Boston vs Philadelphia: Which is the more important city (America, bigger, pros)

[hipcat]

In terms of their influence on the East Coast?

[Henry Hill]

Boston is more important but Philadelphia has a bigger influence over the eastcoast. I'm sure if both cities switched their positions then it would be Philly being more important. However Philadelphia has a bigger GDP city wise

[PA Born]

This is a good poll, and they're very, very close.

I give a slight edge to Boston due to greater strengths in tech, bioscience, and education, and slightly wealthier/more prosperous overall, but they're definitely comparable (unlike many of the sillier polls we routinely get).

[kidphilly]

depends on the question of specific criteria

Both are pretty significant

I personally like America very much with both in it

I prefer Philly but really like Boston. On importance again chose a category. regardless on nearly all categories they actually are among leaders and generally similar

[2e1m5a]

Very, very equal. Hard to say IMO but if we're only talking influence on The East Coast I would give the edge to Philly as Boston is relatively isolated from the rest of the East Coast.

[Mahatma X]

Equal in my opinion.

[RightonWalnut]

I voted equal. Philadelphia is the bigger city but they're pretty comparable metro wise.

[Pine to Vine]

Equal. My reasoning:

>Philly could claim the crown as it is a 6 million+ metro located in between the two major power centers of the US, and therefore its proximity to DC and NYC allows for more routine interaction and influence. Boston is a bit remote to carry as much overall influence on the East Coast.

>Boston could claim the crown as it is the power center for all of New England (outside of the NYC CT suburbs). Philly has a much smaller sphere of control - the Delaware Valley.

[RightonWalnut]

However let us remember, we are on City-Data. They are going to vote Boston haha.

[Ed Abby]

Boston influences New England more than Philadelphia does it's region, I suppose. But it's tough when NYC is 90 miles away. To me they are both great, though I know that doesn't help the OP.