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No_name_Johnson t1_ivpyu83 wrote

Love how its not even close - Philly is very similar to Baltimore, just bigger.

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mrm0324 t1_ivq03a5 wrote

Love visiting Philly. People are mostly very cool there. Told some people I was from Baltimore and they told me how they visited recently and had a great time. Contrast that with people from NYC who ask me if it’s like the wire and look surprised I haven’t been murdered yet.

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KingBooRadley t1_ivq78at wrote

Replying to No_name_Johnson (#486,271)

I lived in Philly before moving here. I don’t see it.

Philly seems hostile to me. When I got here I was shocked that people you don’t know will just greet you on the street.

Philly had much better food, but Baltimore is catching up.

Philly is a proper city. Baltimore is a big town.

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smoovgee t1_ivq8xqq wrote

None. None of those cities have affordable housing. Baltimore still does.

You're not going to find any property in turnkey condition for $125k. But you will in Baltimore.

The vibe, nightlife, etc etc means nothing if you can't afford to live there.

−7

librarytracy t1_ivq9opm wrote

Most like Pittsburgh but that’s not quite east coast.

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MrRich1972 t1_ivqk1ts wrote

I'm going to edge west and say St. Louis.

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epzik8 t1_ivqlpz1 wrote

None of those are comparable to Baltimore, not even DC.

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NYerInTex t1_ivqnun5 wrote

It’s really a lotta Philly but the size of Boston.

Blue collar. Great older housing stock. Tremendous histories. Both waterfront but not seaside

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UnkleHoodle t1_ivqo9j8 wrote

Replying to mrm0324 (#486,341)

I was talking to a guy in times square once and he asked me where I was from and I said Baltimore, his only response was “oh shit” I’m like nah bro it’s not like that lol

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AgentNose t1_ivqopse wrote

I spend time weekly in all of these except Boston, where I did spend four days in 2019. Definitely Philly.

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ElectroGhandi t1_ivqq62k wrote

Philadelphia is the correct answer but I don't think Boston is too far off either, with the waterfront/harbor areas and some of the architecture.

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Cunninghams_right t1_ivqqnvx wrote

maybe when we flush all of our politicians with the term limits we just passed, we can convince some Philly city government folks to move here. Philly always seems like Baltimore but with more competent leadership and without the state resource drain that is DC

−1

Bonethug609 t1_ivqqrvx wrote

Philly bc of the accent. But people need to realize how small the population of Baltimore really is. Getting Smaller too

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schmatteganai t1_ivqso23 wrote

Replying to KingBooRadley (#486,720)

Philly is meaner and has more potholes; I would argue Baltimore's food is better on average (although Philly has more good high-end options) with the exceptions of Chinese food, pizza, and cheesesteaks. Philadelphia currently has a more functional city government and a larger population, although that varies from decade to decade.

But on most other counts, they're very similar cities culturally.

I don't think the accents are that similar, though.

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DizmalDoctor t1_ivqsxsh wrote

Philly, then Richmond, Boston, DC, and NY. I would say DC and NY are somewhat interchangeable, but because of DMV proximity there are some similarities (although DC folks hate to be compared to Baltimore).

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jabbadarth t1_ivqt56a wrote

Replying to KingBooRadley (#486,720)

Personally I think Baltimore is half philly and half Richmond. We have the same architecture and accents as Philly but a slower feel and more casual laid back people like a more southern city like Richmond.

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AmaniArk t1_ivqzxam wrote

It's more like Cleveland but I guess we will just say Philly

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LordMalyce t1_ivr1b50 wrote

York City PA is like a little Baltimore.

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ohitsanazn t1_ivr1tst wrote

Philly is a ruder Baltimore.

Baltimore is a dirtier, kinder Philly.

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DarthBlart69 t1_ivr5o57 wrote

If we had a hockey team, a basketball team, and a Chinatown we would be liked more too.

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IheartPickleSoda t1_ivr6w3x wrote

Memphis isn’t “east” but it’s a similar city.

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sadisticsuzanne t1_ivr8j80 wrote

Replying to MrRich1972 (#487,465)

My thoughts exactly! The only difference is the lack of “row” houses in STL. Urban blight- check! Corrupt officials-check! Rampant crime-check! Im from the Lou(🤫) and choose to call Bmore home. You can enjoy vastly different terrain and cities almost instantly here❤️

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SnooJokes9069 t1_ivrb4fa wrote

I find it funny Philadelphia natives don't think they are similar to Baltimore at all but Baltimore natives on the other hand sort of want to be more like Philadelphia than like Baltimore. Sort of explains the big brother little brother vibe.

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Fyrestar333 t1_ivrf96w wrote

Replying to mrm0324 (#486,341)

Damn I always got the question "Aren't you afraid you will get shot in baltimore" when I went to visit family in west Virginia. I hate Philly side streets compared to Baltimore that's about it.

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ColdJay64 t1_ivrfqib wrote

Having lived in DC, Baltimore, and Philly - Baltimore is not much like either DC or Philly. The ONLY thing in common with Philly is rowhomes. Bmore is beautifully situated on a harbor with many hills. It’s also half deserted (downtown especially), and feels quite sleepy.

Philly is huge, chaotic, vibrant, and has a ton of foot traffic along with one of the best downtowns in the country. There is significantly more wealth in Philly. Baltimore has no comparison to Rittenhouse Square (closest thing being Mount Vernon but no), Old City, Fishtown, University City, Fairmount, etc.

Baltimore is like Norfolk, VA combined with Richmond.

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BoysenberryNo4959 t1_ivrgabl wrote

Definitely Philly. They have a similar industrial past.

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HyBear t1_ivriuwa wrote

I always say NOLA has a lot of similarities if you don’t consider the attractions of the Quarter and the hub of music.

Both are inland ports, both have a similar inner city culture, both are run by highly suspect politicians and when shit hit the fan (riots an d floods) both got mocked nationally, both are seafood dining destinations both have iconic symbols (our flag and the Fluer De Lis)

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KissMyConverse07 t1_ivrkkau wrote

The answers Philly…. However the #2 closest comparison you don’t have listed. Take out the weather and Charleston and Baltimore remind me a lot of each other.

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SpecificExtent3356 t1_ivror7u wrote

Whenever I am in Philly I feel at home. It’s just bigger. But it’s always love in that city

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PleaseBmoreCharming t1_ivrpctp wrote

Replying to KingBooRadley (#486,720)

Baltimore could be a "big city" if the county and city were to formally merge and create some more cohesive urban form between the two. I think you could do this by focusing more growth/development on the former arterial corridors like York Road, Edmondson Ave, Harford Road. I mean, you're looking at over 1.4 million people who live within the city limits AND within the County's Urban/rural demarcation line. If that's not a "big city" I don't what is. I can't think of another place in the Western world where that wouldn't be considered such.

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The_Waxies_Dargle t1_ivrpxy8 wrote

The correct answer is Pittsburgh. Both ethnic cities made up of neighborhoods. Both got the shit kicked out of them by de-industrialization. Sports towns. Funny accents. Pittsburgh is better on race, Baltimore is more culturally progressive.

However, Pgh reinvented itself in the 70s and is booming.

Pittsburgh is the Wes Moore we just elected.
Baltimore is the other Wes Moore.

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philosofically t1_ivrs7ur wrote

reminds me of this tweet saying basically how dc and nyc are cousins, and philly and baltimore are cousins have only been around tourism philly but i feel like they’ve nicer up there, not a coincidence that every polite person/group i’ve met working in dc ends up being from philly

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chumbawumba_bruh t1_ivrskrw wrote

Replying to HyBear (#489,376)

I lived in New Orleans for the last decade and agree. Gritty old port cities that have been decimated from deindustrialization, are super friendly, love seafood, and have weird accents.

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Baltimorons t1_ivrtigl wrote

Buffalo isn’t on the list but it’s pretty similar with the dead industry.

0

ThisAmericanSatire t1_ivru44u wrote

Replying to DfcukinLite (#487,325)

Richmond is starting to get expensive.

I looked at moving there a year ago (from NC), and decided against it because I liked Baltimore better, but houses in The Fan are much more expensive than comparable houses in Canton.

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hsfe5 t1_ivrvfxj wrote

Not East Coast but IMO The city that is most like Baltimore is New Orleans. My best friend lives in Baltimore and I went to college and lived in New Orleans for many years. So many similarities.

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EfficiencySuch6361 t1_ivrvjb2 wrote

Replying to Cunninghams_right (#487,827)

Ahhh yes Baltimore the city of infinite resources. First of all, how are we going to offer higher salaries than richer cities like Philly or elsewhere in order to attract top talent?

We already couldn’t afford competitive salaries in order to attract top talent, and with term limits now we have made a potential career change to Baltimore public service even less attractive than it already was. Who wants to uproot their whole life in exchange for 2 years for less money or even the same money? The only people coming here from other major cities will be low level title chasers who probably have no intention of sticking around.

Oh and don’t forget that any outsiders moving here for office would also have to live here for 6 months before running for office, and then would only get to stay for 2 years before they have to find a new job.

Absolutely genius lol

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iammaxhailme t1_ivrvsxh wrote

I've only spent a lot of time in NY, NJ, DC and MD but definitely not NYC or DC from my limited list. some of the nicer parts of baltimore feel a bit like hoboken

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ColdJay64 t1_ivrwgla wrote

Replying to PhiladelphiaManeto (#489,602)

In my opinion they are just entirely different in terms of scale and feel - but Harbor East is very nice, I haven’t even been back since they opened new Whole Foods.

I wish Philly had somewhere like the Sandlot.

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dry-assbananabread t1_ivrwrbu wrote

As a Bostonian who now lives in Baltimore I can promise you, Baltimore is definitely not like Boston.

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zaxonortesus t1_ivrzu1l wrote

This is an accurate pole. Philly feels like Boston and Baltimore had a child.

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l_rufus_californicus t1_ivrzvci wrote

Replying to SnooJokes9069 (#489,318)

The other nice part is that I didn’t have to change the orange & black part of my wardrobe. I may always root for the Phils, but I’ll always root for the O’s, too. And since my other area hockey choice is the Caps, I’s rather be dead than not be a Flyers fan.

We could talk ships, waterfronts, iconic locations… both cities have defining landmarks that are almost so similar, it’d seem intentional if you didn’t know it wasn’t.

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zadillo t1_ivs1kak wrote

I lived in DC and Baltimore and visited Philly a few times, and Philly and Baltimore felt like they had the most in common to me

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MrBurittoThePizza t1_ivs9d75 wrote

Out of these choices it’s obviously Philly but New Orleans and Baltimore has a very similar feel. Charm city

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the-denver-nugs t1_ivsbc5s wrote

Philly. i'm from richmond, va. been too NY as well, boston, rhode island, atlanta, charlotte. it's philly period. richmond used to be close but of late tons of people from NJ and NOVA of all places have been moving there.

0

the-denver-nugs t1_ivsbgvq wrote

Replying to ColdJay64 (#489,223)

meh name a more similar city. i've been up and down the east coast. philly is the only one close. it used to be richmond around 2010, but it's getting heavily gentrified from out of towners of late. (I'm from richmond, VA) maybe atlanta but not really. charlotte maybe?

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melissanotmellisa t1_ivsbnd9 wrote

My first thought was to compare the violence, not the accents. It’s all relative

−1

the-denver-nugs t1_ivsby42 wrote

Replying to jabbadarth (#487,940)

ehhhhhh i'm from richmond. baltimore is richmond but like richmond 20 years ago. also what is people greeting you on the street? baltimore people are like richmond when it was ghetto, they greet you to ask for a cig or money lmao. nobody else talks to strangers here. I had more convos with strangers when I visited with strangers in philly this year and in richmond this year dispite living in baltimore full time and only going to philly/richmond for a week each.

−4

the-denver-nugs t1_ivsc2xd wrote

Replying to YoYoMoMa (#487,216)

ehhhhhhh I heard the same. went to philly this year. tried to take transit to the basketball arena. it was a homeless shelter in the subway, like tents all over. walked back up and took an uber.

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S-Kunst t1_ivsr2ts wrote

Not Boston. Boston has always been a city of the arts. It also was not the industrial hub as Baltimore was.

I lived in Philly in 1979, and see many of Baltimore's aspects in that town, though Philly is larger, was more prosperous. nor was part of the Jim Crow south. The neighboring townships were more developed and were not just farm settlements.

Richmond is a good contender, though it had less industry, but very much contained the Jim Crow aspects.

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Clam_Latte t1_ivsttez wrote

I knew yous wouldn’t let me down.

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No-Lunch4249 t1_ivszagj wrote

Surprised to see Richmond doing so well. Spent a month there once and didn’t really feel it was similar to Baltimore

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mescaleeto t1_ivt0jz2 wrote

i’ve found new orleans to have some similar feeling to baltimore

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krelay22 t1_ivt940g wrote

You literally picked the 4 exact opposite cities, then philly. Was this even a poll

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ColdJay64 t1_ivt9g7q wrote

Replying to the-denver-nugs (#490,804)

Baltimore reminds me of a combination of Richmond and Norfolk, more than any other one city. I went to college in Norfolk (ODU), and my brother lives in Richmond (Church Hill). I also lived in Baltimore for two years, and am now in my third year in Philly.

On an individual neighborhood level, there are some similarities between parts of Philly and Bmore, but the amount of gentrification, relative lack of blight, walkability, and sheer amount of people make Philly feel a lot different. There's also a level of wealth and young families that you just don't see in Baltimore neighborhoods. Same goes for the amount of retail and shopping, and relative lack of business vacancy. Baltimore is a large built environment but feels deserted.

Lastly, Center City is a top downtown in the country in terms of population (2nd or 3rd most populated), walkability, and population density. It feels like a true large city. Downtown Baltimore is more deserted than downtown Richmond, and has practically no new development beyond 414 Light and the new M&T building on Light.

Regarding Atlanta and Charlotte, I think they have a lot of similarities to each other.

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ScootyHoofdorp t1_ivtarua wrote

Replying to LordMalyce (#488,380)

I don't think you're totally wrong, but York definitely has a Central PA feeling about it that neither Baltimore nor Philly have. Even though York is closer to Baltimore than Philly, I think the 95 corridor plays a big role in similarities between cities.

1

AdDue1062 t1_ivtds79 wrote

Replying to roseapoth (#487,591)

I have also lived in both and out of all East Coast cities, Philly is absolutely the closest to Baltimore and it's not even close. Few very nice spots and disaster everywhere else. Huge drug and crime problems. Similar markets and restaurant scene (although Philly has much better versions of both). Massive universities predominantly focused on medicine. Other industries are quite similar as well. Hell, similar accents that you don't hear anywhere else. Football fans who like teams everyone else either hate or ignore. Dive bars are carbon copies. Pretty crappy Chinese and Mexican food in both cities. Economically, very similar demographics even though racial blend is different. Baltimore has a much more extensive marina as a differentiator, but it's not like Richmond is more extensive than Philly. Roads are in severe disrepair in both cities. I can't even think of many ways they're different outside of size.

The only way for a city to be more like Baltimore on the EC is if Richmond and Norfolk merged.

0

LordMalyce t1_ivtfdya wrote

Replying to ScootyHoofdorp (#492,342)

Oh you were thinking of atmosphere/feeling? I was thinking of like the way it looks with the row homes and all that which I know is just cities in general but still. Even though it’s not form stone and all that up here.

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Alexexy t1_ivtu470 wrote

Replying to FortWendy69 (#493,268)

They're not particularly expensive. I know of only 2, Dukem and Tabor. I personally like Dukem more but I had this really good Ethiopian beer at Tabor. If you're ever motivated to cook your own African food, Tabor is located right next to an African food market.

Oh, and I want to expand on the initial comment I made. We also have a pretty decent seafood and if you're willing to travel out to Ellicott City, there's a bustling korean/Asian food scene.

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Infinite_Magnetic7 t1_ivu11as wrote

Replying to roseapoth (#487,591)

As a Baltimore native (with family/friends in Philadelphia), I partially agree with your sentiments. Now, depending on the neighborhoods, there are some similarities between the two. Overall, the vibe, accents, culture are different.

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Infinite_Magnetic7 t1_ivu1ut2 wrote

Baltimore is a mix of Richmond, Philly, East New York, Camden, NJ, some parts of the Bronx and North Carolina all thrown together.

An old retired Army vet friend of mine describes Baltimore as...

"A ghetto over a country town."

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Infinite_Magnetic7 t1_ivu4y67 wrote

I picked up this elderly passenger who moved from Richmond, VA. to Baltimore about 25 years ago and asked why he moved up here, he said "Baltimore is much more diverse than Richmond".

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MrRich1972 t1_ivv1fss wrote

Replying to sadisticsuzanne (#488,785)

I got of the Greyhound in St. Louis in 95 and started walking toward the grocery store across that big ass lot. At least 2 cats followed me. I said, ahhh, reminds me of home. In sight of the world famous gateway to the west.

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A_P_Dahset t1_ivvmcjf wrote

Replying to Hisyphus (#488,398)

This part. Baltimore is a city running significantly under capacity, and a city that for a number of reasons, has not been able to make the public investments in infrastructure needed to re-densify and grow---this is particularly true in the housing and transportation/transit sectors. A focus on upgrading housing stock and expanding mass transit infrastructure is an economic development and population growth strategy in itself. Given Baltimore's history as a major industrial hub and much larger city, the "Smalltimore" term actually bothers me a bit. For reference, as of the 2020 Census, Baltimore is smaller than Boston, DC, and Seattle for the first time in US history---if we had serious leadership around here, they would take note and be thinking in terms of what moves do we need to make to catch up and compete with these formerly "little sister" cities.

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schmatteganai t1_ivvquiw wrote

Replying to FortWendy69 (#488,412)

Seafood, Korean, West African, Ethiopian, Soul Food, Greek Food, non-pizza Italian, Salvadoran, Mexican, Vietnamese, ice cream......the best thing about Baltimore's food scene, though, is that the cheap-to-mid places are usually excellent, not just the $$$ places. A lot of cities- Philly included- don't have that level of just baseline commitment to good food on behalf of people opening up restaurants.

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ButterscotchWitty325 t1_ivvu0vx wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#489,388)

Not 125k in Philly anywhere you'd want to live, I doubt (though you def can find). But South Philly is pretty affordable and fine. No parking, but i think you can find something in like Newbold or Point Breeze in the 200s. Still not bad given how close those are to center city. I dont know that I would live anywhere in Baltimore where houses go for 125 either, though, and Philly has way better transit/walkability.

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Due-Object9460 t1_ivzm9p4 wrote

Crazy to me because I HATE philly but I love it here in Baltimore.

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blm_26 t1_ivzrvwf wrote

The answer is definitely Philly. If you actually know people born and bred in both cities, you know that native Philly and native Baltimore folks are the same for the most part. Baltimore is the little bro of Philly.

1

the-denver-nugs t1_iw4wi3x wrote

Replying to ColdJay64 (#492,272)

holy shit didn't even think about norfolk. that is such a better example. philly I agree is just so much bigger but similar vibes imo. norfolk/richmond combo is a perfect discription. I live on light right next to the M&t building lol. grew up in richmond and have spent time in norfolk.

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A_P_Dahset t1_iwgxycv wrote

Replying to Due-Object9460 (#536,364)

Gotcha. I can see Philly being less friendly than Baltimore; others have mentioned that as well. At the same time, I had a friend living here in Patterson Park who moved down from Philly, who always talked about how unsafe she felt in PP and in Bmore, as a single woman, compared to living in Philly. I think in both cities violent crime is somewhat concentrated and perceptions of safety depend on how close you are to those concentrated areas, tho in Bmore due to the relative smallness, it's easier to be closer to crime. But I could be wrong, just my personal observation...

1