Rate the Urban Experience: New York versus Paris versus Madrid (appointed, 2013)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is kind of sad seeing Paris the way it is right now. NYC can be excused for the state it's in because it being dirty and somewhat disgusting is an immutable aspect of its urban furniture. Not the same for a European city with the architectural heritage of Paris.
Last edited by Hightower72; 04-14-2016 at 12:18 AM..
It is kind of sad seeing Paris the way it is right now. NYC can be excused for the state it's in because it being dirty and somewhat disgusting is an immutable aspect of its urban furniture. Not the same for a European city with the architectural heritage of Paris.
I'd always heard it's dirty, but visiting I couldn't believe it. The architecture and the buildings and the attractions and the shopping are beautiful. But the streets and sidewalks and metro smell like public restrooms almost as much as San Francisco. It definitely detracts from the allure of the city for me. It's still beautiful, but for the "urban experience," holding your breath while waiting for an old and dirty metro is underwhelming. For being "Paris" I expected the metro cars to be beautiful and new. Madrid's were the cleanest I ever rode.
I'd always heard it's dirty, but visiting I couldn't believe it. The architecture and the buildings and the attractions and the shopping are beautiful. But the streets and sidewalks and metro smell like public restrooms almost as much as San Francisco. It definitely detracts from the allure of the city for me. It's still beautiful, but for the "urban experience," holding your breath while waiting for an old and dirty metro is underwhelming.
From a distance at least, it does actually look pretty good.
(I'm assuming looking at a city from afar counts as part of the 'urban experience').
- Walkability: either Paris or Madrid, NYC is too big (even Manhattan) to be walked. It is also a more aggressive city to walk, with not a lot of pedestrian areas.
- Accessible amenities: probably NYC
- Availability of public transportation: here Madrid wins hands-off. Best metro system of the 3 by far, in terms of lines, stops, cleanliness, and almost any parameter you can think of.
- Build-up of infrastructure (roads, railways, water transportation, taxi, uber/lyft, bike lanes, pedestrian walkways, so on)
I would say Paris overall.
- Comprehensive planning
dunno
- City parks and greenbelts integrated into the urban experience
Madrid
- Easy integration of residential, office, and entertainment establishments into the urban fabric
either Madrid or Paris
From my experience, Paris is (by far) the dirtiest of the lot. Less dog poop nowadays, sure, however the ominipresent Romas and other homeless who **** and **** everywhere largely make up for that; Paris smell of urine, even NYC doesn't smell that bad.
From my experience, Paris is (by far) the dirtiest of the lot. Less dog poop nowadays, sure, however the ominipresent Romas and other homeless who **** and **** everywhere largely make up for that; Paris smell of urine, even NYC doesn't smell that bad.
Big cities are dirty. There is no such thing as a big, busy, Western city that isn't somewhat dirty.
If you don't like dirt, then you aren't going to like big cities.
Big cities are dirty. There is no such thing as a big, busy, Western city that isn't somewhat dirty.
If you don't like dirt, then you aren't going to like big cities.
The ideology of eternal progress seems to abdicate in front of the trash
Is there a fatality for wetern cities looking and feeling more and more like third world dumps ?
I'm not pretending that, where did I write it ? but as civilization progresses, shouldn't we strive to live in cleaner, less polluted cities ? the case of Singapore for instance , proves it's possible! what's the point of human progress if one has to accept the same grit (or a different one, with plastic and diesel fumes) that our ancestors did ?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Singapore is clean
