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Atlanta is boostered quite a lot on here. Most do agree with this.
Some say the very same thing about Philadelphia but in truth, this hasn't been the case since the height of the Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes which occurred in what feels like an era (pre-pandemic) completely lost to time. These days, posters from both cities seem to be mainly on the defensive when posters from other cities inject them into discussions.
Atlanta has an odd skyline in the sense that it's sort of narrow but I think it's impressive in the way that Houston is where you have big clusters of buildings (Downtown/Midtown, Buckhead, Sandy Springs)
I also think the typical angle that people take pictures of the Philly skyline doesn't do it justice. Catching a glimpse of the cityscape flying into PHL caught me off guard as to how big it looks in person.
It's kinda hard to capture the depth of it on Google Earth, but from this angle the skyline looks expansive and the way the older buildings/houses layer into it is very impressive.
Atlanta has an odd skyline in the sense that it's sort of narrow but I think it's impressive in the way that Houston is where you have big clusters of buildings (Downtown/Midtown, Buckhead, Sandy Springs)
I also think the typical angle that people take pictures of the Philly skyline doesn't do it justice. Catching a glimpse of the cityscape flying into PHL caught me off guard as to how big it looks in person.
It's kinda hard to capture the depth of it on Google Earth, but from this angle the skyline looks expansive and the way the older buildings/houses layer into it is very impressive.
That is my favorite view of the city, looking directly North from South Philadelphia. A sea of small buildings nicely layered to the extensive height in the center.
It's definitely different for a sunbelt city. Parts of downtown have an "northeast" feel that doesn't exist in Dallas, Houston or Austin.
I don't think San Antonio is different for the sunbelt. The Sunbelt is too wide of a net and runs from California to the Atlantic.
SA has had less of a downtown boom so it was able to maintain more of the older stock than the 3 cities mentioned.
But the 3 cities mentioned isn't the whole of the sunbelt. San Antonio has about as many older stock streets as Atlanta, it has less than Richmond and far less than New Orleans. The older portions of downtown SA would amount to a fraction of the Warehouse District in NOLA:
I don't think San Antonio is different for the sunbelt. The Sunbelt is too wide of a net and runs from California to the Atlantic.
SA has had less of a downtown boom so it was able to maintain more of the older stock than the 3 cities mentioned.
But the 3 cities mentioned isn't the whole of the sunbelt. San Antonio has about as many older stock streets as Atlanta, it has less than Richmond and far less than New Orleans. The older portions of downtown SA would amount to a fraction of the Warehouse District in NOLA:
And that's not even the CBD or downtown (New Orleans CBD is separate from its downtown.
I would say it would be best to narrow it down to Texas cities but then Fort Worth and Galveston has their areas too.
New Orleans and Galveston for sure. Fort Worth does have stuff in the urban core too.
I'm not sure if it was a lack of downtown development, there's a very particular group here called the HDRC that has shot projects down left and right over the years (including this notable one for casting a "shadow" on the Alamo Grounds)
Wouldn't surprise me if they were a big reason high rise/corporate development went to the north side for several decades but I'm sure there's a multitude of reasons.
Maybe sunbelt was the wrong term, I guess I meant the stereotypical high growth cities right now (TX/FL big cities, Phoenix, etc.)
I can't think of anywhere else in Texas besides SA and Galveston that have neighborhoods like this
Some say the very same thing about Philadelphia but in truth, this hasn't been the case since the height of the Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes which occurred in what feels like an era (pre-pandemic) completely lost to time. These days, posters from both cities seem to be mainly on the defensive when posters from other cities inject them into discussions.
Yeah its quite annoying. I don't speak the names of a lot of cities to avoid the backfire.
New Orleans and Galveston for sure. Fort Worth does have stuff in the urban core too.
I'm not sure if it was a lack of downtown development, there's a very particular group here called the HDRC that has shot projects down left and right over the years (including this notable one for casting a "shadow" on the Alamo Grounds)
Wouldn't surprise me if they were a big reason high rise/corporate development went to the north side for several decades but I'm sure there's a multitude of reasons.
Maybe sunbelt was the wrong term, I guess I meant the stereotypical high growth cities right now (TX/FL big cities, Phoenix, etc.)
I can't think of anywhere else in Texas besides SA and Galveston that have neighborhoods like this
Those don't look dissimilar to the older wealthy neighborhoods in Austin to me. I know Dallas and Houston have various areas like this as well (more I'm sure).
As far as why SA hasn't had as much downtown development, I don't think it is really too complicated. The "return to downtown" movement is a Gen X and especially millennial phenomenon that didn't pick up speed until the 21st century. Since then San Antonio has been pretty uninspiring economically so as a result it didn't ride that wave the way Austin did. SA has had some of its own development in the core of course, it just hasn't been nearly as hot because there isn't as much money flowing around.
Those don't look dissimilar to the older wealthy neighborhoods in Austin to me. I know Dallas and Houston have various areas like this as well (more I'm sure).
As far as why SA hasn't had as much downtown development, I don't think it is really too complicated. The "return to downtown" movement is a Gen X and especially millennial phenomenon that didn't pick up speed until the 21st century. Since then San Antonio has been pretty uninspiring economically so as a result it didn't ride that wave the way Austin did. SA has had some of its own development in the core of course, it just hasn't been nearly as hot because there isn't as much money flowing around.
That's kinda funny/sad that those houses are right behind 6th and Guadalupe now lol.
Just considering the history/how old SA is, I'd have to think there's more stock of late 1800s houses vs Houston/Austin/Dallas. It was the biggest city in Texas up until the 30s.
Wealth might have something to do with it, at least relative to Houston and Dallas, but size plays a part there too. Up until 2010-ish downtown was pretty much an afterthought to locals. The Pearl was still abandoned, Southtown wasn't gentrified, etc. The only high rise residential apartments downtown are under construction as I type this. Most of the wealth/offices are out in the suburbs on the north side so the development pattern is more like Houston or Dallas where you have random clusters of high rise office buildings and massive campuses throughout the suburban areas.
I think this is where Austin has/had a leg up in a sense that everything is pretty much centered around downtown. Prior to the new stuff at the Domain, the only relatively tall office tower I can think of is the Chase building out by Cedar Park.
I'm not sure if you're from Texas/spent time in SA or not, but these give a decent idea of what the suburban situation is like here. If all this was built downtown I have no doubt the downtown skyline would look completely different.
Yeah, I agree with WhereIEnd. Those neighborhoods are plastered across the south in big and small towns.
San Antonio does have its charms, and the central neighborhoods are more intact than the other Texas cities, but there are neighborhoods like that all over the south and in Texas mainly east of 35.
You see them in areas that were the first street car suburbs of Southern towns: King William for SA, Heights/ Montrose in Houston, there are a ton in Galveston. The Garden District in New Orleans (formerly the town of Lafayette) is an example too.
Precursors to McMansions, they were basically plantation homes on residential lots instead of plantations. To keep up with the Jones's they drew from extravagant styles (Georgian, Gothic...) to make their homes look grander than the next.
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