes it very unique.
DC is really unique historically speaking. It grew similar to a northern industrial cities but without the industry. It has behaved like a transient port city but without the major port. Through the 19th century it grew like that but did so within a small footprint with relatively low population. So the old parts of the District grew to look like those northern cities, but when it came to suburban growth, outer DC looks more like those southern cities. Overall, Richmond is probably the best historical comparison to DC. Currently, I'd say the more industrial history a city has the less comparable it is to DC. The more white collar job history a city had and has makes it more comparable to DC. So, as far as current cities go, I think NYC and Boston are much more comparable to DC than Baltimore and Philadelphia, even though the last two are closer. You can see it simply in the ratio of worker-class housing to middle-class housing in the cities. Baltimore is far heavier on the first while DC is far heavier on the second.
As for size, population, and demographics I'll say Atlanta. Also the infrastructure (yeah we know DC's Metro > MARTA) but the interstate system is similar with one beltway, and the traffic. But with its status and national importance and world status, it's more like New York. So it's like a hybrid of the two, and climate wise it's something in between because of its geographic location (it's at the northern end of the humid subtropical zone, but in many ways it's more continental).
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nephi215
Lol no. Baltimore, Boston and Atlanta.
This is silly.
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