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[/b] Just for starters - on the NJ side of the Philadelphia metro I-295 and the NJ Turnpike are right next to each other and essentially duplicate themselves. Why not one road wider and better than two? Boston in contrast has 3 nice loops around the city I-95,I-495 and the combo I-190/Route 146/I-195.
Philadephias age and location causes all kinds of issues traffic wise.
1. Most of the area to the immediate west of Philadlephia was designed and developed before the automobile. 8 lane highways ? Not happening. You have to go 20-30 miles west to travel on 4-6 lane highways which not surprisingly is where most of the new growth is occurring in the Philly region.
The main e-w artery out of the city is the Schuylkill Expressway, a nightmare of a commute.Its an old indian trail and current 2 lane highway scrunched up between a river and rock formation. Accident, inclement weather this road is a 12 mile long parking lot from Philly to King of Prussia.
As far as the Jersey side. The Nj Turnpike basically is the Philadelphia bypass for east coast drivers. When the NJ turnpike was built Philadlephia got a lot less important and a lot more overlooked. Before the The NJ Turnpike was built Philadelphia was the peanut butter and jelly in the NYC -Wash sandwich. Along what is now the NJ turnpike used to be Pinelands,farms, marshland. Today its lined with office parks,industrial parks, cities and towns and is a key link between NYC + Washington.
Now when you head up I-95 from Washington reaching Delaware you would never know Philadlephia existed or was a short 25 miles away, there are a series of ginormous signs for NYC via 495. Caravans of buses filled with tourist head back and forth between NYC + Wash brushing by without ever seeing the 5th largest and most historic city in the country.
Philadephias age and location causes all kinds of issues traffic wise.
1. Most of the area to the immediate west of Philadlephia was designed and developed before the automobile. 8 lane highways ? Not happening. You have to go 20-30 miles west to travel on 4-6 lane highways which not surprisingly is where most of the new growth is occurring in the Philly region.
We have the Schuylkill Expressway which was an old indian trail and current 2 lane highway scrunched up between a river and rock formation. Thats the main e-w artery out of the city, a nightmare of a commute.
As far as the Jersey side. The Nj Turnpike basically is the Philadelphia bypass for east coast drivers. When the NJ turnpike was built Philadlephia got a lot less important and a lot more overlooked. Before the The NJ Turnpike was built Philadelphia was the peanut butter and jelly in the NYC -Wash sandwich an the along what is now the NJ turnpike used to be Pinelands,farms, marshland. Today its lined with office parks,industrial parks, cities and towns and is a key link between NYC + Washington.
Now when you head up I-95 from Washington reaching Delaware you would never know Philadlephia existed or was a short 25 miles away, there are a series of ginormous signs for NYC via 495. Caravans of buses filled with tourist head back and forth between NYC + Wash brushing by without ever seeing the 5th largest and most historic city in the country.
Wow some excellent points!
I never thought about this before but whenever we drive toward Maryland or Virginia on the NJ turnpike we essentially never think about Philadelphia or its rush hour traffic. Baltimore and DC are a concern. New York and northern NJ is a horror - so it must be timed properly. But not Philadelphia.
Years ago before the turnpike or interstates - people traveled from NY/Boston to DC by rail, notably the Pennsylvania Railroad. All the railroads ran through Philadelphia.
So your suggestion that the turnpike (hehe the Philadelphia By-Pass from now!) may have had a negative effect on Philadelphia's economy, seems logical to at least some degree.
Both towns suffer a perennial brain drain....they each import talented kids from all over US and world for 2-3 yrs of college (only slow kids need 4yrs to earn a silly undergrad degree)...and export them out to NYC and CA to make bucks...never to return to Bos/Phila, except as wealthy alumni donors who will likely send their own kids to same colleges....
Phila's Wharton is prob world's best undergrad training ground for financiers, but nearly every smart alum immediately leaves post-grad to NYC investment banks...and then onward/upward to hedge funds in NYC, Greenwich, SF or BeverlyHills
Bos' Harvard undergrad produces many talented financiers...but again, nearly all immediately leave post-grad for NYC...and similarly disperse among NYC or CA hedge funds
MIT is an excellent engineering school...but Bos has nearly no valuable tech cos. in region, so smartest grads all migrate to SiliconValley post-grad
Bos and Phila both show that leading colleges alone fail to retain talented young people if no lucrative, powerful local economy exists
Bos and Phila both show that leading colleges alone fail to retain talented young people if no lucrative, powerful local economy exists
You are getting a little carried away here.Manhattan's status allows it to cherry pick hoards of college graduates from every university/city in the world, especially in the financial field.Philly and Bostons close proximity to Manhattan probably puts them both under greater scrutiny but that doesnt necessarily make their economies deficient..
Boston and Philly do in fact have powerful local economies which are continually reinforced by their abundance of institutions of higher learning.
Richest cities in the world
Rank City/Urban area Country GDP in US$bn
1 Tokyo Japan 1191
2 New York USA 1133
3 Los Angeles USA 639
4 Chicago USA 460
5 Paris France 460
6 London UK 452
7 Osaka/Kobe Japan 341
8 Mexico City Mexico 315
9 Philadelphia USA 312
10 Washington DC USA 299
11 Boston USA 290
Both towns suffer a perennial brain drain....they each import talented kids from all over US and world for 2-3 yrs of college (only slow kids need 4yrs to earn a silly undergrad degree)...and export them out to NYC and CA to make bucks...never to return to Bos/Phila, except as wealthy alumni donors who will likely send their own kids to same colleges....
Phila's Wharton is prob world's best undergrad training ground for financiers, but nearly every smart alum immediately leaves post-grad to NYC investment banks...and then onward/upward to hedge funds in NYC, Greenwich, SF or BeverlyHills
Bos' Harvard undergrad produces many talented financiers...but again, nearly all immediately leave post-grad for NYC...and similarly disperse among NYC or CA hedge funds
MIT is an excellent engineering school...but Bos has nearly no valuable tech cos. in region, so smartest grads all migrate to SiliconValley post-grad
Bos and Phila both show that leading colleges alone fail to retain talented young people if no lucrative, powerful local economy exists
Philadephias age and location causes all kinds of issues traffic wise.
Unlike the convenience of Boston modernity?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rainrock
Caravans of buses filled with tourist head back and forth between NYC + Wash brushing by without ever seeing the 5th largest and most historic city in the country.
OH NO YOU DI'N'T
...maybe it became official in Philadelphia but these United States were a New England idea.
MIT is an excellent engineering school...but Bos has nearly no valuable tech cos. in region, so smartest grads all migrate to SiliconValley post-grad
Bos and Phila both show that leading colleges alone fail to retain talented young people if no lucrative, powerful local economy exists
excuse me? no high tech in Boston?
well, I posted this about a month ago on a different thread but I just copy-and-pasted it cuz it fits:
The high-tech industry is one of the most important industries for Boston's economy. Obviously there is MIT but there is also a slew of important high-tech centers on route 128 and 495- The Boston area's beltways. These high-tech areas are not nearly as important as they were in the 50s-80s but are still substantial. Boston also has several extremely good hospitals which constantly require technologically-inclined professionals. Of all states, Massachusetts employees the sixth most people in the high-tech industries (I'm not sure of 3-5 though I would assume California and Texas take the gold and silver). However, by percentage, Massachusetts is number 2 on the list with 86 out of every 1,000 private-sector employees employed by the high-tech industry. Yes, Mass has more high-tech workers per capita then everyone except one......Uh, whatever state is number 1....probably California.
Relax slugger I was merely responding to a specific question concerning Philadlephias traffic pattern or lack thereof,Boston didnt come into the equation. You're a tad hypersensitive aren't you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWereRabbit
OH NO YOU DI'N'T
...maybe it became official in Philadelphia but these United States were a New England idea.
I respect Boston and wish Philadlephia had emulated alot of its positive attributes over the course of its life span but most historians will tell you Philadlephia was significantly more important in this countries creation.
Colonial Philadlephia was the political, financial and cultural backbone of the colonies. US democracy was created in Philadlephia for a good reason, it was the lynchpin/keystone of the colonies. While Bostonians used their provincial isolated moblike tantrums to conspire against the British, the powers to be in Philadlephia were keenly developing a successful plan to once and for all rid the colonies of the British.
NYC was the muscle
Boston was the brawn
Philadlephia was the brains behind this operation.
Washington DC an inconsequential swamp gets to enjoy the rewards.Illl never figure that one out.
excuse me? no high tech in Boston?
well, I posted this about a month ago on a different thread but I just copy-and-pasted it cuz it fits:
The high-tech industry is one of the most important industries for Boston's economy. Obviously there is MIT but there is also a slew of important high-tech centers on route 128 and 495- The Boston area's beltways. These high-tech areas are not nearly as important as they were in the 50s-80s but are still substantial. Boston also has several extremely good hospitals which constantly require technologically-inclined professionals. Of all states, Massachusetts employees the sixth most people in the high-tech industries (I'm not sure of 3-5 though I would assume California and Texas take the gold and silver). However, by percentage, Massachusetts is number 2 on the list with 86 out of every 1,000 private-sector employees employed by the high-tech industry. Yes, Mass has more high-tech workers per capita then everyone except one......Uh, whatever state is number 1....probably California.
You beat me to it with the rebuttal, and with some solid facts. The post you respond to, in addition to the inaccurate assessment of Boston as a center of high tech, seems to heavily emphasize finance as the be-all/end-all of industries, an important industry, yes, but not the only one needed to drive a modern economy.
Then there is the relatively new (since approx. the '80's) branch of the high-tech sector in Boston, as the area has become a major center of biotech research. And while we're speaking of things medical, correct me if I have this wrong, but isn't Philly THE place for pharmaceuticals?
Relax slugger I was merely responding to a specific question concerning Philadlephias traffic pattern or lack thereof,Boston didnt come into the equation. You're a tad hypersensitive aren't you?
Whoa hold on here chief.
I respect Boston and wish Philadlephia had emulated alot of its positive attributes over the course of its life span but most historians will tell you Philadlephia was significantly more important in this countries creation.
Colonial Philadlephia was the political, financial and cultural backbone of the colonies. US democracy was created in Philadlephia for a good reason, it was the lynchpin/keystone of the colonies. While Bostonians used their provincial isolated moblike tantrums to conspire against the British, the powers to be in Philadlephia were keenly developing a successful plan to once and for all rid the colonies of the British.
NYC was the muscle
Boston was the brawn
Philadlephia was the brains behind this operation.
Washington DC an inconsequential swamp gets to enjoy the rewards.Illl never figure that one out.
LOL about the description of D.C.'s setting at the time the country was formed as an "inconsequential swamp." In fact, I seem to recall hearing or reading something about outbreaks of malaria in the early years after the city was built.
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)...and export them out to NYC and CA to make bucks...never to return to Bos/Phila, except as wealthy alumni donors who will likely send their own kids to same colleges....
