*edit* Added category for “large buildings”
The sports analysts have weighed in on the Blackhawks vs Philadelphia matchup for the Stanley Cup Finals, and the general consensus seems to be that while Philadelphia will have a punchers’ chance, Chicago will be too deep and too talented for the Flyers to overcome.
versus
But, how do the cities stack up? Does the city of our Founding Father’s have what it takes to relegate Chicago to Second City status? Or will the City of Broad Shoulders outmuscle the lily-livered City of Brotherly Love?
Iconic Food
Chicago: Deep dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef
Philadelphia: Cheese steak
Verdict: Philadelphia: Outnumbered three-to-one, the cheese steak still comes out on top. It’s an unholy trinity of greese, cheese, and meat, but oh-so-amazing.
Art Museum Entrances
Chicago: Lions
Philadelphia: Rocky steps
Verdict: Philadelphia: The Lions just sit there. The Rocky steps provide for endless re-enactment opportunities
Centers of Government
Chicago: City Hall
Philadelphia: City Hall
Verdict: Philadelphia: City Hall is beautiful and has Billy Penn. Plus, no one knows where the heck Chicago City Hall is anyways.
Public Transit
Chicago: The ‘El’
Philadelphia: SEPTA
Verdict: Chicago: The ‘El’ actually runs places you’d want to go to, and it runs all night.
Sports Icons
Chicago: Michael Jordan
Philadelphia: Wilt ‘The Stilt” Chamberlain
Verdict: Philadelphia: MJ was the man, but he they never changed to rules to stop him.
Iconic Sculptures
Chicago: Cloud Gate (aka the Bean)
Philadelphia: Love Statue
Verdict: Chicago: Love statue is an icon, but that’s about all there is too it.
Outdoor performance spaces
Chicago: Ravinia and Millenium Park
Philadelphia: The Mann Music Center
Verdict: Chicago: Ravinia is a joke (you can’t see the stage from the lawn? seriously?), but MP has a huge array of concerts, and they’re ALL FREE.
Bodies of Water
Chicago: Lake Michigan
Philadelphia: The Atlantic
Verdict: Chicago: Lake Michigan is right at your door step, versus two hours for the Atlantic. It’s no the ocean, but it’s powerful enough to provide a reasonable facsimile.
Topography
Chicago: Topography?
Philadelphia: Yes
Verdict: Philadelphia: It’s always a treat to see hills after a long stay in the Prairie
Chinatown
Verdict: Philadelphia: People actually live and work in the same neighborhood. As opposed to the neighborhood next door. And it has drinkable sweetened soy milk. And a dou hua shop!
Local Coffee
Chicago: Intelligentsia and Metropolis
Philadelphia: La Colombe
Verdict: *shrug* I don’t drink coffee.
Old Town
Verdict: Philadelphia: Ours actually has a thing called history
Shopping
Chicago: Mag Mile, Belmont, Westfield Mall: Schaumburg
Philadelphia: Rittenhouse Square, South Street, The King of Prussia Mall
Verdict: Chicago: Not that I would really know, but I imagine larger city = more diversity in designers and stores.
Oddball Museum
Chicago: International Museum of Surgical Science
Philadelphia: The Mutter Museum
Verdict: Philadelphia: I’ve never been to the IMSS, but I can’t imagine any surgical equipment topping the medical oddities found at the Mutter Museum
Weather
Chicago: Pros: beautiful summers. Cons: harsh winters
Philadelphia: Pros: mild-ish winters. Cons: humid summers
Verdict: Chicago: Even mild-ish winters aren’t particularly pleasant. Neither place gets enough snow to merit getting cold
Nearby cities
Chicago: Madison, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Detroit
Philadelphia: New York, DC, Boston, Baltimore
Verdict: Philadelphia: Honestly, are there any other big cities in the Midwest?
Outdoor gardens
Chicago: Chicago Botanic Gardens
Philadelphia: Longwood Gardens
Verdict: Chicago: If only because I haven’t been to Longwood in over a decade (maybe 2!) and don’t remember what it’s like
Traffic
Verdict: Chicago: The highway traffic in Chicago is worse, but Philadelphia’s combination of one-ways and super-narrow streets makes it a pain to drive around.
Claim to fame
Chicago: being big, mobsters
Philadelphia: birthplace of freedom
Verdict: Philadelphia: Is there any question?
High End Restaurants and Chefs
Chicago: Alinea – Grant Achatz, Topolobampo – Rick Bayliss
Philadelphia: Morimoto – Masaharu Morimoto
Verdict: Chicago: Achatz cooks without a real sense of taste. That’s baller. Plus, he’s evidently a food tech geek
Power Universities
Chicago: Northwestern, University of Chicago
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore, Princeton
Verdict: Philadelphia. Plus, we have a semblance of college basketball.
Musicians
Chicago: Kanye West, Buddy Guy, Fall Out Boy
Philadelphia: Boyz II Men, Stan Getz, The Roots
Verdict: Chicago: Buddy Guy is the only one I’ve seen live, and he is amazing.
Sports Teams
Chicago: Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks
Philadelphia: Phillies, 76ers, Eagles, Flyers
Verdict: Philadelphia: The Phillies are the most recent championship team, and Philadelphia also has at least some semblance of college sports (if only during the basketball season)
Sports Fans
Chicago: Long-suffering
Philadelphia: Throwing batteries, booing Santa
Verdict: Chicago: Both fans are fiercely loyal, but Philadelphia fans have this bad habit of turning on their heroes in a heartbeat
Cultural Institutions
Chicago: The Lyric, The CSO, The MCA, The Art Institute, The Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, The Shedd
Philadelphia: Museum of Art, The Franklin Institute, The Natural History Museum, The Philadelphia Zoo, The Opera Company
Verdict: Chicago, if only because I haven’t been to any Philadelphia Institutions recently.
Parks
Chicago: Grant Park, Millenium Park
Philadelphia: Fairmount Park
Verdict: Philadelphia: Fairmount Park is y’know, nature-y and stuff. Like a park should be.
Regional Accent
Chicago: The nasal A, “dis”, “da” (as in “da Bears”)
Philadelphia: Wuder (as in water), Yo, yoos guys
Verdict: Philadelphia: If you’ve got a Philadelphia accent, you sound a like a tough guy (or girl). If you’ve got a Chicago accent, you sound like a…midwesterner.
Local stereotype
Chicago: Blue collar midwestern
Philadelphia: Blue collar, chip on shoulder
Verdict: Depends: If you’re just a tourist, Chicagoans are nicer. If you befriend an Philadelphian though, they’ll take a bullet for you.
Summer Festivals
Verdict: Chicago: It has way too many neighborhoods and there’s basically at least one neighborhood with a big block party bash every week.
Multiculturalism
Verdict: Chicago: Size has its advantages
Famous politicians
Chicago: Barack Obama
Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin
Verdict: Philadelphia: Obama may be the most powerful man in the world at the moment, but they don’t say “show me the Benjamins” for nothing.
RR station markets
Chicago: The French Market
Philadelphia: Reading Terminal Market
Verdict: Philadelphia. Please, the French Market opened 2 years ago.
Stadiums
Chicago: Wrigley, Soldier Field
Philadelphia: The Linc, Citizen’s Bank
Verdict: Philadelphia: The Linc and Citizen’s Bank are both beautiful. Wrigley has lots of history, but Soldier Field looks like it got hit by a UFO.
Mayor strength
Chicago: Daley
Philadelphia: Nutter
Verdict: Chicago: Daley freakin’ bulldozed an airport he didn’t like just because he didn’t like it.
Large Buildings
Chicago: Willis, Trump, Hancock
Philadelphia: Comcast, 1 Liberty Place, Cira
Verdict: Chicago: Chicago has the #1, 2, and 5 tallest buildings in the US. Philly maxes out at #15.
Final Tally and Thoughts
Chicago: 16
Philadelphia: 17
Tie: 2
Verdict: Both are great cities to live in, but Philadelphia eeks out a victory in this carefully controlled, absolutely unbiased, thoroughly scientific study.* Hopefully this bodes well for the Flyers as well.
Despite my years in the MidWest, I still bleed orange, red, green, and whatever the heck the Sixers are considered to be colored. Go Flyers!
contributors: jchou, elee
* n.b. I have actually only lived in the nearby suburbs, not within, the limits of both cities. However, for the purposes of this post, I have considered myself to be a veritable font of knowledge on all things Chicago and Philadelphia-related.
