Quote:
Originally Posted by pj3000
it's no also no big stretch to describe Philadelphia as rustbelt as well, in terms of the physical condition of a significant chunk of the core. Multiple, large portions of Philadelphia remain pretty damn crappy, blighted environments... and the same simply cannot be said for Boston. Nor for DC or NYC either. And anyone who would attempt to argue otherwise is either blind or fully delusional.
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I don't think anyone on this forum would argue that Philadelphia is in the same stage of revitalization/gentrification as Boston, NYC or DC. That's more than obvious to even the most optimistic of Philadelphians.
Nonetheless, you're referring to a 1.5 million, 134 square mile city. Center City and its surrounding neighborhoods are still on a relative scale very comparable to the footprint of Boston's and DC's most thriving core/surrounding neighborhoods. Therein lies the critical difference between Philly and Baltimore.
That being said, even though all 5 major BosWash hubs are on a continuum in terms of scale and "urban conditions," and Philly and Baltimore both still are categorized as having significant areas that are post-industrial/"Rust Belt" in character, it's still of the East Coast variety (i.e., much more intact and generally still densely populated).
You're not finding much "urban prairie" in either city, which is why they're much more primed for revitalization, even in their worst areas.
This and
this is Midwest-styled "Rust Belt."
This and
this is East Coast-styled "Rust Belt."
Big difference, in my view.