More urban LA, SF, DC, Philly, and Boston? (living, places, Los Angeles)
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I love how Washington DC has suburbs with their own downtowns. Silver Spring, Arlington and more...truly fascinating. Drive around DC's suburbs, you would be very surprised to find some skylines and hefty office centers.
In all honesty some of those pics of DC suburbs were nice but did not have that old school grit and look to them, in fact some of those pics look similar to what you would find here in Dallas and even some parts of LA, but nice never the less. BTW I really liked that view of Charlestown you get when drive on the Tobin, I sometimes miss certain things of Boston like the clam chowder from Kelly's and the breakfasts from donut villa in Malden, but the winters is what made me leave.
Thanks... and your right, neither of them really has that whole old school grit thing going for them... They're simply not old enough yet.... I've also heard a lot of people say how for some reason when they were in NOVA they've sort of gotten this California Vibe from it, so I can see what you mean about it resembling Dallas or LA... The only City in Maryland that actually has that whole grit thing going is Baltimore, and the only place in VA that has that grit look is Richmond, but niether are in the DC suburbs... I think DC is the only Major City in our MSA with some old school grit, but its now only concentrated in small and divided section of the city, because of all the gentrification thats has took place....
Thanks... and your right, neither of them really has that whole old school grit thing going for them... They're simply not old enough yet.... I've also heard a lot of people say how for some reason when they were in NOVA they've sort of gotten this California Vibe from it, so I can see what you mean about it resembling Dallas or LA... The only City in Maryland that actually has that whole grit thing going is Baltimore, and the only place in VA that has that grit look is Richmond, but niether are in the DC suburbs... I think DC is the only Major City in our MSA with some old school grit, but its now only concentrated in small and divided section of the city, because of all the gentrification thats has took place....
Dallas has nothing to do with California in any way, shape or form. Dallas has far more in common with NOVA than California.
There's a lot of talk on this thread about DC's downtown being more built out than the others, and I think the argument is mis-guided. DC may have a ton of huge blocks and buildings that take up a larger area than the others, but there is far less mixed use development (with street facing retail), the blocks are huge (making it less walkable) and I find that many streets lack consistent vibrancy. DC's urbanity is different from many others in the country.
I find that Boston, SF and Philly all have packed in blocks with thinner, more walkable streets. I also find much more street-facing retail, boutique shops, small restaurants, etc. I won't rank them for argument's sake, but to say that DC is above any of these three is a superficial argument backed by statistics. Anyone who walks through each of these cities can undoubtably feel the difference.
There's a lot of talk on this thread about DC's downtown being more built out than the others, and I think the argument is mis-guided. DC may have a ton of huge blocks and buildings that take up a larger area than the others, but there is far less mixed use development (with street facing retail), the blocks are huge (making it less walkable) and I find that many streets lack consistent vibrancy. DC's urbanity is different from many others in the country.
I find that Boston, SF and Philly all have packed in blocks with thinner, more walkable streets. I also find much more street-facing retail, boutique shops, small restaurants, etc. I won't rank them for argument's sake, but to say that DC is above any of these three is a superficial argument backed by statistics. Anyone who walks through each of these cities can undoubtably feel the difference.
yup.
dont worry, the only person making those claims were DC locals. the rest of us know better.
dont worry, the only person making those claims were DC locals. the rest of us know better.
I agree with that argument that DC is less urban than SF/Bos/Chi. But, the gap is marginal and largely stylistic. The others are "grittier", have more vibrant DTs, and a modestly higher density figures.
But from a functional standpoint, urban living in DC is basically on par w. Philly/Bos/SF. You can live in any of them without a car with only limited inconvenience.
DC's mass transit and centralized employment base make living car free easier than looking a pictures of downtown retail or density statistics would imply.
At then end of the day, the functional gap in "urban lifestye" between DC and the others is negligible when compared to massive gap between "urban lifestyle" in NYC/Lon/Paris or the car centric lifestyle of pretty much every other US city.
I agree with that argument that DC is less urban than SF/Bos/Chi. But, the gap is marginal and largely stylistic. The others are "grittier", have more vibrant DTs, and a modestly higher density figures.
But from a functional standpoint, urban living in DC is basically on par w. Philly/Bos/SF. You can live in any of them without a car with only limited inconvenience.
DC's mass transit and centralized employment base make living car free easier than looking a pictures of downtown retail or density statistics would imply.
At then end of the day, the functional gap in "urban lifestye" between DC and the others is negligible when compared to massive gap between "urban lifestyle" in NYC/Lon/Paris or the car centric lifestyle of pretty much every other US city.
to tell ya the truth, the more i participate in this conversation, the more i'm starting to dislike this thread. SF/BOS/PHI/DC are among a very small number of american cities that truly capture the essence of urbanity. each one of these cities reflect the way a city should operate, look, and feel (imo). so to criticize any of them in an urbanity discussion is actually quite absurd. just look at the 'newer' cities in america--urbanity has been COMPLETELY replaced with sprawl. the cities in this thread (along with the obvious unnamed ones) are the only places left in america where one can get a genuine and traditional urban experience. we (myself included) need to stop bickering over which one of these phenomenal cities is more urban, and return to criticizing those that aren't at all....
...stupid sunbelt cities.
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