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Once again, we resort to the Broad Brush approach. Do you have any clue whatsoever what is going on in the downtowns of these cities? Thought not.
I am quite familiar with Atlanta and Houston. Particularly because I have family in both and I like Atlanta a lot, not so much Houston.
But anything close to resembling a “fully functioning downtown” it is not. Its simply not. Does downtown Atlanta even have a real grocery store? That’s as basic as it gets. Are there many clothing stores? Another basic. DC has like 4 or 5 H&Ms alone. Not that I particularly care for it, but the downtown area of DC along with a few other American cities are, really the only fully functional downtowns.
Atlanta is great for what it is. Live in a skyscraper there. Nice bars. Some urban parks a few attractions and stadiums. It’s cute. It’s lovely. But that’s pretty much the extent of it. And I can pretty much imagine everyone is going to Claim their city too is fully functional downtown or getting there because they have a publix or an urban target coming or whatever. That’s just not how most American cities are. Particularly the south.
For what it’s worth, I absolutely loved living in Charlotte and spent all my time in Center city. Got a Whole Foods uptown, very nice and clean and always had a lot of fun. So I’m not saying it’s bad to not be a “fully functional downtown” like the very few American cities that are. It’s just the way most US cities are built. Unlike Europe and Brazil and I imagine other countries
Last edited by Charlotte485; 10-11-2018 at 08:18 PM..
I live and have worked in a medium sized college town. Population 65,000 - student population ~12,000-~15,000. DT is two miles from the university. The downtown was an afterthought when I was in college ten years ago. There was almost nothing down there.
Today it has four breweries (two more to open), a soda bar (lol, but it does good business), a Cuban restaurant, a top flight BBQ restaurant by TN standards, a sushi place, a hookah bar, three taco places, a German restaurant, two pizzerias, a late night, locally owned, greasy spoon, a yogurt shop, a blow dry, a martial arts academy, a22n NY style deli, a bar with twenty taps that also has a retail beer front, two coffee shops, two bars that mainly serve as concert venues. That's just what I can think of.
There are quite a few apartments in the downtown. IMO, I would not live down there due to an active rail line which bisects the downtown - how can you sleep with Norfolk Southern rolling by three times a night? There isn't a grocery store in the immediate downtown, but it doesn't need it, and there is a full service grocer within a mile. There is a gas station on the downtown periphery.
A lot of buildings are still vacant, but this place is being gentrified. Five years ago, I'd have never thought it would be where it is today. In five more years, I'm sure it will be better than I think today.
DC has a complete and functioning “downtown” which I consider a large portion of DC to be “downtown.” Not just the literal area called downtown.
And no. Atlanta, Denver, Houston and many, many other cities already being mentioned are not close to being “full and functional” by any stretch of the imagination.
Interesting comment. So which portions of DC do you NOT consider downtown?
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Originally Posted by mhays25
DC and LA are both examples of downtowns that don't do all the downtown-type stuff.
And both combined are growing far more slowly than greater Downtown Seattle by itself.
Ironcouger I'd add Philly. It's another slow-grower (not by its standards, but vs. the really fast-growing cities). but it's very cohesive and is probably #1 in walking environment.
Downtown DC crushes DTLA, and checks all "downtown" boxes. First of all its larger than all these downtowns in this thread other than Manhattan and Chicago. It checks boxes in everything imaginable, foot traffic, five star restaurants, high end retail, mid level retail, world class transit, bike lanes etc, 2nd busiest DT Amtrak station in the US, convention space, major stadiums, more downtown hotel rooms than any of the big cities not name NY or Chicago, and the best collection of museums in the country.
DC has a Manhattan style rush hour (albeit smaller scale), that I have experienced in none of the other cities being discussed including Boston and Philadelphia, their rush hours pale in comparison to Washington DC. In 2018 DC is also very much a weekend and after hours downtown compared to how it used to be. Now some people will point out on occasion there are dead pockets of DTDC and that may be the case in front of buildings in certain "parts" of the downtown that frankly weren't created for much activity due to a government building taking up the block. But don't get it twisted into think that even half the Downtown is like that. It's practically full and there is very little space to build new buildings anymore, surface parking is almost non existent. DC is an active vibrant downtown, with wall to wall retail on practically every street corner and no gaps.
With that said I've been to cities across the world and compared to many of them DC's downtown would be considered merely average, as would Seattle.
Also DC's downtown has been the fastest growing and most changed on the East Coast the past 15-20 years. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from or if you are just going by the past 4 years. DC is probably the only EC city that rivals Seattle like growth with how many cranes cover the skyline, although Seattle has been the fastest of any major city in the country overall. DC is in a completely different league from DTLA however.
Last edited by the resident09; 10-11-2018 at 10:05 PM..
DC is probably the only EC city that rivals Seattle like growth with how many cranes cover the skyline, although Seattle has been the fastest of any major city in the country overall. DC is in a completely different league from DTLA however.
I would rank them NYC, Chicago, SF, Boston/Philly as I can't decide which is higher DC/LA/Seattle all are in the same league to me so the first five would be the most functional, but I couldn't say they are the only functional downtowns in the US.
I live in LA, and love DTLA, but can understand why its not top 5 there's so much more than downtown across LA, Koreatown feels alot like a downtown, Hollywood, and Santa Monica all have heavy foot traffic like a downtown. Century City looks a lot like a downtown, but is very clean, and with very little foot traffic. All along Wilshire Blvd feels like a 12 mile extension of downtown and they're so many places in LA in winch combined explain why the second largest city in the US, doesn't have a downtown to represent its size. I guess this can be attributed to the size, and the age of the city, but things are definitely on the come up so in ten years I foresee it entering the top 5.
Many of the cities with more "functioning" downtown don't have all that much going outside of the center of the cities.
The Manhattan skyline literally changes by the day. 1 block in every direction from my apt in Flat Iron there are cranes and towers going up.
DC is of course booming, but no more or less than any other major US city. Philadelphia is booming with development (there is just a lot more ground to make up).
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Originally Posted by jjv007
Umm...NYC in cranes??
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Originally Posted by cpomp
I know right?? DC boosterism at its finest.
The Manhattan skyline literally changes by the day. 1 block in every direction from my apt in Flat Iron there are cranes and towers going up.
DC is of course booming, but no more or less than any other major US city. Philadelphia is booming with development (there is just a lot more ground to make up).
I should have said as a percentage of the population, everyone knows about NYC's constant cranes, nonetheless:
That’s not a real grocery store. Grocery stores don’t close at 6pm and 5pm on Sunday. So I just have a problem claiming a downtown is fully functional yet doesn’t even have a single grocery store....
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