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I can see this going around in circles. Best is subjective. People here automatically gravitated towards " vibrant ". While I agree it is an important component, who likes a dead downtown?... but it isn't everything.
For myself ( lol I know you all can see where I'm going with this ) I like a certain amount of vibrancy, but I also like the access to quiet natural spaces ( Stanley Park ), being able to live downtown and step within minutes on a sandy beach with amazing inspiring ever changing views of ocean and mountains.
I can walk to everything, great restaurants, theatre, cinema's parks, friends places, bars, night clubs on top of all that I listed above. To me, that makes a great downtown.
I can appreciate that this is what you and many other people like, but this isn't generally what makes a great downtown. Most of the world's greatest downtowns (as per consensus) don't have these characteristics. And they don't need them to be "the greatest".
I don't envison downtown Calgary to be like that at all. Though I haven't been, on streetview it looks like a very 9-5'sh downtown to me, like a US Sunbelt downtown. Not surprising given how and when it developed. I'm sure there are probably festivals and such to make up for it,.
I'd say Calgary's downtown is still quite a bit livelier than the downtown of your average US Sunbelt city. It's not bad at all really.
I can appreciate that this is what you and many other people like, but this isn't generally what makes a great downtown. Most of the world's greatest downtowns (as per consensus) don't have these characteristics. And they don't need them to be "the greatest".
We aren't talking about the greatest downtowns in the world. This is between Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
These downtowns are nice and have a lot going for them. They're not as good as Euro cities' downtowns or some Asian cities' downtowns. They're just slightly better than American Cities' downtowns.
What is best though.. Is it best French Canadian cuisine? Is it biggest and tallest? Is it best in terms of what is closest to Nature? Each of these DT cores offer their own 'best' depending on what we are talking about and what turns someone on. Other than sentiment or bias, i'm not sure how one could vote based on the question.. I personally haven't been to Calgary so would abstain from commenting on that city. I think I could reasonably infer that it probably has the most tame DT of the bunch but I also know after Toronto, the Calgary CBD is the largest in Canada. So I guess if skylines and large office towers make for a best DT Calgary would be up there. The others I have been to and I could vote for each of them as best depending on what the details of best are...
These downtowns are nice and have a lot going for them. They're not as good as Euro cities' downtowns or some Asian cities' downtowns. They're just slightly better than American Cities' downtowns.
Well it depends on what you mean by 'not as good'
When speaking of a Euro DT you may have to define what that is. Typically, larger Euro cities like Paris and Madrid for example have a CBD that is away from the traditional older part of the city where everyone including tourists like to go. Now if you say Euro cities pound for pound have greater vibrancy than sure. If you are talking about Skyline than no - Euro skylines or tall buildings in the DT or CBD areas are not that impressive on the whole.
Canadian DT's vs American one's typically have more residential buildings in the core. You'll typically find a lot more condo's in closer proximity to the CBD in CAD DT's than in the U.S. When I visited Chicago a few years back, I stayed in the loop for the first two days and I was shocked how dead it became at night and how far one would have to go to get some human action. Toronto by comparison has its large CBD (though smaller than Chicago's), but you still have a lot more condo's and residential zones closely packed around and in some cases even within the CBD..
Fortunately I had a friend in Chicago who rescued me from the Loop and took me around the more interesting nabe's in Chicago and its a great city and loads of fun.
These downtowns are nice and have a lot going for them. They're not as good as Euro cities' downtowns or some Asian cities' downtowns. They're just slightly better than American Cities' downtowns.
Exluding Toronto and Montreal, what makes Canadian downtowns more livelier/vibrant than American downtowns?
What is best though.. Is it best French Canadian cuisine? Is it biggest and tallest? Is it best in terms of what is closest to Nature? Each of these DT cores offer their own 'best' depending on what we are talking about and what turns someone on. Other than sentiment or bias, i'm not sure how one could vote based on the question.. I personally haven't been to Calgary so would abstain from commenting on that city. I think I could reasonably infer that it probably has the most tame DT of the bunch but I also know after Toronto, the Calgary CBD is the largest in Canada. So I guess if skylines and large office towers make for a best DT Calgary would be up there. The others I have been to and I could vote for each of them as best depending on what the details of best are...
If I may say so, this is Canadian relativism at its finest! All girls are equally pretty, and all downtowns are equally great.
So someone who likes to have access to free parking will think that Houston's downtown is better than Manhattan, and he'll be right?
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