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Why would Baltimore be a much larger city? Hasn't DC helped Baltimore more than it's hurt it?
Having two major cities in close proximity means, by necessity, a spreading out of population and economic activity between those two cities and their suburbs. Under the OP's scenario, there would be no Washington, so the large majority of the activity that was historically destined for the Central Maryland/Northern Virginia area, and that was not associated with the presence of the nation's capital city, would have centered around Baltimore.
Just a hpothetical but whit if President Washington keeped the Capital in Philly instead of creating washington D.C. . Cerainly the dynamics of the east coast would be vastly different : Baltimoe would be a much larger city today .Would N.Y.C. be the financial capital of the world as it is today .
That one change moving the capital from Philly to a small cut out section of Maryland made hugh changes. Any thoughts?
Philadelphia is already a large city; with this scenario it would probably be the nation's second-largest (after New York). It would have a much more highly developed transportation system, with more and larger freeways, a much bigger airport (*), and an extensive subway system. Its surrounding counties -- which in general are already fairly well off -- would be among the nation's wealthiest.
Tourism would be a huge industry. As it is, there is a significant level of tourism in both Philadelphia and Washington, DC; combining the former's history with the latter's significance as the nation's capital would dramatically increase overall visitation.
The informal height restriction that was finally ended in the 1980s probably would have ended well before then. The city's skyline, which IMO is already quite impressive, would almost certainly rival those of New York and Chicago.
Philadelphia is already connected to New York via a major highway and a very busy rail line. Most likely, train service would be more frequent south to Baltimore (which, under this scenario, would be a significantly larger city than it is today) but would then trail off considerably as one headed south from there.
Culturally speaking, it seems likely to me that "The South" would widely be considered to begin south of Baltimore's southern suburbs, and most assuredly south of the Potomac River. Likewise, "The Northeast" would start at Baltimore and head north.
And finally, the surprising affordability of Philadelphia as a place to live (at least in comparison with other major cities) would be nothing but a wistful dream.
(*) Little known fact: Philadelphia International Airport is subject to more than its share of bad-weather flight delays because its two main runways, built parallel to each other, are too close together to be used simultaneously in low-visibility conditions. I would bet that if PHL served the nation's capital, including in particular the self-important and pushed-for-time Congressmen and Senators, money would have long since been found to correct its deficiencies.
...The informal height restriction that was finally ended in the 1980s probably would have ended well before then. The city's skyline, which IMO is already quite impressive, would almost certainly rival those of New York and Chicago...
For the most part, I agree with everything you said above, except that I would suggest that the height limit would likely have remained in place. People get very temperamental over height limits. Add in the additional security concerns and historical preservation standpoint, and the height limit might even stick more tightly. It could be that Philadelphia, much like DC is now, would have maintained a highly-preserved, modern but historical look and feel with height limits until you reached city line. (This may benefit Camden, NJ and certainly places like Conshohocken.)
On the other hand you also have Wilmington with its major port and the bonus of historically "relaxed" corporate legal frameworks. I suspect that if Philly had maintained the capital, Wilmington would be a much larger, richer, and impressive (edge or major) city than it is today - where people almost forget that it's there. In fact, I might suggest that Wilmington would turn out to be the star of the show, where all of the federal agencies, contractors, etc would lay down roots. All of the suburbs around there would benefit.
I'm also thinking Camden, NJ would be a hot waterfront neighborhood. North Philly might be solidly middle class. Imagine if all those lost row houses were still intact up that way. All of this is really fun to think about.
I feel like Baltimore would more closely resemble some of the current size and dynamic of Philadelphia and New York would continue to be the nation's premier financial center.
Due to its distance, I take it Boston would most likely still remain what it is today if Philly was still the nation's capital, as would Richmond. But what would South Jersey and Maryland's Upper Eastern Shore would look like if Philly was still the capital and Baltimore was able to rose into a more prominent city on the level of what Philly is today?
I think about this alot i do agree with some of what was said. Had Philly remained the nations capital SEPTA would have been a more extensive network then what it is now (Still Does The Job Well) , Camden prbly would be in better shape then it is now. I think the height limit would have been the same as D.C. as someone noted with the safety issues for the buildings and etc. Philly would prbly be more cleaner and polished. Someone mentioned more frequent train service would been more.....its crazy AMTRAK says even though the NORTHEAST CORRIDOR IS THE MONEY MAKER for AMTRAK $$$$$ PHILLY - NEW YORK is the part of the line with the most connectivity and traveled. It was awhile i heard that. I also think Philly would have kept the same population are part of it. 2,000,000 Million people lived in this city. Sometime til this day i walk the streets and think "Damn 2 Million People lived here" ...now its 1.5 Million
NYC would still be the financial capital, there'd be nothing changing that.
Agreed. The water depths of the ports was a determining factor as the ships got bigger. NYC's physical location made it destined to be what it is. Also the ground is way harder, perfect for building tall buildings. I think it is possible that if DC didn't exist that B'more would have gained the most being the last link of the 95 north corridor. Imagine if in Philly it was the capitol building at the end of the parkway instead of the art museum ha.
Imagine if in Philly it was the capitol building at the end of the parkway instead of the art museum ha.
Early talks would have placed the US capital in the Germantown section of NW Philly or in Lancaster PA.
But lot of stuff happened to derail that plan in the late 1700's .
1. Following the revolution Hundreds of armed Pa militia stormed the national government in Old City Philly and demanded to be paid. Apparently that did not go over to well.
2. Slavery + Debt. Southern states were not comfortable with Philadelphia(Very Anti-Slavery) being the US capital. Southern States offered to pay off northern debt caused from the revolutionary war if the capital was located closer to them.
3.Washington,Jefferson,Madison obviously had a lot of pull.
4. Yellow Fever hit Philly in 1793 which was probably the last straw.
Someone mentioned Wilmington De benefiting largely and it would no doubt been better off but I think that early growth would have sprouted and made the NW suburbs of Philly (Valley Forge,Plymouth Meeting,King of Prussia) the main economic hub of the Fed.
Last edited by rainrock; 02-19-2015 at 03:13 PM..
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