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.
Ok, lets put Atlanta aside for a minute as I understand there may be some disagreements there, however, I stand behind Miami, you cannot possibly tell me that Miami is somehow "less urban" than Baltimore.. As previously discussed, Downtown Miami is at least twice the size of Downtown Baltimore, is heavily built with sleek high rises in what many consider a Dubai-type feel (especially Brickell), is the 5th most walkable city in America, and has significantly more development and major projects going for it than Baltimore (ex. Miami World Center, Miami Central Station, SLS Towers, Brickell City Centre, Miami Science Museum, etc...)
Ok, lets put Atlanta aside for a minute as I understand there may be some disagreements there, however, I stand behind Miami, you cannot possibly tell me that Miami is somehow "less urban" than Baltimore.. As previously discussed, Downtown Miami is at least twice the size of Downtown Baltimore, is heavily built with sleek high rises in what many consider a Dubai-type feel (especially Brickell), is the 5th most walkable city in America, and has significantly more development and major projects going for it than Baltimore (ex. Miami World Center, Miami Central Station, SLS Towers, Brickell City Centre, Miami Science Museum, etc...)
So, is Dubai is more urban than Chicago, Philly, SF, NYC? I'm telling you that Miami us less urban than Baltimore. By your logic, Miami and Philly are even when it comes to urbanity because they're virtually equal in density, which by default puts it in the top 5 or exactly at #6.
Then why are people saying Seattle is more urban than Baltimore? Baltimore's urban neighborhoods are far more extensive. It peaked at 950k 4-5 decades ago which would put its average density over 10k ppsm which is higher than Seattle, yet people are arguing against Miami.
OAs previously discussed, Downtown Miami is at least twice the size of Downtown Baltimore, is heavily built with sleek high rises in what many consider a Dubai-type feel (especially Brickell), is the 5th most walkable city in America, and has significantly more development and major projects going for it than Baltimore (ex. Miami World Center, Miami Central Station, SLS Towers, Brickell City Centre, Miami Science Museum, etc...)
A couple of things-
1. High rises have nothing to do with urbanity. So the # of highrises is completely irrelevent.
2. Dubai is hardly urban. It's a mess of freeways and suburban-style skyscrapers. There's almost no walkability, and most of the main streets don't even have sidewalks. If your city "looks like Dubai" then you can be sure your city isn't urban.
3. Anyone who thinks Miami is the "fifth most walkable city in America" is smoking something real good.
4. Relative rate of development has nothing to do with relative urbanity.
I haven't visited Miami, nor know much about it, so I'm not adding much. I will add that Vancouver's high rises add to its urbanity, mainly be increasing its density.
Then why are people saying Seattle is more urban than Baltimore? Baltimore's urban neighborhoods are far more extensive. It peaked at 950k 4-5 decades ago which would put its average density over 10k ppsm which is higher than Seattle, yet people are arguing against Miami.
1. High rises have nothing to do with urbanity. So the # of highrises is completely irrelevant.Not in all cases but it most definitely plays a factor in terms of creating an urban environment from an aesthetic and structural perspective. More high rises means more urban infrastructure is required to support the heavy density.
2. Dubai is hardly urban. It's a mess of freeways and suburban-style skyscrapers. There's almost no walkability, and most of the main streets don't even have sidewalks. If your city "looks like Dubai" then you can be sure your city isn't urban.I never said Miami was like Dubai, I simply stated that it has a Dubai-type FEEL in regards to sleek ultra-modern skyline and structural innovation in its urban core.
3. Anyone who thinks Miami is the "fifth most walkable city in America" is smoking something real good.This is a real fact believe it or not, according to https://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ is in fact the 5th most walkable city in America. Anyone that has been to or lives in Miami knows that Downtown Miami is in fact extremely walkable, especially in core urban neighborhoods such as Brickell and the CBD, the urban core is well integrated with MetroMover and Metrorail public transit infrastructure.
4. Relative rate of development has nothing to do with relative urbanity.The fact that Miami is still booming with major development on top of an already existing heavily developed urban core and Baltimore is not speaks loudly.
1. High rises have nothing to do with urbanity. So the # of highrises is completely irrelevent.
2. Dubai is hardly urban. It's a mess of freeways and suburban-style skyscrapers. There's almost no walkability, and most of the main streets don't even have sidewalks. If your city "looks like Dubai" then you can be sure your city isn't urban.
3. Anyone who thinks Miami is the "fifth most walkable city in America" is smoking something real good.
4. Relative rate of development has nothing to do with relative urbanity.
hi rises can add to urbanity but a lot depends on contruct. Miami has a lot of high rises with haphazzard cohesion - its what Miami beach in many ways feels more cohesive
I personally find Baltimore to feel more urban than Miami; though getting better it still feels a little sterile on the street. Almost all buildings have the large garages and stuff on top there is more ground level things but it still seems many drive to the location rather than more organically walking about - in some ways to me its feel even more this way than DT LA
Have not been to Dubai so cant comment at all
I was just in Miami two weeks ago for the first time in a few years and was expecting more cohesion based on this board and recent development (walked around a later Thursday afternoon into evening Brikell and DT). I was again underwhelmed on this aspect.
Worcester, MA has more people living in high density tracts (> 12k/sq mile, not a high threshold at all) than Atlanta. Not coincidentally, they had similar populations in 1920.
Pretty sad that my hometown of Santa Maria has more people living in "high density tracts" as well. However, ATL does have 15k+ tracts, of which SM only has one (and barely at like 15.5k ppsm). Atlanta's clearly a much more urban city, a least a few times over.
Santa Maria was barely a spec on the map in 1920, it's high density is mostly the result of very-low-income migrant workers and their overcrowded conditions (think of a more rural Santa Ana).
Last edited by munchitup; 06-22-2015 at 03:02 PM..
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.