Atlanta or Boston (Which city feels larger) (real estate, condo)

[DCguy03]

Originally Posted by DC's Finest

Boston is a cosmopolitan city! Hands down, it feels bigger than Atlanta. The same can said for San Francisco. It's smaller than all of the Sun Belt cities but it feels much larger because of its urban fabric. Atlanta is too car dependant.

I am a former Bostonian myself, and I would agree with this. Atlanta is much more of a "car city." Boston also 'feels' larger because the urban landscape stretches farther out from the downtown area than in Atlanta. Boston is a great city but it is far too expensive for young people to live there!

[brri]

Does the wideness of Atlanta's highways and streets give some the feeling of the largness of Atlanta. Does street width, grid and patterns, topography affect the way in which one determines how big a place "feels"? What about the amount of traffic and highway lanes?

[Galounger]

Ok, how about a little visual aid. These are pictures of Atlanta from the air and ground at different distances from the city center. Maybe they can help give an idea of the size of Atlanta.

If someone could post similar pics of Boston we would have a comparison. Maybe I'll post some myself if I can find any.

Downtown (the center)




At street level







Midtown (2 miles north of center)









Buckhead (8 miles north of center)











Sandy Springs (11 miles North of Center)




Cumberland (13 miles N.E. of Center)

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Here is Buckhead: This isn't even the main skyline. Does Boston have something comparable?


Here's another of Buckhead:

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Even when shown pictures of the expansiveness of Atlanta, people still want to live in the past like it's 1955, when southern cities were much smaller.

[TheWereRabbit]

Okay, I'll bite.

Downtown Boston:




Back Bay (2 mile southwest of Center)




Cambridge (2.5 miles northwest of center)





ah it's way harder to find pictures than I thought. I just wasted a looot of time and those don't even make Boston look large.
whatever.

[TheWereRabbit]

but those pictures of Atlanta (especially "Cumberland" and "Sandy Springs") really don't make the city look big, they just make it seem like you have a lot of skyscrapers. Is that the judge of how large a city feels?

[DC's Finest]

To answer the question of one of the posters. You can drive 21 miles continuously thru Chicago (north to south). I think Chicago has some of the longest continuous streets in the US. As for Atlanta, those pics are great and it does give you a better perspective on the scope. On the outside Atlanta does look bigger but when you are smack dab in the center of it all, pound for pound, Boston just feels bigger because of the density, street scene and cosmopolitan nature. Atlanta loses major points because it does not sit on a grid. Some of the pics look like the suburbs.

[TheWereRabbit]

Originally Posted by DC's Finest

Atlanta loses major points because it does not sit on a grid.

Neither does Boston. Or the surrounding towns. It's one of my favourite things about it.

[DC's Finest]

I agree! Boston doesn't sit on a grid like Chicago but the streets are more conducive to an urban environment.