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The best part is both of these cities are great. I love Philly my home town and also love Chicago, on the whole Chicogo's downtown is better, but Philly is pretty close (and home to me) but i do think the burbs of Philly are actually a little better. like I said though two of my favorite cities and personally would say both are great places and will leave it at that
An interesting battle between two cities I always felt were similar, but I'd have to go with the city with better history, better architecture, better topography (hills), is less pretentious, and in the heart of the greatest urban corridor in the universe!
IMO, Philadelphia has more nice, true town suburbs than Chicago does, though Evanston is probably nicer (or at least larger and nicer) than any town suburb in the Philadelphia area.
As for the cities themselves, I think Chicago wins by a relatively small amount. The Windy City I believe has a larger amount of nice areas in the city proper. However, I think Chicago's bad parts probably are worse than Philadelphia's bad parts, even though Philly's rough sections are pretty rough. The big difference here is Chicago has torn down a much higher percentage of its dilapidated development, which gives those areas an urban wilderness feel interspersed with run down buildings. (If you ride the CTA Green Line south of the 35th Street station, you'll see what I mean.) I also think the Philadelphia CBD (i.e. the combination of businesses and residential areas in the downtown area) is nicer than the Chicago's, though I'm excluding the River North area from Chicago CBD, which may not be fair in the comparison. One area where Chicago wins handily is it is kept much cleaner than Philadelphia; I don't think Philadelphia has enough public garbage cans.
Although I've never really been to Chicago, it does seem like a nice city which I have a strong desire to visit someday. Chicago seems to be ahead of the curve in terms of gentrification, although both of these cities have strong roots in blue-collar/industrial economies in which they are making great headway in restructuring. Yet based on the way some people are describing Philadelphia, either they've never ventured off I-95 or they just haven't explored the city extensively in the past 10 years.
I guarantee you that there are far more stable/desirable neighborhoods than many have given it credit for (i.e., not just Center City). Areas in South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia (around Penn and Drexel), and neighborhoods immediately north and east of Center City (Northern Liberties, Brewerytown, etc.) are becoming more stabilized/desirable with each passing year -- very often in the form of rehabbing/reuse of architecturally significant structures.
I understand it will take some time before people not as familiar with Philly can shed this image of dilapidation (particularly because of the worst neighborhoods, which I acknowledge are in a pretty bad state of disrepair); but overall the trend is for the better. Although firm figures will truly tell, the 2009 Census Bureau estimate shows that Philly has actually gained population since 2000 -- the first time in nearly 60 years. That's something that truly indicates that the city has really turned a corner and its revitalization is widespread, rather than limited to a few pockets:
Quote:
For the first time in 59 years, the city of Philadelphia actually increased its population in 2008, according to an official annual estimate made for metropolitan areas. That was the decision by the U.S. Census Bureau, which accepted a challenge to its previous estimate, one that indicated another decline.
As for the broader metropolitan area -- the true intent of this thread -- Philadelphia has some of the most historic, well-preserved and desirable suburbs in the U.S. Now, I do say this with a little bit of bias, but in an area where some of the suburbs are nearly as old as the city itself, you're going to find a lot of character. This website has a great overview of many of them:
I'd also argue that since the wealth of Delaware Valley is largely concentrated in the suburbs, the vast majority of suburban areas are highly desirable. I'm not sure if the same could be said for Chicago's suburbs, as a greater proportion of its wealth is concentrated in the city proper.
I've lived in both cities. Philadelphia has much more character and characters to me. They have a wealth of Art, Culture and History. But, Philadelphia is my choice. Cuz, Philly is soo close to NYC and Jersey and DC. Its much more to me.
I pick the Philly metro area even though the poll is already closed. Some of those suburbs in the Philly, especially the Main Line are just too beautiful...
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