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To show how huge the contrast really is... What LA could have looked like... if it kept it's "california/mediterannean style" with some east coast density in mind. Sad it went the suburban route.
Probably Santa Monica is a spot out-of-towners are familiar with and has some structural density in the touristy sections. No one visiting Philadelphia would bother visit any area more than maybe 1-2 miles from Center City. Manayunk or Chestnut Hill might nice enough but they're usually off the radar. You almost did the same thing previously. You mentioned Beverly Hills as adding to LA's density as you add to 50 square miles. I started going through the numbers. Beverly Hills may be pedestrian friendly and structurally dense in its commercial areas and it has some relatively dense residential tracts. Ditto, but maybe not as much for Pasadena. But Beverly Hills isn't one of the densest neighborhoods of the city; they're mostly a ring going from the west to south of downtown. Most of these areas are rather poor. I'm not going to argue poor people = less urban but having the fact most of these are low-income suggests they're not considered all that desirable places to live and there's a relatively lower demand for these neighborhoods, and also not neighborhoods people pay lots of attention to. Koreatown and Hollywood get some attention but otherwise? Pico-Union? Westlake?
Most other cities have a similar situation but not as extreme. NYC has Harlem, Washington Heights, the West Bronx and some poorer parts of Brooklyn among its denser neighborhoods, but plenty of its more urban neighborhoods are rather well-off, which gives out-of-towners a partially misleading view of the city.
South Park, Historic Core and Little Tokyo are all pretty "gentrified" neighborhoods, and I know a few of what I'll lazily call "Yuppies" that live in City West, Chinatown and Westlake - It's certainly not an unheard of occurence but these are definitely pre-gentrification neighborhoods at best. East Hollywood and Central Hollywood are huge neighborhoods so they are sort of mixed-bags.
Boyle Heights is quite dense, pretty walkable and has good pedestrian activity, it may be the "next Arts District" as the real artists are getting pushed out because of ridiculous rents. I'd also look for Jefferson Park near USC to start to really improve.
To show how huge the contrast really is... What LA could have looked like... if it kept it's "california/mediterannean style" with some east coast density in mind. Sad it went the suburban route.
How are you going to compare a city that was mostly orange groves 100 years ago to Barcelona, a city that was founded before Christ?! No offense, but even our nation's most urban city looks downright homely compared to it.
Anyway, what's the L.A. metro at now? 13 million, 15 million if you count the Inland Empire? Its doing something right, "flaws" and all.
The main reason downtown LA and adjacent neighborhoods have so many empty parking lots is because it's on the whole not a well-off part of the City.
More often the pedestrian-friendliness of a neighborhood has to do with economics than it does any inherent "dna" of urban design.
I don't really agree with that. Central Harlem, Bed-Stuy, East Baltimore and North Philly are very pedestrian friendly. So pedestrian-friendly that pedestrians routinely walk up to other pedestrians and rob them.
While I agree that urban renewal efforts have hurt the walkability of most American cities, it did not drastically change the walkability of most inner city cores. As hard hit as the Bronx was by the mass demolition of tenements, it's still a very walkable place notwithstanding the trash and drug dealers.
Others will claim they are night and day, but Los Angeles and Phoenix share similar histories, circumstances, and populations( moving between the two is common, PHX is inundated with LA exiles), they're alike in more ways than Angelenos would ever care to admit. My opinion, food for thought.
Phoenix is a much better pick than most of the choices in the poll, but to me Phoenix is more like Orange County and the IE than LA proper.
The aspect that I knew eventually someone would respond to the statement and ask why.
I voted for fun, just as most people do. LA is its own city, I can feel the tension in this thread from Angelenos wanting to stick to a comparison with SF or Miami, in a condescending way I feel they think the rest of the choices are hick and will pivot tooth and nail to distance themselves from the rest.
I don't think LA is like anywhere in the country, instead some aspects similar to Mexico City but even then it's still and always will be a stretch.
How are you going to compare a city that was mostly orange groves 100 years ago to Barcelona, a city that was founded before Christ?! No offense, but even our nation's most urban city looks downright homely compared to it.
Anyway, what's the L.A. metro at now? 13 million, 15 million if you count the Inland Empire? Its doing something right, "flaws" and all.
Similar landscapes, they certainly could have built that way. Why not? NYC is more urban than Barcelona. I'm not talking about how old, just the layout. If the U.S. was settled from West to East I bet it would look pretty similar. They are living in something aren't they? They could have had better city planning, I think they do NOW and are filling in for poor foresight of the past 50 or so years between the street car era and post ww2 suburban buildup.
The aspect that I knew eventually someone would respond to the statement and ask why.
I voted for fun, just as most people do. LA is its own city, I can feel the tension in this thread from Angelenos wanting to stick to a comparison with SF or Miami, in a condescending way I feel they think the rest of the choices are hick and will pivot tooth and nail to distance themselves from the rest.
I don't think LA is like anywhere in the country, instead some aspects similar to Mexico City but even then it's still and always will be a stretch.
DC is hick?
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