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Why not New Orleans? It’s definitely got French heritage galore, diverse, generally low-rise and walkable, demographically diverse, and like Paris, a huge tourist destination. It obviously has no metro, a very different climate, and is much smaller. Nevertheless, you can make a case IMHO, that it is the most “Parisian” city in the U.S.
I’m not that familiar with the Canadian cities. DC really comes to mind for the architectural scale and public art, oddly angled boulevards, and political status. Paris has a better vibe, though I have always rather liked the DC metro more than most folks do.
If SF didn’t have skyscrapers, it would be a 2nd. A distant 2nd.
Here are my five for almost entirely different reasons:
Montreal Montreal is the closest match culturally. It's a major urban area dominated by charming, vibrant neighborhoods and its French influence is felt beyond the language in the food, nightlife, fashion, and in the general every day interactions. Even the metro system is similar to Paris's in that they both implement rubber tired trains. Make no mistake, Montreal is decidedly North American. But there's no major metropolitan area in North America that has more French cultural influence.
Quebec Quebec is probably the closest in terms of both language and physical appearance. It's not a perfect match for Paris, but the Old City is the most European looking place in either the U.S. or Canada. The architecture takes a lot of its cues from France, even though it's unique to Quebec and more closely resembles the villages of Brittany than Hausmann's Paris (which actually came to be after Old Quebec was built). Quebec is also smaller and much less cosmopolitan than Montreal or Paris so even though it is more predominantly Francophone than Montreal, it has much less of the big city buzz.
Washington DC In terms of urban planning, DC was literally modeled after Paris. So it has the big broad avenues, carefully placed monuments and big parks/malls. It's the only city in North America that was planned with Parisian grandeur in mind. But apart from that, nothing about DC feels like Paris apart from maybe the climate.
San Francisco This is the hardest one to explain. For anglophone cities in North America, SF strikes me as having the closest feel to Paris. The two have a ton of romance about them that I think permeates every day life a bit more than most other places. While they look nothing alike, there's something similar about sitting in a coffee shot or at a table along the sidewalk and soaking in the view and atmosphere. Food (not just restaurants) and drink (largely wine) is a bigger part of every day life in SF and Paris than your average city. Sitting on the steps at Sacre-Coeur with a bottle of wine and overlooking the city at sunset had a very similar feel to sitting on a chair in the parking lot with a glass of wine at Baker Beach. Very different views, but both places were full of people appreciating the moment in a way I haven't experienced in many other places.
New York Because of the "There" there. Both Paris and New York are among the world's most well known and visited cities. And while each of them have a series of internationally known tourist destinations, they're also massive hubs full of millions of people going about their daily lives. As someone who has visited both cities for work and pleasure, it's pretty neat to go about your daily business and catch a glimpse of the Empire State Building or the Eiffel Tower. Apart from London, I don't really know of two cities that balance the big city buzz and international tourist destination so well. And because there is so much depth in either beyond the big tourist spots, both cities are so much fun to explore. You never run out of things to see and find.
DC should be the winner here in a physical sense. MTL and QC resemble Paris in the sense that French is spoken there, but it’s like the similarity between Boston and London (not super close). They have totally different cuisines and accents/dialects beyond the simple aesthetic differences.
DC should be the winner here in a physical sense. MTL and QC resemble Paris in the sense that French is spoken there, but it’s like the similarity between Boston and London (not super close). They have totally different cuisines and accents/dialects beyond the simple aesthetic differences.
Agreed. Outside of the language thing (heck, even that, as you said, is wildly different... Think Jamaican English vs British) Montreal does not look or feel anything like Paris. It feels more like Philly/Brooklyn than anything else.
[*]San Francisco This is the hardest one to explain. For anglophone cities in North America, SF strikes me as having the closest feel to Paris. The two have a ton of romance about them that I think permeates every day life a bit more than most other places. While they look nothing alike, there's something similar about sitting in a coffee shot or at a table along the sidewalk and soaking in the view and atmosphere. Food (not just restaurants) and drink (largely wine) is a bigger part of every day life in SF and Paris than your average city. Sitting on the steps at Sacre-Coeur with a bottle of wine and overlooking the city at sunset had a very similar feel to sitting on a chair in the parking lot with a glass of wine at Baker Beach. Very different views, but both places were full of people appreciating the moment in a way I haven't experienced in many other places.
Never been to SF, but based on reputation and hearsay the similarities might run deeper:
Residents of both cities are rumored to be rather snooty and self-important. They have a long history of being radical, progressive, and artistic but in recent years they both seem to have become playgrounds for the very rich. They’ve both been torn down and rebuilt at least once. Hmm....
Yeah, I might be willing to switch my vote from DC to SF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayp1188
Mexico City resembles Paris in the sense that they both have a lot of very heavily detailed architecture. Both have very vibrant streets, beautiful churches, tons of outdoor cafes, and lots of historical sites.
^This might be the sleeper answer. I haven’t been and know little about Mexico City, but I could imagine it resembling Paris a good deal. The big difference that I imagine is the effect of gentrification: with Mexico City being relatively affordable and Paris being very expensive.
Anyone have more info on this particular comparison?
Last edited by Boston Shudra; 03-05-2020 at 03:56 PM..
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