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.
I actually PREFER it when a downtown has ample parking. It's extremely frustrating to me when I'm visiting somewhere and I want to check out the downtown and so I drive there hoping to get out of the car and walk around but can't hardly find a place to park.
It would be great if lots of US cities had done what European cities have and gone with pedestrian zones in the city core (car-free zones), but since that's not the case, then give me somewhere to park the car.
I actually PREFER it when a downtown has ample parking. It's extremely frustrating to me when I'm visiting somewhere and I want to check out the downtown and so I drive there hoping to get out of the car and walk around but can't hardly find a place to park.
It would be great if lots of US cities had done what European cities have and gone with pedestrian zones in the city core (car-free zones), but since that's not the case, then give me somewhere to park the car.
When there are less parking lots and more buildings, it encourages people to NOT use their cars. It slightly helps the environment and makes a downtown area feel like it's ment for people instead of cars.
So yeah, that's the idea...... It's good you can't find a parking spot, so it makes you want to get out and look around.
Of course, you need to have a better public transportation system to make it better. Fort Worth will be getting a streetcar system soon, so that should help....
So yeah, that's the idea...... It's good you can't find a parking spot, so it makes you want to get out and look around.
Actually it makes me want to leave there and drive to somewhere I CAN park and get out and look around. So it's good for making me not spend my dollars in that particular place.
Actually it makes me want to leave there and drive to somewhere I CAN park and get out and look around. So it's good for making me not spend my dollars in that particular place.
Well the general idea is for us to have a more urban downtown area. Parking lots give downtown areas a step back that department. They kill chances for better, more useful development in the area.
Right now in downtown Fort Worth, there is a space where Landmark Tower (the building you see below) once stood.
It was demolished as some of you know. There were talks of a 50 story building that would have became the new tallest building in the city. It's just about a block away from the heart of the city's entertainment/shopping/ restaurant district and right in the middle of the best architecture in the Southwest United States. You would think that they would use the space to add on to this part of the town to make it even more attractive. So you know what they turned this valuble, high potential piece of land into....?
That's right, they're making it flat for more parking. More of the LAST thing our downtown area needs.
Sure you may see it as more convenient, but it really takes away the feeling of you being in an urban environment. And even now there's talk of another historic building in downtown that will be torn down for another survace lot. Demolition in store for former Star-Telegram Classifieds Building? | Fort Worthology
Now parking OUTSIDE downtown is great, but more surface lots hurt the apperance and appeal of any downtown area.
Well the general idea is for us to have a more urban downtown area. Parking lots give downtown areas a step back that department. They kill chances for better, more useful development in the area.
Downtown is already urban by definition. At least in big cities. Anyway, plenty of big cities have ample available parking for cars, both regular worker traffic as well as tourists. And in my experience, the places I have visited which have ample parking didn't set the downtown back at all and didn't kill the fun and available amenities I was able to find there. The general idea for me is that I enjoy a downtown that I can get to fairly easily and without a lot of hassle, park fairly easily and without a lot of hassle, get out and have lots of great amenities in walking or maybe trolley/shuttle distance, and be able to leave downtown fairly easily and without a lot of hassle. The whole experience is ruined for me if I have to drive around for 20 minutes hoping somebody in an on-street spot just HAPPENS to pull out just as I'm about to drive by. I like downtowns to be made convenient for me to enjoy them. And even if dowtowns in big cities have a good deal of parking lot space, they are still urban by definition, and if they have plenty of amenities, then they have plenty of amenities.
What's pretty lame is a downtown with a lot of parking lot space but little amenities. I mean if there's not much to see and do there, it's not going to really matter if there's a lot of places to park. Pack in the amenities, and having parking lot space downtown isn't that big a detractor, at least for me, from the downtown or the urban feel. For me urban feel = many amenities placed in a relatively small footprint. Whether a particular given block is taken up by a parking lot which I might use or by an office building that I'm not even going to go into nor use for anything while I'm visiting downtown, if the number of amenities I WILL use within 20 square blocks or however big the downtown is are ample, the urban feel is not lost. Having the office building there instead of the parking lot makes no difference to my experience there, no difference to the availability of bakeries, restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, convention centers, performing arts centers, sports stadiums, etc. in the area. Those things either exist or do not exist on their own.
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles (actually bigger than many give it credit for)
5. Boston
6. Philly
7. Washington D.C.
8. Seattle
9. Houston
10. Miami
11. San Diego
10. Dallas
11. Denver
12. Detroit
13. Pittsburgh
14. Atlanta
15. Cleveland
16. Baltimore
17. Cincinnati
18. New Orleans
19. Portland
20. Kansas City
21. St. Louis
22. Charlotte
23. Memphis
24. Buffalo
25. Nashville, I forgot Minneapolis. I would put that around the Cleveland-
Baltimore area....
Last edited by supermanpansy; 06-12-2009 at 09:42 PM..
Superman, we're talking about what happens on the streets of downtown. Not how it looks from the sky. Houston should be in nobodies top 10. Too many parking lots, lack of greenspace, an underwhelming mass transit system, lack of entertainment options, lack of retail so on and so on. Now they are trying to improve it by building more greenspace, more entertainment and retail options, and building over parking lots. They are developing the entire eastside of Downtown. The new Discovery Green Park is a hit and when we get out of this recession, Houston Pavilions will be a hit as well with the new Lucky Strike tagging along with the already opened House of Blues. They still have alot of work to do. This is my list.
1. NY
2. Chicago
3. Washington DC (Keep in mind that Downtown is not the nightspot for DC but it does have some great options such as Lucky Strike, ESPN Zone, and bars).
4. Philadelphia
5. San Francisco
6. Seattle
7. Boston
8. New Orleans
9. Baltimore
10. Los Angeles
Superman, we're talking about what happens on the streets of downtown. Not how it looks from the sky. Houston should be in nobodies top 10. Too many parking lots, lack of greenspace, an underwhelming mass transit system, lack of entertainment options, lack of retail so on and so on. Now they are trying to improve it by building more greenspace, more entertainment and retail options, and building over parking lots. They are developing the entire eastside of Downtown. The new Discovery Green Park is a hit and when we get out of this recession, Houston Pavilions will be a hit as well with the new Lucky Strike tagging along with the already opened House of Blues. They still have alot of work to do. This is my list.
1. NY
2. Chicago
3. Washington DC (Keep in mind that Downtown is not the nightspot for DC but it does have some great options such as Lucky Strike, ESPN Zone, and bars).
4. Philadelphia
5. San Francisco
6. Seattle
7. Boston
8. New Orleans
9. Baltimore
10. Los Angeles
I think there is a big drop off after here.
I think San Antonio is top 10 material. The downtown area is always full of energy.
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.
