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Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Reputation: 5785
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
DC has a relatively small land area. Wiki only counts the top 150 largest US cities by square miles of land area, in which DC does not appear. #150 is Presque Isle, Maine to give you some context, it being about 25% bigger than DC.
I’m aware of this, but your post referring to a wiki page throws me off. 30% of the city’s land is not desolate government space with no activity. I’d be surprised if it’s 10% of the land mass. They may mean 30% of the downtown core, which even then much of it is National parkland with much pedestrian activity. Nonetheless this is trending off topic.
I'm guessing the reason San Juan hasn't been named more is that less people have been there than most of the mainland cities. Old San Juan is much larger and more intact than the French Quarter in New Orleans. Then add in great tropical beaches in neighborhoods like Condado and Isla Verde, and San Juan has a unique flavor/character.
'means unique and that when you think of the city it really brings a distinct image not seen elsewhere in the US.'
I really used this quote from the OP for coming up with my list-and I feel like these definitely provide a highly unique feel that you really wouldn't find anywhere else. San Juan to me to goes even beyond the character of those places, in that, even Miami, which is heavily Spanish influenced, San Juan is to a greater degree yet and so I feel like while I have no disregard for New Orleans and do think it's one of the more unique cities on here, I definitely think San Juan would qualify as more unique, within the US at least.
I’m aware of this, but your post referring to a wiki page throws me off. 30% of the city’s land is not desolate government space with no activity. I’d be surprised if it’s 10% of the land mass. They may mean 30% of the downtown core, which even then much of it is National parkland with much pedestrian activity. Nonetheless this is trending off topic.
It looks like about 18 sq miles of DC is federal land. Divide that with DC’s 61 square mile size gets you 29.5% of DC being federal land. You can quibble I suppose (but the food court at the Reagan!), but regardless. There are nice spots in DC, but nothing overwhelming or to me able to compensate for the Mall. It’s nice to look at, the museums are excellent, but character-filled it is not. It’s really not a knock on DC to me, this is a rich diverse country, not making my top 5 isn’t the end of the world.
I'll list the 5 cities I think have the least character and flavor:
1. Seattle
2. Denver
3. Boston
4. San Diego
5. Phoenix
These don't make them bad places to live, in fact some of these are the best places to live funny enough. Can't pinpoint why but it probably lends to a more accepting environment without having to be a certain race or nationality to belong.
Out of curiosity what gives Detroit character that you wouldn’t fine anywhere else in usa
Auto industry, Motown, unique mix of culture from southern blacks and working class whites who migrated for work (other cities have some of this like Chicago, but more impactful in Detroit), sheer amount of blight and decay beyond other cities in the nation, unbridled pride and spirit of the community to stimulate change/generate equity for the community.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,558,075 times
Reputation: 5785
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
It looks like about 18 sq miles of DC is federal land. Divide that with DC’s 61 square mile size gets you 29.5% of DC being federal land. You can quibble I suppose (but the food court at the Reagan!), but regardless. There are nice spots in DC, but nothing overwhelming or to me able to compensate for the Mall. It’s nice to look at, the museums are excellent, but character-filled it is not. It’s really not a knock on DC to me, this is a rich diverse country, not making my top 5 isn’t the end of the world.
Nothing to quibble about at all. That land exists all over the city including monuments and museums and all four quadrants. All major cities have that, nor does it equate to all of that federal land being owned having no activity on it. If you were referring to the federal owned buildings in and around Downtown and L’ Enfant district near all the museums etc, that wouldn’t take up 18 sq mi of Washington. More like 3 or 4. Again much of this is off topic for this thread so have at any opinion. I’m not in total denial that a few cities could be mentioned before DC with regards to “flavor”. Although I’d say it makes my 10 list at least.
I'll list the 5 cities I think have the least character and flavor:
1. Seattle
2. Denver
3. Boston
4. San Diego
5. Phoenix
These don't make them bad places to live, in fact some of these are the best places to live funny enough. Can't pinpoint why but it probably lends to a more accepting environment without having to be a certain race or nationality to belong.
Just to be clear, these are the cities we are comparing per the OP's criteria (City: 250K+, Region: 1M+):
NYC (+Newark, Jersey City)
LA (+ Long Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Riverside)
Chicago
Dallas (+ Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano)
Houston
Washington, DC
Miami
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Boston
Phoenix (+Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale)
San Francisco (+ Oakland, San Jose)
Detroit
Seattle
Minneapolis (+St. Paul)
San Diego (+Chula Vista)
Tampa (+ St. Petersburg)
Baltimore
St. Louis
Charlotte
Orlando
San Antonio
Portland
Sacramento
Pittsburgh
Las Vegas (+Henderson)
Cincinnati
Austin
Kansas City
Columbus
Cleveland
Indianapolis
Nashville
Virginia Beach
Jacksonville
Oklahoma City
Raleigh (+Durham)
Memphis
Louisville
New Orleans
Tuscon
Buffalo
Fresno (close enough to 1M metro)
Given the list, I find it hard to believe that Boston is bottom 5, much less bottom half. If excluding suburbs, this would be my bottom five:
- Virginia Beach
- Jacksonville
- Orlando
- Ft. Worth
- Indianapolis
Phoenix, Sacramento, and Charlotte somewhere after that. Maybe Tampa, St. Petersburg, and OKC as well.
So nearly 1/4 of northern New Mexico to get just over 1 million people! I'm sorry, Albuquerque has never really impressed me. Just me, I guess.
Maybe so.
Albuquerque and Santa Fe are so close in proximity that the two metros are often considered as one for planning and commercial reasons (and reaches the 1 million mark). The workforce bears that out and commuting times are less than in most larger metros. Certainly there is "character and flavor" unique to that area but the population of the entire state of NM is less than the borough of Queens in NYC so in the context of this discussion, ABQ/Santa Fe pulls considerable weight. That is different from cities in a coastal metroplex -- it is a 5 hour drive to get to a similar sized population center.
My four other cities might be:
NYC
New Orleans
San Francisco
Chicago
Miami & Los Angeles (honorable mention)
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