Los Angeles vs. Brooklyn: Pedestrian Activity (life, downtown, California, people)

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

The funny thing is that until yesterday, I would have said that Brooklyn has more pedestrian activity, no question. I'm not all that familiar with Brooklyn, but my grandmother was born and raised Sheepshead Bay and always spoke of how lively the neighborhood was. I always just assumed it had nearly but not quite as much pedestrian activity as Manhattan.

But then yesterday, a few of the forumers posting here (Grapico, MichiVegas, and BajanYankee) spent about 40 pages over on this thread trying to argue that Los Angeles isn't walkable and hardly has any pedestrian activity. To prove their point, they kept posting videos and streetviews of Brooklyn, and eventually created this poll to prove their point. Checking out the videos and streetviews, I was surprised to find that Brooklyn resembles Los Angeles in terms of density, number of pedestrians on the street, and overall layout (blvds with commercial strips surrounded by residential) far more than I thought it would. Its certainly more similar to Los Angeles than it is to Manhattan in terms of pedestrian activity, and I even think LA might have the edge.

So I want to thank you 3 guys for the education! I now have a better perspective on what Brooklyn is actually like thanks to you, although probably not in the way you intended.

Funny, my uncle lives in Sheepshead Bay.

[RaymondChandlerLives]

Originally Posted by grapico

^^ Those videos posted weren't really reflective, at least of Williamsburg. I'll try to shoot some video next time I'm in the area. I shot some today in Manhattan showing what I thought was average activity in Herald Square, in "winter" and 35 degrees no less. I'll up it later probably, but the computer I'm using now takes too long to render and stabilize 1080p. Meh... nm not waiting this long for a street video...shaky it is.

May I ask why? It's a 10 minute clip and the guy covers a large segment of the neighborhood. Maybe the clip takes place early in the morning, I dunno. But it is what it is.


An Extensive Tour Of Brooklyn on Bicycle Williamsburg Part 31 - YouTube

[dispo4]

Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives

May I ask why? It's a 10 minute clip and the guy covers a large segment of the neighborhood. Maybe the clip takes place early in the morning, I dunno. But it is what it is.


An Extensive Tour Of Brooklyn on Bicycle Williamsburg Part 31 - YouTube

Funny thing is that if one of us would say something like that the hounds would be all over us.

[nei]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Checking out the videos and streetviews, I was surprised to find that Brooklyn resembles Los Angeles in terms of density, number of pedestrians on the street, and overall layout (blvds with commercial strips surrounded by residential) far more than I thought it would. Its certainly more similar to Los Angeles than it is to Manhattan in terms of pedestrian activity, and I even think LA might have the edge.

The average density of Brooklyn is much higher than Los Angeles; only a few spots of Los Angeles are similar to an average Brooklyn neighborhood. The commercial streets generally have no parking and continue block after block. Some streets do feel not that different from non-skyscraper parts of Manhattan, but yes it's usually lower in busyness.

Here's another scene:


Saturday Night Fever Opening Intro (1977) - YouTube

[dispo4]

Originally Posted by nei

The average density of Brooklyn is much higher than Los Angeles; only a few spots of Los Angeles are similar to an average Brooklyn neighborhood. The commercial streets generally have no parking and continue block after block. Some streets do feel not that different from non-skyscraper parts of Manhattan, but yes it's usually lower in busyness.

Here's another scene:


Saturday Night Fever Opening Intro (1977) - YouTube

Are you being serious with this video

[dispo4]

Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives

May I ask why? It's a 10 minute clip and the guy covers a large segment of the neighborhood. Maybe the clip takes place early in the morning, I dunno. But it is what it is.


An Extensive Tour Of Brooklyn on Bicycle Williamsburg Part 31 - YouTube

I think I saw more people in this small clip then that entire 11 minute Brooklyn video.


2 Minutes on N. Broadway and Ord - YouTube

[grapico]

^ it just isn't, like I said, I will go shoot a video. Here is one from today in Manhattan. Sorry for the shakiness. might want to click on it instead of viewing it on forum. And gasp, it is in winter! Why are these people out when it is 35 outside? I'll put another one up in a bit focusing just on crosswalks mainly.

[vimeo]87970670[/vimeo]
https://vimeo.com/87970670

I consider this to be "average" business, though it gets much busier, it is like this all day everyday.

[dispo4]

Originally Posted by grapico

^ it just isn't, like I said, I will go shoot a video. Here is one from today in Manhattan. Sorry for the shakiness. might want to click on it instead of viewing it on forum. And gasp, it is in winter! Why are these people out when it is 35 outside?

[vimeo]87970670[/vimeo]
[vimeo]87970670[/vimeo]
https://vimeo.com/87970670

I consider this to be "average" business, though it gets much busier, it is like this all day everyday.

I didn't know Manhattan was in Brooklyn

[grapico]

It's a continuation from the block by block thread discussion... that seems to have died. Also it's probably the most dead time of the year right now.

[dispo4]

Originally Posted by grapico

It's a continuation from the block by block thread discussion... that seems to have died. Also it's probably the most dead time of the year right now.

That's a different thread, this is LA vs Brooklyn