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Well, asking about Philly on a Pittsburgh forum is a little like asking about NYC in Boston. People aren't ever really objective about their home or its rivals.
Well, asking about Philly on a Pittsburgh forum is a little like asking about NYC in Boston. People aren't ever really objective about their home or its rivals.
The Philly-Pittsburgh thing is pretty much like the NYC-Philly thing. Philly casts a shadow over the state, which annoys some in Pittsburgh. Philly doesn't really think about Pittsburgh much. This excludes Philly natives who live or go to school here. They are a source of much of the irritation, as many like to portray Pittsburgh as small and slow. The reverse is true of Philly, and NYC. NYC irritates many Philadelphians for the same reasons, while many arrogant New Yorkers consider Philly to be a large backwater.
The Philly-Pittsburgh thing is pretty much like the NYC-Philly thing. Philly casts a shadow over the state, which annoys some in Pittsburgh. Philly doesn't really think about Pittsburgh much. This excludes Philly natives who live or go to school here. They are a source of much of the irritation, as many like to portray Pittsburgh as small and slow. The reverse is true of Philly, and NYC. NYC irritates many Philadelphians for the same reasons, while many arrogant New Yorkers consider Philly to be a large backwater.
Why do People keep saying this .... how does Philly have this influence over the entire State when most people west of Harrisburg forget that Philly is actually in Pennsylvania? Pittsburgh is the dominate city of the Western 2/3 of PA, people very seldom even talk about Philly over in these parts.
Philadelphia does not overshadow Pittsburgh .... Its like how LA is 3 times as big SF, but SF does not get Overshadowed by LA, they both own their area of the State. SF - NOCAL, LA - SOCAL ... Pittsburgh = Western PA, Philly SEPA. Hell Philadelphia doesn't even influence NEPA, NYC does that more than Philly.
People give Philadelphia WAYYYYYYYYYY tooo much Power, because it has a larger population ... Its not as simple as that.
RightOnWalnut and other Extreme Philly Boosters like to dream that they have this NYC sized influence over PA, but its just that a DREAM!
Wow. There is a lot of hate on here for Philadelphia. Seems to be a little uninformed and misguided.
I guess any Criticism of Philly would be considered hate to an Extreme Philly Booster as yourself....
Just like you created that Pissing contest of a thread in the PA forums to track which city has the "Most Cranes in the air". I'm shocked people actually fell for your trolling.
You have serious insecurity problem about Philadelphia, I don't understand where it comes from.
As someone from the Burgh and has lived (3 1/2 years) and still travels to Philly on the regular ....
Philly COL is higher, but not that much higher than Pittsburgh, especially now that with all that's rising in the Burgh.
Pretty good post for the most part! I'm surprised Blackbeauty! Are you actually coming around with your hate towards Philly?
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SEPTA crushes PAT in terms of coverage and modes, however SEPTA still is NOTHING to write home about. It has significant problems, one is the Frigging Fare system. You think PAT's Fare Structure is Antiquated and Confusing, SEPTA is right up there. They have like 7 Zones, Tons of Paper Instruments, Caveat after Caveat of rules, and they still use Tokens. At least PAT has been on Connect Cards for some time now.
Most of this has to due with terrible management and serious under-funding. SEPTA was receiving $300M a year while a similar sized system: MBTA in Boston was receiving $1B in funding. SEPTA's budget has now been updated to $600M now, which is still under-funding but definitely a step in the right direction. SEPTA is massive: not only regional rail, but the bus system, trolley lines and subway lines. The entire system is currently being upgraded to the SEPTA Key system, which is a new electronic payment system that will be much easier. The zones that you mention have to do with regional rail only and make sense from SEPTA's standpoint. The further out you travel, the more it will cost to use the regional rail. This system is already on a paper system but will also be converted to the SEPTA key payment technology. Saying SEPTA is "nothing to write home about" is definitely disingenuous though. It is definitely one of the best public transit systems in the country for coverage and usage; easily top 5.
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Philly has always come off as a Bigger Pittsburgh in my view, Philly was the first city I moved to when I left the Burgh in my 20's and I experienced No-Culture Shock. NONE. Philly is a Great in-between city if you want bigger than Pittsburgh but do not want NYC levels, and still want more of a Pittsburgh pace. There's virtually No Rat race in Philly, still hints of its Blue Collar past throughout the city, a very Working Class society.
Agree for the most part, although there is definitely a hustle and bustle and "rate race" in Center City. The rest of the city/metro is pretty laid back. Maybe not on NYC levels, but definitely on Boston, San Fran, Chicago, DC levels. Philadelphia is surprisingly very white collar. Current day Philadelphia's job structure is more White collar than NYC, Chicago, LA... even Pittsburgh. It's slightly less White Collar than Boston and San Francisco, but it's only a few percentage points away.
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Philly's crime has come down a TON, once the nicknamed "Killadelphia" by Katie Couric. Its really has changed course, still not as safe as the Burgh, Boston, or NYC, but no longer on a Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago level.
Agreed, although Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are a lot closer in crime rates with Chicago than to Boston and NYC. Boston and NYC are currently around 4 or 5 per 100,000 for homicides. Philly, Pitt and Chicago are around 15 or 16. Detroit and Baltimore are around 60+ per 100,000.
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Philly's Good/Career jobs are far more sprawled out into its Burbs than in the Burgh .. Philly has the biggest Reverse commute this side of the Mississippi. Most of the Good/Career Jobs located in the city are Eds, Law Firms, and Government ... yea Comcast is Downtown but that not the majority of Tech. KOP, Conshohocken, Wilmington, Horsham, Blue Bell, Trevose, Doylestown, Willow Grove, are the Big Employment "Career" Centers. Lucky most of them can be accessed with Public Transit, something PAT doesn't do well in the Burgh.
This is not necessarily true. Center City and University City have more jobs than any other employment node in the metro and it's not even close. Montgomery County as a whole has about 440,000 jobs, Philadelphia has nearly 700,000 now and growing. Center City has about 290,000 jobs alone. University City is about 85,000. No other employment nodes even come close to this. There is a lot more than Comcast, Government, Law firms and Eds. First of all, Philadelphia has some of the best hospitals in the country. Not only that but tech is booming in the city, contrary to what you believe. Ton of jobs being added in this department. There is also a lot of large financial firms in the city, a ton of hospitality jobs, especially relating to Philadelphia's large tourism market, a ton of pharmaceutical firms and bio firms. The list goes on and on. Center City is one of the largest employment nodes in the country, and you don't get there by "not having much downtown." KOP, the next largest employment hub in the burbs, has about 60,000 jobs.
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Center City Philadelphia is what Downtown Pittsburgh inspires to be one day. However I'll take Pittsburgh's neighborhoods any day of the week over Philly's.
Center City is one of the best downtowns in the country, top 5 in fact. Nothing in Pittsburgh even comes close in comparison. Philadelphia is more cosmopolitan, more going on, more to do. Better restaurants, better museums, better parks, better shopping, more walkable, etc. etc. The list goes on and on.
With that said, I agree Pittsburgh has great neighborhoods, but it's not like the amenities offered in these neighborhoods cannot be found in Philadelphia. West Philadelphia and Northwest Philadelphia are so similar to Pittsburgh it's not even funny. University City and surrounding neighborhoods (Powelton Village, Spruce Hill, Clark Park, Walnut Hill) are very much like Oakland and surrounding neighborhoods (Squirrel Hill, Shadyside). That's not including Philly's Northwest neighborhoods like Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, East Falls, Mt. Airy, Roxborough which are also very similar to Pittsburgh in look, feel, amenities offered, etc.
That's not even including Philly's other core neighborhoods like Graduate Hospital, Bella Vista, Queen Village, Hawthorne, Newbold, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, East Passyunk Crossing, Marconi Plaza, Whitman, Packer Park, West Passyunk, Girard Estates, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Spring Arts, Francisville, Spring Garden, Poplar, Templetown.
So many neighborhoods are changing so drastically so quickly in Philadelphia thanks to Center City's resurgence. I don't want to argue with you, but Philadelphia is such a large city that saying it's "Center City and nothing else" is definitely a huge disservice.
Last edited by RightonWalnut; 10-29-2015 at 03:47 PM..
I guess any Criticism of Philly would be considered hate to an Extreme Philly Booster as yourself....
Just like you created that Pissing contest of a thread in the PA forums to track which city has the "Most Cranes in the air". I'm shocked people actually fell for your trolling.
You have serious insecurity problem about Philadelphia, I don't understand where it comes from.
I am actually genuinly interested in what cities have highrises under construction since I really only get to Harrisburg and Allentown often but don't get to other cities like Pitt, Erie and State College, etc. too much. I work for a REIT (real estate investment trust) and I am interested in all sorts of development (but primarily highrises). I also want my entire state to do well, not just Philadelphia.
I don't have an insecurity about Philadelphia. Everything you say about Philadelphia is just a bit of a hyperbole. Philadelphia's crime rate is barely higher than Pittsburgh. They're nearly identical, and I believe Pittsburgh saw a higher murder rate in 2014. Pitt and Philly are also nearly identical to Chicago's yearly rates. NYC and Boston are much safer as far as the per capita rates go. DC, Atlanta, Miami, etc. are higher than Philly and Pittsburgh but cities like Oakland, Detroit, St. Louis Baltimore etc. are so much higher it's not even funny. They're around 60 per 100,000 for homicides. Philly never reached this level, even at it's highest it topped out around 25 per 100,000. Pittsburgh has reached those levels too.
So most of Philadelphia's public schools suck, but there are exceptions. Philadelphia does have a crime problem still, even though it has been drastically lowered. Philadelphia has a business tax structure which prevents it from having the job growth it could, but it's not much worse off than Pittsburgh. In fact, the entire state has a job problem due to PA's inept government. Philadelphia has a lot of blight and post-industrial brownfields that I would like to see cleaned up. SEPTA isn't the greatest, but it's still one of the best in the country. Philadelphia's sports teams suck, but it has nothing to do with the city itself. Philadelphia's city council is ass backwards in almost everything they do, which in some way holds it back from it's full potential.
There are definitely downsides to Philadelphia, but what city doesn't have them? You act like Pittsburgh is a utopia and Philadelphia is chock full of issues. Pittsburgh a great city, but it certainly does have issues. In fact it's currently losing population, which of course could be for a multitude of reasons. Every city has issues, some worse than others, but Philadelphia is such a large city I think it really has enough to offer for everyone, and is really one of the best cities in the country.
Why do People keep saying this .... how does Philly have this influence over the entire State when most people west of Harrisburg forget that Philly is actually in Pennsylvania? Pittsburgh is the dominate city of the Western 2/3 of PA, people very seldom even talk about Philly over in these parts.
Philadelphia does not overshadow Pittsburgh .... Its like how LA is 3 times as big SF, but SF does not get Overshadowed by LA, they both own their area of the State. SF - NOCAL, LA - SOCAL ... Pittsburgh = Western PA, Philly SEPA. Hell Philadelphia doesn't even influence NEPA, NYC does that more than Philly.
People give Philadelphia WAYYYYYYYYYY tooo much Power, because it has a larger population ... Its not as simple as that.
RightOnWalnut and other Extreme Philly Boosters like to dream that they have this NYC sized influence over PA, but its just that a DREAM!
I mean it's not just the population, it's the GDP as well. Philadelphia outproduces Pittsburgh on every measurement. That doesn't mean Pittsburgh is not a great city. Center City alone has more jobs than the entire city of Pittsburgh. You just have to give credit where credit is due, but of course, you don't.
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