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Mr. Beat compares and contrasts Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both host NFL teams featured in Super Bowl 52.

Creative Commons photo credits:
Studio 34
https://www.flickr.com/photos/studio3...

Adam E. Moreira
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Michael Kurras
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Anthony Citrano
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
https://www.flickr.com/photos/masstra...

User:Pi.1415926535
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

takmabibelot
https://www.flickr.com/photos/takomab...

John Haslam (D.C.); Robbie Shade (Boston); Lucius Kwok (Philadelphia); Phil Gold (Baltimore)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar... https://www.flickr.com/photos/rjshade...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/luciusk... https://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_g/...

Jay Hiatt
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Sources:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/ch...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philade...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massach...
https://www.bestplaces.net/compareci...
http://www.citydata.com/forum/cityv...
http://www.citydata.com/forum/cityv...
https://static.tti.tamu.edu/tti.tamu....
https://www.yelp.com/topic/bostonwhi...
http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachm...
https://philly.curbed.com/2017/9/14/1...
https://www.forbes.com/places/ma/boston/
https://www.forbes.com/places/pa/phil...
https://versus.com/en/bostonvsphila...
http://www.lung.org/ourinitiatives/h...

Boston and Philadelphia. Or...Beantown and The City of Brotherly Love. Two major east coast cities in the United States, both part of the Northeast Megalopolis (echo) (mwhahahahahaha) a part of the country that contains more than 17 percent of its entire population, or some 50 million people on less than 2% of the country’s land area.

Both cities are exciting places to live in with a bright future.

Both are two of the oldest cities in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Delaware Valley, where Philadelphia is located, was home to the Delaware Indians. Various nations had lived in the area where Boston is currently located, but the Massachusett were the ones mainly around when Europeans came to the area.

Both cities were founded by those seeking religious freedom.
William Penn and other Quakers founded Philadelphia in 1682
Puritans founded Boston in 1630. So yeah, Boston’s about 52 years older.

Both were political, financial, and commercial centers of their colonies. Philadelphia, of the Pennsylvania colony, and Boston, of really all of New England.

Both steadily grew at about the same rates during the colonial era, although Philadelphia always stayed ahead of Boston in population.

Both Boston and Philadelphia saw some action during the American Revolution. Boston saw more violence within the city. I mean, there was the freaking Siege of Boston, which lasted almost a year, in which New England militiamen surrounded British forces within the city. Philadelphia was quiet at first. So quiet that the First and Second Continental Congresses met there and it became the capital of the United States. However, the British captured the city in September 1777 and controlled it until the next summer.

After the Revolution, both cities became industrial centers and each city’s population skyrocketed. In fact, the population of both Boston and Philadelphia steadily climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed until the Great Depression. Since then, it’s been up and down. Now, when I talk about the population of cities, I tend to focus on the METROPOLITAN AREA, man. That’s how you do it, count those suburbs, son. The Boston metropolitan area has 4.8 million people and the Philadelphia metro has about 6 million. Looks like you win, there, Philly.