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this thread has spun out of control! This isn't about ghettos or thuggish blacks or hip hop or how many corporations are headquartered in your city! Jesus can you people stay on topic? The OP asked which of the 4 is the most urban and the poll clearly shows it is Miami.
I have been to Atlanta many times with a friend of mine whose entire family basically moved up there to some town south of ATL in the next county. Downtown ATL is urban but I was amazed when I got to Buckhead since it was so suburban looking! It reminded me of parts of western Kendall which is a suburb about 15 miles SW of Miami.
You can go to areas like Little Havana, Coral Way, Brickell in Miami and see rows of apartment & condo blocks for miles with store fronts at the bottom at street level. That is urbanity which I barely saw anything like that in Atlanta but that has more to do with the fact that ATL's housing stock is mostly single family. In Miami more than 50% of the housing stock is multi family, even so Atlanta is still a nice city.
As for transit Miami is in the midst of expanding it's Metrorail system with the link to the airport currently under construction.
I've never been to Houston or Dallas so I can't really comment on those cities.
I think the underlying issue Mel, and I don't know what you looked like back in them days, but imagine when you were hanging out as a young'n many people probably assumed the same about you. They saw you with your boys, and imagine if they just looked at y'all and said that was a sign the neighborhoods were in decline. Most of those kids hanging out down there are just that, kids, who need something to do. Personally, we used to do the downtown thing because the midtown and Buckhead spots were all 21+. So New Year's Eve was spent multiple times going to the Undeground.
People in general have a distrust for young people simply because we're taught to be scared of young folks and think they're all up to no good, which, statistically, is very far from the case.
Granted the apprehension is a natural feeling and hard to avoid, but we all got started on this topic from you saying that the presence of "young hoodlums" was a sign of Atlanta's downfall. Certainly, it's not, as evidenced by the active nightlife that has now spread all over the city, the city of Atlanta's steady population growth, and influx of young professionals both black and white who are now finding the city more convenient than the suburbs and are steadily transforming formerly blighted neighborhoods. Secondly, those young kids are probably not hoodlums and are mostly just kids who need something to do, just like in most major cities where nightlife is geared towards 21 up crowds. It's just unfortunate that if we were to see a group of white skater kids downtown, I'm sure our immediate reaction wouldn't be that the city is in decline.
Point taken.
But back to the original argument. I don't know about Houston or Dallas but Atlanta is defintely more urban than Miami. A ten minute walk from Bay Side down Flager Street past the Federal building and you are already outside the downtown area. Miami is more of a spreadout suburb. I know I used to live there.
^ that is a joke then because if you cross the Miami River on Flagler street heading west where do you wind up? In Little Havana which is as urban a neighborhood as one can get. If you think that is suburban please explain Buckhead or that area immediately east of downtown ATL? Because it sure isn't urban!
^ that is a joke then because if you cross the Miami River on Flagler street heading west where do you wind up? In Little Havana which is as urban a neighborhood as one can get. If you think that is suburban please explain Buckhead or that area immediately east of downtown ATL? Because it sure isn't urban!
I guess our defintion of urban differs. And don't get me wrong I love Miami but my idea of urban is the hustle and bustle of a downtown area. I'm not sure what I would call the Calle Ocho/Little Havana area. I like pedestrian filled streets with shops and restauranst that are open late into the night. I found this vibe in some parts of Miami Beach.
Here is a picture of Calle Ocho the main drag in Little Havana.
Melchior ok I will give you that because after office hours Flagler street is dead whereas Little Havana is still lively with restaurants and shops. Downtown Miami after dark has to compete with South Beach which is next to impossible to do.
Melchior ok I will give you that because after office hours Flagler street is dead whereas Little Havana is still lively with restaurants and shops. Downtown Miami after dark has to compete with South Beach which is next to impossible to do.
Coconut Grove is quite lively at night too... almost rivals South Beach. At least it did when I was there. But that's what I like about Miami, so many different venues. You got Coral Gables and South Miami too.
^ that is a joke then because if you cross the Miami River on Flagler street heading west where do you wind up? In Little Havana which is as urban a neighborhood as one can get. If you think that is suburban please explain Buckhead or that area immediately east of downtown ATL? Because it sure isn't urban!
I don't think you have been to Buckhead lately.Buckhead is very dense and getting denser these days.
WIKI: In 2000, Park Avenue Condominiums upped the ante, pushing the record to 486 feet (148 m). Since that time, a wave of development has followed. Recently, the 660-foot (201 m) Sovereign and 580-foot (177 m) Mansion on Peachtree were completed in late 2008. Today, Buckhead has over 50 high-rise buildings, almost one-third of the city's total.
Buckhead:
Atlanta skyline photos are very cleverly deceptive. The city, to those who aren't familiar with it, is basically a single chain of hi-rises that stretch from downtown thru midtown and up to Buckhead. Go one or two blocks off the main drag and there are single family homes (as is evident by all those trees in the picture).
Even in between those hi-rises there is not density. The buildings are not "contiguous" one after another. It's strip malls and parking lots at ground level between all those hi-rises. How do I know? I worked in Buckhead right by Lenox. I lived off E. Paces Ferry.
Miami and Miami Beach's multi-family residences, hotels and shops that contour the canals, beaches and other topography contain a very perceptive density that Atlanta just does not possess. Atlanta and Dallas are not located or developed on major bodies of water, which greatly detract/prevent smart growth and most likely encourage sprawl.
Of the 4 cities in this poll, Miami is the most urban. Its nightlife, restaurant scene and shopping are the most evolved to a "European capital" or "Asian capital" standard of measure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by afonega1
I don't think you have been to Buckhead lately.Buckhead is very dense and getting denser these days.
WIKI: In 2000, Park Avenue Condominiums upped the ante, pushing the record to 486 feet (148 m). Since that time, a wave of development has followed. Recently, the 660-foot (201 m) Sovereign and 580-foot (177 m) Mansion on Peachtree were completed in late 2008. Today, Buckhead has over 50 high-rise buildings, almost one-third of the city's total.
Buckhead:
^ back2dc and that is why I said Buckhead reminds me of West Kendall in Miami where you have tall buildings but a couple of blocks away you have single family homes. For those not familiar with it, it's on the fringes of the Urban Development Boundary Line which is where the water conservation areas of the Everglades begins.
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