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GDP has its place, but I don't see how it necessarily relates to a "big city" feel. For instance, Charlotte has a larger GDP than some of its peer cities but feels smaller and less dense than them.
I see what you're saying. IMO, alot of these areas that tend to be more dense and urban have a large tourism industry. Which is all nice and all but tourism does little for economic enhancement. I don't know if there is a true measure for highrises and dense development. The current sprawl metric (acres of developed land) doesn't really explain smarter urban dense development. Perhaps that is the best measure for urbanity. UA is just another population measure, which IMO is also misleading.
From what I've seen on Streetview; Atlanta appears to have a more urban look than all of them [as far as the core]. Personally; I feel the urbanism is overrated in Miami. It's mostly just dense.
I agree with this. My family owns a home down there, and while South Beach and Brikell are more urban and walkable that is it. The rest of Miami is very dense suburban feeling like what you find in North Dallas. The consistency of its dense (sub) urban development makes it feel pretty big.
The thing with Atlanta is it does seem very urban from the five points area of downtown up the Peachtree spine to the Brookwood neighborhood. You can't get too far off Peachtree st though before the urbanity falls off quite a bit.
I don't know, of all of them, Miami seems to be(I know someone already said this) consistently urban. The other 3 cities can get somewhat rural and wooded within there core's.
I see what you're saying. IMO, alot of these areas that tend to be more dense and urban have a large tourism industry. Which is all nice and all but tourism does little for economic enhancement.
I'm a bit perplexed as to where you're coming from here. As far as the mention of Charlotte is concerned, I was talking about peer cities like Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati that have smaller GDPs but are more urban and dense. Those cities aren't tourist hotspots. I just don't see how GDP necessarily correlates to a "big city feel."
I'm a bit perplexed as to where you're coming from here. As far as the mention of Charlotte is concerned, I was talking about peer cities like Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati that have smaller GDPs but are more urban and dense. Those cities aren't tourist hotspots. I just don't see how GDP necessarily correlates to a "big city feel."
I was thinking with cities like New Orleans, Las Vegas, among others. Very touristy but smaller scale GDP development. I was simply saying something in a general sense. IMO, GDP correlates to a big city feel in that big cities are an economic engine. One of the best measures of economic prowess of a city/state/nation is the size of the economy. I've also noticed that many touristy friendly areas tend to be more "urban." And so I think GDP is also a good measure.
My other mention was an attempt to come up with a measure for urbanity. I think urban area is just another way to measure MSA figures but with an emphasis on residential density and not necessarily business/residential development. That's where my comment about the built environment came in, since essentially I think that is really what everyone is referring to. The current definition of sprawl, as far as I know, only refers to the amount built land previousl built on undeveloped land. When I look at this definition this built land could refer to anything and doesn't exactly tell of the urbanity of an area.
I think the best measure would be some kind of index of GDP/MSA/UA/built environment; sort of lie effeciency in the NBA.LOL.
I was thinking with cities like New Orleans, Las Vegas, among others. Very touristy but smaller scale GDP development. I was simply saying something in a general sense.
Well those would be in the minority. Charlotte's peers that feel bigger and more urban tend to be traditional urban centers and not tourist hotspots. Plus NOLA and Las Vegas are two very different types of tourist-oriented cities.
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IMO, GDP correlates to a big city feel in that big cities are an economic engine. One of the best measures of economic prowess of a city/state/nation is the size of the economy. I've also noticed that many touristy friendly areas tend to be more "urban." And so I think GDP is also a good measure.
I'm not trying to be difficult or anything, but you've said that tourist-friendly places tend to be more urban but that such places have smaller GDPs and you equate higher GDPs to a city having more of a "big city feel." So I'm not seeing how it all ties in for you.
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My other mention was an attempt to come up with a measure for urbanity. I think urban area is just another way to measure MSA figures but with an emphasis on residential density and not necessarily business/residential development. That's where my comment about the built environment came in, since essentially I think that is really what everyone is referring to. The current definition of sprawl, as far as I know, only refers to the amount built land previousl built on undeveloped land. When I look at this definition this built land could refer to anything and doesn't exactly tell of the urbanity of an area.
I think the best measure would be some kind of index of GDP/MSA/UA/built environment; sort of lie effeciency in the NBA.LOL.
For the purposes of this thread, it's not really about any sort of objective measure since it's all subjective by nature; it's about how big a city feels.
^I'm not equating higher GDP to bigger city feel. However, I do equate that if a city does have a big city feel, it does have the GDP to match. How it ties in to me is that a big city has urbanity, big GDP, touristy, and is a great place for business/pleasure. While I know people like to go on how a place feels, I like to use objective measures to back up my answers to the best of my ability.
^I'm not equating higher GDP to bigger city feel. However, I do equate that if a city does have a big city feel, it does have the GDP to match. How it ties in to me is that a big city has urbanity, big GDP, touristy, and is a great place for business/pleasure.
In this case, the "Big Four" of the South have less urbanity than their Northern/Midwestern counterparts and the top two in GDP aren't very touristy nor are they known as great places for pleasure. That's why I don't really see the correlations you're making.
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While I know people like to go on how a place feels, I like to use objective measures to back up my answers to the best of my ability.
In this case though, I don't think there's a formula that could work. "Feeling" is just subjective and can be based on many things. For example, more urban cities in particular might not have the status they used to have nationally but still feel relatively large because much of their urban fabric might still be intact.
I'm guessing you have never been to Houston if you think the high rises are spread out over 600 square miles. Anyone that has ever lived or visited Houston knows that all the high rises are concentrated in Downtown, Texas Medical Center, Uptown, and Greenway Plaza. All those districts are separated by a few miles.
lol, it is so funny that people would think that the buildings were spread out instead of clusters. how silly can some people be?
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Originally Posted by MikeandIke27
I dont understand why Houston doesnt have a comparable Rail system being large as it is.
The people here are not crying for it. Have you given a thought to some people not caring at all. not everyone drives into town, some people work where they live and would not use mass transit if you paid them. I have never seen people wet their panties over being driven like they do on CD
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Originally Posted by kdogg817
Your suppose to pick which one has the worst. And its clearly Houston that has the worst.
ah shush, you are from FW, you should not be talking.
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Originally Posted by Infamous Past
You live in a hick country town called Fort Worth which will never see the day of even having a mass transit system. Go and live in your irrelevant hick town and stop meddling in things out of your city's league
lol, my sentiments exactly.
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Originally Posted by Infamous Past
Ok and all of that makes you feel like you can start trashing other obviously more superior cities?
LOL D and FW use each other to look better but are always trashing each other. It is kinda funny.
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Originally Posted by jluke65780
Personally; I feel the urbanism is overrated in Miami. It's mostly just dense.
I think so too. when people are always gushing over Miami's urbanity and comparing it to the NE, I am always wondering if they are talking about the smae Miami I know
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Originally Posted by Spade
Actually, Kdogg is kind of correct here. The 6.1 figure is not official yet. It also did not come from census. Right now, Houston stands at just over 5.9 million and DFW stands at 6.8. This is of course the CSA population.
I doubt Kdogg meant to use CSA figures. we are talking about the 4 metros, Miami doesn't have one.
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Originally Posted by Stars&StripesForever
The reason Houston has an appreciably larger economy is because of two things:
1) Oil industry (with the port of Houston helping in its distribution)
2) NASA
Take those two away, and it's smaller than Atlanta and Dallas, economically.
don't be silly, NASA and Oil account for less than 50% of Houston's economy so remove them and we would still have the larger economy. But why would you take away the biggest industry for one and not the others??
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Originally Posted by Spade
You can't just "take" away industries in a city's economy anyway to try to make it on even parallel with other cities. These cities have these industries for a reason.
I know right. some people are just so silly.
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