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I think Boston feels like its larger than DC, eventhough DC's built envoirment on a DT level extends further out, Boston feels larger for 4 reasons
1) the Narrower streets coupled with the Taller buildings make it seem more clausterphobic
2) with the Lack of grid you never see past Downtown into the outer areas or into a break of Development (park river ect.
3) with the lack of grid you never walk in a straight line through the City (the shortest path)
4) its more Vibrant, during most of the day.
From pics I've seen, downtown Boston looks like lower Manhattan.
Just so you get an idea of the shear size of the areas I am talking about and help you understand what I mean. And yes these areas will all be "connected." Obviously not the ones in the Northwest, but these areas will be
The blue is areas where dense highrise/midrise development already exists or where they are currently being developed or planned. Center City obviously in the middle with several highrises and a skyscraper already being built as well as several more planned not to mention the hundreds of skyscrapers/highrises already built. Not to mention the plans for redevelopment of the Loft District, Market East and Franklin Square with highrises. The plan for redevelopment of a 7 mile stretch of the Delaware Waterfront which will be phased and government aid is already being acquired to spur development. When completely finished this area will include highrises and midrises all down the riverfront. Highrise/midrsie redevelopment plans already occurring or planned in Callowhill and Northern Liberties in North Philadelphia as well as Franklintown and the Museum District (a lot of Highrises already here as well). There are also plans for the complete redevelopment of the North Broad Corridor with highrise and midrise development as well as Temple University's master plan which includes dense high rise and midrise development. A 312 footer is currently under construction and another 300 footer, a possible 500 footer, and a 241 footer is planned not to mention the several 200 footers and mid rises already built. (Hopefully one day the Lower Yorktown/Spring Arts neighborhoods will be redeveloped as well). Let's not forget about University City which is already dense and each have several highrises including the 437 foot Cira Center. There are two more Cira siblings on the way one rising 600 ft. Drexel and UPenn also have plans for plenty of highrise/midrise/skyscraper development and CHOP as well.
Now for the yellow. These are where dense midrise/lowrise development is planned much like DC. Most will be Business Districts or Entertainment Districts. A redevelopment of the entire Sports Complex with entertainment and retail complexes and hotels and residential (may see a few highrises here). The redevelopment of the Navy Yard which will include a suburban style business park and residential and possibly hotels and the redevelopment of the rest of lower south (mainly the old industrial sites) that will include midrise/lowrise development for commercial, retail and industrial use.
If you would like the links to all of these master plans and all of the construction redevelopment going on in the city of Philly then I will be happy to post them. Philadelphia is on a-whole-nother level than DC. While DC's midrises are continuous, it is hardly impressive. Any large city could do the same with height restrictions. I don't think there is one building over 12 stories in DC. What is that a height of 130' max?
And yes I went through all of this trouble just to prove how wrong you truly are.
Don't comment unless you know what you are talking about.
This is a very serious question. What are they doing about Newbold which is the enormous un-highlighted part in this picture creating the huge hole between center city and the new development taking place near the stadiums? Are they just going to completely forget about that area? You do realize that these area's will never be one area because of Newbold right?
This conversation reminds me of the way people act in relation to "that side of the family" which people try to pretend doesn't exist when attending family events because they embarrass you all the time. Will the real Philadelphia please stand up? Does anybody on this site from Philadelphia actually not live in center city?
I don't live in Center City... I live in North Philadelphia... and no before you ask, I do not live in or near a bad area.
This is a very serious question. What are they doing about Newbold which is the enormous un-highlighted part in this picture creating the huge hole between center city and the new development taking place near the stadiums? Are they just going to completely forget about that area? You do realize that these area's will never be one area because of Newbold right?
First... that area is not just Newbold. Newbold is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia. South Philadelphia has plenty of neighborhoods.
South Philadelphia is almost jam packed with rowhomes/ lowrise and midrise development... so what do you mean what are they going to do about it? The only blighted area in South Philly that needs development love is Point Breeze, which has plenty of projects currently under construction.
Also, why would I mention construction projects throughout the entire city and throughout the metro for that fact when this is a DOWNTOWN battle....
Here is a link with a list of every neighborhood in Philly... scroll down to South philly and look at all the neighborhoods that make up south philadelphia. The entire un-highlighted area is South Philly, not just Newbold.
From pics I've seen, downtown Boston looks like lower Manhattan.
It definatly resembles it because they date from the same period (1627 for Lower Manhatten and 1630 for DT Boston), which is ~70 years older than Philly which is why CC looks differnt both architecturally and layout wise, athough they are connected because all the buildings (lowrises) in CC Philly have flat faces while DT Boston is distictive because most buildings have irregualar shapes (due to roads)
First... that area is not just Newbold. Newbold is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia. South Philadelphia has plenty of neighborhoods.
South Philadelphia is almost jam packed with rowhomes... so what do you mean what are they going to do about it? The only blighted are in South Philly that needs development love is Point Breeze, which has plenty of projects currently under construction.
Also, why would I mention construction projects throughout the entire city and throughout the metro for that fact when this is a DOWNTOWN battle....
We were talking about downtown boundary expansion's. I was talking about how downtown D.C. is swallowing the entire city and the sheer size is getting out of control. You were telling me about development projects going on in Philadelphia that are going to make center city bigger trying to dispute the claim we made that center city while dense covers a very tiny area. The expansion you showed is not an expansion because the area's are on different sides of the city. It's not the same cohesion as downtown D.C. where downtown can go on for miles in every direction because of the build of the city. You can't redevelop rowhouses into highrises. That is why I said center city is tiny and will remain tiny.
We were talking about downtown boundary expansion's. I was talking about how downtown D.C. is swallowing the entire city and the sheer size is getting out of control. You were telling me about development projects going on in Philadelphia that are going to make center city bigger trying to dispute the claim we made that center city while dense covers a very tiny area. The expansion you showed is not an expansion because the area's are on different sides of the city. It's not the same cohesion as downtown D.C. where downtown can go on for miles in every direction because of the build of the city. You can't redevelop rowhouses into highrises. That is why I said center city is tiny and will remain tiny.
1... it is not tiny by any stretch of the imagination. 2 when all the areas I colored in are filled with dense highrise and midrise development, it will certainly all have a running connected downtown feel much like the mag mile for Chicago. Make sense?
And I never discredited the size of D.C.'s density.
See the long stretch of the mag mile... it's not very wide, but it is very dense.
Philadelphia may one day look like that alone the delaware river. The rest of the yellow will probably be dense midrises like D.C. and maybe a few highrises certainly around the Sports Complex where an entertainment district is to be built.
Here is the plans for the beginning of a dense riverfront
Get what I was trying to say? One day there will be a dense entertainment district and two dense waterfronts to connects the density to Center City. So yes maybe one day the boundaries of Center City will change... either way the density and perception of "downtown" will change.
It's obvious that DC has a bigger, busier downtown. No point in beating a dead horse....kiddo. you've been coming up with every excuse in the book and got shut down every time. The only cop-out left is "it's not the same."
Huh? You mentioned a part of dc that wasn't downtown...and even said yourself "I didn't go downtown" when talking about Dc... Have you confused yourself with your own post? Lmao all I said was "This thread is about DT's" so naming parts of town that are not downtown...is well not what the thread is about, take your time reading...sound out the words ok? Beating a dead horse? Tell your two DC compadres that. They could use a drink and a hug at this point.
Those homes will never be knocked down, at least not in my life time. That is Point Breeze... it is an area that is being gentrified and is seeing a lot of development. This is the scene on many streets in Point Breeze.
Right and he knows Philly doesn't have DC's nightlife on any level. Last call is at 1:30 in Philly. That's ridiculous. LOL I have met too many people coming from Philly to party in DC. They Know what's up.
Dude. Your attitude about DC's night scene is so warped that it defies logic. You act like it's world class for some reason, but it's not even close. You've talked about how weak Philly and Boston are for having 1:30 as their last call, but DC's last call is also 1:30 for 5 nights a week. It's 2:30 two nights a week. That's hardly a major difference.
What's funny is you talk about how Philadelphians go to DC to party...why in the world would people drive 137 miles so they could stay out for one additional hour when they could drive 90 miles and be in New York City? It's a larger city that is infinitely more diverse, probably has 20-30 times as many clubs/bars/etc., and stays open forever. Why in the world are people driving that extra hour to get to DC instead of NYC?
I'm not even trying to disrespect DC's scene either. I've had a blast whenever I've gone to DC/Alexandria in the past. However it's not the destination you're describing it as.
Last edited by tmac9wr; 03-08-2012 at 07:36 PM..
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You mentioned a part of dc that wasn't downtown...and even said yourself "I didn't go downtown" when talking about Dc... Have you confused yourself with your own post? Lmao all I said was "This thread is about DT's" so naming parts of town that are not downtown...is well not what the thread is about, take your time reading...sound out the words ok? Beating a dead horse? Tell your two DC compadres that. They could use a drink and a hug at this point.
