Major Midwestern cities with the most 'urban character' outside of Chicago (state, better)
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They have the most filled out urban neighborhoods are by a decent margin the most populated urban core.
Other cities might have a square mile maybe two or three but taken as a whole it’s really not close.
I don't find Minneapolis to be particularly urban in character. To me Minneapolis is very Similar to Seattle and Denver, it benefits from having very good regional, state governance, wasn't really a Great Migration destination and therefore never suffered from white flight to the extent other areas had. It also never really had the heavy industrial heritage as much of the rest of large Midwestern metros and it shows. I do commend the Twin Cities as a model for progressive urban policy, particularly when it comes to their zoning and transportation policy, but I wouldn't say the Twin Cities are anymore urban then any other Midwestern city not named Chicago, healthier yes, but urban no.
I think St. Louis has the must "urban" core after Chicago. From the architecture, density and layout of neighborhoods, places like Forest Park, etc, it's definitely got more urban density than the Twin Cities for example, even if they're outpacing them on current economic metrics.
I don't find Minneapolis to be particularly urban in character. To me Minneapolis is very Similar to Seattle and Denver, it benefits from having very good regional, state governance, wasn't really a Great Migration destination and therefore never suffered from white flight to the extent other areas had. It also never really had the heavy industrial heritage as much of the rest of large Midwestern metros and it shows. I do commend the Twin Cities as a model for progressive urban policy, particularly when it comes to their zoning and transportation policy, but I wouldn't say the Twin Cities are anymore urban then any other Midwestern city not named Chicago, healthier yes, but urban no.
Again taken as a whole Minneapolis is more urban. There are neighborhoods, OTR, Ohio City, Layfatette Sq. But you can’t just ignore everything North of Delmar or the majority of very leafy suburban Cincinnati beyond like 3 neighborhoods.
Losing 65% of a cities population has a very big impact on its urban form. Minneapolis as an entire city has mostly functional at least somewhat urban neighborhoods.
The 3 foot extra side yards in Minneapolis doesn’t make up the the deaths of delapitated and abandoned blocks in those other cities.
Last edited by btownboss4; 05-19-2020 at 02:44 PM..
I think St. Louis has the must "urban" core after Chicago. From the architecture, density and layout of neighborhoods, places like Forest Park, etc, it's definitely got more urban density than the Twin Cities for example, even if they're outpacing them on current economic metrics.
St. Louis is terribly underrated for it's intact urbanity. Obviously, St. Louis suffers from a relatively weak downtown and significant urban decay but it's often written off when it comes to the variety of urban neighborhoods and the sheer amount of prewar urbanity for a city it's size. When you consider that St. Louis probably did everything wrong from an urban policy perspective it's amazing that there are neighborhoods like this still left. Not to mention it's light rail system is about the same size as MSP, a much healthier city and region.
The problem we have in St. Louis is just that the immediate core areas near downtown really hollowed out in a horrible way. Interstates also really cut up the city bad. I'd imagine perceptions of St. Louis would be much better and the downtown area would be much stronger if we could somehow magically crunch these neighborhoods together. I think a challenge in the future will be is if St. Louis can generate enough demand to fill in the voids left by urban renewal.
Again taken as a whole Minneapolis is more urban. There are neighborhoods, OTR, Ohio City, Layfatette Sq. But you can’t just ignore everything North of Delmar or the majority of very leafy suburban Cincinnati beyond like 3 neighborhoods.
Losing 65% of a cities population has a very big impact on its urban form. Minneapolis as an entire city has mostly functional at least somewhat urban neighborhoods.
Everything North of Delmar is not vacant though. The most vacant part of St. Louis is immediately north of downtown. While there is certainly significant blight and disinvestment. A lot of North St. Louis looks like this.
Obviously depressed, but in more intact than what people would realize.
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