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Buffalo's inner city resembles that of Sherbrooke or Ottawa, if I can make a comparison. So lots of smaller houses on tiny lots as opposed to streets of row houses and triplexes which make up a lot of the inner areas in Quebec City.
For some reason the density numbers for the current Buffalo city proper and the old city proper (prior to the merger with all of its suburbs) of Quebec City - as I posted earlier - are quite similar. To someone who knows both cities that doesn't really make sense, so I don't know what's up with that.
Household size?
Also there is a possibility that what appears to be SFH at first glance could be 2 or 3 units.
Sort of like how Boston doesn't look at dense as Philly when it is but Rowhomes are continuous while triple deckers are not.
Relatives of mine live in this part of Quebec City. It is in an old part of the city for sure but not part of the historic core inside the city walls. Even cities like Ottawa and Toronto don't have much of this at all. Neither does Buffalo. But places like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston do.
Relatives of mine live in this part of Quebec City. It is in an old part of the city for sure but not part of the historic core inside the city walls. Even cities like Ottawa and Toronto don't have much of this at all. Neither does Buffalo. But places like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston do.
Buffalo's inner city resembles that of Sherbrooke or Ottawa, if I can make a comparison. So lots of smaller houses on tiny lots as opposed to streets of row houses and triplexes which make up a lot of the inner areas in Quebec City.
For some reason the density numbers for the current Buffalo city proper and the old city proper (prior to the merger with all of its suburbs) of Quebec City - as I posted earlier - are quite similar. To someone who knows both cities that doesn't really make sense, so I don't know what's up with that.
The density is primarily due to the small percentage of single homes that exist in the city limits, along with the size of the built structure and lots. There are many streets like those below in Buffalo, many homes built without garages or driveways, each containing 2 or more units. The city may not be as historically old as many North American cities, but as a percentage it has the oldest housing stock among major cities. About 1/3 of all freestanding housing built in the city are "Doubles" built primarily between 1890 and 1929, and are located throughout the city limits and also in some adjacent suburbs.
I've regretfully never been to Quebec City, but from what I've seen and read, it doesn't strike me as comparable to Buffalo, NY. Someone correct me if I'm completely off base, but Quebec City seems to be more of a destination than a living and breathing urban area. There's no denying it's a cultural Mecca and an anomaly in North America deserving of its reputation. It has an incredibly dense urban core reminiscent of a European town, marvelous architecture, unmatched history and a renowned center for the humanities. That being said, its small. Once you leave the core, you're in the provincial countryside and there isn't a whole lot nearby. Quebec City is 3 and a half hours from Montreal, 4 hours from Ottawa and 8 hours from Boston. To the north there isn't much and anything beyond is a day away.
Buffalo is a much larger metropolitan area and has the best location in the interior Northeast. Niagara Falls, Toronto, Rochester, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, the Finger Lakes and even Michigan are all just a short drive away. As a city, Buffalo also has much more to offer in terms of urbanity. Superior public transit with the metro rail, far more amenities, better educational institutions, world class architecture, professional sports, food, diversity and the benefits which accompany those. There is also the lower cost of living and underrated economy of Western New York that would make Buffalo a more viable place to live. I understand the argument against it, but to me Buffalo is the winner here because it's just so much more of a city that you can live in and appreciate with pride. Quebec is a great getaway but would get boring after a while.
Well this is pretty much how I feel about this comparison. Although I've only spent about 4 days in each city so take my opinion with a grain of salt. QBC is far more appealing to me and if I had to pick a place to spend 6 months or maybe even a year then that would be it. However, if I was absolutely forced to relocate permanently to one of these two, then Buffalo hands down.
I’ve only visited both for a few days, but my impression from walking around is that the bustling, urban parts of Quebec City seem to extend further out in more directions than in Buffalo. In Quebec City there were significant lengths I can go and turn somewhat at random and still be in a very urban and dense area, even when leaving the tourist-y area, while Buffalo was a bit uneven sometimes and it was easy to wander out of the great Allentown/Elmwood Village section.
I disagree with the idea that Quebec City isn’t a living, breathing city though. There may be a very tourism oriented part of town, but there seemed to be a lot of local commercial establishments outside of that part of town. The population also can’t really be growing as it is without something to back it.
I’ve only visited both for a few days, but my impression from walking around is that the bustling, urban parts of Quebec City seem to extend further out in more directions than in Buffalo. In Quebec City there were significant lengths I can go and turn somewhat at random and still be in a very urban and dense area, even when leaving the tourist-y area, while Buffalo was a bit uneven sometimes and it was easy to wander out of the great Allentown/Elmwood Village section.
I disagree with the idea that Quebec City isn’t a living, breathing city though. There may be a very tourism oriented part of town, but there seemed to be a lot of local commercial establishments outside of that part of town. The population also can’t really be growing as it is without something to back it.
If you continue further north up to Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, that is another active area and even into Kenmore, going down Delaware Avenue is another business district. There’s also the perpendicular Kenmore Avenue with some businesses as well. Pretty much along/west of Main Street over to above Grantto the east and up to Kenmore is the best swath of Buffalo/density/urbanity in that area.
People may not know that Kenmore is something like the 90th most population dense municipality in the US, with about 15,500 people in 1.4 square miles. Walkability also continues outside of the village into the town of Tonawanda as well surrounding it. So, this goes outside of the city limits.
Those are arguably prettier areas that the one I posted from Quebec City which is dense(r) but fairly bare-bones.
It's still a style of urban form that's much more similar to Ottawa and Toronto, than it is to what you see in the oldest parts of cities in Quebec.
Buffalo and Toronto don't look all that similar despite being so close to one another, nor do Toronto's oldest inner city neighbourhoods look like those in Quebec City. Toronto kinda has its own thing going on where it has rowhouses and semi-detached houses that are often setback from the street with small front yards (not always, though), and many of them have peaked roofs like the style seen in many detached houses (unlike those flat topped rowhouses you see in Quebec City, Philly or Baltimore).
Once you move beyond the innermost, oldest core neighbourhoods, the houses start to give way to being fully detached, but those still tend to be of brick construction, unlike the wood frame construction you predominantly find in Buffalo.
That being said, I'd say that to my eyes Quebec City looks much more dense and urban in its oldest neighbourhoods than does Buffalo. Quebec City's commercial areas are likewise much more solidly urban and "big city" looking than Buffalo's patchy urban fabric. Buffalo just lost too much urban fabric during its decades long period of decline.
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