Seattle/Phoenix/Minneapolis vs. Atlanta/Detroit/Miami big city mindset (life, highest)

[S.W.A.T.S]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

Having been to Atlanta many times I can say there really is nothing "urban" about it besides it's downtown. Buckhead feels suburban in nature and it's only a few miles north of downtown. The city of Miami (35 sq. miles) is 5 times as dense as Atlanta's (130 sq. miles) density.
As for Urbanized areas Miami has about 1100 sq. miles with 5.5 million people while Atlanta sprawls across northern Georgia with close to having 10,000 sq. miles but around the same population as Miami's.
A better comparison would be Phoenix & Atlanta.

Of course Miami is going to have a denser population. You are comparing a major city with natural boundaries to a landlocked city.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Ha! I approve of this methodology!

Back to thread though, it occurred to me I hadn't answered the OP questions from the first post yet.

Big city mindset - 1. Miami/Atlanta. All things considered they're equal, just different ways. 2. Seattle. They have a big city mindset and can back it up, but they are aware they are not seen as a top metro yet. 3.) Detroit. They still pack a punch, even though they realize they are down and out at the moment. 4. Phoenix/Minneapolis. Both are posed to join the big leagues, but Minneapolis is doing it the right way.

urban rail - Atlanta. Anyone who says different literally doesn't know what they are talking about. None of the cities on this lists have a comparable subway that moves close to 300,000 people a day, and the only other city that has a subway (Miami) doesn't nearly have the ridership or coverage that MARTA does.

infrastructure - Interesting question. Detroit has the best old school infrastructure, but it's crumbling. The rest of the cities have great new infrastructure. Atlanta, Seattle, and Minneapolis also have the added bonus of great pre-modern era infrastructure as they all started coming of age during the Victorian era.

Entertainment role in the world - 1. Miami 2. Atlanta 3. Detroit.....if this had been the 1980s or 90s I would put Seattle or Minneapolis up there, but not any more. Phoenix has never had this role.

Tourism - 1. Miami (this is an obvious one.) 2. Atlanta (Not so obvious, but it is just behind Miami with 35 million visitors a year. 3. Seattle. 4. The rest.

Industries - 1a. Atlanta has the largest and most dynamic economy of them all in terms of size and diversity. 1b. While smaller than Atlanta's economy, Minneapolis has a lot of Fortune 500s and has escaped the recession relatively unscathed. 2. Seattle. 3. Miami. 4. Phoenix. 5. Detroit.

Walkable - 1. Seattle. 2. Minneapolis. 3. Atlanta. It's not the best, but it has a useable subway in the city proper and is more walkable than people think. 4. Miami. I'm not sure why people rate it so high. I suppose people who have only been to Miami Beach think that the actual Miami city is exactly the same. 5. Detroit. It was built for car and car only and it shows, but it's not the bottom of the barrel. 6. Phoenix, bottom of the barrel. But they actually do have a fairly respectable light rail and bus system.

Urban features - Interestingly I think all of the cities stack up well against each other in different ways except for Phoenix. Detroit interests me the most (in a morose kind of way) from the perspective of seeing what happens to modern city in decline.

Tri-Rail Miami/Dade County metrorail may not have the coverage of MARTA, but Tri-Rail goes all the way to West Palm Beach. Miami's city limits are just as walkable as ATL's.

[BKmachine]

All of these cities are country so none.
Detroit maybe but thats it.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by BKmachine

All of these cities are country so none.
Detroit maybe but thats it.

You're just adding insight to all of the threads today huh?

[Fitzrovian]

Originally Posted by scrantiX

Where's the third guy in your 3 musketeers group? BajanYankee

Really I'm not disagreeing with either of you. American cities do lack vibrancy compared to Euopean ones but yes 'Rovian "feel" can be just about anything and I do consider expanse to be apart of that feel. Like it or not, its just the way the cities in this country are.

Marlowe its not an excuse. It's a known fact American cities are an anomaly to the worlds cities because of how they develop. I'm not asking for special anything, just asking you to accept the difference and accept these places for what they are.

'Rovian you really need to see San Francisco if you think NYC and Chicago are the only "big cities" in this country. San Francisco can hang with Chicago and so can LA. Why couldn't San Francisco be up there? Its just as vibrant as Chicago is and despite the uninhabitable terrain it has to deal with its one of the densest metros in the US and really Chicago feels like the bigger city but metro to metro San Francisco Bay Area feels like the 4th largest metro in the US.

I didn't say that NYC and Chicago are the only big cities in the country. I said they are the only ones that can measure up in "big city feel" to the likes of Barcelona and Madrid. Not to say that a city like LA doesn't feel big, but it's different kind of big. It feels big by virtue of its massive expanse, not its atmosphere.

And yeah I should visit SF again... it's been awhile. I had a good time on my past visits, but I am a married man now and my wife is not a big fan of California. The thing is if you go to California you need to take a week. And if we are gonna take a week we'd rather go to Europe or S. America. Must have something to do with their big city feel

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by polo89

Tri-Rail Miami/Dade County metrorail may not have the coverage of MARTA, but Tri-Rail goes all the way to West Palm Beach. Miami's city limits are just as walkable as ATL's.

Not to be crass, but call me when Tri-Rail has more than 14,000 passengers a day. The bus that passes in front of my building has more riders than that.

I'll give you though that the City of Miami is just as walkable as the City of Atlanta. Two peas in a pod really, but I think Atlanta has the edge when it comes retail nodes within residential neighborhoods and of course better rail access.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Not to be crass, but call me when Tri-Rail has more than 14,000 passengers a day. The bus that passes in front of my building has more riders than that.

I'll give you though that the City of Miami is just as walkable as the City of Atlanta. Two peas in a pod really, but I think Atlanta has the edge when it comes retail nodes within residential neighborhoods and of course better rail access.

Are you referring to nabes like Buckhead?

[scrantiX]

Originally Posted by Fitzrovian

I didn't say that NYC and Chicago are the only big cities in the country. I said they are the only ones that can measure up in "big city feel" to the likes of Barcelona and Madrid. Not to say that a city like LA doesn't feel big, but it's different kind of big. It feels big by virtue of its massive expanse, not its atmosphere.

Where does San Francisco fall short in this?

Have you really left Chicago thinking it was that much larger than San Francisco?

I've been really looking at Chicago these days to learn more about it, I'm starting to develop personal infatuations with the place. Seems like its everything on a more realistic level. I could see the appeal that city has and why its as loved as it is. Boston is another one that's trickling up my infatuations as well.

And yeah I should visit SF again... it's been awhile. I had a good time on my past visits, but I am a married man now and my wife is not a big fan of California. The thing is if you go to California you need to take a week. And if we are gonna take a week we'd rather go to Europe or S. America. Must have something to do with their big city feel

That's fine. She likely feels for California the way I do of NYC. I like the city and its a fun place to visit but I don't think I could warm up to the idea of living there just yet. I'm in an LA-San Diego-San Francisco Bay Area state of mind.

[resuelppA]

Originally Posted by scrantiX

Where does San Francisco fall short in this?

Have you really left Chicago thinking it was that much larger than San Francisco?

I've been really looking at Chicago these days, I'm starting to develop personal infatuations with the place. Seems like its everything on a more realistic level. I could see the appeal that city has and why its as loved as it is. Boston is another one that's trickling up my infatuations as well.

That's fine. She likely feels for California the way I do of NYC. I like the city and its a fun place to visit but I don't think I could warm up to the idea of living there just yet. I'm in an LA-San Diego-San Francisco Bay Area state of mind.

Couldnt give a rep.

I was in SF last week, btw. I can see what youre saying about SF, but Fitz is right about LA being about its massive expanse, and not its atmosphere.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by polo89

Are you referring to nabes like Buckhead?

I hate to answer for someone else (because I could be wrong), but I believe that by "retail nodes within residential neighborhoods" he means like these:

Candler Park

All sizes | Neighborhood Shops - Candler Park - Atlanta, Georgia | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Virginia Highland

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1317/5...301fe1a769.jpg


All sizes | Neighborhood commercial node at 6th St and Argonne Ave, Midtown, Atlanta, GA | Flickr - Photo Sharing!