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SF is definately wins this, there are 44 buildings over 400ft all bunched very densely.
Philly is second with 27 buildings over 400ft. However, it is a bit taller with two buildings taller than SF's tallest.
I would choose Miami third as it has 59 buildings over 400 ft. However the buildings are all spread out (the opposite of dense), and it's tallest does not reach the heights of SF or Philly.
^Then you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.
The old streetcar inner-ring hoods of Atlanta have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, as well as the historic core areas.
Ditch the bias - it isn't very becoming.
Regardless if there are dense inner-ring hoods in Atlanta, none of them are anywhere near what is offered in Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. The CBDs of those cities are packed to the brim. Atlanta is definitely a tall city, but compared to some of the older cities of the Northeast it's density is in a completely different league.
CBD wise, overall Houston wins. LA is not far behind, though it is not present in the pool. Philly and SF take 3rd with their density and modest height. Atlanta, though is also very tall, is more spread out and overall can take 5th. Boston is dense but is seriously in lack of height compared to the 5 just mentioned. Most buildings filling in the density has no CBD feel. I would rank it 8th, behind Miami which certainly has more highrises than all other cities in the pool, but the residential towers do not quite feel CBD either, and Seattle, which beats Boston by height and is reasonably dense.
My rank, according to the height and density of CBD only (not the area surrounding it)
1. Houston
2. LA
3.1 SF
3.2 Philly (Philly is ranked below SF because it has a smaller scale CBD)
5. Atlanta
6. Miami
7. Seattle
8. Boston
Last edited by fashionguy; 12-28-2009 at 01:43 PM..
CBD wise, overall Houston wins. LA is not far behind, though it is not present in the pool. Philly and SF take 3rd with their density and modest height. Atlanta, though is also very tall, is more spread out and overall can take 5th. Boston is dense but is seriously in lack of height compared to the 5 just mentioned. Most buildings filling in the density has no CBD feel. I would rank it 8th, behind Miami which certainly has more highrises than all other cities in the pool, but the residential towers do not quite feel CBD either, and Seattle, which beats Boston by height and is reasonably dense.
My rank, according to the height and density of CBD only (not the area surrounding it)
1. Houston
2. LA
3.1 SF
3.2 Philly (Philly is ranked below SF because it has a smaller scale CBD)
5. Atlanta
6. Miami
7. Seattle
8. Boston
Quote:
Most buildings filling in the density has no CBD feel.
That tells me you've never been to Boston before. I posted pictures 3 posts ago of some of the financial district in Boston...I don't think you'll find too many cities in the country that can match that density. The foot traffic in downtown is very, very high.
Boston has 30 buildings of 400ft+...while that's not a ton, it's a pretty decent amount. Certainly enough to have a "CBD feel". I've never been to Houston, so I can't speak for them...but I have been to Atlanta several times. Downtown Atlanta doesn't feel nearly as large as downtown Boston.
How does this not look/feel like a CBD?
Not taken from the CBD, but it's a nice pic anyway
Yup, nothing about downtown Boston feels like a CBD...yawn
Looking at the core, it has similar density but with a much higher height. There are better pictures of Houston at skyscrapercity.com, with an angle like your first pic looking from one tall building in the downtown area, and it can look very dense, but I can't single out pictures from one page and link them here.
Yes, I've been to Boston. Boston owns street level but it doesn't give you the tall and imposing feeling of CBD. The financial district is close but is generally not tall enough (the tallest one in the cluster only 187m). The back bay area is nice to hang out but is kind of too multi-functional.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tmac9wr
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That tells me you've never been to Boston before. I posted pictures 3 posts ago of some of the financial district in Boston...I don't think you'll find too many cities in the country that can match that density. The foot traffic in downtown is very, very high.
Boston has 30 buildings of 400ft+...while that's not a ton, it's a pretty decent amount. Certainly enough to have a "CBD feel". I've never been to Houston, so I can't speak for them...but I have been to Atlanta several times. Downtown Atlanta doesn't feel nearly as large as downtown Boston.
How does this not look/feel like a CBD?
Not taken from the CBD, but it's a nice pic anyway
Yup, nothing about downtown Boston feels like a CBD...yawn
Looking at the core, it has similar density but with a much higher height. There are better pictures of Houston at skyscrapercity.com, with an angle like your first pic looking from one tall building in the downtown area, and it can look very dense, but I can't single out pictures from one page and link them here.
Yes, I've been to Boston. Boston owns street level but it doesn't give you the tall and imposing feeling of CBD. The financial district is close but is generally not tall enough (the tallest one in the cluster only 187m). The back bay area is nice to hang out but is kind of too multi-functional.
Can you point us to more street-level pictures of Houston's CBD? The image you have is too far out to see if it's actually all that dense.
Looking at the core, it has similar density but with a much higher height. There are better pictures of Houston at skyscrapercity.com, with an angle like your first pic looking from one tall building in the downtown area, and it can look very dense, but I can't single out pictures from one page and link them here.
Yes, I've been to Boston. Boston owns street level but it doesn't give you the tall and imposing feeling of CBD.
A city is made from its street level. Tall buildings are cool, but true density is made by people. Houston has many beautiful, tall buildings (I really like their skyline)...but the human aspect isn't there. If you look on Google Street, you'll see there are buildings close together but it's a car-dominated downtown. Buildings are built close together...but it seems like much of the built environment of DT Houston is for you to go into the building, work, then leave.
Quote:
The financial district is close but is generally not tall enough (the tallest one in the cluster only 187m).
If you're walking...what difference is there if you're surrounded by buildings that are 187m or 287m? The only difference I can imagine is sunlight. Even with the smaller buildings, Boston's downtown manages to have 46% more office space than Houston's (from Grubb-Ellis; I subtracted Back Bay from Boston's total since technically it's outside of our downtown cluster). As of 2000, Boston had a downtown population greater than 80,000 and it has grown since then. According to this Houston message board, they've read official press releases saying Houston's DT population is "Almost 4,000".
Not meaning to rag on Houston here, because I know the more lively areas are out by the Galleria. Strictly focusing on CBDs here.
Quote:
The back bay area is nice to hang out but is kind of too multi-functional.
Too multi-functional?! Isn't that what every city wants out of a neighborhood? It's got office, retail, residential, great public transportation, beautiful parks and squares, and awesome recreational activities offered on the Charles River Park. I think this is the first time I've ever heard someone call an area too multi-functional and intend it to be a detriment to a city.
Edit: BTW, I'm not necessarily saying there isn't an argument for Houston's CBD (It's obviously taller)...but I think Boston's downtown blows away Atlanta, Seattle, Miami, and Los Angeles.
Last edited by tmac9wr; 12-29-2009 at 11:09 AM..
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