Which city is more lively AND more urban? Tokyo versus Paris (neighborhood, restaurants)

[grapico]

Originally Posted by Minato ku

Still Paris is a very busy and intense even if the beauty tend to overlook that makes some people a bit blind.
The quaint Paris (of the movies) exists only in little number of district.

Anyway compared with the world's biggest city, obviously Paris will be less hyperbusy.
On the other hand, it is easier to find very quiet areas near hyper dense/busy central hubs in Tokyo than in Paris.
In Tokyo, you don't need to go far of the famous crosswalk of Shibuya to be in single familly house dominated area with no one around.
In Paris, those kind of areas would be further in suburbs. Paris is more like Manhattan with high density everywhere.

The overall winner would be Tokyo because there are no place as busy as Shinjuku station or Shibuya crossing (famous examples) in Paris.

To me Paris is noticeably less busy than Manhattan or even other areas of NYC in terms of people out, crowding at shops, etc. Never been to Tokyo.

[Minato ku]

Manhattan maybe but not the other areas.
When have you been in Paris?

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Minato ku

Manhattan maybe but not the other areas.
When have you been in Paris?

Parts of Northern Brooklyn have basically become an expansion of Manhattan at this point which I'm guessing is what he's talking about. That and maybe some parts of Northeastern Brooklyn. These are a pretty small portion of Brooklyn, though they do get a lot more press and attention.

[Minato ku]

Do not underestimate the busyness of Paris, the media tend to diminish this (A busy Paris is not romantic enough for the media).

[grapico]

Originally Posted by Minato ku

Manhattan maybe but not the other areas.
When have you been in Paris?

There are areas in BK and Queens that are just as busy as Paris. Flushing in particular is very busy. I've been to Paris twice and lived there short term in summer of 2005. I can't imagine dramatic changes since then. I know it's busy, but NYC is busy in quite a few areas, not just Manhattan.

[Minato ku]

But Flushing is just a district and it is mostly busy around the subway station, the rest around are quiet medium density residential street.
Flushing main street is busier than many streets in Manhattan but you can't say that Queens is busier than Manhattan just because of this fact.
You need to see the area as whole.

Anyway I will not argue that Paris is as busy as Manhattan but it is definitely busier than the other boroughs.

Note that summer is usually the least busy part of the year in Paris.
It is pretty famous that Paris almost shut down in summer.
No traffic, much fewer people in most of the streets, the only places where we may see more people than usual are just next to monuments because of leisure tourists but the rest of the city is pretty empty.
Even the Champs Elysées is emptier in summer (less office workers, less commuterss, less suburban shoppers).

[grapico]

Originally Posted by Minato ku

But Flushing is just a district and it is mostly busy around the subway station, the rest around are quiet medium density residential street.
Flushing main street is busier than many streets in Manhattan but you can't say that Queens is busier than Manhattan just because of this fact.
You need to see the area as whole.

Anyway I will not argue that Paris is as busy as Manhattan but it is definitely busier than the other boroughs.

Note that summer is usually the least busy part of the year in Paris.
It is pretty famous that Paris almost shut down in summer.
No traffic, much fewer people in most of the streets, the only places where we may see more people than usual are just next to monuments because of leisure tourists but the rest of the city is pretty empty.
Even the Champs Elysées is emptier in summer (less office workers, less commuterss, less suburban shoppers).

So Paris is shut down the whole summer? Could have fooled me. I've been there another time of year also and have been there on Bastille Day and for the Tour de France, all super busy crowded events. Don't get me wrong, Paris is one of the busiest cities in the world I'd just put it below NYC business. The pace of the people is a little different also. I was only saying *parts* of the outer boroughs maintain business, you don't go into no-man's land after Manhattan.

[Minato ku]

Yes from mid July and the whole month of August, the normal city activity level is only back in September (la rentrée as we call it).
There are less traffic, less people in the streets, subway is nowhere as busy as the rest of the year.
The transportation frequencies are lowered, the hotels occupation rate are lowest of the year (much less business visitors than the rest of the year).
Many business are closed and office buildings are half empty.

[nei]

It appears Paris has a higher residential density in its center. For example, I don't think Tokyo has any neighborhoods nearly as dense as this:

11th arrondissement of Paris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the densest neighborhoods in Tokyo look about half the density:

Toshima, Tokyo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[didn't check all of them, but I couldn't find any]

[The Postman]

I think Paris seems less dense than Tokyo because it doesn't have as many high-rises.