They’d have to put in a Target, Trader Joe’s, large bookstore, and a park for me to ever consider leaving Pasadena for downtown (even though it would make my life oh-so-easy). I have no desire to live in a concrete jungle that smells like urine. Even then, I find the relative ease of parking out by where I live to be a major selling point (that and the trees, if there’s one thing that keeps me from budging it’s that I see more trees out in the Pasadena area than anywhere else).
The top 5 floors of the building I work in have been sold off to real-estate developers, though, so we’ll see. Supposedly the loft market out here is hot hot hot.
St. Petersburg, Florida has a pretty decent urban core right now, and more is on the way. There’s a CVS pharmacy, Publix grocery store, 20-screen movie theater and lots of shopping and restaurants, and because the University of South Florida is expanding, a Barnes and Noble is opening soon as well. It’s a much more active downtown at night and on the weekends than Tampa. It’s not terribly affordable, though it’s cheaper than, say, Miami.
The Financial District of SF does roll up the sidewalks at 6:00. At 8 PM, that area can feel so deserted, you’d think you survived some sort of apocalypse.
But, just move west a few blocks into Union Square, and you’ll find the theaters and shopping. A bit north, and you’re in ever-lively North Beach. Beyond that is Fishermans’ Wharf and Pier 39. The South of Market area is also a happening area at night.
I third the fact that Houston has a nice growing Downtown, but I also agree that it still isn’t really LIVEABLE. The whole downtown area is still in development and scattered. You can walk from the theatre district to Main street, but its a long walk! It’l be a few years before the downtown area really deserves the title of a “liveable, vibrant urban core”. Houston’s main ‘urban’ areas (galleria, downtown, montrose, greenspoint, rice, exc) are too spread out right now to create an urban core, and the only one that would really apply in my book is the montrose/westheimer area; apartments/homes, nightlife, restaraunts, shopping. Then again, as a liberal college student, I am a little biased .
Yep, despite flooding terribly during Allison. A few areas were closed off post-flooding, others simply aired out (and still stinking/moldy a few years later), but most of the underground was repaired. There are some great lunch spots down there too, and a chocolate shop that is absolutely divine.
Dang, you beat me to it. Residential development is coming along nicely, plus there is shopping – including a grocery store – downtown. Museums, galleries, library downtown (The Interim Central until the Central Library renovations are completed), and lots of free activities.
I love White River State Park with the grouping of the Eiteljorg, Indiana State Museum, the Zoo and Gardens across the river, and Victory Field across the street.
But we really shouldn’t discuss these things in public. It might attract the riff-raff.
What you’re describing is really only possible in cities where the core is designed mainly for people to get from point A to point B by walking rather than driving – which pretty much means its street layout has to predate WWII. (You will never, ever find any really pleasant form of street life in downtown Atlanta or Dallas or LA, short of a nearly impossible design retrofit.) Even downtowns of that class can be “vibrant” only if a large number of people actually live there, and can be seen walking around after the office buildings have emptied out for the evening. Downtown Miami is dead after 5:00. So is downtown Tampa. Baltimore and Washington, OTOH, are pretty good by this measure, and not only downtown; but you have to be careful to avoid certain neighborhoods.
New Orleans was an even more vibrant city before Hurricane Katrina (haven’t visited since).
An excellent source on this is James Howard Kunstler. See:
San Diego’s downtown used to be an awful mess, but ever since the new ballpark went up, it’s absolutely a livable, vibrant urban core. Lots of fun and totally safe. There’s lots of expensive living but lots of cheap living, too; in fact, before a close friend recently offered me a ridiculous deal on renting out one of his rooms, the best price I’d found was downtown in a great area a block away from City College (and the City College trolley station, of course!). San Diego’s downtown is easily navigable by bus (busses and trolleys stop right in front of the baseball stadium, too), and it can be a little tough to figure out where you’re going when you’re driving downtown but not nearly as bad as a lot of smaller “big cities”. Nightlife is huge in downtown SD, and not the sketchy, smelly kind that used to be here.
It could happen. There seems to be a push toward more residential development, and having that may be the key to bringing downtown to life. L.A. lost that when it destroyed the Bunker Hill neighborhood in the early sixties. Sure, a lot of substandard houses were cleared away, but with them went the residents who supported scores of businesses. These weren’t rich people, but they still needed places to buy things. Since then, downtown L.A. has been beset by the twin devils of empty plazas that are never used except by office workers on their lunch breaks, and the habit people have of dashing downtown to see the show or concert and then dashing right back out to the suburbs again. Time will tell if that changes.
Pittsburgh.
No longer a dirty steel town ( even though they still produce steel ) It’s clean and thriving. Grime and crime are way down. Real Estate prices are still fair and people are still friendly.
It’s been a few years since I was there, but…Baltimore? The last time I wasthere the tourist-infested Harborwalk was OK, and there was an older area of town that reminds me of “student ghettos” elsewhere, but downtown Baltimore was depressuing and, after dark, downright scary.
On the other hand, Washingto DC used to be really depressing when you got away from the Mall, but has definitely imperoved in recent years, so maybe Baltimore got better, too.
Like I said, some neighborhoods are to be avoided. But there’s plenty of safe and thriving ones – Fell’s Point, Federal Hill, and pretty much anything within a block or two of Charles Street.
BrainGlutton, your information is becoming dated. High-rise condominiums are springing up around Peachtree Street in Atlanta’s Midtown at an astonishing rate-- and the street life is just beginning to catch up with the residential development. Many more residential high-rises are under construction or on the drawing board in the area. Drop by in three years or so.
I would say that Cleveland is TRYING but still not making it. There’s a lot of new places to live…but not too many places to shop for sundries and necessities (unless you eat expensive botique shop clothing for breakfast). If I moved up there I’d definitely have to eat out 3 times a day, and that would suck because a lot of the downtown restaurants are NOT diners.
It’s hard to convince people to move to downtown Cleveland because there’s so many suburbs packed around it with plenty of amenities and cheap housing. Other than the price of gas it’s hard to justify living in Cleveland over Lakewood, Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Maple Heights or any of the areas even further out. Especially when you can catch the rapid or take a bus from most of those places.
Akron is trying, too. I think it might succeed. Just in the past 10 years I’ve seen it grow from “rolled up at 6pm” to at least some semblance of night life. Now it just needs more living space and less dead space and it might do pretty well for itself.
But still, it also has a wealth of suburbs, and bus service. Heck, I live 20 miles away and can walk down my street and catch a bus to Akron U.
Columbus, Ohio’s downtown may not be vibrant quite yet, but it is becoming more so. Condos and apartments are popping up everywhere, with even a few high-rises planned. The new Arena District has some nice restaurants and a movie theater. NBC news is building a new office designed like that of the Today show in New York, with a window in the back that Central Ohioans can gather outside of.
I wouldn’t want to live downtown now, but in five years it could be pretty nice.
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