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Old 03-26-2012, 04:37 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,852,610 times
Reputation: 11862

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What major cities have their downtown right on the coast? Either the ocean, or a bay? Not a city which has a downtown say 10 miles from the coast connected by a river, like most cities in the US 'on the coast.' Nor cities which have city limits fronting the coast, but where the downtown is some distance away.

The ones I can think of include:

San Diego
San Francisco
Long Beach
Santa Monica
Miami
Miami Beach
West Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale
Coral Cables
Tampa
Virginia Beach
New Haven
Boston
Portland, ME
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Old 03-26-2012, 05:23 AM
 
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,730 posts, read 23,683,846 times
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Seattle, not on the waves and surf of the Pacific but Puget Sound is a very large body of salt water with rising and receding tides so it qualifies as coastal.

Atlantic City although not major, it certainly has notoriety.

Jacksonville, FL is on the Atlantic.
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Old 03-26-2012, 05:41 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,852,610 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by caphillsea77 View Post
Seattle, not on the waves and surf of the Pacific but Puget Sound is a very large body of salt water with rising and receding tides so it qualifies as coastal.

Atlantic City although not major, it certainly has notoriety.

Jacksonville, FL is on the Atlantic.
Jacksonville looks like it's at least 20 km from the coast.
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Old 03-26-2012, 05:43 AM
 
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,730 posts, read 23,683,846 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
Jacksonville looks like it's at least 20 km from the coast.
it's city limits stretch all the way to the beaches. Though it's like Perth in a sense that the center city is up river a little ways, but its a tidal one.
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Old 03-26-2012, 05:52 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,852,610 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by caphillsea77 View Post
it's city limits stretch all the way to the beaches. Though it's like Perth in a sense that the center city is up river a little ways, but its a tidal one.
I excluded such cities in the OP. If that were the case, you'd have to include many cities such as LA and NY.
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Old 03-26-2012, 07:00 AM
 
Location: Metro Phoenix
11,048 posts, read 16,785,073 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
I excluded such cities in the OP. If that were the case, you'd have to include many cities such as LA and NY.
Seattle and SF, both, are tricky by this criteria.

1) San Francisco's most desnse, tall, downtown core (Financial District, Union Square, Chinatown, SOMA) are actually on the Eastern shore. From the Cliff House on SF's Western Shore, in the Seacliff neighborhood, to the Hyatt Regency in SF's Financial District on SF's Western shore is about an even 7 miles, so while it does match your criteria in that it's within 10 miles of the ocean, it's on the Eastern side of the peninsula and its shoreline is on a bay that is fed from the ocean, and San Francisco does not have a major civilian port on either its Western (Pacific) or Eastern (Bay) shore.

2) The Puget Sound is an inlet from the Pacific Ocean, which is over 100 miles away via boat. Before one of our favorite angsty, condescending Seattle boosters weighs in on the fact that the Puget Sound is, indeed, the Pacific Ocean and that you're utter BS for thinking anything err of this fact, it's still over a hundred miles away from open ocean and the fact that various ferries (WA State, Victoria Clipper) that run the Puget Sound are not authorized to go out on the open ocean tells you something. Regardless, Seattle has a major regional port in its urban borders, and major cargo ships from all over the world come to offload their cargo there.

By my definition, both cities are "coastal" cities, with caveats.

Carry on!
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Old 03-26-2012, 07:58 AM
 
Location: South Beach and DT Raleigh
13,966 posts, read 24,049,927 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
What major cities have their downtown right on the coast? Either the ocean, or a bay? Not a city which has a downtown say 10 miles from the coast connected by a river, like most cities in the US 'on the coast.' Nor cities which have city limits fronting the coast, but where the downtown is some distance away.

The ones I can think of include:

San Diego
San Francisco
Long Beach
Santa Monica
Miami
Miami Beach
West Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale
Coral Cables
Tampa
Virginia Beach
New Haven
Boston
Portland, ME
These are two different cities in completely different counties. That said, Ft Lauderdale's DT is not ocean front or bay front. It's a couple of miles inland but has a riverfront downtown. West Palm Beach fronts Lake Worth Lagoon. I'm not sure if that qualifies based on your criteria. Technically, Miami Beach's official "downtown" is a few blocks inland. Hotels and condos line both the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. I'd keep Miami proper on the list though as its waterfront is a mixer or public and private development and more truly reflects the idea of a DT.
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Old 03-26-2012, 08:05 AM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,639 posts, read 67,246,292 times
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Honolulu is definitely right on the coast.
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Old 03-26-2012, 08:16 AM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,639 posts, read 67,246,292 times
Reputation: 21179
Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k View Post
Seattle and SF, both, are tricky by this criteria.

1) San Francisco's most desnse, tall, downtown core (Financial District, Union Square, Chinatown, SOMA) are actually on the Eastern shore. From the Cliff House on SF's Western Shore, in the Seacliff neighborhood, to the Hyatt Regency in SF's Financial District on SF's Western shore is about an even 7 miles, so while it does match your criteria in that it's within 10 miles of the ocean, it's on the Eastern side of the peninsula and its shoreline is on a bay that is fed from the ocean, and San Francisco does not have a major civilian port on either its Western (Pacific) or Eastern (Bay) shore.

2) The Puget Sound is an inlet from the Pacific Ocean, which is over 100 miles away via boat. Before one of our favorite angsty, condescending Seattle boosters weighs in on the fact that the Puget Sound is, indeed, the Pacific Ocean and that you're utter BS for thinking anything err of this fact, it's still over a hundred miles away from open ocean and the fact that various ferries (WA State, Victoria Clipper) that run the Puget Sound are not authorized to go out on the open ocean tells you something. Regardless, Seattle has a major regional port in its urban borders, and major cargo ships from all over the world come to offload their cargo there.

By my definition, both cities are "coastal" cities, with caveats.

Carry on!
Um, there is no asterisk about the fact that SF is right on the coast---downtown is only 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Is the city 'ocean-oriented' with a strong 'beach culture'? Not as much as LA and SD, but the city is definitely on the coast.
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Old 03-26-2012, 08:17 AM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
1,388 posts, read 2,376,049 times
Reputation: 993
Tampa is not on the coast. It sits on the confluence of the 2 bays that form Tampa Bay.

You're thinking of Clearwater or St. Pete.
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