What is the heart of your city? - Page 5

dc_denizen · #81 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 6:31 PM**

Would this be Detroit?

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3326...7i16384!8i8192

Acajack · #82 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 6:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by edale

Why are there those hideous walls/barricades between the sidewalks and the streets? Is it related to snow drifts?

A true Winnipegger could answer better than me, but I don't think it's for snow.

It's probably to keep pedestrians safe from the many speeding vehicles.

As I said, that historic intersection has been made way too vehicle-friendly and not people-friendly at all.

dc_denizen · #83 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 6:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

A true Winnipegger could answer better than me, but I don't think it's for snow.

It's probably to keep pedestrians safe from the many speeding vehicles.

As I said, that historic intersection has been made way too vehicle-friendly and not people-friendly at all.

that winnipeg intersection has a ton of potential, could be vastly improved with landscaping and pedestrian infra

Acajack · #84 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 6:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

that winnipeg intersection has a ton of potential, could be vastly improved with landscaping and pedestrian infra

Interesting what it used to look like:
https://www.livabl.com/2015/07/vinta...-winnipeg.html

wwmiv · #85 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 6:51 PM**

Austin: 6th Street
San Antonio: The Riverwalk / The Alamo / Main Plaza / Military Plaza (all are connected by the riverwalk)
Columbia: U of SC

Chicago is to big for just one:
Heart: State & Madison
Head: Board of Trade
Hands: Back of the Yards
Hubris: Wrigley Field
Homos: Boystown (I am lgbt, fyi)
Wallet: Magnificant Mile
Lungs: all of the lakeside parks
Arteries: Lake Shore Drive
Stomach: Little Italy

Obadno · #86 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 8:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Austin: 6th Street
San Antonio: The Riverwalk / The Alamo / Main Plaza / Military Plaza (all are connected by the riverwalk)
Columbia: U of SC

Chicago is to big for just one:
Heart: State & Madison
Head: Board of Trade
Hands: Back of the Yards
Hubris: Wrigley Field
Homos: Boystown (I am lgbt, fyi)
Wallet: Magnificant Mile
Lungs: all of the lakeside parks
Arteries: Lake Shore Drive
Stomach: Little Italy

Trying to hard just pick one man

suburbanite · #87 Posted **Mar 10, 2020, 9:43 PM**

Toronto has to be Union Station for me.

It's the overburdened terminus for both primary north/south subway lines, as well as any commuter coming as far as Hamilton, Kitchener, Barrie, or Oshawa. Since the opening of the direct rail connection from Pearson it's also the arrival point for many a tourist with luggage in hand, whose first experience in the city is walking out onto Front Street underneath the Fairmont.

It's also pretty close to the geographic center of the modern Downtown, connecting the traditional Financial Core with the blossoming Southcore and the entertainment strip between the Skydome and Scotiabank Arena. If you could plot the center of mass of downtown's aggregated office inventory over the past 20 years, you would also probably see that point shift from King and Bay to somewhere pretty close to Union.

Acajack · #88 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 2:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Toronto has to be Union Station for me.

It's the overburdened terminus for both primary north/south subway lines, as well as any commuter coming as far as Hamilton, Kitchener, Barrie, or Oshawa. Since the opening of the direct rail connection from Pearson it's also the arrival point for many a tourist with luggage in hand, whose first experience in the city is walking out onto Front Street underneath the Fairmont.

It's also pretty close to the geographic center of the modern Downtown, connecting the traditional Financial Core with the blossoming Southcore and the entertainment strip between the Skydome and Scotiabank Arena. If you could plot the center of mass of downtown's aggregated office inventory over the past 20 years, you would also probably see that point shift from King and Bay to somewhere pretty close to Union.

This is definitely how I feel as well.

These days lots of people make hay about Yonge-Dundas Square and while one cannot dispute the pedestrian traffic there, it all feels very artificial and conditioned. (Hence the frequent criticisms to that effect.)

Down around Union as you say is where I really feel like I am in the belly of the beast.

niwell · #89 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 3:05 PM**

I was going to post Union Station as well - the area along Front across from the Fairmont and within sightline of some of the city's more impressive office towers. It's always been busy but the relatively recent streetscaping upgrade and the addition of a summer market / beer garden and winter ice rink add to the effect. As kool maudit noted in his (somewhat controversial) thread in the Canada section some time back - when you exit Union for the first time after taking the UP it really feels like a Big City. I rarely go down there as my work is further north and the closest UP station to me is Bloor West, but when I'm taking VIA it's a reminder that Toronto can pull off impressive.

Dundas Square is up there as a centre of commerce I suppose, but I'd actually put somewhere like St. Lawrence or Kensington market as a secondary heart of the city.

suburbanite · #90 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 3:26 PM**

Agreed on Dundas Square. Never liked it and most locals avoid like a New Yorker would Time Square.

There was a point last May/June where the Leafs and Raptors were in the playoffs, and thus Maple Leaf Square/Jurassic Park was full everyday, and the Jays season had just started. Bremner was packed to the brim from Spadina to York, Every bar along Front Street was over capacity, and Union Station was overflowing with commuters heading out of the city, and fans heading in. Walking past that scene was the most "big city' feeling I've ever gotten in Toronto. Moreso than Caribana even, given that it feels more organic than a planned parade/festival.

mhays · #91 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 3:27 PM**

Seattle would be either:

Pine Street from about 4th to 6th (the heart of the retail district, though Macy's just closed from 3rd to 4th.

First & Pike, the traditional front door of the Pike Place Market.

Or maybe the Seattle Center, the site of our second world's fair, the Space Needle, a lot of arts/sports organizations, and our biggest festivals.

UrbanImpact · #92 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 7:27 PM**

Fort Lauderdale, FL

For locals:
I would say either at Las Olas @ the US-1 tunnel:
https://goo.gl/maps/NgbGLPVvJFEvajLc8

Or Broward Blvd. and US-1:
https://goo.gl/maps/Jtm6F7aN4rSnLKxz7

For Tourists:
Elbow Room on the beach (Las Olas @ A1A
https://goo.gl/maps/cTxBSoj1aHjyymG4A

For Brazilian Tourists:
Sawgrass Mall

https://goo.gl/maps/FpjYGjXQKFhcgNTA7

For Gays:
Wilton Drive and 6th
https://goo.gl/maps/SG3gpDNFZvRTuMZv9

jtown,man · #93 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 7:29 PM**

That Winnipeg intersection...

Horrible. Feels like an interstate smack dab in the middle of a downtown. However, it has a lot of potential, to be sure.

Cirrus · #94 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 8:15 PM**

The correct answer for DC is underground: Metro Center station, the intersection of the Red, Orange, Blue, and Silver Metro lines.

There's no good single street corner answer. The Monumental Core isn't important enough for day-to-day life, and no individual downtown corner stands out as important enough (Farragut Square might be a contender, but I think a relatively weak one). And while there are some contenders for the city's core neighborhoods (14th and U is probably most obvious), these are not important at all to suburbanites and therefore are more properly the heart of part of the city, not the whole city.

But Metro Center is important to everyone. It's the answer.

edale · #95 Posted **Mar 11, 2020, 10:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cirrus

The correct answer for DC is underground: Metro Center station, the intersection of the Red, Orange, Blue, and Silver Metro lines.

There's no good single street corner answer. The Monumental Core isn't important enough for day-to-day life, and no individual downtown corner stands out as important enough (Farragut Square might be a contender, but I think a relatively weak one). And while there are some contenders for the city's core neighborhoods (14th and U is probably most obvious), these are not important at all to suburbanites and therefore are more properly the heart of part of the city, not the whole city.

But Metro Center is important to everyone. It's the answer.

Hm, not sure I agree with that. It seems to me like the heart of DC has to be the Capitol building. It's the point that differentiates the different street directions which DC is famous for. It's undeniably the center and symbol of the city. I get that you're trying to differentiate between the heart of the city for tourists vs locals, but DC isn't a normal city in that sense. It's the national capital, and the capitol building is really the symbol that defines DC. The National Mall is the central gathering point for protests and celebrations, as well as being the cultural corridor of DC where the majority of the museums are clustered. I don't think anyone would consider Metro Center the heart of anything but the metro system.

If you wanted to pick a site away from the mall area, the Chinatown Gate/Verizon Center (or whatever corporate name it has now), Dupont Circle, Lafayette Square Park, or even the Wisconsin and M St. intersection could be good picks. I get these might be more NW focused, but that's where I lived when I lived in DC so that's what I know best.

austin242 · #96 Posted **Mar 12, 2020, 4:57 AM**

I'd say the same for Austin. It's the capitol building here as well. However it depends on your definition of heart of the city. Is it the center of the city or the center of culture or some other definition. To me it's the center of the city. Everything in any direction of the capitol is considered north, south, east, west. That is the way the city was planned. WWMIV said 6th street though and I could say that's a fair assessment as well.

KevinFromTexas · #97 Posted **Mar 12, 2020, 5:09 AM**

^The corner of 6th Street and Congress Avenue used to be referred to as "main and main" in Austin, though, neither street ever carried that name. It was just always considered to be the heart of downtown, and really the whole city. That corner has 4 buildings that at one time were the tallest in Austin, not counting the Capitol, of course.

austin242 · #98 Posted **Mar 12, 2020, 5:27 AM**

^ 6th and Congress certainly feels like the center when you stand there but with the CVC (Capitol View Corridors) and a lot of other aspects pointing to the Capitol, I've always felt that the Capitol was heart growing up here.

Crawford · #99 Posted **Mar 12, 2020, 1:17 PM**

DC is definitely Metro Center, which is not only the transit hub, but aligns with the historical retail core. The U.S. Capitol is very peripheral to DC's heart.

For Toronto, I sorta agree with Union Station, but I think Yonge/Dundas is being sold a bit short. It isn't just that silly square, Yonge/Dundas was always the historical retail crossroads. And it has 7 day traffic well into the night; Union Station is more M-F workday hours.

mrnyc · #**100** Posted **Mar 12, 2020, 1:42 PM**

brooklyn: borough hall, but atlantic terminal could be said to be in play

bronx: i'll go with the old courthouse in melrose as its the center of lower bronx

staten island: all roads lead staten island mall in the middle

queens: tough one, i dont want to say lic or jamaica, because those are on either end, or flushing, so lets go with the courthouses area around forest hills