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Charlotte as of 2019 is 23,000 people in 2 sq. Miles
The boundaries of it are very simple though. It’s a the inside of the I-277 loop that encircles it. Some cities without highway barriers include stretching arms and areas of downtown. Some larger cities (DC, I assume Chicago based on some low numbers I’ve saw) seem to include the portions of downtown that are pretty much all office.
Like “downtown” DC probably has a lower population. But it’s the area mostly of office. And there’s really no way any person could ever tell where downtown ends or begins because it’s not obvious because the development pattern is the same.
So for smaller cities with barriers (highways, water, etc), there numbers are probably most accurate.
Cities without natural barriers are probably exaggerated by including high density areas surrounding the downtown.
The largest cities are probably the least accurate because they generally use the term downtown to describe the area where offices are clustered.
And that leaves some posters with their panties bunches up lol. Just like city limit size/population
DC is probably the only city in the country that can make a structural argument that downtown is impossible to measure. The urban sprawl of buildings in the 10-14 story range in DC at this point makes any attempt to quantify downtown DC impossible. The boundaries would have to be based on the height of buildings which is never used in these calculations to determine boundaries. Height limits are to blame for this.
It seems like a last ditch effort to make Philadelphia look good.
Philadelphia doesn't need The Toppers help to look good...
Quote:
Originally Posted by btownboss4
Downtown populations are apples to potatoes. Center City is what 4 sq miles?
People were more responding to a negative comment insinuating that Philadelphia is not a good city. And the fact is that Philadelphia is the 3rd or 4th most populated downtown in the county. Yes, the actual confines of downtown are rather small, but its not like the activity strictly ends at the downtown borders.
Philadelphia doesn't need The Toppers help to look good...
People were more responding to a negative comment insinuating that Philadelphia is not a good city. And the fact is that Philadelphia is the 3rd or 4th most populated downtown in the county. Yes, the actual confines of downtown are rather small, but its not like the activity strictly ends at the downtown borders.
I was more like saying different cities have vastly different definitions of what is Downtown due to historical differences. Philadelphia is shaped by the original municipal boundaries in the 1700s. others newer cities are shaped by the highway rings. Boston was shaped by the original geography of the peninsula etc. leading to Downtowns being vastly different physical sizes.
Center City is fine. Most of the city is a slum but I'd have no problem living around Rittenhouse walking to my office tower job.
Most of Philadelphia being a slum is a massive exaggeration, though maybe it was true two or three decades ago.
UPenn and Drexel steadily pushed far into West Philadelphia as I heard that a couple decades ago, incoming students were sometimes unofficially warned to not go west of 40th street, but now quite a few newcomers go west of 50th street (excusing from this the northwest portion of West Philadelphia like Overbrook Farms, Overbrook Park, and Wynnefield which were not slums to begin with).
Center City pushed southwards into much of South Philadelphia and that's where some of the most interesting neighborhoods and restaurants are.
The Northwest neighborhoods mostly stayed alright, and the northeast is essentially suburbs.
North Philadelphia is probably the only pretty consistently rough part of the city, whereas the rest sometimes have pockets but are generally alright. North Philadelphia actually now has some decent pockets of areas that are pretty good.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 07-11-2019 at 08:56 AM..
I'm sorry but you can't limit downtown Chicago to just the Loop. These stats don't even include the highly residential Lakeview East (New East Side). Even goggle adds it o the Loop. But anyone who has ben to Chicago . Soon realizes it is way more then the Loop.
Even San Francisco this low.... really must be just using the Financial district. Just ridiculous to limit it like it apparently does.
We have been thru this with the OP's threads before......
I HATE these downtown comparisons! Some "downtowns" just boost their geographic reach to boost their populations.
I propose the following method.....take city hall and run a 1 mile radius population for any metro under 3 million.
For metros in the 3-6 million range, make it a 2 mile radius population.
I think it's fair to give the mega metros a 3 mile radius from city hall.
Thoughts? Everyone knows I represent Louisville and its downtown is Grossly undercounted as the city considers downtown to be a tiny under 1 sq mile area. Compared that to places like Indianapolis and they are using two - three square mile zones. It's not apples to apples about how these cities FEEL on foot.
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