Just back from fun weekend in Philly (Washington, Columbia: college, per square foot)

[kidphilly]

At any rate am glad you enjoyed your time in Philly

[john_starks]

Will admit that this late partier wasn't feeling the earlier closing time. I'm used to 3:00 am versus the 2:00 am last call that rules Philly.

agree a 10000%. 3 am would make a huge difference! but i chalk that up PA (the quaker state)

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by DC's Finest

Terrence,

This is taken from wikipedia. Chinatown is in DT DC as well as L Street. M Street is the northern border. The southern border of DT is the National Mall. East is North Capitol Street and the western boundary is 23rd Street.

Pman,

More people in DC (37% of the population) use transportation than Philly so how is DC car oriented? Makes no sense. DC is second in that regard behind NYC. DC is always listed in the top 5 for walkability. Have you ever been to DC? Or ridden the Metro?

Dude. Its not a competition. I love DC but Center City is really cool. I liked it over downtown DC. There are other parts of DC that are awesome but the thing I liked about Philly was that the awesomeness is compact and the people watching had a hustle and bustle on South Street that Chinatown and Penn Quarter don't have.

Traffic in DC (particularly downtown during rush hour) sucks there's no ifs ands or buts about that. Way worse than Philly's downtown traffic. Well way worse than just about anywhere.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

At any rate am glad you enjoyed your time in Philly

I totally did

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by terrence81

There's more than one job center in Philly? I didn't know that. I'd say that the DC area has about 5 major job centers but if you really broke it down I'd say there are about 10. I have a "reverse" commute into suburbia but there's traffic on both sides of the freeway because there are so many corporations near Dulles airport.

I would say that while Center City (and the whole city, in general) is compact, the job centers are much more spread out in the Philly Metro region. In fact, I believe Philadelphia is considered an edgeless city. Philadelphia had only 2 edge cities the last time I checked Wikipedia: King of Prussia PA and Cherry Hill NJ. Neither are as congested as a place like Tyson's Corner VA. While CC is very dense, the suburbs, though full of traffic, office parks, shopping malls, etc. are generally not as congested as those in NOVA.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Glad u enjoyed ur stay. Philly has a lot to offer.

[PeeAye Native]

Rittenhouse Square, IMO, beats South Street for people watching. I'm talking about daytime, (work day lunchtime, and all weekend) and early evening.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by PeeAye Native

Rittenhouse Square, IMO, beats South Street for people watching. I'm talking about daytime, (work day lunchtime, and all weekend) and early evening.

We didn't see Rittenhouse Square. Will def have to check it out next time. Why do you say that? More people? I would say that South Street got more and more interesting and crowded as it got dark (it was last Saturday).

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by terrence81

We didn't see Rittenhouse Square. Will def have to check it out next time. Why do you say that? More people? I would say that South Street got more and more interesting and crowded as it got dark (it was last Saturday).

That area is probably the most vibrant area of the city - may be the closest or one of the closest areas in the country to a NYC feel outside of NYC

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by terrence81

We were both apprehensive at first walking in as the only interacial couple in one particular bar but tough exteriors hid smiling faces and kind words.

Being somewhat familiar with you from the NOVA board, this was a concern that I hinted at in your initial thread. I'm glad to see that things went well.

It was nice meeting people who talked about life versus going on and on about their careers. The worse ones in DC are the ones that are hitting on you by going on and on about their jobs like you really care. Also there wasn't the I'm going to bump into you on purpose (and spill on you) so I can holla.

Obviously you didn't go to Woody's LOL (if my hearsay is correct).

I've heard yall aren't the nicest bunch. But nothing was further from the truth very nice and I felt very safe.

Will admit that this late partier wasn't feeling the earlier closing time. I'm used to 3:00 am versus the 2:00 am last call that rules Philly.

So it seems that while Philly is ultimately larger than DC it is also more compact. DC nightlife is really spread out over several areas where it seems everything is right in Center City. While the rest of the city is almost exclusively residential with convenience businesses (grocery stores banks etc) scattered throughout neighborhoods. Which might be part of why South Street was so crowded. I'm assuming. Is that right? What are the other more notable parts of Philly?

While it's true that the neighborhoods of Center City are the most vibrant, there are actually other interesting areas in the city limits as well. Here's a very rough comparison to DC area neighborhoods.

Passyunk Square/East Passyunk Crossing (South Philly) = Columbia Heights
Manayunk (NW Philly) = Adams Morgan
Chestnut Hill (NW Philly) = Georgetown (without the students)
Mount Airy (NW Philly) = Takoma Park

Next time, I'd recommend checking out Northern Liberties and PS/EPX. (I'm still trying to figure out the difference between PS and EPX, myself.) South Street, while still busy, conceded its "hip quotient" about 15-20 years ago to Old City (just east of the Historic District), 10 years ago to Northern Liberties (above Old City) and perhaps 5 years ago to PS/EPX.

If you had a third or fourth day, Chestnut Hill would make for an interesting change of pace.