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Louisville is the city that stands out the most as being quite large before cars, but not really on anyone's list here. Was there particularly intense urban renewal there?
It's mostly out of sight, out of mind for folks in most of the Southeast, plus it has a stronger relationship with its Midwestern counterparts which are in closer proximity than the majority of its Southern counterparts.
Clearly the South is not monolithic. The scenery on I 20 in Alabama would be a shock to someone from Dallas. The South isn’t just all azaleas and live oak.
Preaching to the choir. My point is that basically a large amount from further South just equate the built environment of VA with points North (even though it's Southern).
Last edited by Chevalier de Saint-George; 05-20-2020 at 07:15 PM..
Preaching to the choir. My point is that basically a large amount from the further South just equates the built environment of VA with points North (even though it's Southern).
Depends on what part of the south. Hell some people in the southeast would have a hard time considering Dallas as truly Southern.
Depends on what part of the south. Hell some people in the southeast would have a hard time considering Dallas as truly Southern.
Heard it plenty of times and I grew up in a military town in Central Texas. All the Georgians, Alabamans, Carolinians saw Texas as just simply out west and not Southern.
Going by population in 1930, the southern cities rank:
1.) New Orleans
2.) Louisville
3.) Houston
4.) Atlanta
5.) Dallas
6.) Birmingham
7.) Memphis
8.) San Antonio
9.) OKC
10.) Richmond
That's probably a reasonable starting point for guessing "urban character". After that you have a depression, a war, and then 50 years of development that is quite suburban and car oriented. Of course the last 15 or so years has brought a renewed emphasis on urban construction, but Miami is probably the only city that has been truly transformed by that.
Louisville is the city that stands out the most as being quite large before cars, but not really on anyone's list here. Was there particularly intense urban renewal there?
Louisville MUST be seen in person. It's core of the "falls cities" is very dense! Forget "city data." It simply cannot be viewed using standard metrics.
Louisville was and still is a major city. It easily bests most these cities in historic urban vernacular.
Louisville was hit by a flood in 1937 BIGGER and worse than Katrina! The city was decimated and lost many of the buildings in pics I am about to post. Much of what survived was urban renewed away from 1940-1980. This is most evident downtown away from the perpendicular spine of 4th, main, and market which rival the urban core of any major Midwest metro like Cleveland.
Louisville's next ring of urban neighborhoods is where it really stands out and is unique in the south outside New Orleans...Portland, Old Louisville, Nulu, Phoenix Hill, Germantown, Clifton, Crscent Hill, Irish Hill, Cherokee Triangle, Highlands, even parts of Old St Matthews.
The Falls cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville IN are dense and urban. Nashville has better known trendy neighborhoods like Germantown or East Nashville, but even New Albany and Jeffersonville are really urban.
City data posters GET OFF THE INTERNET AND VISIT LOUISVILLE IN PERSON TO SEE THIS HISTORIC DENSITY. Its what makes it so special. On paper, Louisville isn't dense with an annexed city/suburbs which has spread out and gotten sprawl. But the city was built like a slightly smaller New Orelans
By the way, many of these buildings still exist, I'd say 70%. And Louisville has lots of new construction, but the majority of Louisville "construction " is in rehabs of these historic homes and beauties.
Mobile didn't as good of a job at historic preservation as Charleston and Savannah which is why it's usually not mentioned along with them in threads like these, but what did survive in the urban core is impressive and reminds you a bit of the French Quarter in NOLA.
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