Why don't N. American cities & towns try to emulate W. European cities & towns more? (rent, promotional)

[Tim Randal Walker]

Originally Posted by Tim Randal Walker

And in the USA there is no real tradition of city living, no real culture of city living, and no real tradition of city building.

Most of the cities that exist were thrown together in a big rush, not grown organically over centuries.

Think of them as crude improvisions that were slapped together. And that is what you have to work with if you want to promote city living.

As has been commented on other threads, Seattle is rapidly throwing up buildings. The place is visibly changing, quickly.

It has been pointed out that these buildings (away from downtown) resemble shipping containers.

Seattle-the shipping container city!.


I'm trying to see the humor in this, because that is the best you can expect from U.S. cities. Certainly not beauty or charm.

[improb]

Originally Posted by Ariete

The Germans would probably be thrilled to move one of Europe's most well-known landmarks to an US themepark too.

But the US and UK have already destroyed the city once, so...

Who needs Cologne when you have Leverkusen

Originally Posted by Tim Randal Walker

As has been commented on other threads, Seattle is rapidly throwing up buildings. The place is visibly changing, quickly.

It has been pointed out that these buildings (away from downtown) resemble shipping containers.

Seattle-the shipping container city!.


I'm trying to see the humor in this, because that is the best you can expect from U.S. cities. Certainly not beauty or charm.

Still a step ahead. Care to share a couple of pics of these newly built neighbourhoods. I just want to see how they are like and if they can be compared in some way to more recent architecture on the outskirts of European cities

[Hobo7396]

Walking is overrated. I walked enough in Germany to wish I had a car.

[censusdata]

The USA built fine cities until WW2. Everything before that was uniquely American AND walkable/ compact. What changed was govt decided it was good policy to spread people out over fears of mass casualties during a nuclear attack. Govt stopped subsidizing transit and instead built urban freeways. Zoning banned alleys and separated businesses and residential.


We're already seeing a change in mentality. Across America urban neighborhoods and downtowns are again becoming vibrant and bringing back things that were taken away after WW2: street cars, mixed use buildings, removing urban freeways, etc. I think America in 100 years will look a lot like America 100 years ago.

[moionfire]

Originally Posted by Hobo7396

Walking is overrated. I walked enough in Germany to wish I had a car.

Walking isn't overrated. It is great for health. And Germans love their cars and have their own car culture.

[moionfire]

Originally Posted by censusdata

The USA built fine cities until WW2. Everything before that was uniquely American AND walkable/ compact. What changed was govt decided it was good policy to spread people out over fears of mass casualties during a nuclear attack. Govt stopped subsidizing transit and instead built urban freeways. Zoning banned alleys and separated businesses and residential.


We're already seeing a change in mentality. Across America urban neighborhoods and downtowns are again becoming vibrant and bringing back things that were taken away after WW2: street cars, mixed use buildings, removing urban freeways, etc. I think America in 100 years will look a lot like America 100 years ago.

I agree, but it wasn't just a fear of mass casualties. A lot of the subsidizing of suburbs was to segregate-- hence the increase in restrict covenants. Although suburbs don't have to be unwalkable.

[Ottawa2011]

Infill and urban core intensification is the new trend in N America. Lots of condo towers going up, etc.

In Canada, urban cores tend to be fairly dense (relative to the U.S.). Western Canadian cities typically sprawl more than those in Central Canada. Central Canadians don't all live in detached houses in the suburbs either... townhouse developments are quite common.

East Coast cities and towns essentially mirror European cities because they were built in an era when colonial governments were simply duplicating the same town-building methods that were used in the Britain and France.

Cities in N America aren't uniform... far from it. There's a lot of regional variation.

[Italian (x)lurker]

I live in a suburb of 3k where, in the radius of 500 metres we have:
2 banks
4 bars
1 elementary school
1 junior school
1 daycare
3 churches
1 photographic studio
1 pharmacy
2 pizzerie
2 taverns
3 ambulatories
2 grocery stores
3 newsagents
1 pet shop
2 bakers
2 greengrocers
etc

I like to drive but I wouldn't like being forced to drive like it is in a typical American suburb

cheap oil, growin economy, a massive space to develop and an individualistic spirit have driven Americans into living in the suburbia by leaving city centers
but that kind of suburb are a huge waste of money and time if one think deeply
and I also feel alienated if I wouln't know my neighbours...

[Acajack]

[quote=Italian (x)lurker;43112301]
cheap oil, growin economy, a massive space to develop and an individualistic spirit have driven Americans into living in the suburbia by leaving city centers
but that kind of suburb are a huge waste of money and time if one think deeply
and I also feel alienated if I wouln't know my neighbours...[/quote]

I find it funny how people always say that American suburbanites don't know their neighbours.


I know part of that myth comes from a certain fringe of Americans who are pro-city and anti-suburb, but it generally isn't true at all.


Americans in the suburbs are probably much more likely to know and socialize with their neighbours than city residents in the U.S. are.


Populations in the inner city (especially in apartments) in American cities tend to be much more transient than in Europe where you often have Madame Dupont who's lived on the 3rd floor for 40 years, and several generations of the Moreau family have lived on the 2nd.


With few exceptions, you don't often have that in the U.S.


The stable, long-term residence patterns are more in the suburbs there.


So while there are not often nearby opportunities to socialize outside the home like a ground-floor café, the suburbs are still generally more "social" than the inner city which tends to be more impersonal and anonymous.


There are many, many problems associated with American suburbs. But this is not one of them.

[Ariete]

I socialise with only one of my neighbours. The other one I used to moved away (and he was Ethiopian, so not even Finnish). We don't know our neighbours usually in apartment blocks, not in our culture.