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I agree that Pittsburgh is a cleaner city but overall comparing Pittsburgh to Philadelphia is almost like comparing Buffalo, NY to New York City.
Not according to actual facts.....Pittsburgh does pretty well against Philly....
I know the snobbish insecure Philly cheerleaders like to think Philadelphia is superior to Pittsburgh in every way simply because of the higher population...but in 2012 well more defined data that looks at the health of city in more granular metrics than just raw population counts, and by many of metric Pittsburgh is outpacing Philly significantly....
Also another correction, according to "Harrisburg" political clout both cities are on the same level....one gets no more attention/$$$$$ from PA than the other.
NYC on the other hand swallows the rest of NYS in state attention/$$$$$..and by all accounts is the only city that seems to matter in Albany.
Not according to actual facts.....Pittsburgh does pretty well against Philly....
I know the snobbish insecure Philly cheerleaders like to think Philadelphia is superior to Pittsburgh in every way simply because of the higher population...but in 2012 well more defined data that looks at the health of city in more granular metrics than just raw population counts, and by many of metric Pittsburgh is outpacing Philly significantly....
Even though I don't think Pittsburgh is on the same level as Philly, I do hope that Pittsburgh continues to improve as there is a lot of potential in the Pittsburgh area.
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Also another correction, according to "Harrisburg" political clout both cities are on the same level....one gets no more attention/$$$$$ from PA than the other.
Harrisburg in general has never given Philly(and Southeastern PA as well) its proper respect in regards to state funding. Philly is by far the largest city in Pennsylvania and should receive the most funding. That is one thing I never understood about Pennsylvania politics. You don't see states like Illinois giving just as much attention/$$$$ to Aurora, Ill as it does with Chicago.
According to this poll, Pittsburgh has the most favorable view of any city in the state while Philadelphia has the least favorable view amongst Pennsylvanians.
Coal City and you are from Wilkes Barre? A bigger dump than Scranton. Lol
The 90's are over. Wilkes-Barre isn't as dirty as it was. No longer is the square a haven only for drug dealers, prostitutes, & homeless. It is being revamped as a financial core & social hot spot, as it was always intended to be. There are too many cruisers, foot patrol officers, & surveillance cameras linked directly to the police station for crime to continue to operate on the scale it had been in past decades. Crime was really W-B's only major problem too. Now that it's being cleared up, you start to see other things change too. Look at the statistics, or ask a non-bias party. W-B is back on top & Scranton is eating our dust. There isn't any money or business in Scranton & another member recently told me you guys are headed for a major tax increase. Sorry. Like I said, the 90's are over & W-B is back on top.
Even though I don't think Pittsburgh is on the same level as Philly, I do hope that Pittsburgh continues to improve as there is a lot of potential in the Pittsburgh area.
Harrisburg in general has never given Philly(and Southeastern PA as well) its proper respect in regards to state funding. Philly is by far the largest city in Pennsylvania and should receive the most funding. That is one thing I never understood about Pennsylvania politics. You don't see states like Illinois giving just as much attention/$$$$ to Aurora, Ill as it does with Chicago.
Don't forget, PA is not a state, it's a Commonwealth. That means we all work together & receive equal attention.
Well, for starters, consider it is nearly 90 degrees, Scranton residents are enjoying the multiple public pools, versus Wilkes barres zero public pools. Wilkes barre is also a city which won't even turn on its fountains or fix them.
Okay, that's 1 thing, but I can always go to Kingston (which might as well be part of W-B for all intensive purposes) or Frances Slocum.
Not according to actual facts.....Pittsburgh does pretty well against Philly....
I know the snobbish insecure Philly cheerleaders like to think Philadelphia is superior to Pittsburgh in every way simply because of the higher population...but in 2012 well more defined data that looks at the health of city in more granular metrics than just raw population counts, and by many of metric Pittsburgh is outpacing Philly significantly....
Also another correction, according to "Harrisburg" political clout both cities are on the same level....one gets no more attention/$$$$$ from PA than the other.
NYC on the other hand swallows the rest of NYS in state attention/$$$$$..and by all accounts is the only city that seems to matter in Albany.
Because of the significantly higher population, it doesn't make sense to directly compare the two, but I agree that on a per capita basis, both cities are on roughly equal footing for the most part. Just one of the many reasons I love them both so much. I would say Philly's biggest weakness relative to Pittsburgh is overall crime rate, although it's mostly segregated within the City's undesirable parts. Pittsburgh lags behind a bit in terms of diversity/general cosmopolitan feel, but that's starting to change as well.
In no particular order (besides alphabetical) here are our personal favorites:
Bethlehem
Erie
Harrisburg
Hershey
Lewisburg
Philadelphia
I have not been to Pittsburgh though I really want to visit.
As far as W-B vs Scranton, I have a soft spot for Wilkes-Barre because it's my hometown. But it really needs more pools and more viable contributions to the local economy.
Scranton isn't on the list because I find it a depressing & dull place with a small skyline & little to do. Also, Scranton has about 7 colleges, which means drunk bros EVERYWHERE. The only youth that aren't bros are coffee shop hipsters, so if you're 20-30 & not a dingleberry, you won't like most of the people.
Pittsburgh isn't on the list because I've never been there & don't know much about the city.
Wilkes-Barre is second & I really mean it. Haha. I love any chance to brag on my city, so I'll tell you that W-B now boasts a casino/racetrack, 5 large night clubs which are open late, an increasingly vibrant & active downtown, one of the most historic backgrounds of ANY American city, the tallest buildings, largest downtown, & largest skyline in Northeast PA (and in PA outside of Philly, Pittsburgh, & Allentown), 3 colleges, and TONS of world renowned historic architecture. The problem is, as another member pointed out, the city hit its prime a long time ago & its been on a terrible population decline since coal began to die out in the 1930's, but that seems to be changing in the recent decade, with thousands of new people & businesses pouring in every year.
Scranton has 3 colleges (U of S, Marywood, and Lackawanna)....not all that different from Wilkes-Barre 2 colleges that bookend the downtown, actually there is more of a drunken frat boy atmosphere in downtown Wilkes-Barre. The casino/racetrack lies in either Plains Twp or Jenkins Twp, not Wilkes-Barre. And you obviously don't know your skylines, since Harrisburg's is obviously the largest outside of Philly and Pgh. Allentown's is puny...one tall building, that's it. And Scranton's is about the same as W-B, just more spread out so it doesn't appear as big. You complain about drunk college kids in Scranton, yet you cite the "nightclubs" in Wilkes-Barre? I'm not sure the Hardware Bar and its affiliated bars with their "midget jello wrestling" nights count as any type of upscale "nightclub." And those "clubs' target audience is the "bros" you mention. If you think downtown W-B is doing so much better than downtown Scranton, you're living in a dream world. In reality, they're more similar than alike....but there is more of a professional element to downtown Scranton...more government offices and law firms. And even though the Steamtown Mall has been struggling, its still holding its own with a newer Boscov's and Bon-Ton rather than downtown Wilkes-Barre's old rundown Boscov's that smells like mildew. Not to mention downtown Scranton has Steamtown, a National Park, while Wilkes-Barre has Public Square with its broken fountain. Wilkes-barre does have the Rover Common, which is nice, but Scranton does have the riverwalk trail, which is expanding. W-B can't really claim Kirby Park, since that is in Kingston. Public Square seems to be a haven for dirty looking people with backpacks hanging around and smoking....check out the crowds hanging around outside the Anthracite Newstand. Check out the new parking garage at the intermodal center....the bums take craps in the stairwells, pi$$ in the elevators, and puke and leave broken bottles all over. I'm not going to pretend that Scranton doesn't have its problems...downtown Scranton is probably in the same boat as downtown W-B, but Scranton's residential neighborhoods are much more liveable than Wilkes-Barre's. And Scranton schools are much better than W-B schools.
Scranton has 3 colleges (U of S, Marywood, and Lackawanna)....not all that different from Wilkes-Barre 2 colleges that bookend the downtown, actually there is more of a drunken frat boy atmosphere in downtown Wilkes-Barre. The casino/racetrack lies in either Plains Twp or Jenkins Twp, not Wilkes-Barre. And you obviously don't know your skylines, since Harrisburg's is obviously the largest outside of Philly and Pgh. Allentown's is puny...one tall building, that's it. And Scranton's is about the same as W-B, just more spread out so it doesn't appear as big. You complain about drunk college kids in Scranton, yet you cite the "nightclubs" in Wilkes-Barre? I'm not sure the Hardware Bar and its affiliated bars with their "midget jello wrestling" nights count as any type of upscale "nightclub." And those "clubs' target audience is the "bros" you mention. If you think downtown W-B is doing so much better than downtown Scranton, you're living in a dream world. In reality, they're more similar than alike....but there is more of a professional element to downtown Scranton...more government offices and law firms. And even though the Steamtown Mall has been struggling, its still holding its own with a newer Boscov's and Bon-Ton rather than downtown Wilkes-Barre's old rundown Boscov's that smells like mildew. Not to mention downtown Scranton has Steamtown, a National Park, while Wilkes-Barre has Public Square with its broken fountain. Wilkes-barre does have the Rover Common, which is nice, but Scranton does have the riverwalk trail, which is expanding. W-B can't really claim Kirby Park, since that is in Kingston. Public Square seems to be a haven for dirty looking people with backpacks hanging around and smoking....check out the crowds hanging around outside the Anthracite Newstand. Check out the new parking garage at the intermodal center....the bums take craps in the stairwells, pi$$ in the elevators, and puke and leave broken bottles all over. I'm not going to pretend that Scranton doesn't have its problems...downtown Scranton is probably in the same boat as downtown W-B, but Scranton's residential neighborhoods are much more liveable than Wilkes-Barre's. And Scranton schools are much better than W-B schools.
There's also a PSU campus & one other college located there. I can't remember what college, but there's a sign on 81 that lists all of the colleges that operate in Scranton & there are 5 listed there. Perhaps the other two are not full colleges though, equivalent to how LCCC & PSU operate in W-B's Chamber bldg for select programs. The casino might not be in W-B City proper, but it's part of the GWBA . "the tallest buildings, largest downtown, & largest skyline in Northeast PA (and in PA outside of Philly, Pittsburgh, & Allentown)" was a broad statement. It does have a larger downtown than anywhere, but Philly, Pitt, & Allentown. It's skyline is considerably larger than Scranton's. We have 6 buildings as tall or taller than their tallest. There are a number of tall bldgs in Scranton, but as you said, they're too spread out, so I wouldn't really call it a skyline. Allentown's skyline may be puny, but they still have the PPL building, which trumps anything in the Wyoming Valley. Until recently, I had been lead to believe was the only building over 200 ft outside of our largest cities, but I found out that isn't true. Bethlehem & Harrisburg both have buildings over 300 ft. Kirby Park & Nesbit Park are both in Wilkes-Barre. If you don't believe me, I can show you a map that outlines the city's boundaries. Aside from the broski problem, Scranton residents tend to have a more rude, city attitude, whereas, W-B residents tend to have a more hospitable, small town attitude. I've lived in both Scranton & W-B in many neighborhoods & can say that both are about the same when it comes to crime, cleanliness, & professionalism. People pooping at the bus station is just part of city living. It happens everywhere from Akron to Tokyo. I probably forgot to address something. If so, re-address it please.
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I would say Philly's biggest weakness relative to Pittsburgh is overall crime rate, although it's mostly segregated within the City's undesirable parts. Pittsburgh lags behind a bit in terms of diversity/general cosmopolitan feel, but that's starting to change as well.
