Areas of your city that would shock outsiders/visitors w/ preconceived notions
 

Ok, strange thread title, but I didn't really know how to make it more concise.

Here's what I'm trying to say - are there neighborhoods or parts of your city that not only defy regional normals, but would shock/surprise visitors or outsiders who never would think that neighborhood would be part of your city? I'll give you an example.

Please think of Los Angeles as mainly this:

https://books-teneues.com/wp-content...OS-ANGELES.png
https://books-teneues.com/wp-content...OS-ANGELES.png

https://www.santamonica.gov/Media/De...nicaAerial.png
https://www.santamonica.gov/Media/De...nicaAerial.png

https://cdn.hipwallpaper.com/i/42/77/gqG8ez.jpg
https://cdn.hipwallpaper.com/i/42/77/gqG8ez.jpg

But would they know many parts of Los Angeles can look like this?

South Pasadena - looks way more East Coast and non-SoCal - many homes are craftsman/victorian wooden - not the SoCal typical house with stucco and tile roofs.

https://cdn2.lamag.com/wp-content/up...0Extention.jpg
https://cdn2.lamag.com/wp-content/up...0Extention.jpg

Downtown LA density and historic architecture often blows people not from here away - they claim it looks much more like an east coast city and not really the Mediterranean paradise they envisioned.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ONZs...1313702219.jpg
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ONZs...1313702219.jpg

https://exploristory.com/wp-content/...kyo-street.jpg
https://exploristory.com/wp-content/...kyo-street.jpg

I know there are tons more areas of LA that are unique and not what people think of regarding
SoCal" so I'll think of more later.

For Los Angeles, I definitely think the scope of existing pre-WWII architecture of the historic core is totally unexpected based on outside perceptions. I know it surprised me when I first discovered it... and it was love at first sight.

Outside of my hometown, I was recently surprised by The Wharf area of Washington DC. My outside perception of DC was of a bunch of historic buildings, with blandish office buildings mixed in. The Wharf is very modern and reminded me a lot of what I've seen in the Pacific Northwest, or LoDo in Denver, and I really enjoyed it.

One more is Alki Beach in Seattle. I don't think outsiders typically expect a lot of beach volleyball and sandy beach in Seattle.

Really, really impressed with Discovery Green in Houston

My first "oh shit, this isn't at all what I expected!" urban experience was probably visiting Broadway/Skid Row/Garment/Fashion District in Los Angeles way back in 2004.

I think a lot of people don't realize how much of a waterfront city DC is. The "rivers" are tidal extensions of Chesapeake Bay and connect directly to the Atlantic Ocean. I guess for many years there wasn't any kind of development along the rivers except close to Georgetown and around the Tidal Basin.

Probably Oak Street Beach:

https://i1.wp.com/chicagoprivatetour...each.jpg?ssl=1

But really any beach along the lakefront. I've talked to people at conferences on the East and West coasts who are adamant that Chicago does not have any beaches.

I have friends from the east coast that'll be sitting on the beach claiming Chicago doesn't have beaches.

"iTs nOt thE saMe"

Lmao-- to be fair, they aren't entirely wrong... between the soft sand (not the gravel they call sand in New England) and almost too-good-to-be-real urban setting, it is significantly better than many east coast beaches.

For NYC, it depends on the level of familiarity with the city. I think people (Americans) completely unfamiliar with NYC are shocked that Manhattan has almost nothing resembling low-density "suburban" housing (single-family detached with a yard).

People more familiar with New York, and even those that live here, might be shocked to learn that there actually are "suburban" single-family, detached houses, with yards, driveways, and garages, that are physically located on the island of Manhattan: https://goo.gl/maps/YqkaGfdoEuBvdBCu6

Based on some of the comments I've seen on here, I think some people would be surprised to see that Toronto has a whole collection of pre-war skyscrapers (some over 100 years old), and it's not entirely a skyline of glass condos that have sprung up from nothing in the last 25 years. hah

https://goo.gl/maps/m25ZLCB1qE15AFed8
https://goo.gl/maps/fmCKm8MiYziW3L278
https://goo.gl/maps/5fKxeuD4kPH3ApbW8
https://goo.gl/maps/zmN7FZKscPkAwjTe9
https://goo.gl/maps/TcpKwWvkTkyoy9WC8
https://goo.gl/maps/aNAWFAvh84HzGvyX8
https://goo.gl/maps/rknR88Jr9DS6k41n7
https://goo.gl/maps/AJtYUkLF1hPwsjfEA
https://goo.gl/maps/2XhX6EdUn3Q7UghNA

No to mention all the busy late 19th and early 20th century highly walkable neighbourhood commercial strips criss-crossing the old city outside the downtown core. The best parts of Toronto tend to be pretty damn old, and quite gritty (often verging on run down looking) to the eye.

I first visited LA in the late 90s, but I already knew it has an "east coast like" downtown area, due to some movies set there.
I was more surprised by the dense "street car' areas everywhere, because that's not shown as much in shows/movies. LA appears more suburban in media, imo. Even rap videos don't really show how dense/old/gritty south central can be.
The suburbs just felt more active or dense than what I was used to as well.

I knew about Chicago's beaches before I arrived but what surprised me was the "relaxed" neighborhood feel after you leave downtown on the el. It was a big reason why I decided to move there from DC.

I was surprised by Milwaukee's Lakefront, no idea how landscaped it was, since it's image is so gritty/blue collar.

Ditto for San Diego's Gaslamp quarter, that's not part of the city's image and there's nothing else like it in SoCal. True for all of downtown SD, really.

Philadelphia's and Boston's Chinatown areas surprised me, great areas you don't hear much about.

Chicago's beaches are better than the ocean. You're not going to get any brain eating amoebas or bitten by a shark in Lake Michigan.

Toronto is pretty and some of those streetviews could be Chicago.

I think that the biggest "shock" is that my city (Buffalo) is not a "mini-Detroit" with huge swaths of industrial decay, vacant homes, and urban prairie throughout the city limits, but that there has continuously existed a strong central core of wealthy, upper, and middle-class neighborhoods, many dating from the mid-19th century, that stretches continuously from downtown north past the city limits with dense, walkable, busy, architecturally significant, and human-scaled developments. Olmsted parks and parkways. Markets and old homes. And, still being built upon, with newer developments and repurposing of older industrial areas into residential and commercial uses.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e56fd316_c.jpg
Colonial Circle Afternoon by bpawlik, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...90bcc8a7_c.jpg
IMG_0731 by bpawlik, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/873/28...bf891501_c.jpg
District Walk by bpawlik, on Flickr

My Flickr Page of Buffalo neighborhood albums:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bpawlik/albums

Most unordained outsiders erroneously think all pizza in Chicago looks like this:

https://www.loumalnatis.com/filebin/...pizza-body.jpg



When in fact the majority of the pizza actually eaten in this town looks more like this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rust_pizza.jpg

That's true. I mostly ate thin crust/NY slices in Chicago . As did most people I know. Chicago's thin crust is amazing.


I do love Lou's though. Its just not wise to eat that often. :)

Me too!

But I'm an unapologetically devout Pizzatarian and greatly enjoy all manifestations of the one and only true God.

Deep dish is absolutely fantastic.

As are so many other pizza styles.


But the whole deep dish thing is such a clear example of how so many outsiders don't have a single fucking clue.

Rogers Park had a place at Howard and Clark that had the best thin pizza I've ever had in a sports bar. Unfortunately, it closed I believe.
There was another amazing Rogers Park thin crust joint on Morse Ave.

Piece (New Haven style) in Wicker Park blew me away . I used to frequent a cheap NY style place in Old Town, maybe on Wells or Orleans (?).

Chicago's just a great food and pizza city, period.

LA pizza is decent, but definitely lacks in comparison. Its better than it's reputation though. Phoenix has a solid Lou's outpost.

Not entirely convincing with a solid row of 8-story apartments across the street... ;)

Hasn't the east side experienced some serious disinvestment. Major not Detroit style, but looks more apparent than even Milwaukee or even Cleveland. A bit like Pittsburgh?

My favorite Chicago pizza place... admittedly heavily influenced by nostalgia... is Marcelo's Father & Son (just called Father & Son's by my friends and I)... sadly it recently closed after 72 years in Logan Square. There is still one out in Northbrook, but fuck that I'm not going all the way out there for it.