Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When it comes to coastal towns, or mountain towns, or wine country, or anything in between… What are the top 5/top 10 places that come to mind in that 90/120 minute window of Philadelphia?
sure. coastal town, I'm probably leaning OCNJ. I love the boardwalk and I don't mind it's a dry town. For a single family "week at the beach" rental vacation, I probably lean Avalon or Stone Harbor just because I like them and they have everything a family is looking for. Mountain town, probably Jim Thorpe. I like that the Delaware and Leigh National Heritage Trail runs through the town and the Leigh Gorge. You can bike from Philadelphia to there if your heart really desired it, mostly off road on the canal paths. Blue Mountain if you want to go Skiing. If you want to do boating and fish in a lake, Wallenpaupack or Nockamixon. Wineries, I lean New Hope Winery or Crossing Vineyards Winery as they are close to one another and you can go out to lunch in one of the river towns or Peddlar's Village at the same time. There are a million other things to do but you asked and I gave you what came off the top of my head lol
I spent a long weekend at a B&B on the water in Newport two summers ago after a wedding, and spent a week on Martha's Vineyard this summer purely for leisure. Do you really think the vibes in those places are that different? It's all got a somewhat similar history. IMO the Mid-Atlantic towns vary more between places like AC and OCMD to LBI/Cape May/Rehoboth/etc.
Last edited by thedirtypirate; 01-21-2023 at 02:11 PM..
Metro Boston will easily have the best public school systems.
Public school systems are incredibly localized in performance. I don't necessarily buy that they can be compared easily across state lines. Generally speaking, any district located in upper-middle class suburbia will be fine in any of these metros.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
In the US, only the San Francisco Bay Area has a more educated population. It’s much more white collar than the other cities on your list.
At the metro level, Boston is only marginally more white collar than Philadelphia (approx. 52% v. 45%).
The biggest difference is that Boston is most STEM focused.
I mean, I’m taking the variety in ocean beaches and towns, and islands, and hills, and mountains in New England. And I’m taking Greater Boston’s immediate access to it - as in, within the metro and surrounding areas - over Greater Philadelphia.
Of course Boston does have greater ocean access amongst a much larger share of its metro area; that's certainly a plus for people who care about having that at your front door (I, personally, am just fine with being within an hour or two; it's nice to take a hot summer's day and trek to the beach, but I'm generally much more of hills/mountains/forests person--point being that everyone is different).
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwj119
That’s crazy talk. In fact, the variety in New England’s coast has been weaponized against it by Philadelphians in other posts. Can’t really go both ways.
I'm not seeing how anything is being "weaponized." I really love visiting New England beaches. No one can question they're beautiful and lovely settings.
But as some who grew up going "down the shore" in NJ or MD, it's just a personal point of view that they have always seemed more functional and approachable compared to New England.
But if you want better naturally preserved seclusion, then a place like Nantucket of course is going to win out. It's not a knock, in my book. Just a different "vibe" that comes down to preference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwj119
It’s easy for someone, who doesn’t live on the ocean, to say it doesn’t matter or ignore how important that probably is. But I can’t imagine, for those afforded the luxury to do so, you’d pick against it.
No lie--I'd personally never live in a coastal town, even if it was in my budget.
Way too much liability in my mind, and as noted above, I'm just not as obsessed by a large body of water and sand to justify the cost to see it every day.
I spent a long weekend at a B&B on the water in Newport two summers ago after a wedding, and spent a week on Martha's Vineyard this summer purely for leisure. Do you really think the vibes in those places are that different? It's all got a somewhat similar history. IMO the Mid-Atlantic towns vary more between places like AC and OCMD to LBI/Cape May/Rehoboth/etc.
I mean, no they’re not very different. They’re 20 miles away from each other. But then, you look at the Aquinnah Cliff, and it makes you feel like you’re no longer in New England at all.
But the rugged cliffs of Cape May are drastically different than the south coast and south shore. Like, Manchester by the Sea is a completely different experience than Scituate. Portsmouth is nothing like Nantucket. Newburyport, MA is very different than Sandwich or Dennis. Westport, to me feels northing like Marblehead. Salem could be a different region entirely compared to Plymouth.
A lot of the difference is hilliness, cliffs vs. sand vs. rock, forestation vs. wetlands vs. cranberry bogs. But also history, and decade or even century of when these towns were built. There are drastic changes, even in greater Boston.
Now, architectural style varies only slightly. Newburyport is filled with brick and cobblestone, much like other old whaling and fishing towns like Nantucket. Others are almost all wood, even in commercial areas, like Marblehead or Edgartown. Of course, there are one-off areas that are just very different, like the painted ladies in Oak Bluff.
No lie--I'd personally never live in a coastal town, even if it was in my budget.
Way too much liability in my mind, and as noted above, I'm just not as obsessed by a large body of water and sand to justify the cost to see it every day.
To each their own, as they say.
Hahaha. You’re actually not wrong in feeling this way. I certainly wouldn’t live on the water in the south shore, for that very reason. But I’d love living IN those towns. I was never able to, in large part because they’re too far away from the economic hubs in eastern Massachusetts. It was always unrealistic.
I agree to an extent that the last two shots resemble a lot of different places in the Midwest or Interior Northeast. I also think it's true that they look a lot more like Chicago than they do Minneapolis.
That is Lake Drive in Milwaukee...the houses on the east side of the street have Lake Michigan in their back yards. Look around in that area...it's lovely.
Milwaukee's Third Ward. Look around. This area has a Public Market, West Elm, Anthropologie, the condos with boat slips, Restoration Hardware, etc. It adjoins downtown, the downtown rivers and Lake Michigan.
At the metro level, Boston is only marginally more white collar than Philadelphia (approx. 52% v. 45%).
The biggest difference is that Boston is most STEM focused.
Philly's been making notable improvements in the last 20 years, including those epic skyscrapers. In any case, the other cities seem a bit off in scale vs Boston's lab/educational /residential/ transit hub/ mega-project approvals w/ 60M sq ft in the pipeline,
above what's already been built--it blows the doors off.
the taller stuff
(dozens more labs under 180'/ of the wider variety) https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threa...562029/page-55
happenings;
Simmons College and Soldiers Field Rd https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/...ment-147913761
I'd love to see the older office properties sitting idle converted more to residential/ like we've seen in Philadelphia w/ old warehouse conversions.
NYC has so many success stories:
The stark difficulties in converting the old offices in Philly and Boston to residences. https://www.inquirer.com/business/of...-20220103.html
That is Lake Drive in Milwaukee...the houses on the east side of the street have Lake Michigan in their back yards. Look around in that area...it's lovely.
Milwaukee's Third Ward. Look around. This area has a Public Market, West Elm, Anthropologie, the condos with boat slips, Restoration Hardware, etc. It adjoins downtown, the downtown rivers and Lake Michigan.
Milwaukee also has drawbridges downtown...kind of like Chicago does.
I could go on, but you can just look around. I'm sure you know how to "drive" the streets on my links.
Good stuff, thanks. My comment might have been confusing; I was thinking you were the guy who was arguing Milwaukee was more like Minneapolis, but you weren't. Sorry about that.
Yes, I just feel like geography is a more important point than was being made. Clayton fits the definition of an edge city well. A place that will even assume the name of it's principle city. For instance, just looking at the map, the "Four Seasons - St. Louis" is in Clayton. It's an adjacent municipality to the principle city that has it's own history but also has benefited from an increased employment base due to it's geography. It's a place, a corporation might relocate their HQ even though it's a suburb.
AmerisourceBergen, the largest publicly traded private company in Pennsylvania, didn't relocate — it's been in Conshohocken for years. But it did build a showy new headquarters right next to the borough's old business district, and there's a new upscale hotel next to it.
It may not be a county seat like Clayton, but I can see where the analogy here is apt.
When it comes to coastal towns, or mountain towns, or wine country, or anything in between… What are the top 5/top 10 places that come to mind in that 90/120 minute window of Philadelphia?
Oooh, for me:
1) Jim Thorpe. I am an oddity relative to most of people I know in Philadelphia area, because I much prefer mountain getaways to beach getaways (especially the typical sandy beaches ya find in NJ and southward). The towns and small cities in the Poconos are a favorite getaway of mine, especially this one.
2) The Lancaster area. I guess this fits the "anything in between category." I am a sucker for bucolic scenery, hand-crafted Amish goods, Amish greenhouse cheap buys, and Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.
3) New Hope / Upper Bucks. Another "everything in between" area, but the area is rich with old stone work, historic, well maintained housing stock, and beautiful stables. It's where I go for apple picking in the autumn. It's a bit crowded with visitors, but still a fun trip.
4) Cape May. The quaint beach experience is much more up my alley. It is a nice visit, and probably one of the more similar beaches to New England in NJ.
5) Atlantic City. Definitely the big draw for a lot of people. I don't really love it there, though. It is too crowded, commercialized, and gaudy.
PS--- As someone who hails from the Finger Lakes, I contend there is no other area in the Eastern United States that qualifies as "wine country" other than the Finger Lakes. Neither Boston nor Philly are within a two hours drive, but Philadelphia is closer.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
