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It depends what you call "downtown." Downtown Vancouver is pretty boring too if you define it as the office core. If you define it more broadly it has great 18-hour-plus districts all around. I typically say "greater Downtown" to leave that open.
Residential density is a huge factor. Vancouver probably exceeds 50,000 per square mile over several square miles. I tallied Seattle census tracts and get residential densities of 31,317 over 2.71 square miles (84,971 people) and 27,647 over 4.76 square miles (131,507 people). That's half again what we had in 2010 but still a ways behind. SF, Boston, Philly, and Chicago would compare better.
When someone in Vancouver says they are going downtown, they mean any neighbourhood that is on the downtown peninsula.
Realtors, city planners etc may define it differently, but common usage means the above. For example, someone living in the west end of Vancouver, would find it odd if they were told they don't live downtown.
For those who don't know Vancouver, the west end is not to be confused with the westside, or West Vancouver.
Since this conversation came from a talk about Downtown LA, I think it should be noted that downtown LA hasn’t been a “destination” since the 1960s and up until recently wasn’t a super desirable area of the city. Even today there are plenty of half-vacant buildings and it dissipates into Skid Row. So Los Angeles is a more extreme example of a city that doesn’t/didn’t have its downtown as a destination. The area is quickly changing though and it’s seen many of the vacant/abandoned buildings in its downtown renovated and a lot of new construction in general has brought new life in the area.
In general, due to urban renewal, white flight, suburbanization, downtowns in the USA, which were already pretty shabby by World War 2, lost a lot of their appeal. Downtown areas in the USA generally hit their low-point around 1990 but since then, and at a increasing pace, pretty much all downtown areas of metros with 500,000 plus people have seen large scale revival as places to visit and live, with a couple of exceptions of course, and Downtown LA has been a bit slower in this trend, partially because the high-activity areas of the city are spread out to many different neighborhoods.
I actually thought Phoenix's downtown wasn't horrible. It's not great, not a destination by any means, but it has the light rail, the Arizona Center, a few museums, some cool sculptures, a fair amount of people walking around even on the weekend. Nice consistent desert aesthetic too (though Albuquerque does it better). If the Roosevelt Arts District counts as part of downtown --- which I feel like it does, since it's inside the freeway loop --- then that also adds a lot. It was more the neighborhoods where Phoenix disappointed me.
quite a few missing here... Savannah, Charleston, etc
eh, I've been to both. Great small cities that have a good tourist flow. I adore Charleston.
For their size, they are bustling, and vibrant. But they are also very slow, historic and "sleepy" southern cities, that's part of their charm.
I'm on the fence about including them. Because then I feel like you'd have to include busy tourist cities like Myrtle Beach, Daytona Beach, Santa Barbara, Atlantic City, Reno, Gatlinburg, Ocean City, Branson, etc....although Savannah and Charleston are much larger than all these.
I actually thought Phoenix's downtown wasn't horrible. It's not great, not a destination by any means, but it has the light rail, the Arizona Center, a few museums, some cool sculptures, a fair amount of people walking around even on the weekend. Nice consistent desert aesthetic too (though Albuquerque does it better). If the Roosevelt Arts District counts as part of downtown --- which I feel like it does, since it's inside the freeway loop --- then that also adds a lot. It was more the neighborhoods where Phoenix disappointed me.
It's come a long way in the past 20 years. It has good bones, and good potential.
Problem is, it's just mostly sparse with people, and just plain dead in many areas. Way, way too quiet.
I think it will continue to grow, but it needs density--and more people living there, working there and visiting there--to fill up the quiet streets.
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