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.
None of this conflicts with my post...you might want to read it again. I don't know why you're getting sniffly. The water table point is true for what it is, but it doesn't make the place more walkable. Further, it's about quantity of parking, not just that it's above-grade. Aside from the better examples and revised zoning someone shared in another thread, Miami buildings typically have massive amounts of parking relative to their unit counts.
As for the land area of various downtowns, people know this is all subjective, right? Stats, planning, public services, etc., need to set boundaries so various organizations set them, but nobody is "in charge" of deciding what's "downtown" or not any more than the federal government has decided what qualifies as "pretty" flowers. It always amazes me what people think there are "official" versions of.
As someone who has a place in downtown Miami, I still have my doubts about the greater downtown area having 86K people. Many of the people only live there for a month or two, in my condo at least 70% (my rough estimation) don't even live in Miami and stay for a month, while other months are either empty or rented. Nighttime outside certain areas, the downtown area is pretty dead, improved from before but still very dead, especially compared to downtowns in cities I've lived in. Hell, I remember going to Brickell City Centre on a Saturday afternoon and the place was dead, surrounding areas not too many people, and the majority of the cars were heading towards the beach or Hialeah.
So, are you in fact one of those people that you reference? You're only there for a few months?
As for Brickell City Centre, it's brand new for Heaven's sake. Stores are still opening. It's not mature yet and there is tons of work still going on its periphery.
I too own in Miami and elsewhere but my primary home by a long shot is Miami (Beach). In fact, I'm here right now in the hot rainy season. I walk the Venetian to DT as part of my exercise routine and I continue to see more and more activity. In the 16 years that I've been here, it's remarkable to see how rapidly Miami changes. Midtown and Wynwood were nothing more than places to become a victim of a crime when I arrived in town and now they are bustling and busy city neighborhoods in their own right that look nothing like they did 16 years ago. I fully expect that DT and Brickell will continue on their path to more of the same as projects are delivered and more residents move into area. There will always be seasonal residents of Miami but the numbers of permanent residents is rising too. In the last year, the Census projected that Miami grew by 12,000 in less than 36 square miles and much of that has occurred in its core between the bay and I95, and from Midtown to Brickell.
As of the 2016 Census, downtown Toronto had a population of a little over 200,000 in an area of 5.030 square miles (my personal definition of "downtown" by adding up census tracts, this is not an official definition or a definition of downtown I got from somewhere else). The density was just a hair over 40,000 ppsm. By comparison this same area had only 132,000 and change in 2006. So the growth of that 5.030 square mile area was a little over 50% in that 10 years.
I also added up the census tracts comprising downtown Vancouver. In an area of roughly 2.3 square miles (excluding Stanley Park), Vancouver's downtown peninsula had 109,000 and change as of the 2016 census for a density of around 47,000-48,000 ppsm.
Miami can't go underground with its parking because of the water table. That said, most parking podiums now are atop and/or behind street level services and stores. Sorry to disappoint you but Miami has made enormous strides in improving its walkable urban experience. I know that it's not convenient to the narrative that many spread here C-D but it's the truth. There truly is an enormous transformation happening in Miami's core if one just looks.
Eh....spending a little time on Streetview it still looks pretty terrible....
Dallas is moving in the right direction. This does not include Deep Ellum, Farmer Market, or Uptown which are adjacent to DTN Dallas which has a very small footprint.
135,000 employees in the city center
Over 9,000 residents in the city center
Over 45,000 residents in the greater downtown area (as defined in the Downtown Dallas 360 plan)
Over 420 restaurants and bars
Over 170 shops
I love to see GREEN in a urban environment. I see Miami gets points for GREEN. Not every block I expect Manhattan density and full of street-level businesses. But the TROPICAL Foliage is awesome in Miami. I understand parking above ground in Miami is more a must. If architecture is BLAND, Common and plain. I don't see it as SUPERIOR to have its parking underground.
I've seen podium architecture with nicer retail street-level and architecture then others boasting all theirs is underground. Then Miami adds SO MUCH GREEN...... terrible indeed that streetview. NOT Some buildings in cities look so generic even WITH UNDERGROUND PARKING you can boast more Density.... but all density does not impress me sorry.
That sounds like two different sets of boundaries. I'm reasonably familiar with what's been built in recent years, and it's nothing like those numbers.
PS, DavePA, we can agree on the green aspect at least. But those are some scary setbacks (surface parking and driveways in front of buildings!?) and they illustrate how dense isn't always urban.
Fun fact about downtown Montreal, the neighbourhood of Griffintown grew 642% from 2011-2016! the most of all downtown neighbourhoods. Once census fixes the population undercount maybe that number will increase.
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.
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.
NOT Some buildings in cities look so generic even WITH UNDERGROUND PARKING you can boast more Density.... but all density does not impress me sorry.
