Philadelphia 2013 Gritty vs. Washington D.C. 1980-90's Gritty (crime, homicide, people)
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You do realize that Philly was every bit as gritty as DC back then, right? West Philly, North Philly, the Riverwards, South Philly, etc... even Center City was gritty at one point.
The fact that Philly is still gritty, 30 years later, speaks volumes.
Philadelphia is much larger in both area and population than Washington DC, and it can't rely on federal government largesse to reinvest in itself the way Washington DC can. That's why there's still grit.
As for other cities, New York and Chicago are the largest cities in their regions, unlike Philadelphia. They enjoy greater economies of scale than Philadelphia does. Boston is a state capital, unlike Philadelphia. Boston has government largesse like Washington DC, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. Furthermore, Boston deindustrialized between 1950 and 1970, while Philadelphia deindustrialized between 1970 and 1990, which means Boston has had 40 years to change its economy, while Philadelphia has had only 20 years.
The fact that Philadelphia can have as much to offer as it does despite a) not being a center of government, b) not being the largest city in its region, and c) having only 20 years to reinvent its economy, is pretty remarkable.
Philadelphia deindustrialized between 1970 and 1990
Well that's not entirely accurate but everything else is spot on. Philadelphia finished its de-industrialization from the 1970s to the 2000s, sure, but it started losing industry way back in the Panic of 1873. If it weren't for the two World Wars, Philadelphia's industry would've been gone after the Depression.
Philadelphia is much larger in both area and population than Washington DC, and it can't rely on federal government largesse to reinvest in itself the way Washington DC can. That's why there's still grit.
As for other cities, New York and Chicago are the largest cities in their regions, unlike Philadelphia. They enjoy greater economies of scale than Philadelphia does. Boston is a state capital, unlike Philadelphia. Boston has government largesse like Washington DC, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. Furthermore, Boston deindustrialized between 1950 and 1970, while Philadelphia deindustrialized between 1970 and 1990, which means Boston has had 40 years to change its economy, while Philadelphia has had only 20 years.
The fact that Philadelphia can have as much to offer as it does despite a) not being a center of government, b) not being the largest city in its region, and c) having only 20 years to reinvent its economy, is pretty remarkable.
Only puts it in the same category as a city like Pittsburgh, which deindustrialized in the same time period. Fact is, most industrialized cities deindustrialized around the same time. One could argue that New York and Chicago deindustrialized around the same time that Boston did, or that deindustrialization occurred decades earlier in the cities mentioned because of home field advantages these cities have that Philadelphia did not. Which is what I think you're saying anyway, just in a different way.
Only puts it in the same category as a city like Pittsburgh, which deindustrialized in the same time period. Fact is, most industrialized cities deindustrialized around the same time. One could argue that New York and Chicago deindustrialized around the same time that Boston did, or that deindustrialization occurred decades earlier in the cities mentioned because of home field advantages these cities have that Philadelphia did not. Which is what I think you're saying anyway, just in a different way.
That's really not very accurate, and what exactly are you saying here? Pittsburgh is nothing like Philadelphia whatsoever. Deindustrialization also happened in different places for different reasons.
The fact that Philly is still gritty, 30 years later, speaks volumes.
lol true..
DC is much much better than it was 30 years ago. but lets not act like the whole city is one big clean sterile swathe of land. there is still alot of grittyness in all four sections of DC, just not on the level it use to be
I don't think DC has ever been as "gritty" as Philadelphia at any point in the last 30 years. More dangerous? Yes. But that's not necessarily the same thing as gritty.
Aesthetically, DC was never that bad. The housing stock has always been nice. The streets, for the most part, never became complete dumping grounds the way they did in North Philly. You never really saw block after block of bombed out houses tattooed with graffiti. The most unpleasant thing about DC aside from an astronomical homicide rate, imo, was the number of mentally disturbed homeless people roaming the streets. There were a number of those in Philadelphia too, but it seems that DC had an inordinate number of mentally deranged men and women on its streets, particularly at night time.
DC was also different from Philly because you know when you're in a bad neighborhood in the latter. A lot of DC neighborhoods didn't really look too bad on the surface, perhaps comparable to West Oak Lane, but a certain volatility could be detected once you walked around a little. I used to think that you had to be a bit more on guard in DC for this reason; it was not always easy to tell how "hood" an area was. You don't really have to worry about that in Philly. You immediately know you're in the hood when driving down Lehigh or Allegheny.
^ That's true D.C. has a lot of nice looking ghettos
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