How different is Brooklyn from Philly? (Philadelphia, York: landscaping, codes, centers)

[NYtoNJtoPA]

Originally Posted by Patmcpsu

As others said, there is a lot of nuance and variation. But keeping things general, here's my summation (except everything in Philly is on a MUCH smaller scale):

• North Philly is like the Bronx
• West Philly is like Harlem (while Harlem's gentrification was still in its infancy) - Think of University City in West Philly as Columbia is in Harlem.
• Center City is like Manhattan - But with less bankers and filthy rich people
• South Philly, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, and Manayunk are like Brooklyn - However, the architecture isn't as cute
• Philly's Northern Suburbs are like Queens, Staten Island (and NJ)
• Philly's Western Suburbs are like Connecticut and Westchester County (and NJ)
• Philly also has suburbs stretching into NJ, but they always seemed "foreign".

Northeast Philly is like Queens or Staten Island.

Northern Suburbs - Montgomery and Bucks Counties - are like Long Island (Montgomery=Nassau, Bucks=Suffolk though the Levittowns are in opposite places and of course no oceanside.)

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by NYtoNJtoPA

Northeast Philly is like Queens or Staten Island.

Some parts of the Northeast resemble Canarsie.

https://goo.gl/maps/7oBXDUpU32bqgbHe8

https://goo.gl/maps/CcWVzD3bvrp3j6rW8

Brooklyn overall feels very different from Philly. It feels way more different from Philly than Philly feels different from Baltimore.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Brooklyn overall feels very different from Philly. It feels way more different from Philly than Philly feels different from Baltimore.

When you look at Philadelphia as a whole, definitely. But the No. Libs / Fishtown / Olde Kensington area really is a good comparison to Brooklyn. That area is probably the best comparison to Brooklyn (outside of NYC) in the USA.

IMO, parts of Baltimore really only feel similar to much of South and North Philadelphia. Center City, Northwest, Northeast, and West Philadelphia all feel very different than Baltimore. My personal take is that Philadelphia is about 1/4 Boston, 1/4 NYC, 1/4 Baltimore, and 1/4 uniquely Philadelphian.

[MarketStEl]

Since we've revived this thread, I thought I'd update everyone on one sub-argument on it:

Originally Posted by MB1562

I've never heard a single person refer to any place in Philadelphia as "Uptown". That's a Manhattan thing that I think many Philly people are conscious to avoid.

Originally Posted by Lenses & Lights.

Nah.. Lots of people from up there call it " Uptown" these days. They even have Facebook Groups using the name. When came back to the city, it kinda surprised me to hear that being used. I would remind them that the area around Broad & York was the original " Uptown."

Well now they'll remind anyone who questions it, that the area in North Philly is has seen it's day and that they're truly the people residing in " Uptown " Philadelphia.

There's now a community publication that circulates in the Oak Lanes, Fern Rock, Ogontz, Germantown, Mt. Airy and (don't-you-dare-call-it-)Cedarbrook called the Uptown Standard. Can't say I've seen it in the places I go in my part of Germantown, but I have seen it, and it's a really sharp publication. Black-owned. Published monthly.

The company now also publishes two other periodicals: the Rox/Mnyk Standarsd, circulating in Roxborough and Manayunk, and Urban Xpressions, a magazine. So James Williams (the publisher) has all of Northwest Philly covered now save for Chestnut Hill — and that's because the Chestnut Hill Community Association's venerable publication, the Chestnut Hill Local, has that neighborhood on lockdown.

But it appears that "Uptown," then, has also expanded a little bit to the northwest.

PHLStandard website

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

When you look at Philadelphia as a whole, definitely. But the No. Libs / Fishtown / Olde Kensington area really is a good comparison to Brooklyn. That area is probably the best comparison to Brooklyn (outside of NYC) in the USA.

IMO, parts of Baltimore really only feel similar to much of South and North Philadelphia. Center City, Northwest, Northeast, and West Philadelphia all feel very different than Baltimore. My personal take is that Philadelphia is about 1/4 Boston, 1/4 NYC, 1/4 Baltimore, and 1/4 uniquely Philadelphian.

I've never understood the "Philly is like Brooklyn but very different from Baltimore" logic. In terms of urban build and architecture, they are probably more similar than any two major cities in the U.S. The accents are even similar.

[Hermit12]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Brooklyn overall feels very different from Philly. It feels way more different from Philly than Philly feels different from Baltimore.

Baltimore people always reminded me of Philadelphians. I generally like them.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

I've never understood the "Philly is like Brooklyn but very different from Baltimore" logic. In terms of urban build and architecture, they are probably more similar than any two major cities in the U.S. The accents are even similar.

Do you think I was saying, "Philly is like Brooklyn but very different from Baltimore"? Because I was not. The obvious similarity between Philadelphia and Baltimore is the prominence of rowhomes. That is why I highlighted much of North and South Philadelphia as similar to Baltimore. But there is more to Philadelphia than that. From a perspective beyond just housing, such as vibrancy, amenities, infrastructure etc., Baltimore does not feel like Center City, No. Libs / Fishtown, Northwest + Northeast Philadelphia, and University City.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Do you think I was saying, "Philly is like Brooklyn but very different from Baltimore"? Because I was not. The obvious similarity between Philadelphia and Baltimore is the prominence of rowhomes. That is why I highlighted much of North and South Philadelphia as similar to Baltimore. But there is more to Philadelphia than that. From a perspective beyond just housing, such as vibrancy, amenities, infrastructure etc., Baltimore does not feel like Center City, No. Libs / Fishtown, Northwest + Northeast Philadelphia, and University City.

But this could be said for any two places since no two places are completely identical. There isn't anywhere in Brooklyn like Center City. And there isn't somewhere in Philly like Brownsville with towering housing projects.

And from a vibrancy perspective, how would Mt. Vernon, Butcher's Hill or Fells Point feel much different from Northern Liberties or Fishtown? Here is the population density of 6 different zip codes among Baltimore, Brooklyn and Philly.

21202 - 13,192 ppsm
19123 - 14,328 ppsm
19125 - 18,450 ppsm
21231 - 18,152 ppsm
11211 - 45,321 ppsm
11237 - 50,772 ppsm

How could a difference of 1K-4K make a difference in vibrancy and amenities but not a difference of 27K-35K?

[BajanYankee]

And I think the similarities between Baltimore and Philly extend beyond North and South Philly. There are also hella similarities with West, Southwest, Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill.

https://goo.gl/maps/XJA5DGVuuqE75iBV6

https://goo.gl/maps/m3NGzk9ZiLZrgQH8A

You really have to nitpick the differences here and in order to do that you really have to be extremely familiar with one or both cities.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Do you think I was saying, "Philly is like Brooklyn but very different from Baltimore"? Because I was not. The obvious similarity between Philadelphia and Baltimore is the prominence of rowhomes. That is why I highlighted much of North and South Philadelphia as similar to Baltimore. But there is more to Philadelphia than that. From a perspective beyond just housing, such as vibrancy, amenities, infrastructure etc., Baltimore does not feel like Center City, No. Libs / Fishtown, Northwest + Northeast Philadelphia, and University City.

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

And I think the similarities between Baltimore and Philly extend beyond North and South Philly. There are also hella similarities with West, Southwest, Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill.

https://goo.gl/maps/XJA5DGVuuqE75iBV6

https://goo.gl/maps/m3NGzk9ZiLZrgQH8A

You really have to nitpick the differences here and in order to do that you really have to be extremely familiar with one or both cities.

The differences are indeed at the margins. Buried utilities are common in Baltimore but rare in Philadelphia. The streets are wider in Baltimore than they are in Philly. Those two are about it.

I was in Baltimore over the 4th of July weekend, and as we were driving around, trying to pick up stuff for a cookout that got rained out, we were driving down one street lined with rowhouses abutting the sidewalk, many empty. Then, suddenly, the (newer) rowhouses got front yards and the street became tree-lined, and I could have sworn I was in Northeast Philadelphia all of a sudden.

Harborplace, however, had become a zombie mall, and I was disappointed to find Lexington Market closed on the 3rd. The Johns Hopkins Hospital area in East Baltimore is a sight to behold: imagine if HUP, CHOP, Jefferson and Temple University Hospital were all located in the same spot.

My conclusion about the two cities, however, is that Baltimore is Philadelphia minus the excitement (use that last term however you wish to).