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.
Very true. In fact, relative to the English countryside, I think Pennsylvania or Virginia can make strong arguments for British comparisons.
The rolling, and much more pastoral (as opposed to being overwhelmingly wooded, like New England) landscapes, historic stone/brick structures (as opposed to clapboard/saltbox style, which is also very unique to New England), very windy country roads, and somewhat more moderate climate, all lend to more parallels "across the pond."
I suppose one can say, by comparison, that New England looks more like Sweden/Finland.
Although when saying that Pennsylvania looks like England, that might mainly be southeastern Pennsylvania and the Amish country, as most of the rest of Pennsylvania (the southwest, central, and northeast sectors in particular, which respectively include Pittsburgh, State College, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) is heavily wooded and quite rugged and part of coal country and thus less like England as a whole and more like Wales or Scotland or northern England with a lot more forests.
For cities on the list, I vote Boston. The obvious difference is size and scale, London is far more expansive, and much of it looks nothing like anything in the U.S., including Boston (which has a lot more red brick than London). However, the irregular street layout, historic stock of buildings, and some architectural overlap make it the closest of the group on the list. I've actually always felt like you could take Harvard Square and Brattle Square and plop them in London without them looking out of place. They'd be an even better fit in Dublin, but they'd work in London too.
Some of Lower Manhattan could stand in for London too. The density and irregularity of the street grid is certainly there. The obvious difference is London has nowhere near the concentration of skyscrapers that lower Manhattan does. But still, it is probably the closest American representation of the actual City of London.
But still, nobody is going to confuse any American city with London or the UK. Newburyport MA and Portsmouth NH are probably the closest to small British cities and towns, but again, way too much red brick for anyone to ever mistake one of them for some place in the UK.
None really, although the coastal area of Portland, ME comes the closest.
Philadelphia doesn't remind of of London at all, to be honest, but maybe that's just me.
NYC is technically the closest in city size/status.
The only thing that is similar to Pittsburgh, in my mind, is West Virginia (too cool to be compared, really).
Not sure on the Boston comparison. Haven't spent enough time there and when I think of it, a jumble of different images comes to mind. Can't quite make a mental compilation of it like I can with Philly or Pittsburgh or Portland, ME.
I should add that I am basing this off London, but I'm sure Portland, ME may resemble any number of smaller towns better.
None really, although the coastal area of Portland, ME comes the closest.
Philadelphia doesn't remind of of London at all, to be honest, but maybe that's just me.
NYC is technically the closest in city size/status.
The only thing that is similar to Pittsburgh, in my mind, is West Virginia (too cool to be compared, really).
Not sure on the Boston comparison. Haven't spent enough time there and when I think of it, a jumble of different images comes to mind. Can't quite make a mental compilation of it like I can with Philly or Pittsburgh or Portland, ME.
I should add that I am basing this off London, but I'm sure Portland, ME may resemble any number of smaller towns better.
I still vote Portland and that region of Maine.
But, there are parts of Philly that are like outer parts of major cities. Inner cities of the UK generally lack the grid patterns of Philly, but their newer neighborhoods (still old) have grid to them and are full of rowhomes ore semi-detached rowhomes that look like some parts of NE Philly.
London: https://goo.gl/maps/ZEkmtvfKZtR9nDHy5
And no, I'm still not saying Philly looks the most like the UK. I'm just saying it has some similarities.
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.