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We hear a lot about new projects in these places. But which of these places is the most vibrant?
-Pedestrians who live or work nearby, not just tourists visiting a beach, a casino, or historic neighborhood
-Downtown energy
-Urban amenities
Los Angeles blows away the competition on this list. It's on an entirely different city status level than those listed. The downtown is blowing up with activity, new high rise towers, offices and residential.
I'd think the city rankings would be:
1 Los Angeles by FAR
2 Miami
3 Atlanta
4 Dallas
5 Houston
6 Nashville
7 Austin
8 Charlotte
9 Phoenix
10 San Diego
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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I voted Miami, where I presently live and moved to from SoCal.
Since many get confused, Miami and Miami Beach are two separate entities. There also happen to be many areas within Miami that one can choose to live in--Brickell, Edgewater, Midtown, Coral Gables, downtown, Coconut Grove, and many more.
I live in Brickell, which is a modern, upscale/sophisticated, financial international epicenter on Miami's mainland that also has seen huge residential growth over the years. It is overwhelmingly locals, few(er) tourists, and is extremely walkable (talking increments of 2 to 10 minutes) to everything (good restaurants, bars, groceries, pharmacies, upscale mall, upscale cigar lounge, movie theatre, banks, 2 Equinox plus other gyms, waterfront, etc etc plus the hottest looking women in the country--yes, better than LA). Many other cool areas are an easy 10-20 minute drive away (AA Arena, Wynwood, The River/Wharf, Coconut Grove, Midtown, SoBe, Key Biscayne, Little Havana (including Marlins Park), Design District)...Public transportation, such as Metromover, trolley, Metrorail...only PITA is parking--there is no such thing as free parking in this town--but this is applicable only if you leave the Brickell area.
The beach is only 20 minutes away (though Brickell is perched right on top of Biscayne Bay) and I put on less than 4500 miles/year on my car. (try that from and in downtown LA).
The residents are are clean cut professionals, dress codes are enforced at nice establishments, the buildings/architecture are modern, infrastructure (roads) and police response is excellent, and there is very little--if any--homeless population to speak of (try that in downtown San Diego, especially the Gaslamp area).
Last edited by elchevere; 07-05-2018 at 09:12 AM..
and there is very little--if any--homeless population to speak of (try that in downtown San Diego, especially the Gaslamp area).
Well downtown Miami has quite a few homeless. And this thread is about "downtowns" so it can't be brushed aside. Otherwise, totally agree with your post.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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yes, there are homeless in the section of Miami specifically known as "downtown"--though dramatically less than you will find on a daily basis in the 3 major CA cities and seemingly confined to this area.....Brickell should definitely be considered part of a downtown area as it is the financial core of the entire city (I wouldn't call it a suburb--Gables--20 minutes away, yes; Brickell--across a small bridge and interconected to downtown, no....just as The Marina or SOMA is as much a part of downtown SF as the Financial District is) and there are very few homeless in Brickell....in the CA cities, the homeless are spread all over--including many upscale areas/suburbs such as La Jolla....so in CA it a widespread issue (literally and figuratively) whereas in Miami it is not as big an issue (numbers) and is more contained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by projectmaximus
Well downtown Miami has quite a few homeless. And this thread is about "downtowns" so it can't be brushed aside. Otherwise, totally agree with your post.
Last edited by elchevere; 07-05-2018 at 10:26 AM..
yes, there are homeless in the section of Miami specifically known as "downtown"--though dramatically less than you will find on a daily basis in the 3 major CA cities.....Brickell should definitely be considered part of a downtown area as it is the financial core of the entire city (I wouldn't call it a suburb--Gables--20 minutes away, yes; Brickell--across a small bridge and interconected to downtown, no) and there are very few homeless in Brickell....in the CA cities, the homeless are spread all over--including many upscale areas/suburbs such as La Jolla.
For those who are not aware, Brickell is the southern half of Miami's urban core. It's only separated from "downtown" by the Miami River, but the urban experience is contiguous. I'd describe Miami's core as the stretch from SE 15th Street to NE 15th Street, and essentially east of I95. While very substantial high density housing stretches both north and south of those boundaries, the nature of those areas starts to feel less core-like.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,545,347 times
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thanks for fine tuning/condensing the point I was trying to make
Quote:
Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl
For those who are not aware, Brickell is the southern half of Miami's urban core. It's only separated from "downtown" by the Miami River, but the urban experience is contiguous. I'd describe Miami's core as the stretch from SE 15th Street to NE 15th Street, and essentially east of I95. While very substantial high density housing stretches both north and south of those boundaries, the nature of those areas starts to feel less core-like.
yes, there are homeless in the section of Miami specifically known as "downtown"--though dramatically less than you will find on a daily basis in the 3 major CA cities and seemingly confined to this area.....Brickell should definitely be considered part of a downtown area as it is the financial core of the entire city (I wouldn't call it a suburb--Gables--20 minutes away, yes; Brickell--across a small bridge and interconected to downtown, no....just as The Marina or SOMA is as much a part of downtown SF as the Financial District is) and there are very few homeless in Brickell....in the CA cities, the homeless are spread all over--including many upscale areas/suburbs such as La Jolla....so in CA it a widespread issue (literally and figuratively) whereas in Miami it is not as big an issue (numbers) and is more contained.
I agree on the homelessness in DTSD (though it's gotten significantly better since the city opened several new shelters) but I travel among Carmel Valley, La Jolla, UTC, Del Mar, Sorrento Valley, etc on a daily basis and pretty much never come across a homeless person.
thanks for fine tuning/condensing the point I was trying to make
It's my pleasure!
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