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Agreed with the exception of a few highrises, the rest in SF are nothing special.
I like SF architecture, but I think it's highly overrated. What makes SF really special is how the urban landscape is combined with the topography. I don't think the architecture really is anything special. Pretty, but doesn't really "wow" you like NYC, Chicago, Barcelona, Paris, London, etc. do.
I disagree, I think SF architecture very much does have that "wow" factor and while there is a uniformity to the City, each neighborhood has its own distinct character. You're saying this is "nothing special"?
San Francisco, DC, and Baltimore all have stretches of great architecture. The rest of the Bay Area for the most part is kind of blegh. Same goes for Northern Virginia. There are some nice old towns in Maryland that are pretty good.
San Francisco, DC, and Baltimore all have stretches of great architecture. The rest of the Bay Area for the most part is kind of blegh. Same goes for Northern Virginia. There are some nice old towns in Maryland that are pretty good.
Not sure I agree with either statement... Alexandria has some very nice architecture as does Oakland. Even San Jose has some very beautiful neighborhoods.
Then again, I sort of get the feeling that you find most detached housing to be ugly so that would explain why you'd find more to like in SF/DC/Baltimore.
Not sure I agree with either statement... Alexandria has some very nice architecture as does Oakland. Even San Jose has some very beautiful neighborhoods.
Then again, I sort of get the feeling that you find most detached housing to be ugly so that would explain why you'd find more to like in SF/DC/Baltimore.
There are going to be standouts in various places and generally for older neighborhoods.
I don't dislike detached housing in and of itself. There are beautiful detached houses and SF generally has a lot of great detached housing. I think I just prefer either very clean minimalist design or stuff that was generally pre Levittown sort of crap for residential architecture.
I disagree, I think SF architecture very much does have that "wow" factor and while there is a uniformity to the City, each neighborhood has its own distinct character. You're saying this is "nothing special"?
The Old Post Office, the Willard Hotel, the District Bldg are beautiful along with many of the old dt bldgs, but there's too many newer horrors. The endless boxy stuck together office bldgs along Conn & K, the JW Marriot, J Edgar Hoover Bldg, Macy's, the Grand Hyatt, National Press Bldg, 1101 NY Ave, HUD and so on. I've read some desribing them as ugly concrete cubes.
It's true that the architecture of Downtown DC is not inspiring in the least. But Downtown is such a small part of the city. And you're not likely to be wandering around Downtown on a Saturday evening anyway.
DC has the second best residential architecture in the nation, imo (after Boston). It's all about those Victorian rowhouses.
I'm from the DC area (Alexandria) and have spent alot of time in Baltimore. I know these cities well, and they have alot of great architecture. San Francisco I know well too having lived there for a while back in the '70s (yeah, that's a long time ago). And for great architecture I have to give the nod to San Fran. I'm a sucker for Victorian style town houses and row houses and San Fran has the best in the U.S.
Because of its boxy skyline, San Francisco's architecture is vastly underrated, particularly by people who have never been there. Aside from its rather underwhelming tall skyscrapers (some of which are interesting, but many of which are boring), SF has amazing, colorful, and distinct architecture across the board - great residential and commercial architecture, cathedrals, civic structures, monuments, bridges. A great mix of older and modern structures. There seems to be something incredible to look at around every corner. I'd put SF in the top 3 in the country, along with NYC and Chicago. It beats either DC or Baltimore handily, in my opinion.
From a regional perspective, though, it's a different story. Aside from some SF and some decent architecture in Berkeley/Oakland, the Bay Area as a whole is not overly impressive from an architectural standpoint. Better than many other parts of the country, but I think the combo of DC, Baltimore, and the Maryland suburbs probably beats the Bay Area as a region.
Maryland suburbs?? The Md suburbs are nice places to live and all but as far as architecture where exactly are you talking about, Alexandria Va has some nice historic architecture though.
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