Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. That nickname can actually be sort of deceiving to foreigners of this region as the city is home to some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. Located on the east coast, it makes it very easy to commute to neighboring states such as New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and Maryland. Within Philly, the neighborhoods vary on so many different levels. From the skyscrapers downtown to the private homes on the outskirts, each neighborhood has their own culture and heritage. Philly is the largest city in Pennsylvania, and fifth most populous in the United Sates with approximately 1.5 million people residing in it. They saying of “Product of your environment” is very realistic in Philadelphia. Different areas have different culture. You can grow up downtown around the museums and grow up loving art. Whereas in my neighborhood, every kid growing up loved football and basketball. Other areas are more baseball, or hockey. This city has molded me to who I am today, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

A lot of the big cities along the east coast have some similarities, especially Philadelphia and New York City. Having lived in both cities, I’ve gotten accustomed to both lifestyles and cultures. The sports culture is huge in both cities, which offers a huge rivalry between the two cities. In both cities you can find pedestrian neighborhoods, and automobile dependent suburbs. New York is definitely famous for the amazing skyline it offers, and although a bit smaller, Philly’s skyline is just that much to talk about as it continues to grow. One thing I’ve always said that Philly needs to adopt from NYC is the public transportation system. Not that we have a bad system, it’s just that NYC offers the best transportation system I’ve seen in any US city. Outside of the inner city of Philadelphia, it is almost necessary to have a car. New York’s subway system is amazing, and you can get anywhere within the 5 boroughs with a simple metro card. Philly does have a system in place, they’re just not as frequent as the transportation in NYC.

Another city that might be even closer to Philadelphia in similarities is Baltimore, MD. Unlike NYC, the Baltimore skyline doesn’t over shadow Philly’s as the buildings are closer in size. If anything the Philly skyline might be a little bigger. The local neighborhoods are also a little more similar, especially those in the inner city. In both cities you can find similar road homes, where majority of the population most likely live in. One big distinction between the two however, is that Philly is a lot more crowded. With Philly’s 1.5 million count, it nearly doubles that of Baltimore’s 620k. If there is anything that Philly can do more like Baltimore to be more sustainable, is that try to gain ideas from Baltimore’s harbor. Although we do have a seaport in Philly off of the Delaware River, it is nothing compared to that of Baltimore.