Quote:
Originally Posted by Obadno
"Costal islands" Its not as if Long Island nor Manhattan are "small" they offered thousands of square miles of flat coastal lands.
Both NY and Philly Spill out on to the relatively flat coastal plain that makes up most of New Jersey, while New York (what would become new York) sprawled out on to the flat area of the absolutely massive Long Island, the Island nature of the mouth of the Hudson is hardly a reason to claim Philly and NY are Unique.
The Rivers and waterways around New York are small and placid and traversable from its earliest days with small paddle boats just as people easily crossed and went up the Delaware river.
New York does not have the geographic constraining impacts of places like Seattle or San Francisco nor does it string out on barrier islands like Miami. Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn the core "new york" areas, are likely as big, if not bigger than Philadelphia city limits in terms of flat accessible land.
|
Manhattan is probably only around 20 square miles or so.
New Jersey near NYC is not flat at all.
NY did NOT sprawl out onto Long Island at an early point like Philadelphia sprawled out into its countryside. Development was along the shorelines (namely Brooklyn) and their were small settlements and farms and swamps and marshland on Long Island.
The rivers and waterways around New York are FAR from "small and placid" as you claim. The Hudson is around a mile to mile and a half wide near Manhattan and becomes a tidal estuary at its lower extent. North of Manhattan it is 2-3 miles wide. East River is also tidal estuary, that is 3/4 mile wide. Both can have very strong currents.
And this is really all besides the point. Philadelphia, as a planned agricultural and industrial town, built out from early on. New York, as an island ocean trading port, built up from early on.
You're just all kinds of wrong over the place here, man.