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Inside the city limits, Seattle and Portland are immediately identifiable to me and only look like each other --- at least the areas south of 85th St N in Seattle and west of I-205 in Portland don't even look like those cities' inner-ring suburbs. The preponderance of Craftsman and other wood houses with a smattering of new "boxy" buildings, the high population density (typically exceeding 10,000 ppsm), the conifers, the high level of upkeep and lack of severe blight --- it all makes up the very distinct Seattle/Portland style. The farther-out parts of those cities, incorporated into the city limits in the 1950s and the 1980s respectively, are more suburban in character, but still look identifiably "PNW" and are still denser than the suburban areas farther out.
Now, telling Seattle and Portland apart. This is a bit more subtle, but there are a few differences:
Yes, these are the sorts of subtle things I was thinking about when I made the post, but I realize that they are details recognizable only to people very very familiar with particular locations. So it doesn't make for a very interesting thread, I reckon. Speaking of pavement, I always associate concrete streets (instead of asphalt) with suburban New Orleans, although I know they are used in other Gulf Coast cities as well. And I have always associated macadam sidewalks and driveways with Memphis. Of course, they were used in other places as well, but they always seemed much more prevalent in 1970's-ish areas of Memphis to me.
Inside the city limits, Seattle and Portland are immediately identifiable to me and only look like each other --- at least the areas south of 85th St N in Seattle and west of I-205 in Portland don't even look like those cities' inner-ring suburbs. The preponderance of Craftsman and other wood houses with a smattering of new "boxy" buildings, the high population density (typically exceeding 10,000 ppsm), the conifers, the high level of upkeep and lack of severe blight --- it all makes up the very distinct Seattle/Portland style. The farther-out parts of those cities, incorporated into the city limits in the 1950s and the 1980s respectively, are more suburban in character, but still look identifiably "PNW" and are still denser than the suburban areas farther out.
Now, telling Seattle and Portland apart. This is a bit more subtle, but there are a few differences:
Here the concrete curbs, greenery and dense suburban housing could be in Elizabeth or similar part of New Jersey but the street lamp is unmistakably a NYC fixture. The scene is in Staten Island--close to Elizabeth but not quite there. New York City uses fire hydrants like this one in Jamaica, Queens, and has many houses like these typical models from the 1920s building boom. Also in the view is the typical sign with push broom warning you of the street sweeping hours. In the not-so-subtle category is this scene of brownstone row houses and London plane trees-- where else but in Brooklyn?
These front end gable houses with a small second floor porch perched on top of a larger first floor porch could be anywhere in Connecticut or Western Mass -- New Haven, Meriden, Hartford, Springfield, Holyoke... In Massachusetts, the curb is usually cut granite and the traffic signal is usually mounted on a pole like this one in West Springfield but across the state line in Connecticut the traffic signals are still strung up on cables where they dangle over the intersection. Towns are important in all the New England states, and there's no county government, but only Mass makes a big deal of the town lines with these signs on state and federal highways.
Here the concrete curbs, greenery and dense suburban housing could be in Elizabeth or similar part of New Jersey but the street lamp is unmistakably a NYC fixture. The scene is in Staten Island--close to Elizabeth but not quite there. New York City uses fire hydrants like this one in Jamaica, Queens, and has many houses like these typical models from the 1920s building boom. Also in the view is the typical sign with push broom warning you of the street sweeping hours. In the not-so-subtle category is this scene of brownstone row houses and London plane trees-- where else but in Brooklyn?
These front end gable houses with a small second floor porch perched on top of a larger first floor porch could be anywhere in Connecticut or Western Mass -- New Haven, Meriden, Hartford, Springfield, Holyoke... In Massachusetts, the curb is usually cut granite and the traffic signal is usually mounted on a pole like this one in West Springfield but across the state line in Connecticut the traffic signals are still strung up on cables where they dangle over the intersection. Towns are important in all the New England states, and there's no county government, but only Mass makes a big deal of the town lines with these signs on state and federal highways.
Ok, I'm glad I'm not the only one who notices things like this...or maybe can't quite pinpoint all of the details, but as a whole they give a "look" to a place. I'm not all that familiar with the Northeast, so the only one I would have guessed for sure was the pic from Brooklyn. All of the others I could have pinpointed to the region, but that's about it. That Massachusetts town is truly a postcard setting!
The combination of hundred year old bungalows and tall Mexican fan palms is fairly specific for LA. There are a couple of neighborhoods in San Diego where the Mexican fan palm is also popular (Ocean Beach and Point Loma), but through most of San Diego other, shorter palms predominate.
When I see the plain repetitive fronts on the row houses, especially steps but no porch or landing, I automatically think Baltimore, not Philadelphia.
For Philadelphia, the 2-story brick, narrow street, differing adjacent styles, many with porches, sticks with me more.
I'm sure there are twins in each city, but the Philadelphia style seems to predominate over endless blocks in different parts of Philadelphia.
Yeah Philly definitely has more variety in terms of rowhome styles I think than Baltimore's more standard cut. Also more overall.
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