Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am curious which parts of downtown Seattle you feel to be "restricted"? Are you counting the ship yards and SODO (south of the stadiums) as part of downtown? I can't think of any weird industrial areas myself. First Hill, Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, Belltown, and to a lesser degree Queen Anne are all directly connected to downtown. Portland doesn't have as much commerce going on downtown, the blocks are smaller, and its much flatter than Seattle, so it does give it a different vibe, but I wouldn't necessarily call it more urban than Seattle.
I stayed in the "Denny Triangle" when I was last in Seattle (quite a few years ago now admittedly) because the hotels there are so much cheaper than they are a few blocks further South. It was a pretty nasty and unsightly area to be honest. At least at the time.
I stayed in the "Denny Triangle" when I was last in Seattle (quite a few years ago now admittedly) because the hotels there are so much cheaper than they are a few blocks further South. It was a pretty nasty and unsightly area to be honest. At least at the time.
The Denny Triangle is finally starting to change, which isn't surprising since development in South Lake Union has exploded recently. There are a couple of big projects (including 3 amazon skyscrapers with tons of restaurant/retail space) that will completely transform the area within the next few years.
Given that I'm much more familiar with Portland's ... of course, I'm prejudiced. Seattle is a great city. And it's without doubt a bigger, and more urbane, city that Portland is. And its economy and job prospects are much better (though that makes its COL higher). I've spent quite a bit of time there ... in the past. Downtown. Used to train up a lot for long weekends, but stopped going. So my comments are probably outdated, and things may have changed.
What I don't like about Seattle's downtown that doesn't apply to Portland's is ...
I hated how the downtown area cleared out after the workday ended. Nobody much on the streets, and not much going on. The things to do and places to go in the downtown area were really cut off from one another. The market was cut-off from downtown by a scummy area, that didn't make walking through it much fun. The market (and downtown) are cut-off from the waterfront by the geography of that huge bluff, and that awful viaduct. Pioneer Square is cut-off from downtown by a bunch of nondescript commercial buildings, with nothing to draw anyone there. I guess, at least, Seattle Center has the monorail that will take you over the uninteresting areas that separate it from downtown proper. The downtown areas just don't flow from one area into another well. IMO. And what it's really lacking is any greenspace. It's just not a very inviting downtown. Not somewhere I wanted to go, walk around, and hang out.
Given that I'm much more familiar with Portland's ... of course, I'm prejudiced. Seattle is a great city. And it's without doubt a bigger, and more urbane, city that Portland is. And its economy and job prospects are much better (though that makes its COL higher). I've spent quite a bit of time there ... in the past. Downtown. Used to train up a lot for long weekends, but stopped going. So my comments are probably outdated, and things may have changed.
What I don't like about Seattle's downtown that doesn't apply to Portland's is ...
I hated how the downtown area cleared out after the workday ended. Nobody much on the streets, and not much going on. The things to do and places to go in the downtown area were really cut off from one another. The market was cut-off from downtown by a scummy area, that didn't make walking through it much fun. The market (and downtown) are cut-off from the waterfront by the geography of that huge bluff, and that awful viaduct. Pioneer Square is cut-off from downtown by a bunch of nondescript commercial buildings, with nothing to draw anyone there. I guess, at least, Seattle Center has the monorail that will take you over the uninteresting areas that separate it from downtown proper. The downtown areas just don't flow from one area into another well. IMO. And what it's really lacking is any greenspace. It's just not a very inviting downtown. Not somewhere I wanted to go, walk around, and hang out.
Those are fair points about Seattle's downtown, but much of that is starting to or has already changed. There is now much more activity throughout Downtown Seattle, not just in the main nodes of activity. Also, within a few years the viaduct is being torn down and the waterfront is being re-built in a way that will make it much more accessible throughout Downtown.
A few new activity centers, including South Lake Union and (in the not too distant future) Denny Triangle and SODO will only serve to expand Downtown Seattle's reach. Not to mention, there are other efforts to improve connectivity to adjacent neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and Queen Anne.
I don't think Downtown Seattle will ever be the uber-pedestrian-friendly, cohesive, seamless experience that Downtown Portland and adjacent areas is. This is partly due to urban design, but also because Seattle's downtown area is much bigger and encompasses a lot more distinct sections. It's a bit more of a collage, so to speak. I believe once South Lake Union, Denny Triangle, and SODO are more developed, and as the areas between the more developed nodes become more activated, Seattle will be up there in the discussion as having one of the biggest and best downtown areas in the country. Those trends are seemingly already underway, so it should be interesting to watch in the coming years.
Location: Orange County California, but potentially moving to Charlotte or Dallas
6 posts, read 5,833 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbancharlotte
I was going to use the same example (Charlotte and Atlanta). Just one visit to both cities and it is easy to see that Atlanta is MUCH larger. The same goes for Portland and Seattle. Sorry Portland people, but Seattle is much larger. I have seen Portland and Seattle in person. It is what it is.
Actually the Seattle area has about 3.5 million people and Portland has slightly under 3 million people. they have more in common than they are different and if one is "top tier" (which really who gives a ****) the other is too as far as I'm concerned. So its a different situation. also they're on par with eachother economically believe it or not.
Actually the Seattle area has about 3.5 million people and Portland has slightly under 3 million people. they have more in common than they are different and if one is "top tier" (which really who gives a ****) the other is too as far as I'm concerned. So its a different situation. also they're on par with eachother economically believe it or not.
No Idk where you got your information? Seattle's metro is 3.9 million as of 2012 estimate while Portland's is estimated at 2.3 million. Also Seatt;e's GDP is over 240 Billion while portland's GDP is still under 150 billion. Pretty get gap.
Location: Orange County California, but potentially moving to Charlotte or Dallas
6 posts, read 5,833 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by brandonlee206
Are you kidding around with this thread or are you serious? Seattle is a top tier city with big business and serious buildings and major tunnels and digs and viaducts and waterfront tourism and ships and a huge port and ferry systems and freeway interchanges and everything else a major city has.
Portland is smaller, less commerce, not many skyscrpaers and barely a mid-tier city with a local appeal. Portland's downtown is walkable because its small and you can walk from one side to the next in a half hour (ever been to Austin?). Overall comparing downtown Tacoma or Bellevue (size-wise) may be more apples to apples than comparing that little hippie commune you call Ptown to our Emerald City.
And yes, I live in Seattle and spent 3+ years in Portland at PSU and working downtown on 5th and Main.
Portland has the same number of fortune 1000 companies as seattle and isn't much smaller. and neither city is even close to NYC, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston or Boston. those are the real top tier cities in the US and frankly having lived in the pacific NW I think Vancouver is the best run and most economically important in the region
Location: Orange County California, but potentially moving to Charlotte or Dallas
6 posts, read 5,833 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by DevanXL
No Idk where you got your information? Seattle's metro is 3.9 million as of 2012 estimate while Portland's is estimated at 2.3 million. Also Seatt;e's GDP is over 240 Billion while portland's GDP is still under 150 billion. Pretty get gap.
I work for a health management firm and we do some demographic data with the us census bureau and we consider the portland area everything from longview to salem which has just under 3 million people both longview and salem are considered independent areas by the us census but from a practical standpoint it can be considered part of the portland area and consider seattle to be king county, snohomish county and pierce county. which is about 3.5 million people. I don't know about the GDP and that seems like it could be right. i believe though that both cities could do better when it comes to business
I work for a health management firm and we do some demographic data with the us census bureau and we consider the portland area everything from longview to salem which has just under 3 million people both longview and salem are considered independent areas by the us census but from a practical standpoint it can be considered part of the portland area and consider seattle to be king county, snohomish county and pierce county. which is about 3.5 million people. I don't know about the GDP and that seems like it could be right. i believe though that both cities could do better when it comes to business
Seattle is ranked 11th in GDP in the US so I think it's doing fine. Especially for it's size. Ofcourse all Metros could do better if you wanna think like that.
Portland has the same number of fortune 1000 companies as seattle and isn't much smaller. and neither city is even close to NYC, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston or Boston. those are the real top tier cities in the US and frankly having lived in the pacific NW I think Vancouver is the best run and most economically important in the region
Actually portland only has 2 fortune 500 companies while Seattle has 8. Vancouver has a smaller GDP then both Portland and Seattle. Vancouver is based all of Tourism and Public sector. Have no idea why you think Vancouver is an economic back bone. Seattle has almost the same GDP as Toronto.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
