San Diego vs. San Antonio (crime, pros, moving, economy)
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The reason California is so dense because it's not spread out like Texas, basiclly the state has the Pacific ocean on one side and mountains on the other so they have to build side by side, In Texas you can sprawl out as far as you want but that does not mean Texas doesn't have density.
^^ Actually, California has plenty of area to grow: The fastest-growing region is the San Joaquin Valley, which includes cities like Bakersfield, Fresno, and Stockton. This is a large, flat valley (responsible for CA's role as the largest agricultural producer) that during the last boom was being rapidly developed at low densities.
As I said before, cities in this region reminds me a lot of Texas's big cities (minus the skyscrapers of course).
California also has very large, very desolate regions in the desert southeast and the mountainous north.
this is what I think of when I say that texas streetscapes feel rural to me. Not that they're actually streets in farm country, but they just feel like the same things I see in rural towns and cities in CA.
The reason California is so dense because it's not spread out like Texas, basiclly the state has the Pacific ocean on one side and mountains on the other so they have to build side by side, In Texas you can sprawl out as far as you want but that does not mean Texas doesn't have density.
This is very true for the majority of CA's population. The coastal areas of LA, SF, and SD have very little room to grow out anymore and definitely contributes to density here. Unfortunately a lot of it is dense sprawl though.
Of course, there are parts of California that are spread out like you said so I won't deny that. What I'm trying to say is Texas as a whole is vastly flat so there's alot of room to build on compared to California. Texas is now seeing that it should infill more like the DFW area, it's a good size but there's still ALOT of room to develop.
Kind of surprising the look of that commercial street considering some of the dense residential developments nearby.
Yeah, that is pretty crazy but it's definitely not rare for Texas. I think that's why I find the streetscapes in a lot of Texas cities so baffling. It almost seems like there's not enough retail... Though CA cities are over-retailed in general. So maybe it's just our CA perspective.
Im actually kind of impressed by some of the residential density I've noticed in Houston's inner loop. Lots of town houses and apartments/condos. I think cities can only spread out so far as there is a limit to how much time people will spend commuting. So I definitely think cities like Houston will only continue to get denser in it's core areas.
Sorry, but San Diego was merely blessed with its topography and weather. Handed by nature on a silver platter. Aside from that, I found nothing at all structurally imaginative about Gas Lamp, Garnet/Pacific Beach, Old Town, La Jolla's upscale-strip-centers-on-wide-sidewalks and Uptown/Hillcrest.
Typical SoCal tourist trap streets. Kodak kiosks aplenty. While living in the San Diego area, the semi-Victorian hood of National City had FAR more genuine charm for me than the popular touristy San Diego "urban" areas.
NONE of those areas even come close to matching San Antonio's little rioscape in terms of its otherworldly intimacy and romance. Practically nowhere in San Diego, or probably anywhere else in America will you find this type of intimate setting.
(Texas' major cities have "unattractive streetscapes" alright.)
Oh yeah, sdurbanite, I recall you once trashing Houston's Rice Village as "having no sidewalks" and "no nice places to eat outside."
I crack up at how you trash Rice Village. It may not have the similar La Jolla's sea lions and Pacific views...but Rice Village has nightlife options that are much more varied. (Rice Village is a LOT MORE FUN to party in compared to prim and propah La Jolla.)
"Texas' major cities' unattractive streetscapes." Ah well, to each his or her own. I still see a lot of sidewalks and cool places to eat outside in the Rice Village. Then again, the Uptight Anal Urbanists probably need those really, really wide sidewalks and proper building-to-sidewalk conformity to feel secure of themselves and their surroundings.
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