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This seems pretty accurate. Here are some things in reverse order:
KC: Country Club Plaza, and the areas near it to the north, are vibrant, attractive (both architecturally and high-end shopping-wise), dense (lots of mid and high-rise apts dotting the area) and interesting. Few cities have anything quite like it... Downtown looks nice but, my understanding is, it's kind of tired. The Truman sports complex was a bastard child of the freeway 1970s and really robs downtown/inner core KC of a lot of vibrancy. I wouldn't be surprised if the Royals relocate downtown to a retro baseball park within the next 5-10 years.
Dead on re St. Louis. I really enjoyed it my first visit last summer, but was only there a weekend and only visited downtown, Delmar Loop and CWE, the latter 2 of which really impressed... Downtown has loads of potential but seemed dead aside from the Arch area and a few interesting nodes along Washington St. Saturday night, there's apparently a concert stage in a warehouse-y area just west of Busch Stadium that was buzzing along with a few nearby bars. But that was pretty much it...
Baltimore has a slew of issues these days, but it's far from dead, in part because of its Northeast Corridor location as well as its historic, dense rowhouses and other cool old architecture which will always keep it interesting to a degree. Like a lot of big cities, most of them really, B-More has a bunch of nodes. In addition to those you listed, the old rowhouse-y Canton neighborhood, just east of Fells Point, is really hot right now.
But Harborplace is struggling for a host of reasons and the racial separation/tension is real and hurting things. Frankly, not-unlike the recent move on a similar venue in Jacksonville, I expect Haborplace to be demolished and replaced within the next few years. It had a great run but was born in an era where cutesie indoor malls were the thing. Its a touristy place that really has little reflection on all that makes Baltimore unique and interesting. Harborplace will likely be replaced by the more recent trend of what has been successfully built down the road at East Harbor and what's in its infancy in Cleveland: the Flats (esp East Bank) with mixed use venues of apts and hotels over retail along a boardwalk with some free standing restaurants and clubs mixed in. As with Cleveland's Flats, Baltimore Harbor has the water and the boats, which will always keep it unique and interesting, so if/when Harborplace meets the wrecking ball, its replacement has every reason to succeed.
What really helps Baltimore is despite is decline it is still one of the densest cities in the country. It’s anout 50% Denser than St Louis, Cleveland and Detroit for example
What really helps Baltimore is despite is decline it is still one of the densest cities in the country. It’s anout 50% Denser than St Louis, Cleveland and Detroit for example
Baltimore will turn around it’s just kinda in its own way right now. But the density definitely can’t be denied, you feel it from a street level.
Speaking of Canton, it feels like it’s turning into a mini DC right now. Apartment building after apartment building and there planning on building high-rises on the waterfront as well
Baltimore will turn around it’s just kinda in its own way right now. But the density definitely can’t be denied, you feel it from a street level.
Speaking of Canton, it feels like it’s turning into a mini DC right now. Apartment building after apartment building and there planning on building high-rises on the waterfront as well
I really like Canton. It's a Baltimore "it" neighborhood that, ironically, a lot of visitors know little or nothing about -- and residents seem to want to keep it that way... It's definitely growing strong along Boston St/waterfront with tons of new apt/condo construction, but I really like the vibe of the old interior. It's vibrant, cool and much more laid back than its always intense/trendy neighbor: Fells Point.
What's the bottom tier of major cities by how big, urban, and active their downtowns are for the metro area size? This excludes huge sprawl-burbs like Frisco, TX and Henderson, NV.
I'm nominating San Bernardino, Jacksonville, and Phoenix.
What's the bottom tier of major cities by how big, urban, and active their downtowns are for the metro area size? This excludes huge sprawl-burbs like Frisco, TX and Henderson, NV.
I'm nominating San Bernardino, Jacksonville, and Phoenix.
Jacksonville doesn't belong in this category. It's not even a 3rd the size of these other two, but arguably has the strongest core. Not sure where you get this impression if not for too heavily weighting city-data rhetoric, in place of an in person experience. It's position on the St. John's River gives it a picturesque quality and vibe that these other two cities cannot have. For a 1.5 million metro it's right about where it should be. Perhaps even a little ahead when you consider it's core spills on to three different banks of the St. Johns River.
I'd also challenge including San Bernadino in this. The Inland Empire is a parasitic fraud metro area. It does not exist if it were not an immediate satellite to LA. Suburbs that have been statistically separated from a parent metro should never be recognized as a legitimate independent metro. Let alone a 4 million+ metro.
Agreed on secondary metros (parasitic?). San Bernadino, San Jose, Nassau/Suffolk and the Jerseys... Those lack strong cores because their core cities serve that role to some varied extent.
Same within metros...Tacoma's core is smaller because it's in Seattle's influence, for example with much of its white collar jobs up north.
Aren't the cities whose downtown does not match the size of the city, newer cities built after the age of downtown? Which would be cities that came into their own after the fifties.
You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. For example, Minneapolis and St. Paul are two separate cities with very different downtown areas. Also, Charlotte has no business being listed along with some of those cities you listed as being "mediocre". Consider the shopping options downtown Minneapolis has compared to downtown (uptown) Charlotte. There's no comparison as Minneapolis has stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks, Macy's, Target, Banana Republic, Barnes and Noble, etc...
Correction: Neiman Marcus, Saks, Macy's and Barnes and Nobles are no longer downtown. I believe the same with Banana Republic. City now has very few retail options in downtown core. Charlotte is a nudge above Minneapolis'.
I'll give a breakdown of each downtown in size and pace and all that in cities I've lived/currently live in.
1.Miami
Size: Small, very small downtown, even lumping in Brickell it feels very small. You have the tall buildings which make it appear huge, but it isn't. "Greater Downtown" which is a name given by a special interest group overseeing downtown is 3.8 sq miles, but the neighbourhoods lumped in feel disconnected to be lumped into downtown.
Bustle: Quiet downtown honestly. Very little street activity and besides a few hotspots, the place is a ghost town. It is improving, but it's far behind other cities.
2.Montreal
Size: Very large, the new downtown area considered by the city is about 7 sq miles. It includes Mont-Royal, Jean Drapeau island and all of Ville Marie + Griffintown. The downtown "appears" small because there aren't many skyscrapers, but once you walk it, you'll see how large it is. You can tell and feel that you're in a large city and it makes you feel that you're in a larger city than 2 million.
Bustle: very busy, pretty damn chaotic. The daytime population from last estimates in 2011 was pegged at 720,000, with estimates now closer to 850k-1M. Lot's of street activity above and below ground, pedestrian foot traffic is highly visible, it's a very busy downtown. What I also love is how there are many different neighbourhoods within downtown, giving it multiple experiences.
3. Toronto
Size: this place is insane, kinda looks like an Asian Megacity sometimes. I used to live in South Core and when looking outside from 60-70 floors above, it's a sea of glass that never ends with multiple skylines in all directions. It feels like you live in a city proper of 6+ million rather than 3 million.
Bustle: Insanely chaotic, very busy and fast pace. You do have your quiet areas but it's always busy. Just like Montreal, it has many different hoods within the downtown and has a busy pedestrian level above and below ground. Daytime population is in the millions and the downtown living population is close to 300,000 atm, compared to ~130K in MTL and 40-50K in Miami (CBD + Brickell).
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