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Some of you Philly homers are funny (love Philly btw)....
Not going to touch the beach thing, but in an effort to educate you, Chicagoland idoes have some surprising natural beauty...
Here are some houses for sale in the Indiana suburbs in the Dunes area, which extends for 30 plus miles from Gary all the way into Michigan, all of it served by the South Shore rail line into Millenium Park
I love Chicago but since you asked, I have to be honest. There a plenty of things that Chicago does better than Philly but not the ones listed below.
What Philly does better than Chicago
1. Better weather
2. Better location
3. Better beaches
4. Better bar scene
5. Better sports culture
6. Better street food
7. Better light rail transportation
8. Better suburbs
9. Better natural scenery
10. Better cultural history
1. Perhaps, but it's a tallest midget contest.
2. Agree.
3. Yes, but only if you are talking about the Jersey Shore, right? That's well over an hour away, so I think it's a bit indulgent to include it.
4. No, I hope you are not serious.
5. Yea, not so sure about that either. Chicago probably wins this.
6. Yes, Chicago does not have street food.
7. Uh, no. Not close.
8. Kind of a whatever.
9. If you include the Blue Mountains west of Philly, I agree. If not, then no. The Lake Michigan shoreline is much more scenic than anything in Philadelphia.
10. I don't think any city in the US (Boston?) tops Philly in history.
Philly is a great city, but I think you're pressing and over-reaching here a bit.
9. If you include the Blue Mountains west of Philly, I agree. If not, then no. The Lake Michigan shoreline is much more scenic than anything in Philadelphia.
Lets leave the shore lines out of it as Philadlephia can use the Delaware Bay, Delaware River , and Atlantic Ocean
Lets get to the crux of point #9. The immediate NW suburbs of Philly where the bulk of the population in the Philly area live has a better natural setting than Chicagoland.I have friends that live in Oak Brook IL ,whom I have visited. Oak Brook and Valley Forge/King of Prussia are approximately the same distance to their respective core cities but Valley Forge/KOP is in a much more appealing setting.
If Chicagoland could swap the geography of their western suburbs with the NW suburbs of Philly I don't believe anyone in Chicago would decline. Huge edge for Philadelphia. Piedmont vs Midwest farmland. The piedmont is going to win that battle.
1. Better weather (yes)
2. Better location (yes)
3. Better beaches (yes regionally and no for everyday use)
4. Better bar scene (no)
5. Better sports culture (toss up)
6. Better street food (yes)
7. Better light rail transportation (moot point, Chicago has heavy rail)
8. Better suburbs (yes)
9. Better natural scenery (definitely yes)
10. Better cultural history (yes)
CTA is two generations ahead of SEPTA in terms of getting visitors around the city on transit. The el is quirky and cool. SEPTA light rail is pretty much invisible to a visitor as there is not easily accessible information from SEPTA on how and where to ride it. They don't even have vicinity maps in the stations like other cities have had for years. I vented about this in the Philly forum last year and was told to use Google Transit. I would hope that Google knows all but I wouldn't want to venture north of Center City without something more official.
CTA is two generations ahead of SEPTA in terms of getting visitors around the city on transit. The el is quirky and cool. SEPTA light rail is pretty much invisible to a visitor as there is not easily accessible information from SEPTA on how and where to ride it.
Don't forget that the Philly area has heavy rail too and more lines as well. I'm not trying to boost, I'm just stating the facts. We know that Chicago beats Philly in heavy rail but Philly destroys Chicago when it comes to light rail. I don't know why some of you Chicago posters have such a hard tome acknowledging that Philly beats Chicago in that type of transportation. It's like some of you can't stand the fact that Philly does something better than Chicago when it comes to transportation.
Don't forget that the Philly area has heavy rail too and more lines as well. I'm not trying to boost, I'm just stating the facts. We know that Chicago beats Philly in heavy rail but Philly destroys Chicago when it comes to light rail. I don't know why some of you Chicago posters have such a hard tome acknowledging that Philly beats Chicago in that type of transportation. It's like some of you can't stand the fact that Philly does something better than Chicago when it comes to transportation.
LOL now you're just moving the goalpost. Saying Philly *destroys* Chicago in terms of light rail is like celebrating winning a race that only you ran...You might as well make the moot point that Chicago *destroys* Philly in terms of access to Lake Michigan, or something as equally absurd. Chicago's rail system is heavy-rail based, so there's no comparison. But for overall rail transport, which is a legitimate comparison, Chicago easily beats Philadelphia.
I haven't been there yet but based on what I've heard it has the same cool urban city vibe as Chicago/NYC
The whole "cool urban city vibe" thing is highly subjective. It probably has more to do with name recognition than anything else. New York has been America's largest city for over 200 years; Chicago was the nation's second largest city from the Civil War Reconstruction era until Los Angeles overtook it in the 1980's. Chicago is also without dispute the power center of the Midwest, whereas Philadelphia is stuck as #2 behind New York in terms of population/influence of Northeastern cities.
As a New Yorker who has spent much time in both Philly and Chicago, I personally find them both to be nice, fun places with tons of nightlife and great cultural vibes. I frankly think the folks who would write off a great city like Philly as "uncool and not hip" are probably the types of braindead tourists who visit New York and don't get much further than Times Square.
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