America's gritty still affordable big cities : A Chicago versus Philadelphia comparison
Various opinions posted online-
Chicago beats Philly on a city vs city basis but Philly beats Chicago weather and location wise due to train access to the entire east coast.
Love Chicago. Love Philly. I think there’s a lot of crossover appeal. Both are amazing food cities. Arguably both top five in the US. Both are less transient than places like DC, NYC, or LA. They’re places where people stay for generations. This impacts the culture. Both are big sports cities. Big beer cities. Both have some great parks and nature inside city limits . And both have a certain tough exterior, but are filled with down-to-earth, good, working class people.
Chicago has good restaurants. Philly has the best restaurant culture in the US and it is completely underrated.
I think Chicago itself is better than Philadelphia, assuming both cities existed in empty vacuums. But Philadelphia has better location. There are no places near Chicago I would want to visit. But Philadelphia is near Baltimore, New York, and Boston.
I loved the small size and walk-ability of Philadelphia. The winters are better in Philly and I loved the 18th century housing stock. Rent was cheaper. People in Chicago are friendlier - Philly has a lot of aggro, which I got tired of dealing with. In general I like Chicago more than Philadelphia - it’s a kinder and gentler place .
Each has their ups and downs. The easy access to public transit - Philly has decent public transit. The light rail is good. Chicago gets the nod here however as overall Philly relies too much on buses. A bonus Philly DOES have however is that from Philly you can get a train to NYC (2 hours) or DC (3 hours). The lake - Philly does not have a lake, however it's only 2 hours from the New Jersey Shore. (nod Chicago). The affordability - Philly is more affordable than Chicago. The vibrant summers with so much to do are a huge plus. - Philadelphia also has great summers. (Philly gets the nod here however as the Philly winters are better than Chicago's) East Coast culture/social scene/mountains - Philly is 2 hours from the Poconos, and has more culture than you know what to do with. Lgbt friendly - Philly is very LGBT friendly.
(more at link)
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | February 23, 2024 8:21 AM
|
Everything isn't a competition. Everything isn't a ranking.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | February 22, 2024 11:12 PM
|
Philly is a disgusting dump for the most part and the population is packed to the gills with low brow, uneducated, violent mooks. I don't even like driving near Philly.
Chicago is infinitely nicer. IMO one of the 3 nicest cities in the US.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | February 22, 2024 11:26 PM
|
Anyhoo it's fucking lame and lazy to just copy paste some shit post from reddit to DL.
If I wanted to read reddit I would go there. Or kill myself from shame for wanting to.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | February 22, 2024 11:44 PM
|
Train connection to the entire east coast. Is that a good thing?
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | February 23, 2024 12:07 AM
|
Chicago’s fine dining restaurants are a notch above Philly’s overall, even though Philly has Marc Vetri.
I think Philly’s street food & pizza run laps around Chicago, though.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | February 23, 2024 7:25 AM
|
I used to love Philadelphia and Chicago. The former I knew from childhood and the later I came to know late in life.
Philadelphia has superb architecture and a great center city; for.me it was always something of a 1950s New Yorker magazine urbanism: on every block a florist, an antique shop, an old-fashioned coffee shop, a newspaper kiosk, a store selling old maps since the 1880s... Much of that was finished or lost in this century.
Chicago has its Chicago style architecture, more interesting than beautiful to my eye, but it's a handsome city. The lake (and it's ridiculous beaches) are not a draw at all to me except to form a hard edge of the city. I love the Near North Side and like the density of the place which is 20thC versus Philadelphia's 18th-19thC density in the center. It's an easy place to spend time or to live, or it was. Recent years have again not been kind.
Living in Europe now for some years I wouldn't think of moving back to the U.S., but Chicago and Philadelphia hold much affection, even if tinged with sadness for their state of violence and tension and incivility.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | February 23, 2024 8:21 AM
|
