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Inspired by this comment made by projectmaximus in another thread:
Thoughts on objectively measuring this characteristic across metro areas? I am hoping to find absolute measurable data rather than relying on feel/vibe.
Density?
Walkability and transit access?
Vibrancy (and how is that measured)?
Sports?
Arts and Culture?
Business infrastructure and/or Fortune 1000s?
Skyline?
Just curious what factors matter most and how to measure them. I'll add that in the case of density and walkability, in my opinion this would only be measured in the neighborhoods with the highest of each. How dense or walkable the entire region is doesn't matter at all vs the primary areas where one would be seeking a big city environment.
We talk about residential density here and how that plays into urbanity, so I went and researched the most dense tracts in all of our 10 major cities. This is what I came up with:
•NY---->peak density ~260.6 ppsm, followed by a number of 100k+ tracts
•SF---->peak density ~151.5 ppsm, followed by a number of 80-100 tracts
•Chi---->peak density ~264 ppsm, followed by one tract over 100k and a number of 70-80 tracts
•LA---->peak density ~98.2 ppsm, followed by a number of 70-80 tracts
•Bos---->peak density ~98.9 ppsm, followed by a number of 70-80 tracts
•Philly---->peak density ~82.5 ppsm, followed by a number of 40-50 tracts
•DC---->peak density ~64.9 ppsm, followed by one more 60k tract and a number of 40-50 tracts
•Hou---->peak density ~61.1 ppsm, followed by a number of 20-30 tracts
•Dal---->peak density ~41.6 ppsm, followed by a number of 20-30 tracts
•Atl---->peak density ~25, followed by a number of 10-20 tracts
Undisputedly, all of these are major cities. To PM's point, all cities are not equally densely built or inhabited, so is there a minimum threshold of what makes a city feel large? If so, that threshold would have to be low as a couple of our major cities don't have particularly high densities; either that, or is there a criteria that factors greater into urbanity besides density once a city reaches a certain population?
One thing that is interesting to consider to me is that the actual residential density of these neighborhoods isnt quite as important as other factors. You know when you're in a really populated area, but the functions of the neighborhood may play a larger role in the "bigness" of how the area appears...
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This is great, but I think daytime population for cities plays a big role here. I mean most if not all of them gain population in the work week, but some stand out way more than others.
This is great, but I think daytime population for cities plays a big role here. I mean most if not all of them gain population in the work week, but some stand out way more than others.
Structurally a commuter doesn’t impact the city as much as a resident. Not only do they not frequent local buisness’s as much but an office worker probably takes up 1/10th or less the space as a resident.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by btownboss4
Structurally a commuter doesn’t impact the city as much as a resident. Not only do they not frequent local buisness’s as much but an office worker probably takes up 1/10th or less the space as a resident.
Yes, but these were some of the OP criteria:
Density?
Walkability and transit access?
Vibrancy (and how is that measured)?
Sports?
Arts and Culture?
Many of these are shaped by residents of a metro region that daily impact how dense or vibrant a city is during the work day. Most major cities the work day truly is about 12 hrs of impact on the city itself.
This is even the case in Manhattan. I've been in Midtown all times of day or night. The morning and evening rush there makes it feel even more infinitely vibrant than it already is.
Inspired by this comment made by projectmaximus in another thread:
Thoughts on objectively measuring this characteristic across metro areas? I am hoping to find absolute measurable data rather than relying on feel/vibe.
Density?
Walkability and transit access?
Vibrancy (and how is that measured)?
Sports?
Arts and Culture?
Business infrastructure and/or Fortune 1000s?
Skyline?
Just curious what factors matter most and how to measure them. I'll add that in the case of density and walkability, in my opinion this would only be measured in the neighborhoods with the highest of each. How dense or walkable the entire region is doesn't matter at all vs the primary areas where one would be seeking a big city environment.
I think walkability is one of the very most important factors. A place that is walkable and/or has really good public transit usually feels vibrant and urban to me. Arts, culture, and sports are icing on the cake. For me, the skyline is much less important.
A few examples: DC has a very low skyline, nothing special, not even close to the top 25 skylines in the US, but is absolutely a top 10 urban experience. On the other hand, some place like Dallas has a decent skyline, but does not (to me) feel particularly urban or vibrant. New Orleans is a relatively small city/metro, but absolutely feels urban and vibrant in the CBD and Quarter without a great skyline because it is relatively dense and walkable.
It isn't a perfect measure, but Walkscore is a pretty good proxy. You can argue with the order, but the large cities with the top eight walkscores are New York, San Francisco, Boston, Philly, Miami, Chicago, DC, and Seattle. That's a pretty solid list of *most* of the cities in the US that feel the most urban and vibrant. Miami is a little higher than I would expect, but again, to just take one metric, that is pretty good.
I think walkability is one of the very most important factors. A place that is walkable and/or has really good public transit usually feels vibrant and urban to me. Arts, culture, and sports are icing on the cake. For me, the skyline is much less important.
A few examples: DC has a very low skyline, nothing special, not even close to the top 25 skylines in the US, but is absolutely a top 10 urban experience. On the other hand, some place like Dallas has a decent skyline, but does not (to me) feel particularly urban or vibrant. New Orleans is a relatively small city/metro, but absolutely feels urban and vibrant in the CBD and Quarter without a great skyline because it is relatively dense and walkable.
It isn't a perfect measure, but Walkscore is a pretty good proxy. You can argue with the order, but the large cities with the top eight walkscores are New York, San Francisco, Boston, Philly, Miami, Chicago, DC, and Seattle. That's a pretty solid list of *most* of the cities in the US that feel the most urban and vibrant. Miami is a little higher than I would expect, but again, to just take one metric, that is pretty good.
The walkscores main flaw is that a city’s score is averaged over the entire city, so cities with small boundaries like Miami end up coming out far better than is realistic compared to the urban, walkable expanse of other cities. A rough proxy for comparison then is to take neighborhood boundaries for the core city and possibly surrounding cities above a certain threshold walkscore and compare the population living above that threshold. That gives you a pretty decent ranking of the relative walkability of different cities and metropolitan areas.
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