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.
DeaconJ: Let me quote what I said: "here are some of my favorite neighborhoods/cities/districts in the US that meet the criteria expressed in this thread." I understand that there are other neighborhoods that meet the criteria of this thread that I didn't list.. but since we're on the topic, why don't you go ahead and list them?
I didn't forget anywhere in Atlanta, it's just that nowhere in the Atlanta area breaks the top 20 urban neighborhoods in the country, in my opinion. Sure, Virginia-Highland is nice, but it is pretty tiny in size and really doesn't have that many restaurants/stores. Midtown also has some street life, but even that seems a bit car-oriented to me. For Atlanta, it's a great neighborhood but it has a long way to go (and I understand it's getting better) before it can really compete with the level of walkability and street life that people in certain neighborhoods of New York, Boston, and San Francisco enjoy. With that said, if I had to move to Atlanta, I would pretty much exclusively look to the area between Midtown and Decatur. Even most of the City of Atlanta is too low-density, suburban, and auto-oriented for me... and forget about "outside of the perimeter"!
Last edited by Marlin331; 01-31-2009 at 06:54 PM..
[SIZE=2]AtlantaATL: interesting about atlanta. I'll keep that in mind.
crisp444: you know what I'm talking about! Excellent list, thank you so much. I am familiar with two of the neighborhoods on your list, and whenever I think of "street life" these are the first that come to mind: I stayed in Brookline, MA, several years ago for five days. I liked it a lot. It had a vibrance and feel to it. And I'm quite familiar with Greenwich Village and the DeKalb/Fulton/Fort Greene area of Brooklyn.
jtur88: well, interesting what you say about Canada. Yes, I've been to Vancouver and definitely thought it was better than most US cities in this regard.
[/SIZE]
And though I know this isn't in the United States... I just have to post some pictures of MADRID so that some of you can see the fanstastic built landscape of which the original poster speaks!
Nice list, crisp. I'd add a couple to San Francisco that I have spent time in: North Beach & Tendernob.
Nothing much here in Mpls/St Paul that can compare. About the best we can come up with is Uptown, Minneapolis. I live in Highland Park, St. Paul, and within about a half mile of my house there are numerous restaurants (everything from chains to upscale to mom & pop), 2 taverns, a movie theater numerous small shops of all sorts, medical and dental clinics, banks, 4 coffee shops , a Catholic church, an Episcopalian church, 2 synagogues, a 24 hour pharmacy and transit service that runs 21 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not by any means lively (mostly families, elderly Jews and a few college students), but is defintely walkable!
Parts of downtown Los Angeles at times (tons of shopping, but increasing residential population, too)
Boyle Heights, LA, CA
Hollywood, CA (a neighborhood in it's own right, beyond the tourist stuff)
Too many NYC neighborhoods to mention
Northampton, MA
Georgetown, DC
Cleveland Park, DC (low-key, but nice blend of places. Wide streets, shops, restaurants and delis with patios, etc.)
Dupont Circle, DC (tons of restaurants, shops, and of course the circle itself!)
Uptown, Minneapolis, MN
Inner and Central Richmond, San Francisco (not on the tourist path, but packed with people out walking, shopping, hanging out, eating dim sum, etc.)
Old Town, Pasadena, CA
I would think we're avoiding downtowns or large business districts, correct?
Those are busy in most cities, but it's not really a neighborhood with "real" street traffic. It's people coming and going to jobs. Commuting.
Also you can't really count pictures of some street festival. I could post a picture of a small town in Nebraska having their annual festival and call it "amazing street life"
Elmwood Village, in Buffalo - thousands upon thousands of visitors, citizens, locals, and tourists walk the beautiful lively streets everyday. - The Elmwood Village in Buffalo, NY was voted the 3rd best urban neighborhood in the country!
Sure, Virginia-Highland is nice, but it is pretty tiny in size and really doesn't have that many restaurants/stores.
I guess tiny is relative, but 35 restaurants/bars/coffee shops and over 40 retail outlets is anything but tiny in most peoples minds.
You must have only seen a small corner of the neighborhood. You do realize that this is an old streetcar suburb? The commercial district of this neighborhood is split into three different nodes.
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.
, a Catholic church, an Episcopalian church, 2 synagogues, a 24 hour pharmacy and transit service that runs 21 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not by any means lively (mostly families, elderly Jews and a few college students), but is defintely walkable!
