Bunch of Photos

[Guest donaltopablo]

Here's a bunch of photos of various cities I've found:

[Guest donaltopablo]

Miami

[Guest donaltopablo]

Boston

[Neo]

Cool pics!

[turlough]

Cool pics I like those fish in boston

[G W North]

Those are great pics, but can I suggest leaving a gap of at least one line between them. It makes it easier to look at.

[Allan]

Cool. I was in Boston last month. Why didn't I see any fish? I guess I just wasn't in the right areas. It was great...very urban (unlike the sprawlsville that I live in). The neighborhoods were cool...all rowhouses. The only problem was the lack of streetsigns & the haphazard street layout. I actually went to the aquarium in the pics. It was ok, but I think Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is better.

[Guest donaltopablo]

Yeah, the New England Acquarium is only ok. I've been to better, but it's not bad.

I love Boston, was last there in May. I pretty much go every year as part of my annual road trip to the northeast. Great city, very urban, plenty to do. Too damn it's so cold and expensive up there, I wouldn't mind living there.

[Allan]

I wouldn't mind living there if it wasn't so cold or expensive either. My only problem is that I hate the cold. I've lived in Michigan all my life - I've put up with cold winters for 17 years too long. I hate it when it doesn't get above 20 degrees for weeks at a time. And all the clouds are so depressing...it's just as cloudy here as it is in Seattle. I'm ready to move someplace warm (CA probably), but before I'd can even think of moving anywhere, I have to finish high school.

[Guest donaltopablo]

Southern Cal is a good choice. Weather is great, lots to do. Price isn't nice though, that is for sure. In fact, Cali is probably one of the few places more expensive than Boston.

[Allan]

Yea...price will be an issue (especially with crappy salary I will receive for being an architect). I know i'll suffer from a bad case of sticker shock. In my area a brand new home (2500 sqft, 4 bdrms, 3 baths, on 1/3 - 1/2 of an acre) sells for about $250,000. I know that there is no way I could get anything decent in cali for that price. And real estate prices there are going up a lot faster than an architect's salary. I'll certainly try to end up in Cali, but I'll probably end up in Detroit, (which isn't bad except for the lack of mass transit & the cold weather ) where you can get a place for a decent amount of money...I just hope things will continue to improve. I just read a report on sprawl in Michgan, and it says that there are 50,000 vacant properties there! I was there the other day though, & there are a lot of lofts & things being built. Things are happening quickly (or as fast as they can w/the complex permit process) in preparation for the superbowl in 2006. Detroit needs to make a good impression so ppl can see that Detroit is improving...all ppl think about when they think Detroit is vacant buildings & the '67 riots. However, I can only dream of the day when the city has 2 million ppl again...

[Allan]

The report on urban sprawl in Michigan can be downloaded here...not that anyone cares, since most of the forumers are from the south, but sprawl is a serious problem here too. In my area, which was mostly farm fields when I moved in, there are 26 different subdivisions under construction, & there are 12 propsed subdivisions. Also there are several big box stores & malls proposed, although there are so many NIMBY's that they probably won't be built, or will be scaled back. The good thing is that they are very concerned w/aesthetics, so at least we won't get the typical looking stores. (In fact to build a new building "downtown" Wendy's had to spend $2.2 million b/c the standard building wasn't "good enough".)

[Guest donaltopablo]

Sprawl is a serious issue just about every major city. Even the older cities in the north and east are now dealing with sprawl issues.

[Allan]

It is serious. Luckily MI finally has a governor who wants to makes stopping endless sprawl & revitalizing cities a major priority.

[Guest donaltopablo]

It is serious. Luckily MI finally has a governor who wants to makes stopping endless sprawl & revitalizing cities a major priority.

That's good news. It seems that very few cities/states understand the importance of building smarter. I think it's a crucial challenge of cities/metros today to balance controlling suburbs without living people without choices.

[Allan]

I think it's a crucial challenge of cities/metros today to balance controlling suburbs without living people without choices.

Try telling growing areas that. They take any development they can get so that they can increase their tax base. And homebuilders find it much more easier to develop farm fields than to build any sort of infill development. We already live without choices in Michigan. We need mass transit...bad. Detroit mass transit is the most ineffective I've ever seen, & the only city even somewhat serious about light rail is Grand Rapids.

In Michigan the amount of developed land grows 8 times faster than the population on average. The land-to-population growth rates are very high in many places:

Flint 7:1

Detroit 13:1

Saginaw 14:1

Bay City 27:1

In a generation, if current growth rates continue, Michigan will pass New Jersey as the state with the highest percentage of urbanized land. Places like Atlanta are known for rampant sprawl, but I'm curious as to exactly how fast the sunbelt cities are sprawling. Does anyone know any land-to-population growth rates for any of these cities?

[cityboi]

excellent photos man!!