Your ideal city

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by isaidso

- (Buenos Aires) a population in the metro between 10 and 15 million
- (New York) busy, dense, vibrant downtown core
- (Guangzhou) 500 km of subway and 300 stations
- (none has all of these things) all the major pro sports, Formula One, Grand Slam tennis, IAAF Diamond League, etc.
- (London) a large and fully rounded performing arts scene
- (Paris) at least 5 major museums, 5 major galleries
- (Boston) 3 or more globally renowned universities
- (Philadelphia) 4 proper seasons: 4.5 months summer, 3 months spring, 3 months fall, 1.5 months winter
- (Los Angeles) on the ocean or a large lake
- (Vancouver) access to lots of nature, public space, and recreational acitivities
- (Calgary) clean air
- (Los Angeles) North American cultural heavyweight
- (San Francisco) North American built form
- (none has all of these things) global centre for tech, financial services, research, advanced manufacturing, design, food
- (Sydney) 40% or more of the population foreign born/global immigration hub
- (London) global airport hub
- (Montreal) progressive and liberal population
- (Tokyo) low crime
- (Mississauga) social cohesion
- (none has all of these things) unemployment below 4%, per capita income above $70,000, low income inequality
- (Ottawa) public health care

Median housing prices in this city would be around 5,000,000 lol

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by isaidso

- (Philadelphia) 4 proper seasons: 4.5 months summer, 3 months spring, 3 months fall, 1.5 months winter

What "Philadelphia" are you referring to? In citing a "1.5 months winter" you can't possibly be referring to Philadelphia, PA, USA.

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

What "Philadelphia" are you referring to? In citing a "1.5 months winter" you can't possibly be referring to Philadelphia, PA, USA.

He's Canadian -- of course he thinks Phila. has 1.5 months of winter.

Talk to a Californian and they say 6 months of winter.

Reality, it's somewhere in between 1.5 and 6 months.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Paris but with Vancouver's topography.

Something along these lines with Manhattan + Brooklyn added to it, more tax dollars allocated to cleaning service and more relaxed smiles from locals would do.
I say more relaxation and smiles because Parisians and New Yorkers are often stereotyped as a stressed and grumpy people, which is sometimes accurate, at least in Paris, unfortunately.

Some mentioned Tokyo's transit system. Yeah, ok, but keep in mind that it's a 40-million metropolis. That's like 4 times as large as Paris and the entire population of California, a whole different scale.

I think our transit network is ok overall. Even though it always could get better as nothing's ever perfect, but it's rather satisfying.
We've doing some efforts to keep on developing it, so the suburbs are better served by the inner system.

[MonkeyRonin]

• I prefer smaller slightly smaller & more compact cities, but densely built and that still pack a good urban punch & is large enough to host the usual range of metropolitan accoutrements.
• A fine-grained built form, with narrow streets & building frontages and predominantly a mix of 19th/20th-century rowhouses and tenements, with modernist high-rises scattered throughout.
• Heavy on the brick.
• Lots of greenery. Slightly scruffy public realm, with graffiti and lots of overhead wires for all the streetcars.
• An older, established, low-growth city. Somewhere that's busy & vibrant & creative, but not overly expensive or choking under the weight of mass tourism. Somewhere that still has some industrial-age ruins that haven't been turned into condos yet.
• Diverse and immigrant-heavy, but still with a sense of place.
• Fairly flat terrain that's bike-friendly; but hillier/more mountainous outside of the city.
• On an ocean (or at least a large lake). Beaches, canals, and rivers are all nice.
• Humid subtropical climate with four seasons.

Pretty much Amsterdam with less tourists. Or London in the 90s.

[SignalHillHiker]

The most important factor to me is a measure of significance. It doesn't have to extend far - but it has to be a political, cultural, economic, or etc. capital. I find that's the most influential separation between cities where people sleep and cities where people live. For example, I could live in Toronto, Ottawa, or Hamilton. I couldn't live in Guelph, or Barrie, or wherever else, even though I love some of the towns, such as Paris (Ontario).

Second, I need rowhouses that come up to the sidewalk. If there is a front lawn, or - God forbid - the houses are detached, I feel like I'm camping. I might as well be in a tent. That built form just completely divorces me from any sense of urbanity. It makes me feel like I'm living in a temporary logging camp. Doesn't matter how big the surrounding city is. I need to open my front door to sidewalk.

I need colour. Living in Winnipeg, and recently visiting Edinburgh, has confirmed that for me. If a city doesn't have bright colours everywhere, I feel a little down.

I need a strong sense of identity. Hotel cities don't do it for me (that's half my distaste for Canada in general). I need a city where people will be able to tell where I'm living based on how I dress, or talk, or whatever else. It can be a similar identity to my own, or completely different, but it has to be strong. That's why I love Montreal so much, and why Toronto keeps looking better and better.

When it comes to climate, I'm very picky but not in the normal way. I want to spend as little time as possible outside the range of 5C-25C. So Dublin, for example, is a perfect fit for me. I hate being below freezing. It removes my will to live. And I can't stand really hot, humid weather. I've experienced a dry 29C and that was fine. But here it can be in the high teens and humid and I'm uncomfortable. So I just want a mild, temperate climate. And there has to be some fog. I emotionally, creatively, need it sometimes.

I need warmth and passion. I loved Dublin. Edinburgh felt like a ghost town - so many suits, so many empty streets. That reserved nature of living just doesn't work for me. In practice, that generally means I need a city with a huge, historic, established working class. That's one of the greatest things about the English cities. And it's why, although I could live there happily, I never actually would go through with a move to Ottawa. I need rowdy, vulgar, fun people to be the dominant atmosphere on the streets.

So I could do Boston, Dublin, San Juan, London, NYC, etc. Any of those would be excellent.

[R@ptor]

Topography: Mix of Sydney's coastline & Rio de Janeiro's mountains
Size: 10+ million
Cityscape & Skyline: Great mix of old monumental buildings like in London and Paris and a skyline having everything from art-deco to futuristic skyscrapers
Public transport: Like in Tokyo, but with 24/7 service
Weather: 25-30C (77-86F) throughout the year with sunny blue skies, very little rain and no winter
City politics: Very liberal like in Amsterdam or Vancouver

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by R@ptor

City politics: Very liberal like in Amsterdam or Vancouver

Well, France's economy is being liberalized, but I'm having a feeling that we're too late in that matter.
It may no longer be worth doing it, as we're growing more and more skeptical about the real benefits of neo-liberalism for society.

For example in your country. I realize you must be doing well in Frankfurt, maybe involved in the financial industry or something lucrative, and it's cool. Good for you. You don't have to feel guilty for making a decent living.
But what about the 20% living below the poverty line in Germany? Would you call them lazy or inept? I certainly wouldn't, cause most these people have been at work for their entire lives and yet, they can't make a living. That's just unfair and a real disturbing drama cause we're talking about people here, not just economic figures.
As some say over here, behind abstract numbers of the economy, there are real people's lives.

It's actually the same here in France, even though we're supposed to be more socialistic and less competitive.
The richest guy in Europe is from France and treats his employees as if they were disposable, while they literally made his wealth. Who does that guy think he is after all?
He's disgusting.

And I don't want to see prostitutes sold as products in showcases like they do in the Netherlands in my country.
That's decadence.

This neo-liberal system is not sustainable because it's been pushing unfairness too far.
Plus, it's been ruining the environment from laziness and lack of innovation.
So I would eventually advocate better regulations. Don't get me wrong, I'm no communist, eh. I don't like the communists very much... Lol.
But this current capitalist system has been appalling too. As a matter of fact, its effects might end up just the same as those of communism.
Namely, most people impoverished for the profits of a tiny handful of selfish assholes and social psychopaths.
Screw it.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I need colour. Living in Winnipeg, and recently visiting Edinburgh, has confirmed that for me. If a city doesn't have bright colours everywhere, I feel a little down.

Ah ouais, good on you. You're like myself and little kids. Bright colors are comfort to you, making you feel confident and all.
Like rue Crémieux in Paris.


https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rue-cremieux

That's a fashionable little spot. Photographers have been advertising it on social networks.

I'll tell you what, I still love our legit creamy limestone that makes so much of our central town look consistent and classy. It is really some beautiful local stone like that of Bordeaux.

But it's a curse at the same time, because the city appears so monochromatic, while it actually isn't. There's also a lot of brick of various colors and everything, but it's been drown in the massive white and beige density, with the gray blue color of the regular zinc roofs.
So the city looks kinda cold overall, I'll admit.

In fact, cities that lack limestone in their undergrounds, such as Toulouse and Strasbourg grew more colorful and look warmer, but beige limestone has always been a classy standard in my country and others.
A famous instance is downtown Bordeaux, again. It is almost entirely built in the local stone and really looks good and stylish, although monochrome. Much like Edinburgh and the Scottish stone indeed.

[Pavlov's Dog]

I'd start with Vancouver BC and the mountains to the North, Burnaby, NWM, Coquitlam and Port Moody. About where 41st Avenue is I'd merge in Seattle from about N85th. I'd include Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah and the Cascades.

A bit South of Renton and Lake Washington I'd put the Columbia River and the City of Portland. Over the West Hills I'd have Santa Cruz, California and where Canby is I'd have the Monterey Peninsula and then Big Sur.

This combined Cascadia City would need much improved public transit but would everything else I love in a great city.