Uptown - similar neighborhoods across the country? (St. Paul, Richmond: fit in, houses)

[uptown_urbanist]

I know that direct neighborhood-to-neighborhood comparisons are not exactly an exact science. Despite the pitfalls involved, I'd still like to get some opinions about what neighborhoods in other cities you'd describe as at comparable to Uptown, and why.

I've been thinking about this for some time for a personal project, but I know there are a lot of places out there that I'm missing, and besides, I'd like to get some different perspectives. Any leads and opinions would be much appreciated!

[Slig]

Alot of people make the comparison to the Grand Ave area of St. Paul. What does your list look like so far?

[Camden Northsider]

Maybe the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego? - large GLBT population, a lot of young people, not sure but the densities might be fairly similar (I believe it has a fair amount of lowrises which would also be similar)...

[MplsTodd]

Here's a few ideas:

Portland, OR: Hawthorne or Belmont in SE Portland
also NW 22nd Street or 23rd Street
Seattle: University Hill and Broadway on Capital Hill
Louisville: Bardstown Road
Richmond: The Fan
Milwaukee: Brady Street
St Louis: Del-Mar Loop (actually in University City)
also the Central West End

[uptown_urbanist]

Thanks for the suggestions! Part of my dilemma is I'm not sure exactly how to categorize Uptown - there's the intersection between yuppie and hipster (plus everyone else) and, although young, it's also increasingly starting to age as prices continue to rise. For those of you Richard Florida fans, I'm trying to decide if it's a "hipster haven" or a "designer digs" kind of place - I think it straddles the line.

Some of the places on my list so far (some leads from others, others places I'm familiar with myself) include:

Capitol Hill, Seattle
Old Pasadena, CA
Dupont Circle, DC (on a smaller scale)
The Marina, San Francisco
Montrose, Houston
Federal Hill, Baltimore
Lincoln Park, Chicago
South Street, Philadelphia

[Angorlee]

i lived in uptown(mpls) in the 1980s when uptown was at the tale end of the real neighberhood that it used to be. Everyone knew everyone else by site if not personally. Now uptown is just a stopping place for people on their way to somewhere else in the city. I say it doesn't fit in the category of a neighborhood anymore.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Angorlee

i lived in uptown(mpls) in the 1980s when uptown was at the tale end of the real neighberhood that it used to be. Everyone knew everyone else by site if not personally. Now uptown is just a stopping place for people on their way to somewhere else in the city. I say it doesn't fit in the category of a neighborhood anymore.

I think Uptown's past tends to be romanticized by many people, while its present is over-demonized. It's changed, and some good things have been lost (miss that Snyder's, for one thing) but it's still very much a livable, urban neighborhood, and many of the same people who lived there in the '80s are still living there today.

Uptown isn't for everyone, but it's most definitely still a neighborhood.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by Angorlee

i lived in uptown(mpls) in the 1980s when uptown was at the tale end of the real neighberhood that it used to be. Everyone knew everyone else by site if not personally. Now uptown is just a stopping place for people on their way to somewhere else in the city. I say it doesn't fit in the category of a neighborhood anymore.

I'm curious--what was Uptown like pre-60s?

[uptown_urbanist]

A pretty bustling place, at least 1920s onward - theaters, a huge ice rink (with dancing in the summer), industry, lots of commercial activity in the commercial core, and houses filled with families. It wasn't "trendy" in the same way that it is today, but even then it was a popular regional destination. The Rainbow Cafe, for example, brought in people (via streetcar and car) from around the Twin Cities. It was during the '60s and '70s that Uptown had - depending on your point of view - rough period or glory days, and then things started gentrifying in the early '80s with the building of Calhoun Square (and maybe just general changes that may have happened anyway).

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

A pretty bustling place, at least 1920s onward - theaters, a huge ice rink (with dancing in the summer), industry, lots of commercial activity in the commercial core, and houses filled with families. It wasn't "trendy" in the same way that it is today, but even then it was a popular regional destination. The Rainbow Cafe, for example, brought in people (via streetcar and car) from around the Twin Cities. It was during the '60s and '70s that Uptown had - depending on your point of view - rough period or glory days, and then things started gentrifying in the early '80s with the building of Calhoun Square (and maybe just general changes that may have happened anyway).

Interesting. I figured it was always a bustling commercial area, but wondered what kind of people lived there.