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One we have already proven many times that CC Philly actually has more restaurants than DT DC - but are close in numbers. Also Philly has as much or more food network type stuff including two (actually 3 forgot Flay has place now too) of the 5 current Iron Chefs and Stephen Starr http://www.starr-restaurant.com/ for what that is worth (though for food personally prefer Marc Vertis's places)
I would rate the DC hotels as best from my experience and
art scene, I would def give the nod to Philly, the Smithsonian is not really art scene.
On pace, having lived in two and spending a lot of time in Boston, dont really see any major differences on this aspect though you always seem very gungho on this aspect as it relates to DC
This will be in CC in months (Right next to the Rodin Museum), moving in from the burbs (main Line). The single largest private collection of french impressionist painting in the world The Barnes Foundation
Last edited by kidphilly; 06-30-2011 at 10:08 PM..
Philadelphia, Boston, and DC all have great downtowns, without a doubt the best aside from NY, Chicago, and SF. They are all vibrant and filled with an endless array of things to do and see.
These are some of the things that make a great downtown:
Restaurants
Food Trucks/Food Stands
Museums
Art Scene
Diversity
Vibrancy
Pedestrian Friendly
Transportation
Architecture
Work Force
Skyline
Cleanliness
Nightlife
Hotels
Housing Stock
Shopping
Parks/Squares
Live Music Venues
Tourist Attractions
Overall, which of the 3 has the best downtown?
I have a problem with this.
Since when does Chicago have "without doubt" the better downtown than Philly? Have you been to both Chicago and Philly?
Chicago has an amazing and large & super-tall skyline, but that doesn't mean it has an amazing downtown. In fact, downtown Chicago lacks street level retail for a downtown core its size in my opinion. Philly doesn't seem to be that way as Center City is more densely populated and more cohesive than downtown Chicago. I truly loved downtown Chicago for its cleanliness, greenness, architecture and its picturesque views, but it lacks that energetic buzz that comes from having many street level retail. Most of the buzz during the day time in downtown Chicago are people leaving or coming to work, or visitors/tourists strolling by. When the night comes, the place is just dead. Imagine being in a quiet place surrounded by tall and dark high-rises. Center City is more attractive for its cohesive urban set up, high amounts of street level retail, and a large local population. That gives Center City a mini-Manhattanesque vibe. Chicago sort of lacks that vibe...or at least it doesn't live up to the expectations that its world-class skyline would imply.
I don't understand where all the Chicago "without doubt" has the better downtown than Philly comes from. I'd say that is fairly debatable in some ways. New York, I get it, because New York destroys Philly in every frigging category...in fact, NY destroys every city in America in every frigging category with regards to having the best downtown. But that's not true for Chicago...hence, this is a presumption that I disagree with.
Last edited by Libohove90; 07-02-2011 at 01:17 AM..
07-02-2011, 02:28 AM
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Based on the factors the OP is looking for:
Restaurants 1st:Washington DC 2nd:Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. However all three have plenty of great restaurants. It is just that Washington DC seems to have the most in quality and quantity.
Museums 1st:Washington DC 2nd:Boston 3rd:Philadelphia. They all have great museums. But Washington yet again has the most in quality and quantity.
Art scene 1st: Washington DC 2nd:Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. But they all have great art scenes.
Diversity: 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Philadelphia 3rd: Boston. But all three have plenty of diversity.
Vibrancy 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Philadelphia 3rd: All three have plenty of vibrancy but Washington DC comes out 1st place again.
Pedestrian friendliness: Tie.
Transportation 1st:Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have great public transportation but Washington DC is the best one of the three, then Boston, then Philly.
Architecture 1st: Philadelphia 2nd:Washington DC 3rd: Philadelphia All three have some great architecture but Philadelphia is first. Washington DC and Boston architecture is somewhat overrated. Philadelphia architecture is somewhat underrated.
Work force 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have great work force/economy/employment opportunities but those cites are in that order.
Skyline 1st: Philadelphia 2nd: Boston 3rd: Washington DC
Philadelphia has a pretty good skyline but it still can be much better. Boston's skyline kind of sucks. Washington DC does not really have much of an actual high rise skyline.
Cleanliness: 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia
Washington DC and Boston are pretty clean overall. Philadelphia has some clean spots but more dirtier spots.
Nightlife 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have good nightlife but they are in that order.
Hotels 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia
All three have great hotels but they are in that order.
Housing stock 1st: Boston 2nd: Washington DC 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have pretty good housing stock but there are reasons they are in that order.
Shopping 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia All three have great shopping.
Parks/Squares 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have great parks/squares
Live music venues 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia
All have some great music venues.
Tourist attractions. 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. They are all good for tourist attractions but in that order.
Out of these 18 factors that can make a downtown great Washington DC won in 14 of the categories(Restaurants, Museums, Art scene, Diversity, Vibrancy, Transportation, Work force, Cleanliness, Nightlife, Hotels, Shopping, Parks/squares, Life music venues, and Tourist attractions)
Philadelphia won in 2 of the categories(Architecture and Skyline) and there was 2 category where all three were at a tie(Pedestrian friendliness and Housing stock).
Overall these three cities(Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Boston) have plenty of similarities but plenty of differences too that make them distinctive from each other.
I would pick Washington DC overall out of the three but Philadelphia does still beat Washington DC in some categories for downtown.
Just a couple of thoughts: Philadelphia has a restaurant scene that is growing exponentially, and there is enough buzz out there to make a case that Philly's ranking in the food world is rising rapidly. perhaps not so much in the "expense account French feast" category but when it comes to new restaurants, Philly is on fire.
Parks - no doubt D.C. has amazing parks, but for a resident those parks don't offer much utility. Philly has Fairmount park, the largest urban park in the world. That ranking should be re-visited.
Museums - D.C. is powerhouse, but consider that the Barnes collection is moving to downtown Philly, that is another 35 billion in impressionist art on the parkway. The Philly MoA is a concentrated collection of some of the best artworks in the world, often I'm surprised at which world-famous paintings are actually located in Philly, not NY or Paris. Especially true for Renoir. I don't see how Boston competes with DC and Philly in that category.
I generally agree with the rest of your rankings, but I think those two point could be re-examined. I do live in Philly but used to live in Boston and I've been to D.C. many times, and I have family that live in the Maryland suburbs of D.C.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Based on the factors the OP is looking for:
Restaurants 1st:Washington DC 2nd:Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. However all three have plenty of great restaurants. It is just that Washington DC seems to have the most in quality and quantity.
Museums 1st:Washington DC 2nd:Boston 3rd:Philadelphia. They all have great museums. But Washington yet again has the most in quality and quantity.
Art scene 1st: Washington DC 2nd:Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. But they all have great art scenes.
Diversity: 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Philadelphia 3rd: Boston. But all three have plenty of diversity.
Vibrancy 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Philadelphia 3rd: All three have plenty of vibrancy but Washington DC comes out 1st place again.
Pedestrian friendliness: Tie.
Transportation 1st:Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have great public transportation but Washington DC is the best one of the three, then Boston, then Philly.
Architecture 1st: Philadelphia 2nd:Washington DC 3rd: Philadelphia All three have some great architecture but Philadelphia is first. Washington DC and Boston architecture is somewhat overrated. Philadelphia architecture is somewhat underrated.
Work force 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have great work force/economy/employment opportunities but those cites are in that order.
Skyline 1st: Philadelphia 2nd: Boston 3rd: Washington DC
Philadelphia has a pretty good skyline but it still can be much better. Boston's skyline kind of sucks. Washington DC does not really have much of an actual high rise skyline.
Cleanliness: 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia
Washington DC and Boston are pretty clean overall. Philadelphia has some clean spots but more dirtier spots.
Nightlife 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have good nightlife but they are in that order.
Hotels 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia
All three have great hotels but they are in that order.
Housing stock 1st: Boston 2nd: Washington DC 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have pretty good housing stock but there are reasons they are in that order.
Shopping 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia All three have great shopping.
Parks/Squares 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. All three have great parks/squares
Live music venues 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia
All have some great music venues.
Tourist attractions. 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia. They are all good for tourist attractions but in that order.
Out of these 18 factors that can make a downtown great Washington DC won in 14 of the categories(Restaurants, Museums, Art scene, Diversity, Vibrancy, Transportation, Work force, Cleanliness, Nightlife, Hotels, Shopping, Parks/squares, Life music venues, and Tourist attractions)
Philadelphia won in 2 of the categories(Architecture and Skyline) and there was 2 category where all three were at a tie(Pedestrian friendliness and Housing stock).
Overall these three cities(Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Boston) have plenty of similarities but plenty of differences too that make them distinctive from each other.
I would pick Washington DC overall out of the three but Philadelphia does still beat Washington DC in some categories for downtown.
Shopping 1st: Washington DC 2nd: Boston 3rd: Philadelphia All three have great shopping.
Nice list. But, how can DC has the best shopping downtown? Are you including Georgetown and Dupont? Even then it seems a seems hard to match Boston in quality.
07-05-2011, 04:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dub King
Just a couple of thoughts: Philadelphia has a restaurant scene that is growing exponentially, and there is enough buzz out there to make a case that Philly's ranking in the food world is rising rapidly. perhaps not so much in the "expense account French feast" category but when it comes to new restaurants, Philly is on fire.
Parks - no doubt D.C. has amazing parks, but for a resident those parks don't offer much utility. Philly has Fairmount park, the largest urban park in the world. That ranking should be re-visited.
Museums - D.C. is powerhouse, but consider that the Barnes collection is moving to downtown Philly, that is another 35 billion in impressionist art on the parkway. The Philly MoA is a concentrated collection of some of the best artworks in the world, often I'm surprised at which world-famous paintings are actually located in Philly, not NY or Paris. Especially true for Renoir. I don't see how Boston competes with DC and Philly in that category.
I generally agree with the rest of your rankings, but I think those two point could be re-examined. I do live in Philly but used to live in Boston and I've been to D.C. many times, and I have family that live in the Maryland suburbs of D.C.
I already know Philadelphia has a restaurant scene that is growing exponentially and that its ranking in the food world is rising rapidly.
But at this point in time right now Washington DC is 1st place, Boston 2nd, and Philadelphia 3rd. I think all three of these cities have great food scenes but in that order.
Very similar to what I think about these three cities in the parks/squares, and museums category. I already know Philadelphia has some great parks and some great museums but I would still say Washington DC is 1st, Boston 2nd, and Philadelphia 3rd in that order. But I already think all three have great parks/squares and museums.
I would say Philadelphia beats Boston and Washington DC right now in architecture and skyline.
It is cool that you also try to get to know the place you live in well like that.
It is also great we still agreed with 16 out of 18 factors of the Downtown battle Boston vs. Philadelphia vs. Washington DC.
Last edited by ; 07-05-2011 at 04:45 AM..
07-05-2011, 04:38 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caymon83
Nice list. But, how can DC has the best shopping downtown? Are you including Georgetown and Dupont? Even then it seems a seems hard to match Boston in quality.
Thanks. I am glad you liked my list and agreed with 17 out of 18 factors for the Downtown battle Boston vs. Philadelphia vs. Washington DC.
In relation to the 1 out of 18 factors we disagreed with, I said all three cities(Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia) have plenty of great shopping.
But I still think it is in that order that I mentioned. It is a close call though and almost a three way tie, or at the very least a two way tie between Washington DC and Boston for 1st place with Philadelphia after that.
Thanks. I am glad you liked my list and agreed with 17 out of 18 factors for the Downtown battle Boston vs. Philadelphia vs. Washington DC.
In relation to the 1 out of 18 factors we disagreed with, I said all three cities(Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia) have plenty of great shopping.
But I still think it is in that order that I mentioned. It is a close call though and almost a three way tie, or at the very least a two way tie between Washington DC and Boston for 1st place with Philadelphia after that.
If the criteria is Downtown Shopping, where in Downtown DC is there "great shopping"? Connecticut Ave has a few shops, but outside of that Downtown is really lacking. M Street in Georgetown and Dupont are def outside the downtown area.
If the criteria is Downtown Shopping, where in Downtown DC is there "great shopping"? Connecticut Ave has a few shops, but outside of that Downtown is really lacking. M Street in Georgetown and Dupont are def outside the downtown area.
Agree - I just saw however that DC (MDALLSTAR posted) has some very substantial plans to developed the area around CT Ave that would increase it significantly but today on DTs I see Boston as 1, Philly as 2, and DC as a clear 3 on this criteria but looks like that may very change in the near future, but today it is one area where DC is lacking in regards to the other two.
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