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What Two or More Cities Would You Compare?

Urbanrailfan

By Urbanrailfan
in Urban Design & Architecture

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sunsetstripped Crossroads

sunsetstripped

Posted
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What about international comparisons?

New Zealand - Wellington

Australia - Melbourne

USA (Cali) - San Francisco

Wellington, Melbourne and San Francisco are all considered to be their consecutive countries (or in California's case, State) center of culture - they are all compact, the three thrive on character instead of homogeneity, they are all quietly confident, but not in-your-face, diverse and architectually beautiful. The three all have larger metro's "overshadowing" them on an international level ( Wellington has the brassy Auckland, Melbourne has the gruesome Sydney, and SF of course has the southern sprawl known as Los Angeles) And all three are set in naturally amazing environments (Wellington is set on the glorious harbour "Port Nicholson", Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay, and SF obviously on the San Francisco Bay.)

Both Wellington and SF are situated on major fault lines, however Melbourne does not (Which is probably a good thing...lucky Australians..)

Probably the only incredibly significant disserence comes in the form of population - where we have some great difference...

Wellington Metro - 300 000

Melbourne Metro - 3 000 000

San Francisco Metro - 7 000 000

I know, as American's many of you know either very little or nothing about Wellington or Melbourne, but I just hope now you know that down in the South Pacific we compare things globally.

Anybody else got international comparisons?

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PeninsulaKiddo Burg

PeninsulaKiddo

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What about international comparisons?

New Zealand  -  Wellington 

Australia        -  Melbourne

USA (Cali)      -    San Francisco

Wellington, Melbourne and San Francisco are all considered to be their consecutive countries (or in California's case, State) center of culture - they are all compact, the three thrive on character instead of homogeneity, they are all quietly confident, but not in-your-face, diverse and architectually beautiful. The three all have larger metro's "overshadowing" them on an international level ( Wellington has the brassy Auckland, Melbourne has the gruesome Sydney, and SF of course has the southern sprawl known as Los Angeles) And all three are set in naturally amazing environments (Wellington is set on the glorious harbour "Port Nicholson", Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay, and SF obviously on the San Francisco Bay.)

Both Wellington and SF are situated on major fault lines, however Melbourne does not (Which is probably a good thing...lucky Australians..)

Probably the only incredibly significant disserence comes in the form of population - where we have some great difference...

Wellington Metro - 300 000

Melbourne Metro - 3 000 000

San Francisco Metro - 7 000 000

I know, as American's many of you know either very little or nothing about  Wellington or Melbourne, but I just hope now you know that down in the South Pacific we compare things globally.

Anybody else got international comparisons?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't want crap for this ( :lol: ) but Paris and Washington DC would be a good comparison. Both predominantly low-rise cities in appearance with one, much-taller monument (the Washington Monument in DC and the Eiffel Tower in Paris). They're also cities with a lot of parks and they're very walkable. I think there are differences in culture: Paris is much more laid-back whereas the huge confluence of government in DC makes it much more 'rushrushrush'. I think the two are similar though in enough ways to be compared.

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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I don't want crap for this ( :lol: ) but Paris and Washington DC would be a good comparison.  Both predominantly low-rise cities in appearance with one, much-taller monument (the Washington Monument in DC and the Eiffel Tower in Paris).  They're also cities with a lot of parks and they're very walkable.  I think there are differences in culture: Paris is much more laid-back whereas the huge confluence of government in DC makes it much more 'rushrushrush'.  I think the two are similar though in enough ways to be compared.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think that is a very valid comparison. Although DC doesn't as much of the "cultural" attractions that Paris has, everything else is very comparable.

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Kasper Unincorporated Area

Kasper

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just that if you dropped me in Cleveland it would take me a few hours to really tell I wasn't in Pittsburgh--

You know I love you Pgh, but seriously what are you smoking???

Pittsburgh and Cleveland may be of a similar size and have similar industrial backgrounds but aesthetically they look absolutely nothing alike.

Pittsburgh is in the middle of a mountain range surronded by thick forests and rivers, some areas of it look like the freakin' rainforest in the summer. Cleveland does not have anything close to the natural landscape of Pgh (very few cities do though). Plus Pgh's skyline and city architecture is completely unique. The streets in Pgh are narrower, hilly and windy. The streets in Cleveland are broad, flat and straight. Downtown Pgh is alot more compact than Cleveland. Downtown Pgh has at least 2 huge ancient Gothic churches on every street, Cleveland not so much. I don't think they look anything alike whatsoever.

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SydneyHarbour Crossroads

SydneyHarbour

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What about Miami and Montreal?

*Both are significantly non-English dominant

* Both have huge Haitian populations and thus are unique in North America in major cities with a significant French and/or Creole-speaking population

* Both had massive English-speaking white flight in the 60s-80s as political power turned away from English-speaking whites

* Both have enjoyed a revival of fortunes in the last decade or two, thanks in some part to global media exposure, ranging from "Miami Vice" to "MTV Video Music Awards" (Miami) and spreads in the likes of NY Times and Spin on how trendy and cool Montreal is.

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NCB Metropolitan Area

NCB

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How about New Orleans-Memphis?

N.O. Metro- 1.3 million

Memphis Metro- 1.1 million

Both have great history,music is an important part of their cultures, both are important ports on the Mississippi River, both are big tourist destinations, and both suffer from many of the same problems in the inner-city...just a thought.

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TennBear Hamlet

TennBear

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I think that is a very valid comparison.  Although DC doesn't as much of the "cultural" attractions that Paris has, everything else is very comparable.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Recchia; Have you ever thought about the Smithsonian? Let see Washington has the National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, The Freer, The Phillips, The Asian Art Musium, The African Art Museum, and that is just some of the Art Museums. The Kennedy Center, The American Film Institute, The Shakespere Theater, and so on. That doesn't even touch on The Natural History, The Air and Space, The Archives, The Native American Museum, and more. Not to mention that the museums and many of the events at a number of Institutes are free. I think that DC more than holds its own on cultural attractions. I just touched on them and don't forget that Baltimore is very close (the same MSA) and has two major art museums. Each one has a major zoo. The National Zoo has Pandas. Maybe not cultural, but a big draw for families. They also are both designed in the French Baroque manner and are both capitals.

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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Recchia; Have you ever thought about the Smithsonian? Let see Washington has the National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, The Freer, The Phillips, The Asian Art Musium, The African Art Museum, and that is just some of the Art Museums. The Kennedy Center, The American Film Institute, The Shakespere Theater, and so on. That doesn't even touch on The Natural History, The Air and Space, The Archives, The Native American Museum, and more. Not to mention that the museums and many of the events at a number of Institutes are free. I think that DC more than holds its own on cultural attractions. I just touched on them and don't forget that Baltimore is very close (the same MSA) and has two major art museums. Each one has a major zoo. The National Zoo has Pandas. Maybe not cultural, but a big draw for families. They also are both designed in the French Baroque manner and are both capitals.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very true, I was not knocking DC in any way, I only meant that it is not as well known internationally for those reasons.

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facilities man Hamlet

facilities man

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Noticed a couple posts comparing Vegas and Orlando. I can see that from the tourists, conventions, and growth aspect, but other than that they aren't that much alike.

I would compare Los Angeles to Orlando. Although a huge difference in size of metro areas, they are very similar in sprawl and growth patterns.

Disneyland / DisneyWorld

Orange County CA / Orange County FL

Congested freeway systems.

Must have a car to get around town.

Both have film industry, again LA's is huge, Orlando's small.

Both have significantly more high tech jobs than most people think.

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Jaybee Hamlet

Jaybee

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This is kinda fun, staying in North America:

Las Vegas/Orlando (Tourist Boom-Towns)

Fresno/Oklahoma City/Salt Lake City (Oversized-Small Towns on Grids)

Houston/Atlanta/LA (Sprawl Capitals)

SF/Boston (Liberal Intelligencia)

Detriot/Oakland (Homeboy Capitals)

San Jose/Austin (High-Tech Silicon Valley and Silicon Gulch)

Nashville/Bakersfield (Country Music Connection)

Washington DC/Montreal (Euro-feel)

Chicago/Toronto (Big Cities on Big Lakes)

San Diego/Miami (Southern-most cities)

St Louis/Kansas City (Missiouri)

Sacramento/Memphis/Richmond/San Antonio (River Cities)

Charlotte/Denver (Radial Cities)

Savannah/Charleston (Small Historic cities)

Hampton Roads/Jacksonville (Cities with water ports running through it)

Seattle/Vancouver/Portland (Northwest Cities)

Cleveland/Baltimore (water)

Cincinatti/Indianapolis (Mid-west)

Louisville/Chattanooga (Southern Cities)

Dallas/Minneapolis (Cities with a "Metroplex" - AKA Fort Worth and St Paul)

New York City - Phillidelphia (the Big East Coast dirty "Cities")

New Orleans - Currently uncomparable

I'll stop now...

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streetcreed Crossroads

streetcreed

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Hartford / Raleigh / Columbus / Richmond

Um not so much, well maybe. For Columbus it might have elements of other capital cities, especially in its older urban core, but its downtown and overall city is way larger than these cities mentioned above. Columbus is more similar to Indianapolis in size and layout and history. However, it is really one of the first cities of the "midwest" so Columbus is a little bit more east coast than its other midwestern partner (Indianapolis), also a lot more liberal and gay friendly. Columbus also has some elements of a city like Charlotte but sometimes Columbus can remind me of a little smaller metro Atlanta. (especially in sections of downtown/skyscraper layout and "new" post WWII developement)

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