Your favorite small urban cities in North America? - Page 7

dc_denizen · #**121** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 1:14 PM**

Moving on to Indiana

Fort Wayne seems spacious and not gritty but sort of dead

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0805...7i16384!8i8192

South Bend seems ok as a small city with a large college. still lot of parking though

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6764...7i16384!8i8192

Elkart is a little dead

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6831...7i16384!8i8192

Kokomo seems a bit dead but lot of parking lots ringing downtown

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4874...7i16384!8i8192

Anderson, IN - a bit interesting

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1040...7i13312!8i6656

on the other hand Muncie looks very vibrant

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1935...7i16384!8i8192

dc_denizen · #**122** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 1:21 PM**

Lima, OH looks nice.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7402...7i16384!8i8192

Findlay on the other hand, streets are too wide with that empty monumental look

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0377...7i16384!8i8192

still, some nice areas

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0372...7i16384!8i8192

Wooster, OH looks great!

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7982...7i16384!8i8192

Mansfield, nice but not as nice as Wooster

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7588...7i16384!8i8192

JManc · #**123** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 3:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigs

Speaking of Burlington, VT:

source

Burlington checks all the right boxes. Church St. is such a cool area.

dc_denizen · #**124** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 4:55 PM**

Elyria. OH seems nice, but too many parking lots

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3677...i16384!8i81921

nice residential neighborhoods though

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3634...7i16384!8i8192

Centropolis · #**125** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 5:23 PM**

bowling green, kentucky is a nice enough small city. under an hour from downtown nashville but holds its own.

https://goo.gl/maps/cwUq2voXoLPpvQAk7

Steely Dan · #**126** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 5:33 PM**

Mackinac Island, MI is fantastic for a tiny little town because of the whole "no cars" thing.

but it's essentially a historical theme park with an old fort and horse & carriage rides instead of rollercoasters and ferris wheels.

so it's not really what this thread is about.

but the no cars situation is an extremely wonderful and rare treat to find in the USA.

dc_denizen · #**127** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 5:33 PM**

lets visit canada

Woodstock, Ontario

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1299...7i13312!8i6656

Brantford, Ontario

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1394...7i13312!8i6656

Barrie, Ontario

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.3893...7i13312!8i6656

Peterborough, Ontario

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.3046...!7i7680!8i3840

itom 987 · #**128** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 5:42 PM**

In Canada, Banff would be the best example from Alberta of a town of 10,000 that pushes above its weight. It's a tourist town though which explains everything.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.1766...7i13312!8i6656

For Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw takes the cake! An incredible level of urbanity for a city of 33,000.
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.3925...7i13312!8i6656

Yellowknife, North West Territories feels much bigger than it's 20,000 population suggests. It probably takes the cake of all north american towns and cities within its size group. It doesn't look very vibrant though.
https://www.google.com/maps/@62.4535...7i13312!8i6656

softee · #**129** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 6:35 PM**

More small cities from Ontario:

Guelph: https://goo.gl/maps/LaNMMhqhVEugarZPA
Stratford: https://goo.gl/maps/vmRo25UDxVwmvsC36
Kingston: https://goo.gl/maps/nBfTwdyWWurvEtkX7
Brockville: https://goo.gl/maps/2bWTx3MFTDdJVvyK7

dc_denizen · #**130** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 6:45 PM**

Ohio small towns look very new England. the village green and everything

Austin55 · #**131** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 7:02 PM**

Some places surrounding Texas,

Hot Springs Arkansas might be a little too well known but has a nice, if a bit touristy, main drag
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.5163...7i16384!8i8192

Eureka Springs AR, very intimate, charming, with an incredible setting. Arkansas's small town posterboy.
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.4022...7i16384!8i8192

Bentonville AR, home of Walmart, Crystal Bridges, and a quaint downtown
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3729...7i13312!8i6656

El Dorado AR, small but really nice sidewalk spaces
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.2118...7i13312!8i6656

Fayetteville AR, a big college town
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0664...7i16384!8i8192

El Reno OK, perhaps the smallest US city to have its own fixed rail transit?
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5326...7i13312!8i6656

Guthrie OK has maybe the best historic downtown in the state
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.8780...7i13312!8i6656

Enid OK is fun for the trio of historic highrises poking above everything
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Su...!4d-96.9683498

Bartlesville, home to some surprisingly big buildings thanks to FLW and Phillips 66.
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.7475...7i13312!8i6656

dc_denizen · #**132** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 11:24 PM**

bentonville looks delightful

but arkansas small towns look like of country to me (eg el dorado, magnolia)

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.2673...7i13312!8i6656

Shreveport (been their 14 years ago) looks like a mini-Dallas. sort of a texas vibe to the downtown

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.5142...7i13312!8i6656

dc_denizen · #**133** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 11:36 PM**

More of that spacious Texas thing

Longview, TX

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.4963...7i13312!8i6656

dc_denizen · #**134** Posted **Aug 22, 2020, 11:43 PM**

lets move back north

always had a soft spot for Binghamton and Schenectady, NY

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0988...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8125...7i16384!8i8192

beautiful architecture

CaliNative · #**135** Posted **Aug 23, 2020, 1:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

lets move back north

always had a soft spot for Binghamton and Schenectady, NY

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0988...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8125...7i16384!8i8192

beautiful architecture

^^^^^
Binghamton was where Rod Serling grew up. Some of his Twilight Zone episodes about people entering a time warp and returning to perfect small towns were probably Rod remembering boyhood Binghamton with nostalgic longing. You can only go back in the Twilight Zone.

How about Elmyra NY, where Mark Twain spent most of his later summers and is buried? Good enough for Sam, good enuf fer me. I also hear the towns on Lake Chautaqua are nice, including Chautaqua itself where the famous institute and summer lecture series are based.

eschaton · #**136** Posted **Aug 23, 2020, 12:31 PM**

While thread drift is inevitable, this thread seems to have shifted focus to talk about the downtown area of small cities exclusively, which isn't what I had in mind.

It's not all that hard to have a good downtown area, provided there was a reasonably high local population before 1900 and urban renewal didn't wreck everything. It's much rarer to have urban vernacular in the residential portions of the city - or have a secondary thriving business district outside of Downtown - which is why I feel like those areas deserve special mention.

I will say one thing that this thread has shown though is even in small towns the further west you go, the wider the main streets get - which is, IMHO, a detraction from urbanity. I have read in urban planning about how there's sort of an ideal ratio of building height to street width to provide the "outdoor room" effect. The super-wide streets with head-in parking don't look right with a bunch of piddly 1-2 story commercial storefronts - they need taller buildings. While they'd look just fine if they had only two 10-foot travel lanes and parallel parking

Razor · #**137** Posted **Aug 23, 2020, 5:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by softee

More small cities from Ontario:

Guelph: https://goo.gl/maps/LaNMMhqhVEugarZPA
Stratford: https://goo.gl/maps/vmRo25UDxVwmvsC36
Kingston: https://goo.gl/maps/nBfTwdyWWurvEtkX7
Brockville: https://goo.gl/maps/2bWTx3MFTDdJVvyK7

These are all fantastic choices for Ontario, and are probably the best choices for small and charming Ontario towns or cities. We here absolutely love visiting Brockvegas, or Kingston!

Centropolis · #**138** Posted **Aug 23, 2020, 6:24 PM**

i had part of a bachelors party in eureka springs.

it was improbably gorgeous and full of chain smoking texans.

JManc · #**139** Posted **Aug 23, 2020, 7:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

lets move back north

always had a soft spot for Binghamton and Schenectady, NY

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0988...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8125...7i16384!8i8192

beautiful architecture

That immediate area in Schenectady looks amazing and haven't been there in a few years to see the new development but the city in general is still pretty bombed out. Binghamton has held its own a bit better.

dc_denizen · #**140** Posted **Aug 23, 2020, 7:51 PM**

From what I can tell observing these towns on google maps , there has been a noticeable , nationwide effort to renovate major historical commercial buildings and commercial rowhouse blocks in small cities downtowns

20 years ago these places looked crappier