More different: Boston and San Diego, or Seattle and Miami (live, best)
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Hi all, this thread is *just for fun* and highly subjective in how you define "more different." I want to compare the major cities of the four opposing corners of the Lower 48. I decided Portland, ME and Los Angeles would not be great cities to include because of scale; Los Angeles is way bigger than any of these other cities, and Portland, ME is way smaller. While not perfectly matching in scale, I think these four are decently in the ballpark of one another.
Clearly, both city pairings have their share of outstanding differences. But, which are MORE different? Criteria can include local culture, economy, urban form, natural scenery, local politics, local institutions, recreation opportunities, infrastructure, climate, etc. Feel free to compare from both a city limits perspective and metro area perspective.
Boston and San Diego are probably more different. Seattle and Miami are at least both "newer" US cities, similar in density, and both largely on grid plans. Both cities' residential neighborhoods are primarily detached SFH, with an absence of sidewalks in some areas.
I've sometimes felt while streetviewing parts of Miami like I could possibly be in a much more working-class version of Seattle, maybe like south Tacoma (of course also with tropical scenery).
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Seattle and Miami more different…Boston and SD have biotech in common; ran into more than my fair share of New England transplants when I lived in San Diego, yet to meet anyone from Seattle in Miami. One can ski in the same day from Boston and SD. Both Boston and SD are most definitely American cities; Miami is the wild card pairing in that it is more/most of an international city than all of the others.
Last edited by elchevere; 06-24-2022 at 06:24 AM..
Seattle and Miami more different…Boston and SD have biotech in common; ran into more than my fair share of New England transplants when I lived in San Diego, yet to meet anyone from Seattle in Miami. One can ski in the same day from Boston and SD. Both Boston and SD are most definitely American cities; Miami is the wild card pairing in that it is more/most of an international city than all of the others.
Boston and San Diego are probably more different. Seattle and Miami are at least both "newer" US cities, similar in density, and both largely on grid plans. Both cities' residential neighborhoods are primarily detached SFH, with an absence of sidewalks in some areas.
I've sometimes felt while streetviewing parts of Miami like I could possibly be in a much more working-class version of Seattle, maybe like south Tacoma (of course also with tropical scenery).
Quote:
Originally Posted by elchevere
Seattle and Miami more different…Boston and SD have biotech in common; ran into more than my fair share of New England transplants when I lived in San Diego, yet to meet anyone from Seattle in Miami. One can ski in the same day from Boston and SD. Both Boston and SD are most definitely American cities; Miami is the wild card pairing in that it is more/most of an international city than all of the others.
I think these are both fair takes. I think from a cultural standpoint, Seattle and Miami are even more different. I think from a built environment, urban form, and infrastructural standpoint, Boston and San Diego are even more different.
Boston and San Diego are probably more different. Seattle and Miami are at least both "newer" US cities, similar in density, and both largely on grid plans. Both cities' residential neighborhoods are primarily detached SFH, with an absence of sidewalks in some areas.
Miami proper actually has the 5th lowest percentage of single-family housing in the U.S. for cities over 350,000 population.
Then if you were to look at the whole metro area Miami has the highest percentage of multi-unit housing in the U.S. outside of the NYC metro area.
The whole entire Miami metro has a super extensive and beautiful sidewalk network what are you talking about? It easily ranks near the top in the country in that regard.
Seattle and Miami more different…Boston and SD have biotech in common; ran into more than my fair share of New England transplants when I lived in San Diego, yet to meet anyone from Seattle in Miami. One can ski in the same day from Boston and SD. Both Boston and SD are most definitely American cities; Miami is the wild card pairing in that it is more/most of an international city than all of the others.
I think the reverse pattern is more common (Miami transplants in Seattle), given that net domestic migration is strongly negative in the Miami area, while Seattle has a number of major employers that import people from across the country.
The visual environment aside, I would agree that Boston and San Diego have far more similarities than is true of Seattle and Miami.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jas75
I think the reverse pattern is more common (Miami transplants in Seattle), given that net domestic migration is strongly negative in the Miami area, while Seattle has a number of major employers that import people from across the country.
The visual environment aside, I would agree that Boston and San Diego have far more similarities than is true of Seattle and Miami.
I think there are many other and closer places Miamians leaving would move to (in state, such as Orlando or Tampa, or out of state—Atlanta, Charlotte, etc) than Seattle. What is strongly negative about domestic migration in Miami—you wouldn’t tell that from all the NY’ers, other Northeasterners, and others who have moved here. A New England person would be likely to move to San Diego for the better climate (as Northeasterners do for Miami/SoFla—had enough of winter); less likely a person from Miami would move to Seattle for the climate or vice versa.
Boston and San Diego are probably more different. Seattle and Miami are at least both "newer" US cities, similar in density, and both largely on grid plans. Both cities' residential neighborhoods are primarily detached SFH, with an absence of sidewalks in some areas.
I also forgot to mention that Miami's population density (12.2k sq mi) is much closer to Boston's (13.9k sq mi) than to Seattle's (8.7k sq mi).
I would say Boston, Seattle and San Diego are all pretty similar. Miami is different.
The first three all have large tech and biotech employers and recruit nationally and globally. You see Massachusetts plates in Seattle all the time and the Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, BU alumni is very large in Seattle. I don't think I've seen a Florida plate yet.
It's not much of a culture shock to go from Boston to Seattle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars
Seattle and Miami are at least both "newer" US cities, similar in density, and both largely on grid plans. Both cities' residential neighborhoods are primarily detached SFH, with an absence of sidewalks in some areas.
Seattle has some of the best sidewalks (and public staircases) of newer American cities. Only the more recently annexed unincorporated areas adjacent to the burbs don't have sidewalks.
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