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Your photo is grainy! I see a few skyscrapers that cover a few blocks. Click on the picture that I posted. You will see a street grid of buildings that are side by side for two miles running east to west and north to south. I think because DC has height limits you don't get the whole urban canyon concept.
There's just something very sterile, and artificial about DT DC. There is no denying that
This is like a broken record. CC is more vibrant but it's definitely not more urban than DT DC. DT is completely built out. Wall to wall office buildings on each block running east to west and north to south. If that's not urbanity, then someone tell me what is. Just look at the below snap shot of DT DC.
Nephi - You keep sticking your foot in your mouth. Your credibility is zero. As soon as you posted that I am making a fool of myself, Caymon posted that most of my list is true. Same as when I proved to you that buses of Philly partiers come to DC every weekend and you didn't believe it and then a few posters confirmed my post with first hand accounts. You need to stay in your lane homey.
Listen, yo, you don't know what you are talking about. Center city is more vibrant and more urban than downtown DC. Plenty of posters have already said this. If you consider a downtown that's a ghost town after 6pm (downtown DC) more urban, then something is seriously wrong with you.
Look, I love Philadelphia. This thread is only in fun for comparison on this lovely city stat site we all love. However, center city isn't even in the same breath as NYC or D.C. when it comes to urban canyons. If people want to say center city is more vibrant than downtown DC, that's another conversation but center city is not an urban canyon downtown. It's not big enough.
Rules for urban canyons:
-you can't have two or three story buildings downtown
-you can't have a lot of surface parking lots
-you can't break street level development at eye level meaning buildings need to be built high enough that they are out of eye level
-possess multiple streets north, south, east, and west of the center of downtown with continuance development at street level
Buildings all have to be tall enough that at street level they connect at eye view. I know you thought by showing the center most built up part of center city, you would prove Philly has urban canyons but it doesn't for the most part. Two streets north and south of that picture don't have urban canyons. Philly has a lot of two to four story buildings in and around center city and a lot of surface parking.
Here are a few examples in Philly that show the lack of urban canyons downtown
Just a point on the second link, this has been demoslihed and vacated currently a surface lot awaiting this; you actually grabbed this exact location pretty much.
Sprawl? Have you really ever been to DT DC? It's way more structurally dense than CC. DT DC is a two mile by two mile street grid full of connected office buildings. It is completely built out with one surface parking lot, where the old cenvention center used to be. I don;t get the sprawl comment. In fact, it's the opposite of sprawl.
Nephi, your ghost town comment is ridiculous at best. Go to Chinatown, DC at midnight and tell me if it's a ghost town.
Also the footprint of DC's DT is absolutely larger, by area covered and sq footage of office space. The density is debatable. Philly IMHO is more dense in it's msller footprint and DC has density accross it's DT over a larger area. They are really both so different it is hard to compare.
I prefer the one over the other but some may also prefer the opposite.
Is this new area potentially bigger that philly's DT, maybe, will it be more vibrant, doubtful
All of these are probably true, except maybe the restaurants.
But, CC is:
more urban feeling
has more character
more vibrant
somewhat of a "big city" canyon feel
better shopping
more mixed use
more residents
more intesting to walk around on the weekends
Hard to say one is better than the other, they are different.
Actually we established this point in another thread the restaurant ratio was close to 1.8 to 1; Philly to DC in the DTs and within Philly's smaller footprint, one aspect of why the 24 hour vibrancy is more significant on top of more than twice the population in half the footprint
Your last point is very relevant, the construct of DC is really the outlier not the norm
Look, I love Philadelphia. This thread is only in fun for comparison on this lovely city stat site we all love. However, center city isn't even in the same breath as NYC or D.C. when it comes to urban canyons. If people want to say center city is more vibrant than downtown DC, that's another conversation but center city is not an urban canyon downtown. It's not big enough.
Rules for urban canyons:
-you can't have two or three story buildings downtown
-you can't have a lot of surface parking lots
-you can't break street level development at eye level meaning buildings need to be built high enough that they are out of eye level
-possess multiple streets north, south, east, and west of the center of downtown with continuance development at street level
Buildings all have to be tall enough that at street level they connect at eye view. I know you thought by showing the center most built up part of center city, you would prove Philly has urban canyons but it doesn't for the most part. Two streets north and south of that picture don't have urban canyons. Philly has a lot of two to four story buildings in and around center city and a lot of surface parking.
Here are a few examples in Philly that show the lack of urban canyons downtown
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to agree with MDAllStar. Philly could take a few cues from DC on how to really construct a vibrant downtown.
Let's take Walnut Street, for example.
For starters, there aren't enough chains. Where's Quizno's? Potbelly's? Urban Outfitters? Look at all of those rinky dink retail spots I've never even heard of. How can I trust it if I've never heard of it? The only thing I recognize is the McDonald's and even that has a silly flag hanging from the building. What's up with all of those flags? Let's take them down and make this entire block monochrome? And while we're at it, can we try to build more apartment buildings that 1/2 block long lobbies. That'll do it.
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