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Major CBDs
- Downtown
- Uptown
- Texas Medical Center (TMC)/Museum District
- Memorial and the Energy Corridor (not quite as developed as the other three but trending that way)
All of which have major skylines, with the TMC also having a high level of density in its core. Other smaller CBDs include:
- Greenway/Upper Kirby
- Woodlands
- Westchase
- Greenspoint
Memorial and EC are suburban corporate campus parks. That doesn’t count
Man it's wild that Chicago only really has one within the city limits. There's a long wall of high-rises extending north and south from downtown, but it's basically (afaik) all residential. Kinda Canadian-feeling now that I think about it.
When I think of a second employment hub within the city, the O'Hare area is honestly the first place that comes to mind (and part of that area is in Rosemont, not Chicago proper). And the taller buildings there are mostly 8-10 stories (sorta DC-like), and the area is not walkable at all.
Maybe Hyde Park is the actual closest thing Chicago has to a second downtown.
Man it's wild that Chicago only really has one within the city limits. There's a long wall of high-rises extending north and south from downtown, but it's basically (afaik) all residential. Kinda Canadian-feeling now that I think about it.
When I think of a second employment hub within the city, the O'Hare area is honestly the first place that comes to mind (and part of that area is in Rosemont, not Chicago proper). And the taller buildings there are mostly 8-10 stories (sorta DC-like), and the area is not walkable at all.
Maybe Hyde Park is the actual closest thing Chicago has to a second downtown.
Evanston would probably more akin to Chicago's functional secondary downtown.
Man it's wild that Chicago only really has one within the city limits. There's a long wall of high-rises extending north and south from downtown, but it's basically (afaik) all residential. Kinda Canadian-feeling now that I think about it.
When I think of a second employment hub within the city, the O'Hare area is honestly the first place that comes to mind (and part of that area is in Rosemont, not Chicago proper). And the taller buildings there are mostly 8-10 stories (sorta DC-like), and the area is not walkable at all.
Maybe Hyde Park is the actual closest thing Chicago has to a second downtown.
This is a blessing. Chicago has a very very big downtown as a result. If cities like Houston and Atlanta have multiple CBSs but neither are near the size of Chicago
High-rise "node" sure, but a separate Downtown/CBD? Nah. Outside of mega cities like NYC or LA, separate downtowns in lesser cities are almost exclusively "edge cities" that are often their own municipalities with their own defined business/entertainment cores largely separated from the central core of their principle city.
The Clayton and Towson examples look similar to the Midtown/Vanderbilt area of Nashville so these wouldn't be the best examples if trying to differentiate here.
Evanston would probably more akin to Chicago's functional secondary downtown.
Evanston is more like a suburban edge city imo. There isn’t really any secondary CBD in Chicago like Buckhead, Bellevue, Uptown Houston, Century City, etc.
The Clayton and Towson examples look similar to the Midtown/Vanderbilt area of Nashville so these wouldn't be the best examples if trying to differentiate here.
Except those two examples are 8 miles from downtown St. Louis & Baltimore respectively, have millions of sq/feet of class-A office space and have their own commuting patterns.
Midtown/Vanderbuilt is a geographically closer version of Charles Village in Baltimore or Central West End in St. Louis, none of which I'd consider their own "downtowns".
Evanston is more like a suburban edge city imo. There isn’t really any secondary CBD in Chicago like Buckhead, Bellevue, Uptown Houston, Century City, etc.
Akin as if there was one in Chicago it would be Evanston. I agree that it doesn't play the same role as the cities mentioned above.
Evanston is more like a suburban edge city imo. There isn’t really any secondary CBD in Chicago like Buckhead, Bellevue, Uptown Houston, Century City, etc.
Yes, Evanston is more of an edge city to Chicago. It’s too independent in its structure, unlike Oak Park, Cicero or even Berwyn.
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