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If Pittsburgh had a "South Station" I might hand out there but I would certainly avoiding handing out in "Strep."
If by change you mean "Station Square" and "the Strip" then I'd estimate you haven't gone out in Pittsburgh since at least the year 2000.
Yeah that is probably what they meant. Station Sq. has a few places to hang out at night, but its hardly considered a nightlife area anymore. Downtown has far more nightlife. and the Strip District is no longer known for nightlife either, and hasn't been for a long time. Pittsburgh's main nightlife areas are usually considered to be the South side, Lawrenceville and Shadyside. Although Downtown does have a lot more options than it used to and that trend seems to be increasing.
If Pittsburgh had a "South Station" I might hand out there but I would certainly avoiding handing out in "Strep."
If by change you mean "Station Square" and "the Strip" then I'd estimate you haven't gone out in Pittsburgh since at least the year 2000.
Sorry: meant Station Sq. I was in Pittsburgh 2 years ago when I was also on the other side of Penn. Several night spots around downtown's Market Sq., so the area was weak for nightlife. Maybe they added some more since then.
You're completely ignoring the fact that DOWNTOWN does not have to be the center of nightlife and urban lifestyle. When considering the ENTIRE urban fabric of both cities, Pittsburgh is hands down the more urban and vibrant city. Pittsburgh's urban neighborhoods are Downtown, South Side, Mexican War, East Allegheny, Strip District, Oakland, Shadyside, East Liberty. And that's just all I know from being a tourist and never having visited every neighborhood. San Jose may have a good downtown. Let's even agree to disagree and for the sake of the argument, say that Downtown San Jose is better than Downtown Pittsburgh. SJ still has NOTHING that allows it to compete with the entire urban fabric of Pittsburgh's urban neighborhoodS. See that? Urban neighborhoodS plural because it has more than one.
If we were only allowed to talk about DOWNTOWN, we'd have to entirely ignore the majority of NYC, Chicago, and SF as well. NYC Downtown is just the Financial District and a few other neighborhoods. Midtown and Brooklyn are entirely separate. The Loop is the only Downtown of Chicago, so you'd have to ignore all other urban neighborhoods like Wrigleyville, Boystown, Lincoln Park, and even the Near North Side. SF would not be able to include Mission, Castro, Marina, etc. because it's outside the Financial District. So cool, San Jose has a few nice blocks downtown, but the entire rest of the city is one massive suburb of SF. Pittsburgh outside Downtown has plenty of other urban neighborhoods.
Yep, just downtown, I meant. I've already ignored north of the river in Chicago's case and north of Canal in NY's case. Just downtown, I meant.
Though this is on PITTSBURGH and SJ...... Some things need correcting below for another city mentioned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessemh431
If we were only allowed to talk about DOWNTOWN, we'd have to entirely ignore the majority of NYC, Chicago, and SF as well. NYC Downtown is just the Financial District and a few other neighborhoods. Midtown and Brooklyn are entirely separate. The Loop is the only Downtown of Chicago, so you'd have to ignore all other urban neighborhoods like Wrigleyville, Boystown, Lincoln Park, and even the Near North Side. SF would not be able to include Mission, Castro, Marina, etc. because it's outside the Financial District. So cool, San Jose has a few nice blocks downtown, but the entire rest of the city is one massive suburb of SF. Pittsburgh outside Downtown has plenty of other urban neighborhoods.
Downtown Chicago also includes the areas north of the Chicago river of Streeterville and River North. This area includes the Magnificent Mile of N Michigan Ave shopping and many of the cores major hotels.
The City of Chicago's websight defines its OFFICIAL CBC and that is basically its downtown. Not a Greater Downtown .... but its official Central Business District.
Yep, just downtown, I meant. I've already ignored north of the river in Chicago's case and north of Canal in NY's case. Just downtown, I meant.
To ignore these areas north of the Chicago river is just wrong today as Chicago's downtown too.
Again, these pictures I used to show how ridicules it is to claim Chicago's downtown is merely still just the Loop. There even is the New East Side or all called Lakeshore East lumped in and added even by Google street-view as if part of the Loop today.
Try telling Donald Trump his 90+story Trump Tower Chicago ..... is NOT in downtown Chicago as it is North of the Chicago River as is the Iconic Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower from the 1920s and 60s 100-story Hancock Building (though it lost its name but always will be the Hancock or Big John).
River North Chicago
...........................Streeterville Chicago & New East .. Is half of this Skyline not Chicago's downtown?
........................... Side including Trump Tower.
Sorry: meant Station Sq. I was in Pittsburgh 2 years ago when I was also on the other side of Penn. Several night spots around downtown's Market Sq., so the area was weak for nightlife. Maybe they added some more since then.
There are a minimum 12 places that would generally be considered nightlife spots around Market sq., and probably more depending on the person's definition. A larger nightlife section of downtown is the Penn Ave corridor, AKA the Cultural District which has a lot of theaters, restaurants, bars etc. And there are more places spread thoughout the other parts of downtown. The largest nightlife district in Pittsburgh is the Southside; its not downtown but only about a mile away, and it is one of the largest areas of its kind in the country. Lawrenceville is also a big one, it's a few miles to the northeast of downtown.
1. Population - CSA, City: San Jose, MSA, Urban Area: Pittsburgh
2. Economy - San Jose has the larger economy
3. Diversity - San Jose is more diverse
4. Shopping - Probably leans San Jose due to having more wealth
5. Weather - Depends on the person; I lean slightly more towards San Jose
6. Transportation - Pittsburgh; traffic in San Jose is awful and mass transit is woefully inadequate
7. Downtown - Pittsburgh by a long shot
8. Scenery - Pittsburgh, never found San Jose / South Bay to be very pretty
Overall, I'd pick Pittsburgh, but for reasons not really listed. There are good jobs available in Pittsburgh that pay well--certainly that's the case with San Jose. The biggest difference is that San Jose asks you to pay a ridiculous sum to live there which generally isn't that commensurate with what you get from the city. Pittsburgh also has more of an established culture and a more interesting arts and music scene. I'm also wary of being sucked back into nonstop tech industry talk which basically colors a huge number of any random conversation you have in the area these days. Pittsburgh seems to be filled with all kinds of interesting subcultera and that probably has a lot to do with it being as affordable as it is. It's also filled with beautiful older architecture both in grand and pedestrian scale. San Jose is a pretty interesting city though and worth a visit.
1. Population - CSA, City: San Jose, MSA, Urban Area: Pittsburgh
2. Economy - San Jose has the larger economy
3. Diversity - San Jose is more diverse
4. Shopping - Probably leans San Jose due to having more wealth
5. Weather - Depends on the person; I lean slightly more towards San Jose
6. Transportation - Pittsburgh; traffic in San Jose is awful and mass transit is woefully inadequate
7. Downtown - Pittsburgh by a long shot
8. Scenery - Pittsburgh, never found San Jose / South Bay to be very pretty
Overall, I'd pick Pittsburgh, but for reasons not really listed. There are good jobs available in Pittsburgh that pay well--certainly that's the case with San Jose. The biggest difference is that San Jose asks you to pay a ridiculous sum to live there which generally isn't that commensurate with what you get from the city. Pittsburgh also has more of an established culture and a more interesting arts and music scene. I'm also wary of being sucked back into nonstop tech industry talk which basically colors a huge number of any random conversation you have in the area these days. Pittsburgh seems to be filled with all kinds of interesting subcultera and that probably has a lot to do with it being as affordable as it is. It's also filled with beautiful older architecture both in grand and pedestrian scale. San Jose is a pretty interesting city though and worth a visit.
I'm going to have to add downtown to the list as SJ being better than Pittsburgh: downtown SJ is just smoking hot, on a tear. Google, county, Adobe and bunch of residential and hotels pouring onto Downtown SJ. Pittsburgh doesn't even have a chance to answer to Dt. SJ. now. Haven't you heard of SoFA and San Pedro SQ., Paseo De San Antonio, Alameda, Little Italy, Japantown, city hall/Library eastside?
I'm going to have to add downtown to the list as SJ being better than Pittsburgh: downtown SJ is just smoking hot, on a tear. Google, county, Adobe and bunch of residential and hotels pouring onto Downtown SJ. Pittsburgh doesn't even have a chance to answer to Dt. SJ. now. Haven't you heard of SoFA and San Pedro SQ., Paseo De San Antonio, Alameda, Little Italy, Japantown, city hall/Library eastside?
Actually, there's the rub, and it's the reason why most everyone who responds to your polls tends to disagree with your assessment of the various downtowns.
All the other cities you put SJ up against have older established downtowns that have acquired character and personality over the years, decades even. They may have transformed themselves into new creatures, like Philadelphia has and Pittsburgh and Kansas City are now doing, but there is a foundation on which that transformation took place.
As I said to you before, SJ became a big city virtually overnight. Most people haven't heard of its downtown. There are no notable buildings that outsiders know about on the order of the Transamerica Pyramid, for instance.
SJ simply doesn't have the national profile these other cities have except as a tech center. Unless and until it does, you will find it hard to convince outsiders that it's da bomb.
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