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Meaning the suburbs seem to function without the core city, other than the employment aspect. Like they have their own downtowns, malls, shopping districts? I think the DC burbs stand alone well.
Lots of Boston area burbs are separate from Boston despite being relatively close. Most New England towns have small town centers with lots of amenities.
For the longest time, as far as I know, the Detroit burbs have tried to be self-sufficient as best they could be, and they generally did a good job (at the expense of the city). I think now though they're starting to realize that a better Detroit is good for all of the region, including themselves, and with the new transit plan it looks like regional leaders have finally decided not to just leave the city for dead.
In my opinion the amenities in the suburbs of Phoenix are far more impressive then the city itself. Many of the suburbs function almost fully on their own.
It is a very, very suburb centric metropolitan area as a whole.
I rarely even visited the city when I lived there. Most of the people I knew lived their lives completely in the suburbs and rarely went to Phoenix except for a sports event.
The most interesting and vibrant downtown's in my opinion are in the suburbs. There are many suburban office parks in Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale.
There are many, many shopping districts in the suburbs. Tempe has two very large malls, Chandler and Gilbert have large malls. Scottsdale is a tourist mecca for shopping.
Metros are all far more interrelated than people suggest.
For example one widget company might serve the whole metro, just like one airport often does. And a large office, pretty much anywhere in the metro, will have employees from all over.
It's not a question of whether urban places exist in the suburbs. Often they do, and good ones. That's about format, not content.
I have to think the DFW metro would be a contender for the most independent cities in a huge metro. It's a combination of massive growth taking in existing towns and areas smart enough to incorporate. I live in an area of San Antonio that really should have done that before getting annexed so the city council could have the tax base to use on their pet projects - the ones that don't benefit the majority of the taxpayers of course. I've always envied the towns/suburbs around Dallas that get to apply their money to their own neighborhoods.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Originally Posted by lovecrowds
In my opinion the amenities in the suburbs of Phoenix are far more impressive then the city itself. Many of the suburbs function almost fully on their own.
It is a very, very suburb centric metropolitan area as a whole.
I rarely even visited the city when I lived there. Most of the people I knew lived their lives completely in the suburbs and rarely went to Phoenix except for a sports event.
The most interesting and vibrant downtown's in my opinion are in the suburbs. There are many suburban office parks in Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale.
There are many, many shopping districts in the suburbs. Tempe has two very large malls, Chandler and Gilbert have large malls. Scottsdale is a tourist mecca for shopping.
Not sure when you left Phoenix, but the city proper has made a resurgence since light rail came in
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