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This matchup is of two cities around the same size and more than likely the absolute two most urban city experiences in all of North America.
Now we'll have to figure which one is the top urban experience overall with a variety of both objective and some subjective factors;
- Walkability
- Accessible amenities
- Availability of public transportation
- Build-up of infrastructure (roads, railways, water transportation, taxi, uber/lyft, bike lanes, pedestrian walkways, so on)
- Comprehensive planning
- City parks and greenbelts integrated into the urban experience
- Easy integration of residential, office, and entertainment establishments into the urban fabric
Feel free to add additional comparison topics if you want. Should be an interesting comparison though. Also feel free to share your personal experiences and/or stories of your experience in each city. Feel free to post your own pictures (and if you use someone else's picture then just link it).
I think New York wins all categories here. Outside of the centro, Mexico seems much more sprawling and fragmented than New York does. That said, I know Mexico City is making huge strides as of late, and I haven't been there in 3 years. In 10 years, this could be much closer!
Both are certainly immense, huge cities, but I think NYC pushes out MC in the listed categories. Mexico City also doesn't quite have an equivalent to Manhattan.
NYC has a more complete urban experience and much more amenities(and much more of the world represented as a more international city). The museums in NYC are world class that few places can touch for example.
All the same Mexico City has kind of a exciting feel to it in parts that must have been how pre-gentrification New York felt in the 1960s and 70s. Lots of random mom and pop stores or old cantinas, tons of street activity(and crazy stuff always going on), and altogether just a interesting mix of rich and poor, old and new all sort of converging on the city. There's places in Mexico City that feel like West LA and there's places that feel like Spain or Buenos Aires and there's places that feel like a colonial village and other places that feel like another rough-and-tumble city in Mexico(and there's a lot of areas that don't look like much). The fun part of exploring neighborhoods like Condesa or Roma or even the side streets around the Centro is that some of the cool stuff you'll find isn't known to every tourist who comes to Mexico City--in that regards it's more like exploring the other boroughs of New York besides Manhattan(where you're knee deep in tourists almost everywhere).
A lot of Mexico City has a shabby charm to it--I went to see lucha libre wrestling in DF and the arena was kind of like some fading college gym--but it was crazy and interesting and definitely an experience I'll never forget--and it was cheap as hell and the tacos outside the arena were some of the best I've ever had(but then again every market or corner in Mexico City has a taco or pozole or guisado stand where you'll swear it's the best you ever had).
Last edited by CanuckInPortland; 02-29-2016 at 10:38 AM..
The only city, worldwide, that I think can top NYC on urban experience is Tokyo.
Other than that, I think NYC pretty much takes all comers.
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