Newer cities ranked by sense of place (compared, population, Atlanta)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Older cities and even some rural areas in the east and midwest are popularly seen as having a 'sense of place'. Residents and visitors may feel that something is authentic or special about a place and ties people to the place. Which of the cities that mainly became major cities in the last 50 years can be said to have a strong sense of place like this?
The city/metro that is the least over-run by newcomers. Of the cities listed, I'd say Nashville because it's still a relatively small enough metro and the last to enter into the ranks of boom towns and big cities.
Hmm this question is a little bit convoluted imo, but I'll give it a go.
When we talk about sense of place and placemaking (creating a sense of place) in urban design, from my experience we are typically talking about a specific block, a specific space, a particular vantage point or sightline. In essence, it is one small location that either offers a great sense of place or not. So now when you ask this question for entire cities or metro areas, it isn't super clear but I would have to interpret that as which city does placemaking really well in many different spots throughout the city? Which cities have the most thorough and consistent embrace of people at human scale?
And yeah, this isn't that easy to answer because I have not spent a lot of time exploring all areas of all the cities above. I have no doubt that most/all of the cities in the list have many examples they can point to, so again, it is very hard to compare.
With that said, I'm gonna lean towards Miami, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Orlando. I will assume that the more walkable areas a region has, the higher chance there has been more investment and resources put into placemaking. Placemaking improves walkability, walkability creates more sense of place, it is a virtuous cycle. Secondly, the tourist centers undoubtedly spend tons on this. All the developments on the Vegas strip are trying to provide some pull, attraction, to bring you in closer. And the theme parks in Orlando own an entire subset of the study of placemaking. So yeah, I'll just guess those offer the most...which one exactly well we'll have to really go and dive much deeper to sort that out.
Geography/climate would seem to be the most notable factor for these cities; large concentrations of certain demographics would be a strong secondary factor. Industry hubs, particularly those which result in a very palpable and distinct culture or lifestyle that permeates the city, is another notable factor.
The city/metro that is the least over-run by newcomers. Of the cities listed, I'd say Nashville because it's still a relatively small enough metro and the last to enter into the ranks of boom towns and big cities.
This isn’t necessary so for Nashville especially in terms of Newcomers or Transplants. Nashville has a very high Transplant population from California, Chicago and New York not to mention Foreign born population which is highly hispanic as well as Kurdish..There is even a good number of Africans especially somilan...It’s definitely not the latest ,newest, smallest or small by any means... Maybe most surprising,, maybe so... i would say it has a Unique sense of self though
These cities are "new" compared Boston or Philadelphia and that's about it.
If "new" means recent population increase, then I say Seattle wins this extremely easily. It's impossible to mistake Seattle for any other place on earth. Even NYC and Chicago could be confused with each other to the casual observer from afar.
When I look at a picture of a Nashville or Austin, I usually need to be reminded of what exactly I"m looking at.
This would be easier for some to answer who find their sense of "place" in a particular subculture.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
