What cities have what you consider to be a big downtown? (lofts, hotels)

[smith21]

I am leaving chicago and newyork out of this because they are far beyond big. If you know the size of a downtown by square milage or the population of a downtown please put that down too. post pictures of lofts row houses or neighborhoods in a downtown. just pick the downtowns that you view as big. multiple choices can be selected.

[kidphilly]

To me the largest downtowns after those (NYC and Chicago) would be in order

Philadelphia
San Francisco
Boston
DC
Minneapolis
Detroit
Pittsburgh


then other large downtowns
LA
San Diego
Cinci
Cleveland
Seattle
Jersey City
Newark
Kansas City

Some of the Sunbelts feel pretty large too
Atlanta
Houston
Dallas
Miami

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by smith21

I am leaving chicago and newyork out of this because they are far beyond big. If you know the size of a downtown by square milage or the population of a downtown please put that down too. post pictures of lofts row houses or neighborhoods in a downtown. just pick the downtowns that you view as big. multiple choices can be selected.

Those are two VERY different criteria right there. By square mileage that would put dead downtowns like Los Angeles & Houston ahead of Downtowns like Boston.

I'm only doing your list based off of population, nothing more:

- Boston
- Philadelphia
- Washington DC
- San Francisco

No one else deserves to be on this list, that is it.

[smith21]

in the end its what you see as being a big downtown. i was just intersted personally about square milage and populations. i also should have put washington dc on the list athough it has no tall buildings.

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by smith21

in the end its what you see as being a big downtown. i was just intersted personally about square milage and populations. i also should have put washington dc on the list athough it has no tall buildings.

To me it's the size of the downtown by land mass. A lot of people go by population of residency, some go by population of work force, and others may go by attractions there.

I like the idea of it being big by land mass.

Here is what I value most in a downtown:
- Downtown with shopping (even though I hate shopping)
- Downtown with Public Transit
- Downtown with sports venues
- Downtown with parks
- Downtown with residences
- Downtown with restaurants
- Downtown with clubs
- Downtown with bars (most definitely has to be there)
- Downtown with grocery stores
- Downtown with theater district (another thing I like in downtown)
- Downtown with art galleries (Kind of a major hobby of mine)
- Downtown with music venues (House of Blues, etc...)
- Downtown with good roads & sidewalks
- Downtown with amazing architecture
- Downtown with plenty of height
- Downtown with other attractions

PS: I only voted for downtowns that match my exact list. Dallas needs to get some venues there.

[smith21]

does anyone know a good site that shows updated populations of downtowns?

[DeaconJ]

Downtown Atlanta is relatively small (4 square miles) and has a decent-sized residential population (25,000+). As far as the other criteria mentioned, it offers shopping, sports venues, entertainment, restaurants, a large research university, festivals, parks, nightlife, hotels/conventions, etc.

Many U.S. downtowns have advocacy or information websites (i.e. Central Atlanta Progress | Atlanta Downtown Improvement District) where you can find statistics and other information relative to this thread.

[omgsh]

besides nyc and chicago
3. philly
4. san fran
5. boston
6. dc
no other downtowns come close
sf might be 5, and boston 4. Not completely sure about those, I might of mixed them up

[smith21]

miami, seattle, houston, minneapolis, atlanta, denver are a few that i think are close to philly san fran boston and dc in terms of size and what they can offer.

[Craziaskowboi]

Other decent-sized downtowns...

3. Philadelphia
4. San Francisco
5. Boston
6. Miami
7. Washington DC
8. Atlanta
9. Seattle
10. Houston