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This drone video of DC does a pretty good job of showing how massive and sprawling the urban core is. Go to the 2:00 minute mark to see a very good shot of the size of D.C.'s urban core.
I'm sorry, but I am not seeing it at all. DC's strongest visual attribute is from the street level imo. Aerial views are underwhelming.
Ariel views are imho the best way to view DC. Idk anyone who has gone to a high-rise in Arlington, looked east and followed up with “DC looks underwhelming”.
The Washington Monument is 555’ tall and The National Mall is as wide East to West as Central Park is long North to South (~ 2.5 miles) your brain can do the math.
Ariel views are imho the best way to view DC. Idk anyone who has gone to a high-rise in Arlington and looked east would say DC looks “underwhelming”.
Considering the Washington Monument is 555’ tall and The National Mall is as wide East to West as Central Park is long North to South (~ 2.5 miles) your brain can do the math.
Maybe it's just the way that particular night drone video was shot, but I'd have to agree that it didn't give an imposing sense of DC's vastness.
Here's another example from Philly; one of the best I've seen. It's in the thick of South Philly viewing northward toward Center City:
Maybe it's just the way that particular night drone video was shot, but I'd have to agree that it didn't give an imposing sense of DC's vastness.
Here's another example from Philly; one of the best I've seen. It's in the thick of South Philly viewing northward toward Center City:
I’d agree it’s not the best video due to the time of day but there are plenty of pics of DC that show the Washington monument miles away with nothing but 10-14 story buildings in between it and the camera
Philly is best viewed from the south or north as it captures most of the cities and the skylines scope. What also helps Philly & SF is their (relative) lack of tree cover. It allows you to see development that would be completely obscured in DC despite being the same geographic distances.
I’d agree it’s not the best video due to the time of day but there are plenty of pics of DC that show the Washington monument miles away with nothing but 10-14 story buildings in between it and the camera
Philly is best viewed from the south or north as it captures most of the cities and the skylines scope.
Yes, most definitely on both points. In my time in the DC area, I got to see some great vantage points of the city's urban core from living in a high rise in Silver Spring and friends' apartments in places like Columbia Heights, so I know they exist.
After reading these responses, it's clear there is a very different definition and expectation of urbanity based on the subject so we will probably not be on the same page.
1. The drone video of DC shows nothing but high-rise buildings from 12-15 stories for miles at different points of the video.
2. The drone videos I am seeing of other cities show tiny areas of skyscrapers and then they drop down to single family row-houses which in my opinion is not a high level of urbanity when compared to buildings over 8 stories.
3. The Philadelphia drone video doesn't show intensity until you get to Center City beyond the row-houses, but I think that is a difference in opinion probably. I'm looking for a Barcelona or Paris etc. with nothing but apartment, hotel, or office buildings in the aerial which D.C. comes the closest too.
Maybe it's just the way that particular night drone video was shot, but I'd have to agree that it didn't give an imposing sense of DC's vastness.
Here's another example from Philly; one of the best I've seen. It's in the thick of South Philly viewing northward toward Center City:
This video wins for variety of vantage points:
So you are looking for tall buildings? Center City is tiny compared to the DC urban core of 12-15 story buildings. DC's footprint is like 4 times larger. A drone can fly over Center City in a matter of a few seconds because the footprint is so tiny and then you would be back to row-houses. I noticed these drone videos just watch from a distance. Do you think that's why they don't flyover? Because of how short the flyover would be?
I’d agree it’s not the best video due to the time of day but there are plenty of pics of DC that show the Washington monument miles away with nothing but 10-14 story buildings in between it and the camera
Philly is best viewed from the south or north as it captures most of the cities and the skylines scope. What also helps Philly & SF is their (relative) lack of tree cover. It allows you to see development that would be completely obscured in DC despite being the same geographic distances.
They are interesting to compare because DC and Philly are just fundamentally different cities.
Philly has a slightly higher population density across a much larger city. It is much more of the traditional downtown centric city. You have a 2-3 mile mixed-use core that gives way to 40-50 sq miles of dense residential neighborhoods then then give way to streetcar suburbs.
DC is a much newer city. It has a 5 sq mile office district then you have may be 20 or 30 miles of high density rownhouse/apartment districts and then you get into street car suburbs.
DC has been supplementing this growth with 2 to 3 sq miles of 8-12 story apartment districts in NoMa, Navy Yard and then an urban spur along the Orange Line in the streetcar suburb of Arlington. Philly's (slower) growth has largely been focused on scaling up the core and infilling the neighborhoods.
From a residential prospective, Philly is clearly the bigger city. It has a slightly higher population density over a much larger geographic area. Even if you claim Arlington/Alexandria/close in MD as being part of the core, Philly is going to come out on top.
But, when you factor in the non-residential activity it becomes a tougher call. DC has far more tourists around the mall and has more downtown office workers. Philly probably has the edge in the eds/meds students,tourists.
When it comes to activity, Philly has a more centralized big city downtown experience while DC is more about disconnected nodes ( Georgetown, Galley Place/City Center, 14th/U/AdMo, and then emerging isolated pockets around the Wharf, Union Market, Navy Yard) spread through the inner 20 miles.
A bit unrelated, but the stark difference between the PA and NJ sides of the Philly aerial is pretty wild.
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