Which US Cities are going uphill and downhill the most? (compare, America)

[AZLiam]

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

Yes, Chicago's outer areas and some inner ring burbs have taken on many of the people displaced from Cabrini Green and some other low income housing.

Not sure why you say Detroit's downtown is better off than Cleveland's, but that is certainly not the way I see it. Cleveland's downtown is the regional entertainment hub (with two nightlife districts), contains all the sports stadiums/arenas, serves as the region’s rail transit hub, has a mall (albeit crappy), a large theater district, the Rock Hall, and continues to add residents (albeit slowly). In the next 5 years you will see a new convention center, the east flats redevelopment, more residential, and most likely a casino. All of these things are in a compact area that I think has potential to create a critical mass of activity in the near future. Cleveland's downtown is certainly no suffering from lack of amenities.

Cleveland has plenty of vacant buildings. Nice infrastructure (especially older buildings), but plenty of emptiness. I'm not sure if it's the slow process to rehab buildings or what. There are quite a few residents living in downtown. Many work in the health care industry and many travel outside of downtown for work as well. The warehouse district is nice. Downtown hasn't been very friendly for the gay community - I believe the last gay bar that was located in downtown was shut down last year. There is a nice extensive bus system in Cleveland. Cleveland has a great asset being right next to Lake Erie, but hasn't done much with its waterfront access. You'll see the most amount of people downtown on game days, especially the tailgate parties for the Browns.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

Yes it is! LA is easily the most diverse city in the country (save NYC perhaps). Its as if Mexico City, Seoul, Manila, and Yervan (Armenia) had a big orgy.

LOL, nice way of putting it. But seriously, Koreans have told me that the Korean food in LA is actually better than what you get in Korea! I mean how crazy is that? There's so much more to LA's diversity than the Mexican influence and I wish more people would recognize that. I mean, we invented the Korean BBQ Taco for crying out loud!

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by matt345

LOL, nice way of putting it. But seriously, Koreans have told me that the Korean food in LA is actually better than what you get in Korea! I mean how crazy is that? There's so much more to LA's diversity than the Mexican influence and I wish more people would recognize that. I mean, we invented the Korean BBQ Taco for crying out loud!

That does sound good! I've been hearing about Korean Taco's a lot, including in the recent TIME Magazine article about California's future.

Back to the topic, I think LA is on an uphill, especially compared to 15 years ago. The crime rate is down, the streets and neighborhoods are cleaner, and public transit is improving and easing the traffic and smog. Atlanta seems to have been going downhill since about 2006, and even faster after the Recession took its toll on the city, but at the same time there was and still is a big construction boom, and a lot of proposals for the city such as Midtown Mile and Beltline. Hopefully after the economy recovers ATL will be back on an uphill track and back to the post '96 Olympics days, if not better.

[openheads]

Originally Posted by krock1dk

going down: Phoenix (crime, pollution, traffic, no jobs), San Francisco (housing costs and homelessness) Detroit (everything), Cleveland, Newark, Phily, St.Louis

NWK is going downhill ? Really?
It hit bottom some time ago & is slowly, but steadily rising.
Perception does not always equate to reality.
The Bricks have actually been slightly gaining population in the last 10 years.
Speak on what you know my friend. Newark does not seem to be your forte.

[Wilshire81182]

I don't really see anything wrong with the way Orlando is heading. We keep getting new high paying employers developing in the area (Nemours, Burnham, etc.). JetBlue is still in talks to move their corporate HQ to Orlando. Homes are being bought up left and right. We have new retail developments (H&M at two area malls, new stores at Millenia and some of the outlet malls, etc.), hotels (two new hiltons, a Westin in Lake Mary, a Waldorf Astoria, etc), and a new events center popping up for the Magic and to draw more big name events to the area. The theme parks developing new themed areas at Disney and Universal. Major road projects developing stronger infrastructure in the downtown corridor. There have been talks that we could possibly even steal the Jaguars from Jacksonville. UCF just grew to the largest university in Florida state and something like third in the nation. If you are just referring to the influx of Hispanics to the area, I do not agree that that is a negative. I also see the positive dramatic overall decrease in crime as very reassuring. I think Orlando had a few bad years from 2005-2008 but I am definitely hopeful that Orlando is doing the right things and on the upswing. Also, I do not entirely get the school of thought that Orlando should be in the same league and even compared to cities like Chicago and NYC in terms of progress and development. Honestly I think they are far ahead of us but for its size, I think Orlando is doing a good job and on the upswing.

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by AZLiam

Cleveland has plenty of vacant buildings. Nice infrastructure (especially older buildings), but plenty of emptiness. I'm not sure if it's the slow process to rehab buildings or what. There are quite a few residents living in downtown. Many work in the health care industry and many travel outside of downtown for work as well. The warehouse district is nice. Downtown hasn't been very friendly for the gay community - I believe the last gay bar that was located in downtown was shut down last year. There is a nice extensive bus system in Cleveland. Cleveland has a great asset being right next to Lake Erie, but hasn't done much with its waterfront access. You'll see the most amount of people downtown on game days, especially the tailgate parties for the Browns.

I generally agree. What Cleveland is lacking is a people to fill in the "voids" of the city. It already has good bones. You are correct about some of those old buildings taking a long time to rehab. I think in some cases it seems to take longer to rehab these structures than it would to build a new building - many are in very bad shape. I am much more concerned about the state of the city's neighborhoods than the downtown. I'm pretty sure you will see the downtown fill in nicely over the next 10 years or so (assuming the economy rebounds sooner than later).

As far as a gay presence goes, most of it is scattered throughout the west side neighborhoods and out into Lakewood. I believe there are also some gay establishments just east of downtown. Cleveland does not have a traditional gay village like many other city's have, and does not strike me as all that great of a place for the gay community. I don’t think the city is particularly anti gay or anything though. It just lacks appeal. It is getting the Gay Games in the near future, so maybe that will help. Cleveland is ripe for gentrification, and the gay community is often at the head of that front.

[justme02]

Originally Posted by matt345

LOL, nice way of putting it. But seriously, Koreans have told me that the Korean food in LA is actually better than what you get in Korea! I mean how crazy is that? There's so much more to LA's diversity than the Mexican influence and I wish more people would recognize that. I mean, we invented the Korean BBQ Taco for crying out loud!

LA gets such a bad rap, but most people really dont know what the city is about. Its not about movie stars, its not about ghetto gangbangers, its about being open minded, accepting, and diverse.

There is no where near the racial tension in LA that people like to dream up. Its true that the early 90's were not our glory days. After Rodney King and the riots, there was alot of mistrust and racism between Koreans and African Americans. However since then, things have eased a lot.

I will argue that LA IS on its way up (aside from the economy). Our dark days were between 1987 and 1994 (from the crack epidemic to OJ). I remember growing up that Crenshaw Blvd. was a virtual war zone. Now, its just another street (and with some good food offerings).

LA is a better city than it was 20 years ago.

[Redrum237]

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

Yes, Chicago's outer areas and some inner ring burbs have taken on many of the people displaced from Cabrini Green and some other low income housing.

Not sure why you say Detroit's downtown is better off than Cleveland's, but that is certainly not the way I see it. Cleveland's downtown is the regional entertainment hub (with two nightlife districts), contains all the sports stadiums/arenas, serves as the region’s rail transit hub, has a mall (albeit crappy), a large theater district, the Rock Hall, and continues to add residents (albeit slowly). In the next 5 years you will see a new convention center, the east flats redevelopment, more residential, and most likely a casino. All of these things are in a compact area that I think has potential to create a critical mass of activity in the near future. Cleveland's downtown is certainly no suffering from lack of amenities.

I think Detroit has a lot going on in its downtown area, with Greektown, three large casinos, lots of commerce, stadiums, theater... plus a little bit north of it, you have Wayne State University and one of the best art museums in the nation.

Although, to be fair, I am not as familiar with downtown Cleveland.

[ComSense]

Originally Posted by Wilshire81182

I don't really see anything wrong with the way Orlando is heading. We keep getting new high paying employers developing in the area (Nemours, Burnham, etc.). JetBlue is still in talks to move their corporate HQ to Orlando. Homes are being bought up left and right. We have new retail developments (H&M at two area malls, new stores at Millenia and some of the outlet malls, etc.), hotels (two new hiltons, a Westin in Lake Mary, a Waldorf Astoria, etc), and a new events center popping up for the Magic and to draw more big name events to the area. The theme parks developing new themed areas at Disney and Universal. Major road projects developing stronger infrastructure in the downtown corridor. There have been talks that we could possibly even steal the Jaguars from Jacksonville. UCF just grew to the largest university in Florida state and something like third in the nation. If you are just referring to the influx of Hispanics to the area, I do not agree that that is a negative. I also see the positive dramatic overall decrease in crime as very reassuring. I think Orlando had a few bad years from 2005-2008 but I am definitely hopeful that Orlando is doing the right things and on the upswing. Also, I do not entirely get the school of thought that Orlando should be in the same league and even compared to cities like Chicago and NYC in terms of progress and development. Honestly I think they are far ahead of us but for its size, I think Orlando is doing a good job and on the upswing.

You probably dont live in East Orlando.

[GLS2010]

Orlando was effected pretty bad by the recession, but it is definitely headed in the right direction now that the end is in sight. There are a lot of good projects going on right now in the area. Especially the medical city thats underway. Once the economy gets back on its feet, Orlando will continue to grow like it was before the recession, and continue its trail uphill. BTW, theres nothing wrong with where i live in east orlando. Also it has been shown that the hispanic migration to the orlando area has been on the decline since the recession, a lot of them have even been moving back to where they came from, due to lack of jobs. the only people moving here right now are mainly people from up north getting good job offers from companies down here, just look at the orlando forum and you'll see what I'm talking about.