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alternatehistory.com
My last thread posed the question: Was it plausible for Boston to be anything other than the most prominent city in New England after its founding in 1630. The consensus view was that after its founding, it would be extremely unlikely that any other New England City could surpass it, in spite of the city's rather mediocre location.
I now pose a different question: What if Boston's municipal expansion of the 1870's had continued until Boston was of a comparable size to New York City? That would be a city roughly encompassing the area within the I-95 "Belt." How might having a second metropolis in the Northeast have effected the economy and culture of Massachusetts and New England? Would this super-city be more prosperous than the patchwork of cities and towns that exist in the present?
The question may seem far-fetched, but in 1850 New York City consisted of only Manhattan and a few surrounding islands, with a total area of 23 square miles. The addition of the four boroughs (by legislative acts, often over the objection of the individual towns) gave it 303 square miles of land.