Atlanta or Boston (Which city feels larger) (live, trains)

[brri]

I read on another post that Atlanta "felt" much larger than Boston. I grew up near Boston and lived twice in Atlanta. I thought that Atlanta did in fact have a "larger feel" then Boston but I thought maybe it was just me. Atlanta's stirp of highrises does "wow" most people but Boston is much more of a "city" in my opinion. Not trying to downgrade either city, I like both just wanting to know if anyone else thinks that Atlanta "feels" a lot bigger.

[Ben Around]

Horizontally larger: Atlanta
Vertically larger: Boston

[Jimrob1]

There very different cities. Feeling wise to me the winner would be Boston, because it is a compact bustling city. It has thousands of commuters and students pouring in each day on every form of transit one can imagine. It is very walkable and it just feels like your in the city. Boston also has a large suburban base that spreads into neighboring states more so each year. Atlanta on the other hand is a much different type city. It is not well defined in many ways, and its downtown is not lively after working hours, it doesn't have all those commuter trains and streetcars and people walking all over, so it doesn't get that big city feeling. It spreads out and out and is very car oriented. Its difficult to tell where Atlanta begins and ends, very suburban feeling sprawled out place. So Atlanta might be bigger land area wise but not in big city feel, but thats my view, but Im from Massachusetts originally.

[john_starks]

i think boston has a more bustling downtown, but atlanta definitely has some impressive highrises...

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

Horizontally larger: Atlanta
Vertically larger: Boston

Boston doesn't have particularly tall buildings, Atlanta's skyline is actually quite a bit more impressive in terms of height and density of tall buildings IMO. However, at street level, it is a different story.

[Steve-o]

Thats a tough call. Ive only spent limited time in each, but I think its pretty close. I liked Boston much more, but both felt equally large.

[goozer]

Boston is probably about twice as dense in terms of population in the urban core, so it is no suprise that it would feel more "bustling." Also, while Atlanta has the more impressive skyline (talking about the skyscrapers), it seems like Atlanta's skyscrapers are similar to other southeastern cities like Charlotte and Birmingham insofar as their is not a lot of activity on the streets right out side the skyscrapers. In contrast, if you walk outside, say, the Prudential Tower of John Hancock buildilng in Boston, you find yourself in one of the most vibrant areas in the city (Copely Square and Newberry Street).

All that said, Atlanta feels bigger due to the greater sprawl.

[Chicago60614]

Walking through the streets, Boston feels much larger and more of a "city"

at least to me...

[st. louie louie]

I feel Boston has a much bigger feel due to the vibrancy on the streets, density, traffic etc. Even the architecture plays a role.

I also think that the Boston skyline wins over Atlanta's.
The distance from the north end to the cluster of bldgs. around the Pru Center has to be close to the Atlanta distance of downtown through midtown . Isn't it?

[basketcase33]

Boston feels larger because it takes so long to get everywhere on the train, well at least when you have to take the B line! At street level, Boston kills Atlanta because of it's density (which IMO makes cities feel bigger than they are). Both cities are relatively small, but when you have all those big buildings next to each other in Boston, in such a small area, it feels huge. I'm still not exactly sure where downtown begins and ends in Boston! Downtown Crossing? Back Bay? Financial District? I think the skylines are evenly matched though (if you don't count Boston's water).