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I know that. But I think it did help for New York, if you're putting it against Philadelphia especially, that its port was easily accessible and today is one of the busiest and most important in the country.
Just curious if you realize that even today the port of Philadelphia (The Deleware River ports from South of Wilmington DE to a little north of Philly are almost as large tonnage wise (smaller container port by a decent magin) as the port of NY/NJ. Even today they are pretty close. I believe Philly is 5th tonnage wise in the US even today
I do agree however the port is better situated in NY, it requires much less navigation to reach
Just curious if you realize that even today the port of Philadelphia (The Deleware River ports from South of Wilmington DE to a little north of Philly are almost as large tonnage wise (smaller container port by a decent magin) as the port of NY/NJ. Even today they are pretty close. I believe Philly is 5th tonnage wise in the US even today
I do agree however the port is better situated in NY, it requires much less navigation to reach
Philly has more of a specialty port. It imports more foodstuff (primarily things like coffee and chocolate) than pretty much any other port in the country (if you include Wilmington and Camden). It is also one of the top ports for oil. It has an advantage over New York in that there's more warehouse space, better refrigeration equipment, and better access to the highways (a bit less congested). But New York/Newark is just a much better harbor by a large margin, which is why it dominates the container traffic.
In regards to vacations and tourists, you're incorrect. This list is from 2010, but they had Chicago ranked as America's third most visted city in regards to the overall number of tourists. Chicago was behind Orlando and NYC respectively. List: America's Most-Visited Cities - Forbes
If I had to guess, I'd say that Chicago's Midwestern location is the reason why it's able to do this. They also point that out in the Forbes link. If you live in the Midwest and you want to go on vacation to a large city, Chicago is essentially the only option that's close by. If you live on the coasts or the Sun Belt you have more options. This is probably also why Chicago stumbles somewhat when it comes to international tourists versus domestic ones.
A lot of that is from convention #'s. And many of those are from the Midwest. I've live on both coasts and the midwest, and outside the midwest, just from talk Chicago is never really up there with other cities... pop cities are usually SF, LA, Seattle, Boston, DC, NYC, Miami, even Portland has extreme popularity. If you told somebody you were moving to Chicago from CA or East Coast they would be like, why? Most people don't know much about Chicago that I've come across. It's really underrated IRL.
But it was really the development of the Erie Canal that shifted the financial center to NYC (though as America's top port, that likely would have happened eventually).
When the Erie Canal was completed, it would soon be an outmoded form of transportation since railroads became faster and cheaper to build. The canal boom started in the 17th century with the Canal du Midi and petered out around the time the Erie Canal was built. Railroads would start becoming popular in the late 1830's-early 1840's and reach their peak in the latter half of the 19th century.
The Erie Canal was not the reason that the financial center of the country shifted to NYC. Philadelphia also has a port and it's as well known as Boston Harbour and Upper New York Bay.
In regards to vacations and tourists, you're incorrect. This list is from 2010, but they had Chicago ranked as America's third most visted city in regards to the overall number of tourists. Chicago was behind Orlando and NYC respectively. List: America's Most-Visited Cities - Forbes
I think people are talking about tourists, not visitors.
Obviously Chicago will be among the top cities for visitors, because it's the third largest city, in the middle of the country, and a huge business and convention center, but Chicago is not a tourist city like NYC, Vegas, Orlando, Miami, LA, SF or probably even DC. I can't see any scenario where Chicago draws more tourists than these cities.
You almost never hear someone traveling from far away to Chicago for strictly tourism purposes, though people in the Midwest frequently do it for a weekend away. But some random family in, say, Oregon, aren't going to travel to Chicago for the week, the way they would travel to Orlando, or Miami, or LA, or NYC.
Philadelphia is essentially Jupiter in Mercury's orbit, if that makes any sense. It's one of the largest urban areas in the United States; it just happens to be located right next to a HUGE urban area, which takes away some of its shine. Proximity to New York is both a blessing and a curse.
Talking to a colleague recently who was born and bred in France. Couldn't believe/absolutely blown away that there could be such a big urban metropolis/so much energy coming from a city so close to NYC.
Last edited by Pennsgrant; 12-28-2013 at 10:50 PM..
When the Erie Canal was completed, it would soon be an outmoded form of transportation since railroads became faster and cheaper to build. The canal boom started in the 17th century with the Canal du Midi and petered out around the time the Erie Canal was built. Railroads would start becoming popular in the late 1830's-early 1840's and reach their peak in the latter half of the 19th century.
The Erie Canal was not the reason that the financial center of the country shifted to NYC. Philadelphia also has a port and it's as well known as Boston Harbour and Upper New York Bay.
It wasn't the Erie Canal itself (though you very much underestimate its impact), but the investments to finance it. It created new financial tools and shifted the financial center from Philly. But as I said, NYC, as the nation's top port made more sense anyway. It was the city with the most money being traded (for importing and exporting). Philadelphia had a port, but the Delaware would get so shallow in the summer it was unnavigatable to the big trading ships. Most captains would have to hire locals to even get them to Philly and at times traffic was so limited that ships couldn't be coming and going at the same time. Cargo ships would sometimes have to wait days in the Delaware Bay. It's a good thing they dredged the river, or that port would have gone the way of a lot of similar antiquated ports.
Money and development are definitely coming into Philly—but the article points out it’s a lot of new money. My point was about the old-money, Social Register types who stayed in the city and supported civic projects in New York when it was bankrupt and falling apart. New York never lost its philanthropists like the Astors or the Rockefellers. They supported tony charities like the Central Park Conservancy that revitalized uptown Manhattan back when the Upper West Side was considered a borderline sketchy neighborhood. The city government has a lot of money through taxes, but the real jewels in the crown of the civic fabric: Central Park, the Public Library, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum, the restored Grand Central, and even newer amenities like the High Line are all supported with private donations.
But not all this ''do-gooding'' money came from within Manhattan or the other boroughs.
A lot of that is from convention #'s. And many of those are from the Midwest. I've live on both coasts and the midwest, and outside the midwest, just from talk Chicago is never really up there with other cities... pop cities are usually SF, LA, Seattle, Boston, DC, NYC, Miami, even Portland has extreme popularity. If you told somebody you were moving to Chicago from CA or East Coast they would be like, why? Most people don't know much about Chicago that I've come across. It's really underrated IRL.
Much of it is also people from within the metro area as well. Chicago counts people visiting from places like Aurora or Naperville as ''visitors''. Not sure how other cities do this, but Chicago does.
I think it depends on where you live, from down here philly is very cool. I live in a small southern city and I think all of the big cities of the northeast have cool things about them.
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