moving to Philly (York, Paoli, Houston: calculator, land, rated)

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by rotodome

No it doesn't. Not even close. (Sorry, pet peeve!)
I agree with the non-bolded portion of this post, though

It probably depends on one's definition of an urban park. Many people compare Fairmount Park, for example, to Central Park in NYC. The former is several times bigger than the latter. But Philly in general would seem to fall in the middle of the pack when one looks at the following list:

List of urban parks by size - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[tom_567]

So I was wrong about it being the largest. There are still a lot of parks to walk a dog - that was the more important point :-)

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by tintin19119

You said that you have a dog and you were looking for a back yard.If that is the case.I don`t know why some of the forum experts are telling you to move to Manayunk. I would think they would have said Roxborough.It`s right next to Manayunk and is full of twins with nice size yards for the city.

A dog doesn't mean you need a back yard... I live in Center City in a highrise with a dog and no back yard. I just take him to the park

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by tom_567

So I was wrong about it being the largest. There are still a lot of parks to walk a dog - that was the more important point :-)

Indeed.

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by Tone509

It probably depends on one's definition of an urban park. Many people compare Fairmount Park, for example, to Central Park in NYC. The former is several times bigger than the latter. But Philly in general would seem to fall in the middle of the pack when one looks at the following list:

List of urban parks by size - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However... most of the parks listed ahead of Philly are National Parks or State Parks and are not fully landscaped planned parks like Fairmount Park is in Philly.

[BTA88]

Originally Posted by Tone509

It probably depends on one's definition of an urban park. Many people compare Fairmount Park, for example, to Central Park in NYC. The former is several times bigger than the latter. But Philly in general would seem to fall in the middle of the pack when one looks at the following list:

List of urban parks by size - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm not liking this list... It includes a bunch of parks that are actually park systems, but then it kneecaps Fairmount by only including the largest contiguous part, when the whole system is much larger.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by Tone509

It probably depends on one's definition of an urban park. Many people compare Fairmount Park, for example, to Central Park in NYC. The former is several times bigger than the latter. But Philly in general would seem to fall in the middle of the pack when one looks at the following list:

List of urban parks by size - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't know why someone would jump to compare Fairmount Park and Central Park. For one, they are not very much alike at all either physically, or in their placement, context, or role in their relative cities. And for two, Central Park is not even one of the larger parks in New York City.

And as I've pointed out in other threads, the acreage given for "Fairmount Park proper" in that wikipedia link is achieved by combining east park, west park (incl the the zoo), and the wissahickon valley, which are not actually contiguous. One could similarly combine three nearby parks & the zoo in the bronx and achieve a higher acreage, for example.

But to be fair, a lot of other parks on that wiki list (which obviously is not based upon any rigorous investigation of facts) achieve their acreage totals by dubious means, since there is no established standard by which these things are measured for comparison. But the "Fairmount Park is the largest urban park" is nothing more than a false truism that I'm guessing is likely left over from something that may may not have been true at some point in the 19th century.

Other discussion in this unfortunately titled thread //www.city-data.com/forum/phila...l#post22857837 ,and this one //www.city-data.com/forum/city-...l#post19430868, and others.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

However... most of the parks listed ahead of Philly are National Parks or State Parks and are not fully landscaped planned parks like Fairmount Park is in Philly.

Fairmount Park is not really a fully landscaped and planned park either. You should look into it's history, it's actually pretty interesting!

[tintin19119]

Originally Posted by MAV2281

I am not sure where I prefer to live. I was hoping for a combo I guess. Somewhere where I can feel like part of the city, without being smack in the middle of the city. The commute concerns me since I will be working NE Philly. I do have a car. I do want a small yard. I don't want a quiet old neighborhood (Yes, I am in my 30s, but not dead yet!) But I don't want to be in a happening all night type of area either. Does a place like this exsist or am I asking for to much?

Originally Posted by Summersm343

A dog doesn't mean you need a back yard... I live in Center City in a highrise with a dog and no back yard. I just take him to the park

If you will take the time to read what Mav was asking for."I do want a small yard"
It`s about what he wants and not what we want for him.

[FindingZen]

To respond to some of the more recent posts, I had suspected that some of those parts weren't "urban" in the classic sense that we may recognize. Glad to see some affirmation in that. Getting back to the OP's preferences, he will have lots of options of places to walk his dog. He may just have to adjust to doing that in a different way, as the city's historic layout and high density precludes backyard space in much of the city.