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Houston and Dallas aren't cities that have a centralized urban nature. I lived in Houston a decade ago but nobody went downtown over Uptown, or any specific neighborhood to be honest. This isn't the case with Austin and Atlanta.
This is becoming less and less true. A decade ago (at least in the case of Dallas), Klyde Warren Park was just being constructed. There was a poor connection between Uptown & Downtown then and Victory Park hardly offered much. Fast forward to today and it's night and day. Klyde Warren has fueled growth on both the UT & DT sides. Victory Plaza is a short walk from the West End. In the center of Downtown, the Discovery District (opened in 2020) has pumped new life that didn't exist before. The Farmers Market is always packed on weekends. There's actually a reason to go downtown now.
This is becoming less and less true. A decade ago (at least in the case of Dallas), Klyde Warren Park was just being constructed. There was a poor connection between Uptown & Downtown then and Victory Park hardly offered much. Fast forward to today and it's night and day. Klyde Warren has fueled growth on both the UT & DT sides. Victory Plaza is a short walk from the West End. In the center of Downtown, the Discovery District (opened in 2020) has pumped new life that didn't exist before. The Farmers Market is always packed on weekends. There's actually a reason to go downtown now.
Yeah I don't really know about Dallas. Houston has gotten alot better as well. Midtown was a ghost town back then, Discovery Green had just opened and was mostly pretty dead. But even with that said, I don't think neither have the pull across their metro areas (and the nation) like downtown New Orleans or Austin. You'll find more tourists and activity in general on Canal St than any part of downtown Houston.
That's because Canal street is an attraction.
The Texas cities including Austin doesn't have a Canal Street. I can't think of many streets in the south that has Casinos, Theaters, tons of hotels, a mall, independent stores, An Aquarium, tons of restaurants, hotels, corner stores, street car lines...
Magazine Street through Uptown doesn't have much notoriety but it has a lot too. It becomes Decatur in the French Quarter. Frenchmen Street is a cultural gem too. People like to compare Austin's 6th street to Nola's Bourbon, but I think Frenchmen street is probably a better comparison.
You won't find as many tourists on any street in Austin as you would on Canal. The neighboring districts around Downtown New Orleans can have as much as Austin CBD itself.
Last edited by atadytic19; 03-20-2022 at 06:15 AM..
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Since Covid and 2020 Brickell and the CBD is far more active than it used to be, with outdoor tables at restaurants packed on South Miami Avenue every night (pre Covid used to be only weekends, sometimes not), Brickell Avenue as well as Brickell Bay Drive and the walking path around Brickell Key has pedestrian activity (though NOT remotely close to NYC, Chicago, SF, etc levels) in spite of claims to the contrary by visitors, weekend morning cycling groups, the Brickell City Centre Mall is flourishing whereas malls in quite a few other cities are dying, there’s very little housing inventory with 40-50% rent increases not uncommon, at least 8 new high rises in Brickell alone (a few more in the neighboring downtown that are part of the CBD are under construction and/or just got approved) are set to go up, 9 if you include 830 Brickell office tower which should be completed 1Q next year, and the CBD has added ferry service to the beach that operates 4 days/week, which is in addition to its existing Metromover, Metrorail and Brightline rail service. There is also a proposed Monorail on the table that would connect the CBD with the beach that could (or could not) proceed depending upon final costs.
During any big annual event (Art Basel, Miami Open, Ultra, International Boat Show, Spring Break, SoBe Wine & Food Festival, Orange Bowl, Carnaval, upcoming Formula 1, Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Crypto/NFT events, concerts as far away as The Hard Rock etc etc etc) the area receives more than its share of hotel guests. Ditto for cruise tourists. The CBD also has a NBA (and concert) arena, Science Museum which hosts an aquarium, and it’s Bayfront Park hosts large events—including the aforementioned Ultra. The hottest new restaurant in the entire metro, London’s Sexy Fish, just opened in Brickell and NYC’s Major Food Group has ventured into real estate and will be opening a high rise condo that will house 2-3 of its restaurants along with its already under construction NYC outpost, Dirty French, in Brickell.
If anything, the area has become un Miami like nerdified with more and more shop talk than existed pre 2020 (thanks in good measure to the WFH transplants) to the point I’m contemplating a possible move to beach for its more relaxed (over convenient) lifestyle at some point in the future. Not sure the above makes Miami CBD THE most fast paced CBD but it is certainly right up there in the discussion as you point out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
Fast-paced..?
As much as I don’t particularly care for the region as a whole, it’s hard to argue against Miami. It’s essentially a detached NYC borough.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-20-2022 at 08:01 AM..
Houston and Dallas aren't cities that have a centralized urban nature. I lived in Houston a decade ago but nobody went downtown over Uptown, or any specific neighborhood to be honest. This isn't the case with Austin and Atlanta.
Atlanta residents by and large aren't leisurely hanging out in downtown over Midtown either, and the same is pretty much true for suburban/OTP residents apart from Hawks, Falcons, and Atlanta United games. That may change in a few years, but Midtown has held that advantage at least for the past two-three decades or so. Excluding GA State's campus, there are more out-of-towners than locals out and about after hours in downtown seeing as though it caters much more to conventioneers and tourists than Midtown.
While obviously downtown + Midtown together constitute Atlanta's commercial core, Atlanta is still generally characterized as decentralized. Even if it's ginormous city limits are a huge reason for this, Houston is generally perceived as being more centralized than Atlanta.
That's because Canal street is an attraction.
The Texas cities including Austin doesn't have a Canal Street. I can't think of many streets in the south that has Casinos, Theaters, tons of hotels, a mall, independent stores, An Aquarium, tons of restaurants, hotels, corner stores, street car lines...
Magazine Street through Uptown doesn't have much notoriety but it has a lot too. It becomes Decatur in the French Quarter. Frenchmen Street is a cultural gem too. People like to compare Austin's 6th street to Nola's Bourbon, but I think Frenchmen street is probably a better comparison.
You won't find as many tourists on any street in Austin as you would on Canal. The neighboring districts around Downtown New Orleans can have as much as Austin CBD itself.
Wait what? Sixth street has two full miles of bars. It's actually like 2x longer than Bourbon, so comparing it to Frenchman is just ridiculous. Obviously 6th Street isn't on the same planet as Bourbon as an internationally known tourist destination, but it's still much, much, closer to Bourbon than it is to Frenchman.
The Frenchman for Austin would be Rainey St. That said I believe that Rainey itself is also bigger and has more bars and more people than Frenchman.
Last edited by whereiend; 03-21-2022 at 02:34 AM..
I'm not talking about length.
I'm talking about function.
6th Street is more like Frenchmen street in function than Bourbon.
Your first sentence says it all. 6th Street and Frenchmen st are big Bar/Pub Crawl streets. Bourbon gets wild but it's not known for pub Crawls like the other two.
The length of the street has less relevance here. If you are comparing two things is better to compare their function.
I can't remember if it's you who posted that the New Orleans is dead outside the quarter. That's totally not true. Apart from Downtown, The CBD, Marigny, Tremendous, Upton, Warehouse District, even Mid Cities has a lot of amenities. To me it's Austin that doesn't have much heft outside downtown
That's because Canal street is an attraction.
The Texas cities including Austin doesn't have a Canal Street. I can't think of many streets in the south that has Casinos, Theaters, tons of hotels, a mall, independent stores, An Aquarium, tons of restaurants, hotels, corner stores, street car lines...
Magazine Street through Uptown doesn't have much notoriety but it has a lot too. It becomes Decatur in the French Quarter. Frenchmen Street is a cultural gem too. People like to compare Austin's 6th street to Nola's Bourbon, but I think Frenchmen street is probably a better comparison.
You won't find as many tourists on any street in Austin as you would on Canal. The neighboring districts around Downtown New Orleans can have as much as Austin CBD itself.
Good point, I disagree on 6th and Frenchman though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
Atlanta residents by and large aren't leisurely hanging out in downtown over Midtown either, and the same is pretty much true for suburban/OTP residents apart from Hawks, Falcons, and Atlanta United games. That may change in a few years, but Midtown has held that advantage at least for the past two-three decades or so. Excluding GA State's campus, there are more out-of-towners than locals out and about after hours in downtown seeing as though it caters much more to conventioneers and tourists than Midtown.
While obviously downtown + Midtown together constitute Atlanta's commercial core, Atlanta is still generally characterized as decentralized. Even if it's ginormous city limits are a huge reason for this, Houston is generally perceived as being more centralized than Atlanta.
I was thinking about Midtown there. Atlanta has small/normal city limits for the south. Yeah its decentralized but the core is a bit better than Houston, as Houston’s second skyline is a suburban hellscape so it takes away from its inner loop vs ITP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by atadytic19
I'm not talking about length.
I'm talking about function.
6th Street is more like Frenchmen street in function than Bourbon.
Your first sentence says it all. 6th Street and Frenchmen st are big Bar/Pub Crawl streets. Bourbon gets wild but it's not known for pub Crawls like the other two.
The length of the street has less relevance here. If you are comparing two things is better to compare their function.
I can't remember if it's you who posted that the New Orleans is dead outside the quarter. That's totally not true. Apart from Downtown, The CBD, Marigny, Tremendous, Upton, Warehouse District, even Mid Cities has a lot of amenities. To me it's Austin that doesn't have much heft outside downtown
Speaking of function, Frenchman St is a secondary corridor of entertainment but it's nothing like 6th St. Bourbon and 6th are both the main drags for entertainment in either city. Frenchman is small and not that known outside of the city. Frenchman St is a bit more local but tourists still find their way there, that's not at all the case with 6th St. I really don't understand your view on this.
Good point, I disagree on 6th and Frenchman though.
I was thinking about Midtown there. Atlanta has small/normal city limits for the south. Yeah its decentralized but the core is a bit better than Houston, as Houston’s second skyline is a suburban hellscape so it takes away from its inner loop vs ITP.
Speaking of function, Frenchman St is a secondary corridor of entertainment but it's nothing like 6th St. Bourbon and 6th are both the main drags for entertainment in either city. Frenchman is small and not that known outside of the city. Frenchman St is a bit more local but tourists still find their way there, that's not at all the case with 6th St. I really don't understand your view on this.
Exactly.. 6th Street has two miles of nightlife, it has thousands of apartments, I imagine 50+ restaurants, the corporate HQ for Whole Foods and Cirrus Logic, etc. I don't know how you compare that to 3 blocks of compact bars that is Frenchman St. (I realize Frenchman is more than 3 blocks long, but the rest of it could be any street in NOLA. 6th is effectively the main street in Austin throughout it's entire length.)
Austin's Frenchman St is Rainey St, at least for the moment. (The bars currently being largely replaced with residential skyscrapers.)
Last edited by whereiend; 03-21-2022 at 11:46 AM..
Unlike most other southern metros, New Orleans downtown doesn't really have any strong competition from suburban locals. Part of that I'm sure has to do with history, natural boundaries and flood plain issues. Every singe other city has to deal with suburban sprawl where land is plentiful , affordable and buildable, governments tend to be business friendly, and infrastructure is newer.
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