What makes a city "Beautiful", and what are the top 10 large cities in the world?

[ThePhun1]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

There is beauty in the mundane

Youngstown
Midland
Casper
Schenectady
Wichita
Duluth
Minot
Paterson
Evansville
... and last, but not least ...
Peoria

Who? The OP clearly said large cities. It doesn't even have to be world cities, I love El Paso and the desert sunsets in Albuquerque and Tucson.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by mousquet

^ Agreed. Sure old things can be very nice too, but they're usually far more expensive, especially in the old establishment districts.

Urban thinkers must keep us average struggling folks on their minds too, cause we're always where actual easier growth is.

i suppose this varies from city to city, the neighborhood, and the condition of the property. here, anything new construction by default will command a premium price. there are no cheap new highrises. old, well maintained homes in established upper class areas will of course also command a premium. that said, there is a lot of the city where old homes, that might just need a little bit of work, can be had for for very cheap. anywhere from $50k-$250k. again, might not be in the trendiest area but certainly attainable.

[JManc]

I never thought of Hong Kong, Chicago, Tokyo, Shanghai or New York as "beautiful" but they are captivating none-the-less due to their display human ingenuity and engineering.

HK does have points for being built on a mountain but it's the cityscape that makes it standout and whatever Shanghai has left of its traditional neighborhoods.

Schenectady though...now that is an absurdly beautiful city.

[ChargerCarl]

I have no problem with beauty, but it isn't very interesting. Like Jmanc I find myself more enthralled with the orderly, ugly chaos of HK or Tokyo than any picturesque mountain town.

[mousquet]

A simple river also adds very much to the natural scenery, inducing development per se. The Paris metro area (not just Central Paris) owes almost everything, or at least very much to the Seine from a historic standpoint. Even Vikings came down here very long ago. Lol, it brought a whole bunch of different people over the course of time.

When it's clean for good, you might actually safely swim in summer and fish in the Seine without any fucking vaccine requirement. Can you believe such a thing might be real in a foreseeable future? Some over here have tears in her eyes just from thinking about it. The Central Paris section of the Seine is still full of shit, literally, cause Central Paris is filthy, but over some suburbs, it's much cleaner. We may actually, finally and safely eat the fish we get from our own river. We've seen some 30 fish species coming back to our area over the last years, now living fine again over here. It's all due to local cleanup.

That's what I'd call a priceless miracle of some sort, like some real beautiful magic. You don't know what it's worth to a local.

[StethJeff]

It's all perspective, bias, and taste. Architecture is great but loses some of its appeal when it's relatively uniform (Bern, Paris). Plus I think that less obvious things like the way food smells or the sounds of the city affect your subconscious when one tries to subjectively assess physical beauty. It's easy to rattle off dozens of stunning European cities in a battle of beauty but ultimately eclectic cities with varied topography and seashore are what I value most:

LA, SF, SD, Cape Town, Rio, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Tokyo, Seattle, Vancouver

[mousquet]

^ Uh, Paris is in fact nothing much uniform. But the wide central areas are so dense and intense like some urban porn that you may get too much simultaneously when you're not used to it, and everything ends up random anyway, eventually. Even highrises.

[brickell]

Agree that uniform beauty can get trite after a while. I've always preferred quirky and eclectic anyway over formal and symmetric.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

It's all perspective, bias, and taste. Architecture is great but loses some of its appeal when it's relatively uniform (Bern, Paris). Plus I think that less obvious things like the way food smells or the sounds of the city affect your subconscious when one tries to subjectively assess physical beauty. It's easy to rattle off dozens of stunning European cities in a battle of beauty but ultimately eclectic cities with varied topography and seashore are what I value most:

LA, SF, SD, Cape Town, Rio, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Tokyo, Seattle, Vancouver

This is ridiculous, your LA insecurity and bias is showing more than anything else. The fact that central Paris is generally uniform is one the greatest aspects of the place, everything flows and compliments each other in a perfect and harmonious way for the most part. There is still variety as well but uniformity is in no way a negative (unless it's ugly uniformity like Taipei) European cities are the opposite of "easy" in fact they're impossible, we can't make cities like this anymore, which makes them even more valuable. Their standard is way above the rest of the world, it's best you just accept it.

Food smells and seashores do not save Los Angeles, neither are they even unique to the city. What even gives you the idea that European cities lack eclecticism in other neighborhoods? Paris is a lot more than just it's central core.

[urbanadvocate]

Originally Posted by The North One

This is ridiculous, your LA insecurity and bias is showing more than anything else. The fact that central Paris is generally uniform is one the greatest aspects of the place, everything flows and compliments each other in a perfect and harmonious way for the most part. There is still variety as well but uniformity is in no way a negative (unless it's ugly uniformity like Taipei) European cities are the opposite of "easy" in fact they're impossible, we can't make cities like this anymore, which makes them even more valuable. Their standard is way above the rest of the world, it's best you just accept it.

Food smells and seashores do not save Los Angeles, neither are they even unique to the city. What even gives you the idea that European cities lack eclecticism in other neighborhoods? Paris is a lot more than just it's central core.

Dude take a Xanax not everyone appreciates the same things as you. I frankly enjoy the varying criteria people are using to determine their PERSONAL lists.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by urbanadvocate

Dude take a Xanax not everyone appreciates the same things as you. I frankly enjoy the varying criteria people are using to determine their PERSONAL lists.

It's just such strawman reasoning obviously drenched in provincialism and not to mention totally false, somehow how Paris' urban fabric is now a negative?


Go ahead and lie to yourself.

[ChargerCarl]

I think LA is architecturally beautiful:

https://www.instagram.com/dingbatsandmore/

[urbanadvocate]

Originally Posted by The North One

It's just such strawman reasoning obviously drenched in provincialism and not to mention totally false, somehow how Paris' urban fabric is now a negative?


Go ahead and lie to yourself.

Ummmmm yea I never said that but glad you can actually read and understand a post before you set your hair on fire haha.

Paris is one of my favorite cities to visit. It would certainly be on my list of top 10. I am not sure I would place LA on mine, not a huge fan of the city but there is a certain undeniable vibe there that gives it beauty. I would certainly have to give it some consideration and definitely see why people include in on their's.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by urbanadvocate

Ummmmm yea I never said that but glad you can actually read and understand a post before you set your hair on fire haha.

Did I say that YOU said that?

I think you need to re-read and maybe reevaluate your juvenile rhetoric, or possibly don't bother engaging.

[urbanadvocate]

Originally Posted by The North One

Did I say that YOU said that?

I think you need to re-read and maybe reevaluate your juvenile rhetoric, or possibly don't bother engaging.

Good advice--enjoy getting worked up in this thread and making zero difference in people's opinions.

Ciao!

[The North One]

Originally Posted by urbanadvocate

Good advice--enjoy getting worked up in this thread and making zero difference in people's opinions.

Ciao!

Nobody is "worked up", continue painting a false picture of me if it's your only leg to stand on. And I'm not here to change hearts and minds, bye now.

[dc_denizen]

when it comes to the overall experience, SF is the most beautiful city I've ever visited. You feel like you're in the clouds.

Architectural beauty, it's Paris. NYC is more about grandeur of the skyscraper canyons, but not especially beautiful if you look building by building. London is not especially beautiful, but it has lots of pomp. Barcelona, too much stucco/concrete pastel apartment buildings. Milan, too northern European looking.

when it come to natural setting, Monaco was pretty unusual (weird cresent bay lined with highrises appearing out of nowhere), as was Pittsburgh (feeling like you're surrounded by big hills at the confluence of three rivers).

[pico44]

Originally Posted by The North One

Nobody is "worked up", continue painting a false picture of me if it's your only leg to stand on. And I'm not here to change hearts and minds, bye now.

I agree that "worked up" is not a good way to describe your personality on this site. I'd go with "nuclear rage".


I think LA is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, full stop. The same way I can appreciate Berlioz and the Beastie Boys, my jaw can drop at the sight of both LA and Paris. The light, the mountains, the trees, the sea, the architecture, the sky, the weather. I love that place.

And regarding New York. There are some truly ugly parts of New York, sure; but there are huge swaths of this town that are as lyrically beautiful as any city I have ever visited. The area around Madison Square stretching down to Greenwich Village is the equal of any city anywhere. And now that SoHo is almost completely built out and fully renovated, I think it is the most beautiful neighborhood in the country.

[LSyd]

City vs city lives!!!!

-

[The North One]

Originally Posted by pico44

I agree that "worked up" is not a good way to describe your personality on this site. I'd go with "nuclear rage".

Your interpretation of a toneless text is not my problem.