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As far as major cities, and in focusing on neighborhoods in particular, I think San Francisco probably wins this one. I mean, the hills, the colors, the architecture, the materials... Areas of DC would be second in my mind, for similar reasons as above (minus the hills). You could make the argument for NYC for notoriety of certain areas like Times Square, but the average neighborhood in Manhattan doesn't necessarily have specific characteristics that can't be found in other cities.
Chicago neighborhoods are pretty unique, though the bungalow and detached housing shares characteristics with some other Midwest cities. Boston and Philadelphia are certainly unique. Beacon Hill and Society Hill are fairly recognizable, though without having spent time in both, you might not be able to distinguish in a single picture. The row homes/apartment buildings in New York, and most specifically neighborhoods of Brooklyn, are very unique.. Often grey/brown, but not brick unlike many Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore counterparts. In the case of Boston, the South End/Back Bay are also pretty unique, though to the average person, they may not recognize these like they would Beacon Hill.
There are other smaller cities that are pretty easy to decipher.. Places like Charleston, Santa Fe come to mind.
EDIT: Some street views that I find easy to correlate with the city for the second group above..
When you’re in a street full of triple deckers there literally no city in the world you could be in other than Boston or one of its sattelite cities:
When you’re in a street full of triple deckers there literally no city in the world you could be in other than Boston or one of its sattelite cities:
Will you find street after street that look like that in any other major city in America? Honest question.
The answer is no, I don't think so, though I'm not sure folks unfamiliar with Boston would associate it with Boston explicitly. Probably the broader Northeast.
I do like the redone triple deckers that have really started to boom post-recession. But in general, it's not my favorite residential architecture. Just reminds me of depressing Boston movies.
1 Miami
The whole city feel's like you're in Latin America not the US, it wins hands down.
2 SF
gets the nod due to varied geography and hills that make up the city. You are not mistaking it for any other city.
3 DC
European street grid & monuments are unique to it and it only
4 Philly/Baltimore/
They're the only big cities with oceans of row-homes and are iconic because of it, you can find that anywhere else in the country.
5 Boston/Chicago/NYC
There pre-war detached apartment buildings/triple stacks are hard to find any place outside of ^ cities.
Everything else.
"European street grid"?
Most European cities don't have rectilinear or orthogonal street grids. I think there's only one such city in England, and none of the major cities on the continent itself have them.
Maybe you're crossing Washington with Paris, where a network of boulevards cuts across the old medieval streets? The difference, of course, being that Washington, like Philadelphia before it, was planned from the ground up. And it was a Frenchman who designed Washington.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwj119
As far as major cities, and in focusing on neighborhoods in particular, I think San Francisco probably wins this one. I mean, the hills, the colors, the architecture, the materials... Areas of DC would be second in my mind, for similar reasons as above (minus the hills). You could make the argument for NYC for notoriety of certain areas like Times Square, but the average neighborhood in Manhattan doesn't necessarily have specific characteristics that can't be found in other cities.
Chicago neighborhoods are pretty unique, though the bungalow and detached housing shares characteristics with some other Midwest cities. Boston and Philadelphia are certainly unique. Beacon Hill and Society Hill are fairly recognizable, though without having spent time in both, you might not be able to distinguish in a single picture. The row homes/apartment buildings in New York, and most specifically neighborhoods of Brooklyn, are very unique.. Often grey/brown, but not brick unlike many Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore counterparts. In the case of Boston, the South End/Back Bay are also pretty unique, though to the average person, they may not recognize these like they would Beacon Hill.
There are other smaller cities that are pretty easy to decipher.. Places like Charleston, Santa Fe come to mind.
EDIT: Some street views that I find easy to correlate with the city for the second group above..
I think the interesting thing about those tony Chicago neighborhoods is that the residential blocks are lined with houses that look like they belong in rows but are freestanding - and they're close enough to one another that your eye could scan them as townhouses. Of course, I'm sure the post-1871 fire codes had something to do with that - and even more to do with their brick construction.
I'm surprised I'm the first person to have chosen New Orleans out of this pack. The French Quarter is not the only really unique architectural feature of this city. While one could find houses analogous to those in the Garden District in places like Charleston or Savannah, many of the city's older neighborhoods are filled with twin shotgun houses. So far, I've now been in only one other city where shotgun houses make up a significant portion of the housing stock - Louisville - and all the ones there are detached.
I think the interesting thing about those tony Chicago neighborhoods is that the residential blocks are lined with houses that look like they belong in rows but are freestanding - and they're close enough to one another that your eye could scan them as townhouses. Of course, I'm sure the post-1871 fire codes had something to do with that - and even more to do with their brick construction.
The set-up and design of Chicago's Lincoln Park is a masterpiece. The tree canopy, the mix of residential materials, diverse architecture. Even the new builds blend seamlessly into the original homes on the early 20th century. You're right in the city, but to some degree, it feels like you're in a near suburb or this utopian city neighborhood far from the loop. The grid is interrupted nicely by NW/SW arteries that carry much of the commercial activity, but seemingly don't interrupt the uniformity of the residential neighborhood. Add to it the parks and the beaches, the bars and the restaurants. The street festivals in the summer. Live blues and theatres dispersed across the neighborhood. The only real issue is that one train line serves the entire neighborhood, which is more than 1.5 miles wide east to west. So if you live on the waterfront, it's a mile walk to the nearest brown line stop that splits Sheffield and Bissel.
A bit off topic, but Lincoln Park has to be one of the few nicest American neighborhoods in any city.
Chicago (in parts could be confused with NYC or Philly, but also has its own flare. You wouldn't have to walk far to find a Chicago Style something, or if you have a view of the skyline, it is very much its own) https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8996...4!8i8192?hl=en
The answer is no, I don't think so, though I'm not sure folks unfamiliar with Boston would associate it with Boston explicitly. Probably the broader Northeast.
I do like the redone triple deckers that have really started to boom post-recession. But in general, it's not my favorite residential architecture. Just reminds me of depressing Boston movies.
The post recession redone triple deckers look too much like a lot of other new urbanites developments. It’s that same aesthetic of a HopeVI projects, Square, blocky, bland, , bright and urban/suburban. I prefer the slightly worn bright red, wooden shingles triple decker.
But Boston winds hand down for triple decker architecture. I don’t see any other form of architecture as unique in a major city. Add to that the ungridded streets and it’s not even close. Maybe some of the NOLA shotgun houses.
I actually have to vote San Francisco. When you think Bout it, no other city is that distinguishable from the crowd
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