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Your first mistake was quoting TomDot! Your second mistake was telling me about DC commercial office space when I work with the DC Chamber of Commerce. I didn't feel like posting their annual report because the PDF is large. But I did find a 2005 Greater Washington Commercial Reasl Estate Association Market Report & a DT DC Business Improvement Distric press release that stated that DT DC not including Tysons Corner (that's for you Tommy) has 110 million square feet of commercial office space. That was 4 years ago. See the links and read the second paragraphs on each report.
Your facts are way off base like i previously mentioned. The Tysons Corner reference was meant to show you that a DC suburb is 12th on the list for office space in the US. And DC is second behind Midtown for the most expensive office market in the US and 50th in the world. No other US cities made the top 50!
I have been to Boston & Philly and the DT area is small compared to DC. DC has a 2 1/2 mile by 2 mile area of lowrise office canyons. From the West end on 23rd street to the east by Union Station and from the National Mall north to Mass Ave, the area is completely filled with office buildings that reach about 12 - 13 stories. Houston is not even in the top seven for office space.
As for your transportation figures. Boston's T does not have that many riders each day. DC is the second busiest subway in the nation behind NYC. Key word subway!!! Stop inflating numbers. You added light rail and commuter rail. Boston is like 5th or 6th. DC is also 3rd behind NYC & Chicago for daytime workforce population coming into DT.
I have been to Boston & Philly and the DT area is small compared to DC. DC has a 2 1/2 mile by 2 mile area of lowrise office canyons. From the West end on 23rd street to the east by Union Station and from the National Mall north to Mass Ave, the area is completely filled with office buildings that reach about 12 - 13 stories. Houston is not even in the top seven for office space.
I'm not going to bother citing "facts" or figures. There are too many studies with inconsistent results. But I must say, what you say in this paragraph does not impress me. So there is a five square mile section of dense business district? That's really not that big. The financial district in Boston is about that size, and it is composed of 30 to 40 story buildings. It is also one of 4 major CBDs in Boston. But I know Boston isn't the largest business district in the country, and that it may well not even be the largest for a city its size. But I am sufficiently certain in my sense that there is a hell of a lot going on in downtown Boston. What I've observed in your posts here in this thread and elsewhere, is that you have this desperate need to build up DC as better than elsewhere for whatever topic is under discussion. It is pathological, resistant to logic or contrary facts. It's cool that you like DC. It's good that you live and work there. But don't take offense that others don't feel the same way or see the same things. I spend a fair amount of time there because I have family in Georgetown. And mostly what I see is something that is less urban than any number of other Eastern cities. It lacks authenticity, probably because most of the city is either hidden away or filled with transplants. There is nothing organic there, just a bunch of people desperately trying to make a statement about themselves through the lens of having selected that for their home.
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As for your transportation figures. Boston's T does not have that many riders each day. DC is the second busiest subway in the nation behind NYC. Key word subway!!! Stop inflating numbers. You added light rail and commuter rail. Boston is like 5th or 6th. DC is also 3rd behind NYC & Chicago for daytime workforce population coming into DT.
Man, the three exclamation points really cements your argument! Why shouldn't Tmac include light rail? It is a major component of Boston's transportation system, carrying nearly as many riders as the next two systems combined. Same goes for commuter rail. And it makes sense to count all of it. Major cities have inter-modal transportation systems. If you want to focus on one part of it, you may get an apples to orange comparison. Say we select commuter rail only. MBTA commuter rail ridership significantly exceeds the combined figures for MARC and VRA. But then Metro acts a bit like commuter rail in the way it serves suburban areas. So it makes sense to combine the two rail types. And as I said, light rail is a major component of the system in Boston, shouldn't we count it??? (note the three question marks indicate it's a really important question).
For you to say DC lacks authenticity tells me a lot about your make-up. DC is very authentic even with its many transplants. There are two sides to every city in America. The one the media portrays and the real city. What's not authentic about U Street or Mt. Pleasant? DC has its own lingo, food, customs and traditions just like Boston. AA culture in DC is equivalent to Boston's Irish heritage. Because you are not AA, you would never understand the city the way that most people can relate to. BTW, I have been to Boston numerous times. It's not as urban as Midtown Manhattan by any stetch of the imagination. So what's your point bring up DC's urbanity. People flock to DC the same reason why people flock to Boston. Looking for opportunity in their respective line of work. You can try to downplay DC all you want but it holds more influence than Boston on any given day. BTW: Boston's DT is much (PHYSICALLY) smaller than DC's. The links i provided proves my point about DT size. And the T goes to the burbs just like the DC Metro.
Tyson's Corner isn't even in the District! It's in VA.
Does anyone have numbers discerning buildings in DC that are US Government and those that are actually business?
All US and foreign Government entities should be excluded.
I have seen a lot of people argued this before, but I have never really understood why? It seems a little arbitrary,IMO. Especially, given that many gov't offices are in private sector buildings.
IMO, Boston is far more intense/dense at it's peak in the financial district. However, DC's office district is far larger geographically. DC's is larger in terms of office space, but Boston is more mixed use (residential/retail). I am not sure that one city is really the clear cut winner.
In any case, DC would be disqualified from the OP's question based on the height limit.
Rounded out, SF would probably be the all around winner. While, it isn't as tall as Houston/ Atl at its peak, it has more office space and is far more vibrant/ dense at ground level.
I think the downtown tunnels close at like 7 pm. Downtown is pretty much dead after about 8. The tunnel system is still pretty cool though. It's like a massive underground food court that connects all of downtown. During the day it's very lively and a nice place to visit. At night, not so much.
In all honesty, I haven't seen any pictures of other cities on this thread that beat Houston in a combination of density and height, at least as far as buildings are concerned. As for people, you can find more people wondering around downtown Austin after dark than downtown Houston.
I think the downtown tunnels close at like 7 pm. Downtown is pretty much dead after about 8. The tunnel system is still pretty cool though. It's like a massive underground food court that connects all of downtown. During the day it's very lively and a nice place to visit. At night, not so much.
In all honesty, I haven't seen any pictures of other cities on this thread that beat Houston in a combination of density and height, at least as far as buildings are concerned. As for people, you can find more people wondering around downtown Austin after dark than downtown Houston.
I think it closes at 6 pm, but its open 24/7 in the Theatre district. Its also open on weekends from like about 10 am til 3 pm. However, it seems even during business hours; downtown seems dead from above.
For you to say DC lacks authenticity tells me a lot about your make-up. DC is very authentic even with its many transplants. There are two sides to every city in America. The one the media portrays and the real city. What's not authentic about U Street or Mt. Pleasant? DC has its own lingo, food, customs and traditions just like Boston. AA culture in DC is equivalent to Boston's Irish heritage. Because you are not AA, you would never understand the city the way that most people can relate to. BTW, I have been to Boston numerous times. It's not as urban as Midtown Manhattan by any stetch of the imagination. So what's your point bring up DC's urbanity. People flock to DC the same reason why people flock to Boston. Looking for opportunity in their respective line of work. You can try to downplay DC all you want but it holds more influence than Boston on any given day. BTW: Boston's DT is much (PHYSICALLY) smaller than DC's. The links i provided proves my point about DT size. And the T goes to the burbs just like the DC Metro.
Hey, don't get me wrong. I love DC, I don't visit just to see family or friends. And you are right, the African American section is a whole different discussion. One of my favorite areas in DC is over by the Potomac Ave. stop. I have a friend over there and it's a great neighborhood, much more the sort of place I'd want to live compared to say Adams-Morgan or Foggy Bottom.
Any way, I don't mean to say that DC isn't urban or big or dense. It's all of these, I just don't get as much of a vibe there as I get in some other cities. And I do think you need to take a more comprehensive view on rail transit. Subway alone doesn't tell you the extent to which a city utilizes transit. So lets chill and both enjoy living in the city we love.
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