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Of the cities I have physically spent more than a day in:
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. Boston
4. Washington D.C.
5. Philadelphia
6. SE Florida (PB-Miami)
7. Atlanta
8. Dallas
9. St. Louis
10. Tampa? Really can't tell...
Disclaimer: Driving through cities only, SoFla seems so much larger than any of those cities except for NYC and Chicago (and perhaps competes with Chicago). This is because you spend an hour driving 10 lanes of 95 with nothing but dense apartments, mid-rise office buildings, and a string of ocean front high-rises in view. It fluffs up the size appearance dramatically. Just driving through Atlanta can make it seem quite large, too. My list is from the perspective of walking/driving around the core areas and taking transit and noticing the other people in the city.
I'm a relative newcomer to this city - but I just want to throw in that I think Seattle is a clear top 10 "big city" feel city in the country, and I think it has been under-represented in this thread. It has a large urban core, including a downtown with multiple distinct districts, several vibrant inner neighborhoods, and a number of vibrant "nodes" in the outer areas. Yes, it does feel somewhat disjointed in sections and there are a lot of areas within city limits that are single-family, but overall the urban districts make up a large mass, and the "urban village" policy has clearly paid off. You can find several vibrant, bustling neighborhoods 5 or 6 miles from downtown. Also, the restaurant and bar scenes are blowing up and there are tons of big city amenities - note that within the last year Seattle had the #1 bar in GQs "best cocktails lounges" issue and the #3 best new restaurant in the country, according to Bon Appetit.
Clearly, Seattle has a ways to go before it reaches the level of top 5 cities like Philly, San Francisco, or Boston. However, the "big city" feel is growing incredibly fast. Unlike many other cities where you hear about "growth" - like Phoenix, for example - Seattle is growing vertically and in a "big city" way, not via sprawl. It's an exciting place to visit and witness the transformation. New urban districts are popping up, and already-dense inner neighrborhoods are suddenly becoming much more vibrant. It's the kind of transformation you could never witness in places like Boston or SF because they are already so saturated.
On my list, I'd put it at #8/9, tied with Miami and ahead of Atlanta.
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Philly
5. Boston
6. LA
7. DC
8/9. Seattle/Miami (Tied)
10. Atlanta
I'm a relative newcomer to this city - but I just want to throw in that I think Seattle is a clear top 10 "big city" feel city in the country, and I think it has been under-represented in this thread. It has a large urban core, including a downtown with multiple distinct districts, several vibrant inner neighborhoods, and a number of vibrant "nodes" in the outer areas. Yes, it does feel somewhat disjointed in sections and there are a lot of areas within city limits that are single-family, but overall the urban districts make up a large mass, and the "urban village" policy has clearly paid off. You can find several vibrant, bustling neighborhoods 5 or 6 miles from downtown. Also, the restaurant and bar scenes are blowing up and there are tons of big city amenities - note that within the last year Seattle had the #1 bar in GQs "best cocktails lounges" issue and the #3 best new restaurant in the country, according to Bon Appetit.
Clearly, Seattle has a ways to go before it reaches the level of top 5 cities like Philly, San Francisco, or Boston. However, the "big city" feel is growing incredibly fast. Unlike many other cities where you hear about "growth" - like Phoenix, for example - Seattle is growing vertically and in a "big city" way, not via sprawl. It's an exciting place to visit and witness the transformation. New urban districts are popping up, and already-dense inner neighrborhoods are suddenly becoming much more vibrant. It's the kind of transformation you could never witness in places like Boston or SF because they are already so saturated.
On my list, I'd put it at #8/9, tied with Miami and ahead of Atlanta.
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Philly
5. Boston
6. LA
7. DC
8/9. Seattle/Miami (Tied)
10. Atlanta
You forgot to mention that it has higher pedestrian traffic than most cities in its downtown and also pretty good night life with activity well in to the wee hours.
One thing I have always found amazing of Los Angeles is the insane amount of commercial development throughout the city
For the most part most cities I've been have between 2 to 3 mayor commercial corridors, but LA's has dozen upon dozens of mayor commercial axis, sometimes I wonder how can the city keep up sooo many businesses open on its streets!
just amazing.
I always felt that LA like Atlanta had a very suburban feel compared with NYC, SF, Chicago, and Philly. I know there are large commercial areas but it seems like giant versions of commercial areas you find in the suburbs to me. As far as the metro goes it does feel huge def 2nd to NY in that regard.
Of the cities I have physically spent more than a day in:
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. Boston
4. Washington D.C.
5. Philadelphia
6. SE Florida (PB-Miami)
7. Atlanta
8. Dallas
9. St. Louis
10. Tampa? Really can't tell...
Disclaimer: Driving through cities only, SoFla seems so much larger than any of those cities except for NYC and Chicago (and perhaps competes with Chicago). This is because you spend an hour driving 10 lanes of 95 with nothing but dense apartments, mid-rise office buildings, and a string of ocean front high-rises in view. It fluffs up the size appearance dramatically. Just driving through Atlanta can make it seem quite large, too. My list is from the perspective of walking/driving around the core areas and taking transit and noticing the other people in the city.
The thing about the Miami/Ft.Lauderdale/West Palm Beach area is that it is a large area north to south, but east to west, it is rather small. It's around ninety miles long north to south, but only about fifteen east to west, and that's at its widest point. Some areas are only five to ten miles east to west, particularly up towards West Palm Beach and Jupiter.
Atlanta is a large area. It's roughly seventy miles across in all directions. North to south, east to west.
I think Detroit has really been underestimated on this thread
Dont think it is underestimated, just not talked about as much. It is more forgotten than underestimated. If I had to revise my list this is how it would go:
Quote:
Originally Posted by HtownLove
My list:
1. NY- Because it is the big City, it just feels huge
2. LA- Big Metro with nice density over a large area
3. Chicago- feels huge but LA's metro outpaces it
4. Philadelphia- density from the center radiating out makes it leader of this group
5. Boston- smaller scale to Philly
6. DC- Huge but not as strong in the core as philly
7. SF- very active core and lots sustained density but natural elements hinder the spread on the Metro level.
Detroit
8. Houston- Largest core in the sunbelt. Maintaines density longest
Miami
9. ATL- Second largest Core / density radiating from center and maintained instead of breaking up.
10. DFW - Checkerboad density interrupts feel in my opinion. DFW does NOT have the uniform connections of the Bay
Seattle
The ones I forgot are in red.
I could also fit in Cleveland, Baltimore and ST Louis in there on a city level cause they are all cities that feel bigger than they really are, but seem smaller by Metro.
Usually, I'll go with what the statistics say. But here's how I feel it should go based on real world feel. Perhaps extra points for cities where specific density/vibe/height/scale stand out.
1)NYC (has everything)
2)Chicago (height and big scale)
3)LA (big scale)
4)SF (vibe and density)
5)Philly (density)
6)Boston (density)
7)DC (vibe)
8/9/10) Three big southern cities
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