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.
Downtown Houston mixes different things for me. The narrow-minded, less adventurous Anal Urban types swear by their favored density come hell or high water. I mean, I like density too...but not at the expense of denigrating other types of alternative urban or quasi-urban or neo-urban arrangements and textures which I certainly enjoy as well.
Downtown Los Angeles is a classic downtown that works in a Sun Belt format...but I think it lacks in varied public spaces (compared to Houston), though I once enjoyed some Latino concerts in Pershing Square one fine Sunday in L.A. There is the run-down but visually striking Broadway...then the very polished by quite sterile Grand Ave with surprisingly many skinny sidewalks, odd for a downtown. Those extremes of downtown L.A. kind of strike me in a way.
I actually like Chinatown L.A. better than Chinatown S.F. or N.Y. I just like that unique texture of L.A's version. I like the overall urban texture of downtown L.A. (and the way it heads out down Wilshire). And in this department, L.A. wins. But I haven't been to downtown L.A. since 2004 so I don't know what's going on Broadway, if they ever renovated it the way Main St. in Houston was.
Downtown Atlanta is cool, Atlanta is a freakin' lovely place, but it feels touristy compared to the more versatile and sophisticated downtown Houston. I do enjoy trips to the Coca-Cola Museum (love those South American sodas to multi-sample) and the Underground...but it just lacks the powerful architectural grandeur of Houston.
Ultimately, downtown Houston wins it all for me because it is a fascinating and pleasing mix of ultra-futuristic urban AND pastoral nature at the same time. And Houston's moved ahead of the class in terms of new public spaces, compared to the other two. Plus, the sophisticated vibe of the Theater District seals the deal. I didn't notice that overall type of district in L.A. or Atlanta. The Theater District is GRAND (2nd largest concentration of performing arts seats behind N.Y.) considering H-town's Sun Belt context. It gives downtown H-town a more sophisticated vibe than the other two.
Of course, downtown Houston is not as crowded. L.A. has substantially more people and is more packed. Atlanta, conversely, doesn't seem to have to have the overloaded commercial chaos of Houston all around. But there is life in downtown. The high-end cultural hub is still there. Anyway, unlike other traditional cities, downtown is just but one type of commercial neighborhood in the sprawling, fascinating fabric that is Houston. Houston and its immediate area have more varieties of substantial commercial texture than the traditional cities and their predictable uniform blocks. Observe how something oddball like Fairview St. is woven into the Montrose area...that is uniquely Houston.
Downtown Houston does indeed have some work to do, improved connectivity (whatever that might truly mean) would help...but I still enjoy the raw urban feel in downtown Houston when I walk from Bayou Place to No-Tsu-Oh to Houston Pavilions for a different Saturday night stroll. So what if it's not crowded like more centralized cities...there are still ample bars/clubs and late eateries with decent foot traffic in downtown Houston. We just have so many options in Houston though. Downtown Houston is just but one among several party clusters here.
Houston has the sharpest looking skyscrapers (of the three), it has awesome sky walks, cool wide sidewalks, incomparable poetic bayou walks...AND LOADED tunnel walks. How can you beat Houston's multi-dimension in that sense? I suppose you want more crowded, vote for L.A. More touristy, vote for Atlanta. Most interesting and mixed? Definitely HOUSTON, well, for me anyway.
Last edited by JMT; 07-13-2012 at 10:24 AM..
Reason: Violation of rules for posting images
Downtown Houston mixes different things for me. The narrow-minded, less adventurous Anal Urban types swear by their favored density come hell or high water. I mean, I like density too...but not at the expense of denigrating other types of alternative urban or quasi-urban or neo-urban arrangements and textures which I certainly enjoy as well.
Downtown Los Angeles is a classic downtown that works in a Sun Belt format...but I think it lacks in varied public spaces (compared to Houston), though I once enjoyed some Latino concerts in Pershing Square one fine Sunday in L.A. There is the run-down but visually striking Broadway...then the very polished by quite sterile Grand Ave with surprisingly many skinny sidewalks, odd for a downtown. Those extremes of downtown L.A. kind of strike me in a way.
I actually like Chinatown L.A. better than Chinatown S.F. or N.Y. I just like that unique texture of L.A's version. I like the overall urban texture of downtown L.A. (and the way it heads out down Wilshire). And in this department, L.A. wins. But I haven't been to downtown L.A. since 2004 so I don't know what's going on Broadway, if they ever renovated it the way Main St. in Houston was.
Downtown Atlanta is cool, Atlanta is a freakin' lovely place, but it feels touristy compared to the more versatile and sophisticated downtown Houston. I do enjoy trips to the Coca-Cola Museum (love those South American sodas to multi-sample) and the Underground...but it just lacks the powerful architectural grandeur of Houston.
Ultimately, downtown Houston wins it all for me because it is a fascinating and pleasing mix of ultra-futuristic urban AND pastoral nature at the same time. And Houston's moved ahead of the class in terms of new public spaces, compared to the other two. Plus, the sophisticated vibe of the Theater District seals the deal. I didn't notice that overall type of district in L.A. or Atlanta. The Theater District is GRAND (2nd largest concentration of performing arts seats behind N.Y.) considering H-town's Sun Belt context. It gives downtown H-town a more sophisticated vibe than the other two.
Of course, downtown Houston is not as crowded. L.A. has substantially more people and is more packed. Atlanta, conversely, doesn't seem to have to have the overloaded commercial chaos of Houston all around. But there is life in downtown. The high-end cultural hub is still there. Anyway, unlike other traditional cities, downtown is just but one type of commercial neighborhood in the sprawling, fascinating fabric that is Houston. Houston and its immediate area have more varieties of substantial commercial texture than the traditional cities and their predictable uniform blocks. Observe how something oddball like Fairview St. is woven into the Montrose area...that is uniquely Houston.
Downtown Houston does indeed have some work to do, improved connectivity (whatever that might truly mean) would help...but I still enjoy the raw urban feel in downtown Houston when I walk from Bayou Place to No-Tsu-Oh to Houston Pavilions for a different Saturday night stroll. So what if it's not crowded like more centralized cities...there are still ample bars/clubs and late eateries with decent foot traffic in downtown Houston. We just have so many options in Houston though. Downtown Houston is just but one among several party clusters here.
Houston has the sharpest looking skyscrapers (of the three), it has awesome sky walks, cool wide sidewalks, incomparable poetic bayou walks...AND LOADED tunnel walks. How can you beat Houston's multi-dimension in that sense? I suppose you want more crowded, vote for L.A. More touristy, vote for Atlanta. Most interesting and mixed? Definitely HOUSTON, well, for me anyway.
Nice post.... Broadway is straight blowing up these days, particularly at the southern end near 9th street. I read this blog Brigham Yen | Downtown Los Angeles News & Updates which highlights DTLA development news, etc.... It seems like 1/2 the posts are about something new and hip opening on Broadway - and even better, almost all are not chains. Clifton's is getting a full make-over (that weird metal facade has been removed), plus the upper levels are going to be turned into more restaurants and a bar.
And to answer your question about if LA has a Theater District - Broadway was it!
Downtown Atlanta is cool, Atlanta is a freakin' lovely place, but it feels touristy compared to the more versatile and sophisticated downtown Houston. I do enjoy trips to the Coca-Cola Museum (love those South American sodas to multi-sample) and the Underground...but it just lacks the powerful architectural grandeur of Houston.
The only area of downtown Atlanta that's touristy is the area around Centennial Olympic Park where the aquarium, World of Coke, CNN, and the sports venues and GWCC are located. It's interesting that you'd say that downtown Atlanta "lacks the powerful architectural grandeur of Houston." I assume you're only talking about contemporary architecture in which case I could see why one would choose Houston, as Midtown and Buckhead tends to have larger shares of more contemporary architecture in Atlanta. But when it comes to more historic and classical architecture, I'd give Atlanta the edge with the Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta City Hall, the Flatiron Building (which predates NYC's), the Hurt Building, the Candler Building, and others. The Fairlie-Poplar Historic District downtown (which isn't extensive, but it's sizable) in particular gives you the classical urban feel of historic industrial centers in certain key spots:
Downtown Houston definitely has an asset in the theater district, but with the tourist district, the government district, the historic business district (Fairlie-Poplar), and the campus of Georgia State University, I think downtown Atlanta is just more well-rounded than downtown Houston at the present.
I actually favor dt Houston over Atlanta. It seems to have a more complete setup. The Theater District is very nice. It has an aquarium, pro baseball & basketball facilities, parks and shopping. Dt Atlanta closed its only dept store. If dt Houston would increase its residential population it would be great.
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.
Downtown Los Angeles
because it is a fascinating and pleasing mix of ultra-futuristic urban AND pastoral nature at the same time. And Houston's moved ahead of the class in terms of new public spaces, compared to the other two. Plus, the sophisticated vibe of the Theater District seals the deal. I didn't notice that overall type of district in L.A. or Atlanta. The Theater District is GRAND (2nd largest concentration of performing arts seats behind N.Y.) considering H-town's Sun Belt context. It gives downtown H-town a more sophisticated vibe than the other two. 
