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These are good posts and I agree with many. If there were no DC, Baltimore would be much more of a central magnet in the state of Maryland. If Philly were the capital, NYC and Philly would be 2 mega markets and Baltimore would likely benefit from being on the lower end of that metropolis, and would probably be at the scale of Boston/Philly. Additionally, Baltimore would also draw from a lot more of the upper south, which would likely make it a major regional powerhouse. Northern Virginia would likely be more rural, although if Baltimore took the place of DC, the tech boom could expand in the same way, and Northern VA may not be too different. Although much of the attractiveness of NoVA in terms of living and businesses is the proximity to DC, and there wouldn't be that same proximity to Baltimore so who knows what NoVA would look like.
If Philly was the capitol of the nation, it means that a good deal of the industry which historically ended up in Philadelphia might be pushed elsewhere. Baltimore is one logical nearby location for it to go - particularly once rail networks begin being built in earnest.
The alternative site to putting the capital in D.C. was Havre de Grace, MD (between Baltimore and Wilmington, DE. Havre de Grace fell one vote shy of landing the capital. Had HdG become the capital, I don't think there would be any rural areas or small townships between Connecticut and Baltimore along the 95 corridor. Between Newark, DE and Aberdeen is pretty sleepy. If the capital was there it would likely have worse congestion than D.C.
Last edited by Phil A. Delphia; 05-02-2019 at 08:58 AM..
These are good posts and I agree with many. If there were no DC, Baltimore would be much more of a central magnet in the state of Maryland. If Philly were the capital, NYC and Philly would be 2 mega markets and Baltimore would likely benefit from being on the lower end of that metropolis, and would probably be at the scale of Boston/Philly. Additionally, Baltimore would also draw from a lot more of the upper south, which would likely make it a major regional powerhouse. Northern Virginia would likely be more rural, although if Baltimore took the place of DC, the tech boom could expand in the same way, and Northern VA may not be too different. Although much of the attractiveness of NoVA in terms of living and businesses is the proximity to DC, and there wouldn't be that same proximity to Baltimore so who knows what NoVA would look like.
By that logic Richmond should be a mega metropolis because its just south of the Bos Wash corridor. Baltimore did grow to be one of the country’s major and most important cities with D.C. there on the back of shipping and manufacturing. If anything the proximity of D.C. likely played a positive role in that growth. Baltimore declined not because of D.C., but because the industries it relied on suffered massively all across the country.
Im not sure how the absence of D.C. would have made tech investment a more likely scenario for this city. Most industrial cities were extremely late to the party when it came to that. Its not clear why Baltimore Democrats who already dominated Maryland politics anyway would suddenly be more visionary. Or how Baltimore’s demographics would have been more conducive to an organically created tech boom.
The alternative site to putting the capital in D.C. was Havre de Grace, MD (between Baltimore and Wilmington, DE. Havre de Grace fell one vote shy of landing the capital. Had HdG become the capital, I don't think there would any rural areas or small townships between Connecticut and Baltimore along the 95 corridor. Between Newark, DE and Aberdeen is pretty sleepy. If the capital was there it would likely have worse congestion than D.C.
Interesting. If that happened, Lancaster would likely end up part of the exurban sprawl of the capital - much in the same way that Frederick MD has been largely taken over by DC super-commuters.
If Philly was the capitol of the nation, it means that a good deal of the industry which historically ended up in Philadelphia might be pushed elsewhere.
Perhaps, but not necessarily. The federal government did not become this behemoth of an apparatus until well into the 20th century. I can't see the tiny public sector that existed prior to the Civil War crowding out much industry in Philly.
In 1861, there were only around 5,000 federal employees in the entire nation, excluding postal workers. By that time, Philadelphia was already 7.5 times larger than the DC metro area.
That's I think my key question...did DC cannabilize Baltimore becoming a larger, regional dominant city OR without the presence of DC's job market, would Baltimore and it's surrounding suburbs be smaller?
DC never really took much from Baltimore being a services/white collar town, the exact opposite of Baltimore. Baltimore's decline has had a lot more do with manufacturing losses, like Cleveland, Detroit, etc. DC's presence nearby hasn't had much to do with this.
If Philly was the capitol of the nation, it means that a good deal of the industry which historically ended up in Philadelphia might be pushed elsewhere. Baltimore is one logical nearby location for it to go - particularly once rail networks begin being built in earnest.
This is what happened to Georgetown. It had started to develop some industry due to its proximity to the Fall Line and then Federal expansion quickly pushed land prices up, making manufacturing far less cost effective.
DC never really took much from Baltimore being a services/white collar town, the exact opposite of Baltimore. Baltimore's decline has had a lot more do with manufacturing losses, like Cleveland, Detroit, etc. DC's presence nearby hasn't had much to do with this.
Yep. DC was a sleepy city populated by civil servants. It's not like these people would have moved to Baltimore otherwise.
I think the more interesting question is how much New York would have been limited by having a capital city that was also the center of finance in the early part of the 19th century only 80 miles down the road.
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