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Judging by those pictures, Minneapolis looks the most dense.
I think it is important to acknowledge the difference between building mass/height and population density in this case.
With near-record low vacancy rates (2-4%), San Diego's urban neighborhoods are bursting at their seams. The last swaths of parking in East Village are being developed. There is no "inner-city" with abandoned/unused lots or homes. All neighborhoods next to downtown are fully occupied and most of the working-class areas are experiencing higher density corridor development. Even small 1930s bungalows in "bad" (relative-SD has less crime) are going for $600,000.
San Diego's built landscape might not seem as large, but I guarantee you that buildings and landlords are finding ways to fit as many units onto properties as possible due to the high land prices.
I would be interested in learning the avg. sqft of each unit in each of these cities. This may explain the reason why Minneapolis looks more built up.
Edit: I also just found an article claiming that Minneapolis' downtown vacancy rates are 8.8%. Downtown Denver is 11%+ I can't find anything for downtown San Diego, but the region is at 4.1% (up from decade low of 2.2% last fall). A lot of new units recently came on line in downtown, so I'm figuring about 4-7% for downtown.
Last edited by Julianpieohmy; 10-27-2015 at 03:29 AM..
Portland seems like a good city to add to this discussion - it has very comparable core density to these cities.
Do you have any numbers? I've been to Portland numerous times and it didn't seem to have that many people out and about, but the built density is definitely comparable to SD, Denver, and Minneapolis.
Do you have any numbers? I've been to Portland numerous times and it didn't seem to have that many people out and about, but the built density is definitely comparable to SD, Denver, and Minneapolis.
Yeah, I'd argue it actually has the tightest and potentially the densest built environment of the four cities (in the core), but you're right that it doesn't really feel all that bustling. Aside from a few blocks in the SW quadrant, you don't see that many people walking around, although I suppose they have to be out there somewhere to support the ridiculous number of bars and restaurants in Portland's core.
Here are a couple of examples of the tight built environment I'm talking about:
Portland seems like a good city to add to this discussion - it has very comparable core density to these cities.
I would agree, I think Portland feels very similar to San Diego, especially with the core neighbohoods just surrounding downtown, full of tidy craftsman houses and cool little village centers, and its generally busy, but not super busy downtown.
It does not have those dozen or so modern ~40 story residential towers that SD has because of its California coastal desirability though, while it does have quite a few nice ~25 story towers, and 6-9 story low rise over retail, which is also the more typical construction down here. I don't think there are very many areas in Portland that would compare to the almost madhouse scene of any spring/summer weekend baseball night in the Gaslamp Quarter here, where you basically cannot walk on the sidewalk because it is so crazy crowded.
I would agree, I think Portland feels very similar to San Diego, especially with the core neighbohoods just surrounding downtown, full of tidy craftsman houses and cool little village centers, and it's generally busy, but not super busy downtown.
It does not have those dozen or so modern ~40 story residential towers that SD has because of its California coastal desirability though, while it does have quite a few nice ~25 story towers, and 6-9 story low rise over retail, which is also the more typical construction down here. I don't think there are very many areas in Portland that would compare to the almost madhouse scene of any spring/summer weekend baseball night in the Gaslamp Quarter here, where you basically cannot walk on the sidewalk because it is so crazy crowded.
I agree - as I mentioned in my post above, Portland doesn't seem to develop that critical mass of people that you can find in places like the Gaslamp District or Lodo in Denver. However, I do think it potentially has the tightest and densest built environment of any of these cities (see the streetviews I posted above).
Yeah, I'd argue it actually has the tightest and potentially the densest built environment of the four cities (in the core), but you're right that it doesn't really feel all that bustling. Aside from a few blocks in the SW quadrant, you don't see that many people walking around, although I suppose they have to be out there somewhere to support the ridiculous number of bars and restaurants in Portland's core.
Here are a couple of examples of the tight built environment I'm talking about:
I'd argue that Portland is more walkable in its core than the other cities, one thing I liked about Portland over Seattle is it's flatness and compact grid with narrow streets, almost like a mini Philly LOL
I'd argue that Portland is more walkable in its core than the other cities, one thing I liked about Portland over Seattle is it's flatness and compact grid with narrow streets, almost like a mini Philly LOL
Yeah, it definitely has a more walkable core and provides a better pedestrian experience than any of these cities, as well as Seattle.
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