Cities of the Americas - what's your cities most European-like neighborhood/district?

[shappy]

Always thought this vista in Toronto had a Euro-esque vibe. And not even so much UK - perhaps more Scandinavian.


https://goo.gl/maps/bC9MFd6rAxZkiJ2X9

[proghousehead]

https://goo.gl/maps/hziNkbXPMZg5n3LR7

This is one of the most Euro looking streetscapes you will Find in the Western Hemisphere. Rotate it 360 degrees and it still holds. Explore 10 blocks in any direction. Still holds.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by proghousehead

https://goo.gl/maps/hziNkbXPMZg5n3LR7

This is one of the most Euro looking streetscapes you will Find in the Western Hemisphere. Rotate it 360 degrees and it still holds. Explore 10 blocks in any direction. Still holds.

SoHo (NY) doesn't look European to me. Also, part of Europe is in the western Hemisphere.

[proghousehead]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

SoHo (NY) doesn't look European to me. Also, part of Europe is in the western Hemisphere.

Mea Culpa on WH. New World was more apt I suppose.


However, clearly you’ve never been to Europe if you discount SoHo.

[MonkeyRonin]

Soho is classic New York (in the best way possible). I've never seen anywhere in any European city that looks quite like that, insofar as the architecture or streetscape goes.

Versus Buenos Aires, Quebec City, or countless other Latin American cities which do have areas that are legitimately interchangeable with those in much of Europe. This isn't necessarily a compliment nor is it a criticism - but the colonial connection with their Euro masters was much more direct and longer-lasting for those outside of the US, which has been developing its own style of city building since the late 1700s. As a result, little there is reminiscent of Europe.

[badrunner]

More of Mediterranean Europe in SoCal:


Rancho Palos Verdes, CA by Tony Chao, on Flickr


https://goo.gl/maps/1heR7wMyrcAgfRC38


https://goo.gl/maps/YzDzynyi1bPnmkgx7


https://goo.gl/maps/1Fj2fPDhCo5ndrGH9


https://goo.gl/maps/6kvsJHtyE4uN8yiZA

[SIGSEGV]

Technically, Greenland is in North America.

https://www.google.com/maps/@64.1751...2!8i6656?hl=en

Looks a lot like Iceland!

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by shappy

Always thought this vista in Toronto had a Euro-esque vibe. And not even so much UK - perhaps more Scandinavian.


https://goo.gl/maps/bC9MFd6rAxZkiJ2X9

There is something about the colouring and materials that reminds me a lot of Copenhagen, actually, although I doubt I would have thought of it on my own

https://goo.gl/maps/8hSkA4VSKE2m2UfM6

[Nantais]

Originally Posted by Six Corners

Building off what Muppet was saying, Paris is often placed on a pedestal for urban beauty and planning, and it certainly lives up to its status in many ways. But if you venture into the outer suburbs, North American style big box and strip commercial development starts to become a common form:

Complete with billboards
Note the BBQ joint on the left

Actually big box stores first appeared in France in the early 1960's and were quite common in all French cities (large, medium and small) by the 1970's, while I think they didn't become ubiquitous in North America before the 1980's.
Lot of things that are considered as quintessentially North American are actually just the products of the modern way of life which emerged in every part of the developed world in the 20th century.
On the other hand, lot of things that are considered as European aren't necessarily "European" : for example I keep on reading in these kinds of threads how Québec looks so European or so French. If Québec's center looks indeed very different from the other North American downtowns, it still doesn't really look like any French city. And, of course, Québec's metro area outside the city core actually looks like typically North American.

Originally Posted by Crawford

Also, I'd say those Streetviews are pretty atypical for exurban France.

Well no, they seem actually quite typical :

Nantes :
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.1604...7i16384!8i8192

Troyes :
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.2966...7i16384!8i8192

Poitiers :
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.5483...7i16384!8i8192

Bergerac :
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8377...7i16384!8i8192

etc.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

There is something about the colouring and materials that reminds me a lot of Copenhagen, actually, although I doubt I would have thought of it on my own

https://goo.gl/maps/8hSkA4VSKE2m2UfM6

There are at least three pickup trucks that need to be taken out of the shot, though!

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by proghousehead

https://goo.gl/maps/hziNkbXPMZg5n3LR7

This is one of the most Euro looking streetscapes you will Find in the Western Hemisphere. Rotate it 360 degrees and it still holds. Explore 10 blocks in any direction. Still holds.

This doesn't look European to me at all; the streets are too long and straight.

In fact, if I were to see this streetscape in Europe, I would think that it looked very American.

[Crawford]

Yeah, SoHo doesn't look European, at all. Not because the roads are "straight"; they're "straight" in most of Europe, but because the architectural vernacular is very localized.

I think the "European" comments are more re. the ratio of building to street width. The overall scale is unusual in the U.S., but not specifically European. But that scale is more common in France, Spain or Italy than in North America.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

Note that those parking spaces haven't really disappear they were put underground.
Today the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame or Place Vendome have more parking capacity than in the past.

There are over 1,000 parkings space under Place Vendome.

Place Vendôme underground parking built in 1970.

Place Vendome parking souterrain by Minato ku, sur Flickr

Grand Louvre project with I.M. Pei's Louvre Pyramids included a big underground car park.



Paris had already a pretty heavy car traffic. Its WW2 (and the 1929 crisis before that) that stopped the massive expansion of cars and slowed it until the late 1940s, early 1950s.
Paris dismentled its streetcar network in 1937 (one of the largest in the world). One or two decades before most North American big cities.

The main thing that prevented the City of Paris to be crossed by multiple freeways in 1970s was the cost.
Kind like in Manhattan, San Francisco or Inner London.

Obviously there were also a lot of public opposition but what really killed those projects is the over expensive cost.
Destroying a lot of dense and quite valuable real estate to build nothing but roads is not profitable.
Especially in places that seriously lacked of housing and office spaces.

I didn't realize that all of those places were turned into underground parking lots, I suppose a la Union Square in San Francisco and Pershing Square in Los Angeles. At the Louvre I suspected as much, but not those other areas.

Funny, because when I visited Madrid decades ago when I was in my 20s, I remember being excited at being at the Plaza Mayor, knowing that during the Spanish Inquisition, heretics were burned there. Then I learned that it was turned into underground parking. I remember at the time being very surprised that such an historic plaza in Spain would be turned into an underground parking lot, but I guess they felt they needed parking. How naive was I back then?? It's still a nice plaza though.

[kool maudit]

If you squint, SoHo can look a bit like Manchester.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Technically, Greenland is in North America.

https://www.google.com/maps/@64.1751...2!8i6656?hl=en

Looks a lot like Iceland!

It always amazes me how Groenland looks so much better, more "polished" than its Canadian neighbour Iqualuit.

It's frustrating to see how do they manage to make it look so organized and urban, while planners (or lack of) in Iqualuit made the city look like this : https://goo.gl/maps/pdwXFYmi195ReiTL7

And this is probably the best looking part of the city...

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Nantais

On the other hand, lot of things that are considered as European aren't necessarily "European" : for example I keep on reading in these kinds of threads how Québec looks so European or so French. If Québec's center looks indeed very different from the other North American downtowns, it still doesn't really look like any French city. And, of course, Québec's metro area outside the city core actually looks like typically North American.

If I had to pick one French city that has a familiar feel to Quebec City, it would be St-Malo.

St-Malo : https://goo.gl/maps/1THJxzkokDNzZmPp6

Quebec City : https://goo.gl/maps/LBvt43jyMKBm7j5V7

But outside the old part of the city, Quebec City feels more like its own thing, neither European nor typically North American.

See avenue Cartier, for example : https://goo.gl/maps/ndRQ3mrWbWxsoFzf8

Or rue St-Jean : https://goo.gl/maps/A6vBGZuLGue7tnWW7

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Technically, Greenland is in North America.

https://www.google.com/maps/@64.1751...2!8i6656?hl=en

Looks a lot like Iceland!

I was watching that new Zac Efron travel show on Netflix last weekend and I learned that part of Iceland is also in North America.

[mousquet]

Nantais is obviously right. Post-war car-oriented development was pretty much the same all over the West, at a time when cars were seen as the symbol of autonomy, independence and freedom for every single individual.

Originally Posted by Nantais

Well no, they seem actually quite typical :

Nantes :
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.1604...7i16384!8i8192

Troyes :
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.2966...7i16384!8i8192

Poitiers :
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.5483...7i16384!8i8192

Bergerac :
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.8377...7i16384!8i8192

etc.

That is boring and unsightly. Doesn't draw any sexy picture.

There's a ton of this in the remote suburbs of Paris too. Like malls or large discount corporate boxes of Orgeval or Chambourcy in Yvelines that have been struggling for this last decade. I know those well 'cause I grew up over that area, but you'd find the same around Cergy or Pontoise in Val-d'Oise, Disneyland in Seine-et-Marne or Les Ulis in Essonne and so on.

This type of stores and trade is more and more deemed boring as hell over here now, even by remote suburbans, then it's slowly dying and sinking. Online sells and delivery make them outdated.

Some older suburbs like those of Yvelines are lucky to be original and quaint enough, so urban/downtown retail will have a chance over these suburbs. Today, people want both online and urban options. But so-called new towns that were excessively designed for cars are doomed in my opinion. I wouldn't bet a dime on those, unless they try something more trendy.

By the way, you may think I'd somehow be fucked up or insane, it always makes me think of the Lord riding a humble donkey to get in Jerusalem in the Gospel. I find it funny and full of joy. It means the Lord doesn't drive a shiny cumbersome car. I find it awesome, to be honest.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by badrunner

https://goo.gl/maps/1heR7wMyrcAgfRC38

This reminds me a little of Búzios, Brazil:

https://goo.gl/maps/yZn2tBQzsfNd18WQA

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by begratto

It always amazes me how Groenland looks so much better, more "polished" than its Canadian neighbour Iqualuit.

It's frustrating to see how do they manage to make it look so organized and urban, while planners (or lack of) in Iqualuit made the city look like this : https://goo.gl/maps/pdwXFYmi195ReiTL7

And this is probably the best looking part of the city...

I was gonna say... that looks pretty good for Iqaluit. Or anywhere in Canada's far north.