The one at Coney Island? I went there over the summer, but I learned that the beluga whales had been sent to the Georgia aquarium. If I’d known, I would’ve gotten my ass over there sooner to see them.
The shark tank is great, though. Not that many things scare me these days. The shark tank sends shivers up and down my spines. And the jellyfish room is just awesome.
Welcome to the SDMB, Don’t Tase Me, Bro!. Great topic for a thread!
In addition to most of the features listed upthread (especially excellent public transportation), I’d add:[ul]
[li]At least one world-class public university. There may also be high-quality private universities (such as Stanford ), but there needs to be a lower-cost “state” university (on the model of UC Berkeley ).[/li][li]A third dimension. Not just in the sense of tall buildings, but in the landscape itself. Hills provide great views, and generally make street patterns more interesting than flat cities. Building lots tend to be more varied due to terrain, and this also results in interesting architecture that cannot be matched in flat cities. San Francisco and Seattle are great examples in the US West, Pittsburgh in the East (although the last example has different viewlines because the street patterns are bound to be different in those hilly cities that experience snow on a regular basis!)[/li][li]Following on from the last point, I’m not much in favor of snowfall within city limits. By all means have mountains within view of the City[sup]*[/sup] (and with easy public access), but city driving in snow is not an advantage.[/li][li]Kythereia’s “ethically-diverse neighborhoods” are a definite plus, but it’s also nice having some ethnic eating / nightlife / shopping enclaves such as a Chinatown, Japantown, Little Italy, Little Saigon, etc…[/li][li]Although it’s hard to plan into a new city, an interesting “city history” can help foster community pride.[/li][li]There should be some attractions that make non-residents want to visit the city, either as tourists or for conventions. This provides income, but also gives the city a “feel” that more insular places cannot match.[/li][/ul]
Since the OP’s city has a population of over one million,it might be worth looking into the concept of the World City (aka Global City).
[sup]*[/sup]e.g. Mount Diablo (San Francisco), Mount Hamilton (San Jose, CA), Mount Hood (Portland, OR), and Mount Rainier (Seattle).
Thanks for the warm welcomes!
You all have such good ideas. It makes me want to go play Sim City. I’m not going to, because I’ve got work to do…but I want to.
An effective, efficient, and eminently usable public transit seems to be the overwhelming key to a great city. At least, according to you good folks. Who I would not dare to question, it must be said.
My city is most definitely a car city. Because of the sprawl, I suspect. And the aforementioned crappy mass transit. I don’t know if that’s fixable. However, if I do run for city council some day, I can most certainly run on a “beluga whale tank” platform.
Maybe we could put it one of the buses to try to increase ridership.
For me the ideal city should have low crime ,good transport links and be clean.
But add ons are that it must have plenty of variety of choice for restaraunts,theatres cinemas ,nightlife and museums .
Preferably have lots of visitors from other parts either as working visitors(students ,seafarers,aircrew etc.)or tourists.
My favourite cities from personal experience to date are Las Vegas,Vancouver and London though they dont necessarily meet up with all of the above.
Oh no, no more Polar Whales*. Now the closest ones must be out in Mystic. That is sad. Are they suppose to return or is this permanent?
Jim {Sorry for the small hi-jack}
*That’s what my son kept calling them.
BTW: I am remiss, Welcome to the Board Don’t Tase Me, Bro!, enjoy the stay. You are off to a good start. Beware the squid, etc.
Oh, I know, I don’t mean it’s the worst thing going. It’s just not anywhere near as good as other cities’ and for what it offers is grossly overpriced. The last time they raised fares here and said, “Well that’s what New York charges” - WTF? There is NO comparison between the two systems and to say they’re equivalent and should cost the same is ridiculous.
And, if you buy tickets in bulk (at least $10 worth at a time), New York’s subway is cheaper than Boston’s anyway. But it was more convenient not to mention that back when they were raising Boston’s fares.
I think the ideal city should have very few actual people in it.
I see some of the posters here believe that cities need enough people in them to warrant public transportation. If it absolutely has to be that way, then, for Og’s sake, make sure the bus stops are required to have space for the damn bus to pull completely off the roadway. There is nothing I hate more than being stuck behind one of those trundling turds when I am trying to get somewhere.
I guess it never occurs to you that if the bus system were good enough, you might use it?
In any case, buses should have 2 lanes dedicated to them on major highways. That would carry far more people than carpool lanes. See the video I linked to above.
The ideal city would have banned your car, though, so no need!
That would be fine too. All I ask is that either the PT system works efficiently or the traffic situation is tolerable. Where I live, neither is true.
For me, most of the things that make cities so great are, in good measure, a result of the people. The diversity of entertainments, cultural activities, restaurants, transit options, etc., etc., all rely on a critical mass of population. You are simply very unlikely to find that sort of wide range of options in places with small populations, both because there might not be a wide enough variety of people to instigate certain activities or service, and because the economics of scale work against it.
I guess it depends, though, on how one defines a city. When i think of a city, i tend to think automatically of a relatively big city. If you’re the sort of person who thinks “Montpelier, Vermont” or even “Madison, Wisconsin” when you hear the word city, then we’re probably not even talking about the same thing.
Don’t get me wrong; i really like Madison. I think it’s a lovely town, especially in the summer, when the beautiful weather and the lakes and the bike paths and all that stuff make it a lovely place to be. But for me it’s just that—a lovely town, and not a city.
Welcome to the boards, DTMB!
A balanced economy. I don’t know whether this is proper term, or not. But don’t have your city’s economy tied to one company, industry, nor even a single market sector. And, for pity’s sake, do not dump public monies into a sinkhole when the city’s major employer is facing difficulties because it refuses to respond to changing market conditions! (Especially not when they’re the idiots who changed the market, then refused to follow up on it because it would threaten the core of the business. cough Kodak cough)
A good** twenty four hour** public transit system. Not everyone who would benefit from being able to skip owning a vehicle is working first or second shift - don’t leave them stranded after 10 PM. I’m looking at you, D.C! (Yes, I’ve heard it has changed - but get burned once and it’ll make an impression.)
Sane drivers. (Even though Boston is a hugely car-unfriendly city, they still make a for a huge hazard to pedestrians, because the drivers are barking insane.)
Professional Emergency Services. (Not that anyone is suggesting cities don’t have, nor need such - just pointing out the requirement.)
At least one excellent University. Preferably more.
A vibrant theatre and arts community.
Without wanting to step on the toes of the people supporting small enterprise, don’t completely ban the larger stores, either. It’s sometimes very nice to be able to go right out and get the left-handed blivet twister when that’s exactly what you need to properly fix something.
In my experience, Boston’s pedestrians are just as insane as the drivers.
I’m all for pedestrians asserting their right of way, but stepping off the kerb without looking, into the middle of a four-lane road with traffic bearing down on you at 40 miles an hour, is just fucking suicidal. Especially if the traffic has the green light.
I didn’t mean to imply I thought that the pedestrians of The Hub of the Universe were any less insane, just less dangerous in their insanity. 
This is definitely true and it’s quite deplorable. One of the big issues is our metro – it’s just about the last one to have been built before accessibility was a big issue, so none of it, except for the three stations in Laval, is accessible. Theoretically they’re going to start retrofitting the existing stations for accessibility next year, but I’ll believe that when I’m on the elevators.
Well, given the amount of time that it’s taking Toronto to retrofit its subway stations with elevators–they’re about half done–I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Such retrofitting is difficult, slow, and expensive. Broadview station has been under construction for something like six years.