Urban Analogues

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Seattle was mentioned earlier in the thread. Someone compared it to Chicago.

While there might be some features they may share at least in the downtown, I think there's a better city to compare Seattle to when it comes to the nature of the built area outside of the central areas.

Both Seattle and Pittsburgh have settings consisting of tree-covered hills situated near bodies of water. The housing in these hills have some similarities too with several examples of Queen Anne architecture. The hills and streets offer some spectacular views in both cities. Both are part of larger mountain regions. Seattle for the Pacific Northwest, Pittsburgh for Appalachia.

One more thing about the Seattle to Pittsburgh analogy is cloudy weather. They're nearly identical. The lighting is similar and helps with the similarity of appearance of both cities.

Seattle, Washington: 308 cloudy days. 84% days are cloudy
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 306 cloudy days--84%.

[jd3189]

^^^ Thanks. I knew I was on to something with that comparison.

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by The North One

Besides hills and views they look completely different, San Francisco isn't built at all like an old European City.

That's true and is to be expected.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

One more thing about the Seattle to Pittsburgh analogy is cloudy weather. They're nearly identical. The lighting is similar and helps with the similarity of appearance of both cities.

Seattle, Washington: 308 cloudy days. 84% days are cloudy
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 306 cloudy days--84%.

While these numbers look identical... the two regions experience much different types of 'cloudy weather' (when it happens over the course of the year, types/frequency/intensity of precipitation, darkness of clouds, shape of clouds, partly sunniness, etc.). To experience a year in both cities would be very different climatic experiences.

And the "306 cloudy days" statistic is the most doom and gloom way to put things... it conjures images of relentlessly gray skies day after day. This must include all sorts of days that are a mix of cloud and sun... perfectly bright, beautiful and delightful days that happen to include some portion of the sky or some period of the day that has clouds.

[Centropolis]

seattle has an expansive maritime and pacific northwest setting that - to me - is nothing like pittsburghs inland eastern urban valley of "the old neighborhood" neighborhoods.

[jd3189]

It's been a while but there are other urban analogues I have thought about:


Boston and Philadelphia


Boston and San Francisco


Tel Aviv and Beirut


Detroit and Los Angeles


Toronto and New York (Specifically Queens)


Amsterdam and Saint Petersburg, Russia


Mexico City and Buenos Aires


Sao Paulo and Tokyo


Savannah and Charleston


Jacksonville and Toronto



Orlando and Orange County, CA


Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus


Vancouver and Honolulu


San Francisco and Sydney


Miami/South Florida and Gold Coast, Australia


Montreal and Paris


Denver and Calgary


Cape Town and San Francisco


Boston and London


Boston and Dublin


Atlanta and Frankfurt


New York and Paris

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

60 years ago, Detroit was not a city of multi-tenant housing either.
In Berlin, apartment buildings dominates the landscape on a large distance.
In Detroit, townhouses and detached houses begin right after the Downtown, it was also the case 60 years ago (there're just less of them today).
http://photos.mycapture.com/DETN/1370091/39099706E.jpg

The city limits bondary (341 sq mi) explains "low" density of Berlin.
Berlin city proper includes most of its suburban areas and large part of unbuilt lands (lakes, forests...). Remove them and the density will greatly increase.
http://fbinter.stadt-berlin.de/fnp/i...nario=fnpak_en

I spent some time in Detroit this weekend at the Movement festival. Attending the Movement festival is ironically what clicked in my mind a couple of years ago to make the Detroit-Berlin comparison. During Movement weekend they hold a lot of the after parties throughout the city so it was good opportunity to refresh my memory about where to find the remnants of Detroit's row houses:

https://goo.gl/maps/PTbQZXk5vg52

https://goo.gl/maps/PmGpUmYyEhA2

https://goo.gl/maps/Dtt9QiKq2i42

These three blocks are in different areas of the city, and are both the last few remaining row house structures in their respective areas. If I had to guess, I would say that 99% of what existed of row house inventory in Detroit is gone. However, at a time not so long ago, many Detroit residents lived in housing like that. Most Detroiters lived in either apartment buildings or densely populated housing tracts like these.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by The North One

Besides hills and views they look completely different, San Francisco isn't built at all like an old European City.

The street grid isn't of course. There was never a medieval wall or whatever.

But San Francisco is unlike most eastern cities in having been settled by a diverse group of people attracted from all over the planet by the lure of gold and many of those people were immigrants from southern Europe where the climate was similar. Those southern European immigrants influenced the development of the city. They built many churches and many of those fronted on public squares, parks or plazas. When I look out my window I see the bell tower of what could be a medieval Florentine church sticking up above the homes climbing a hill.

And since they loved entertainments like cafes, good food and opera, the city has always made a place for an abundance of those things. And because of the climate, it sits in a region of wine and olives and other Italian delights while within the city there are flowering plants of all sorts reminiscent of Italy.

So getting past the street grid, I think you are wrong and most tourists sense it. It is a very common comment from European tourists that the city feels like home to them.

[Centropolis]

parts of philadelphia are not unlike this, however it’s hard not to see the mediterranean climate, etc, and not feel that. of course it’s absolutely a new world construction, echoing the first, great global new world city - mexico city (which was full of chinese and southern european immigrants before san francisco a glimmer in the eye of the viceroyalty of new spain).

[iheartthed]

San Francisco definitely feels Iberian-influenced. As does California in general.