Southern cities with a "big city" feel?

[KB0679]

Originally Posted by SpawnOfVulcan

Maybe I'm just willfully ignorant because Birmingham is a relatively small city, thus being left out of these kinds of diagrams/figures, despite it anchoring a (at present) Top 50 US Metro... and I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I'm getting pretty sick of publications throwing out these lists/rankings that select their pool of towns based on municipal population and not their larger regions defined by economic integration.

Ok, my troll comment for the month is over. Carry on.

I was going to make mention of Birmingham in this thread. From 1900-1950 or so it was one of the largest Southern cities and still has the urban structural bones within its core that demonstrate that. Many of downtown's historic buildings have been adaptively reused and a ton of urban infill is also occurring. It still has a ways to go but I think it's worth a mention in this thread.

[Labtec]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Based solely on those two streetviews the vibes seem completely, strikingly different. Besides the most obvious difference in terms of the amount of people and activity, in the Atlanta example 50% of the developments on the block are presenting cold, blank walls to the sidewalk. That kind of treatment of the pedestrian realm immediately betrays the location as being in a specific type of city. Namely one where buildings are thought of a discrete, self contained and inward facing units that happen to be located near other stuff for convenience rather than as integral parts of a larger, interactive whole.

Atlanta's Fairlie Poplar District

https://www.atlantaphotos.com/fairli...etscape-3.html


https://www.atlantaphotos.com/fairli...etscape-1.html


https://www.atlantaphotos.com/fairli...ng-day-19.html

Atlanta's East Beltline:








https://beltline.org/places-to-go/eastside-trail/

Piedmont Park:

https://stonehurstplace.com/blog/fall-colors-in-atlanta


https://www.atlanta.net/events/atlanta-jazz-festival/


https://broadstonemidtown.com/things...-park-atlanta/

[homebucket]

Looks very nice. The last few shots gives me a miniature Central Park vibe.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Looks very nice. The last few shots gives me a miniature Central Park vibe.

Yes! Same here. The other pictures were giving me Portland with a touch of Minneapolis for some reason.

[tdawg]

God I miss Atlanta.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Labtec

Atlanta's Fairlie Poplar District

Looks like a fairly popular place.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Looks like a fairly popular place.

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who makes that joke.

[JManc]

I thought Asslanta had a lot of character and felt much denser and more walkable than traditional sunbelt cities like Houston or Dallas. Parts of it felt almost northern. I could easily live there.

[Maldive]

Even though it seems the bulk of builds is faux nyc, looks pretty good from these angles.

Almost think I see John and Yoko's Dakota suite. (binged on wonderful Lennon/Ono docs on Sunday).

[Segun]

Something about those super thick trees in Atlanta add an intangible element to the city, making everything seem mysterious and pleasant. Looking at those pictures, I can just hear how loud it is on summer nights with all the insects buzzing. I hope as Atlanta is more and more urbanized, they find a way to keep that.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by Segun

Something about those super thick trees in Atlanta add an intangible element to the city, making everything seem mysterious and pleasant. Looking at those pictures, I can just hear how loud it is on summer nights with all the insects buzzing. I hope as Atlanta is more and more urbanized, they find a way to keep that.

Yes. My house is about three miles from downtown on a city street that was developed in the 40's and 50's. The tree canopy is so thick you can scarcely pick out rooftops on google earth. Our yard has been designated by the Audubon Society as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

[jd3189]

Those recent pics of Atlanta have hinted to what I mentioned earlier in this thread or another one related to the South. The suburban nature may have been a weakness at first, but I am really looking forward to dense development in the core and within range of the Perimeter that leads to a sort of "city in a forest". Maybe a more extreme version of what exists in Seattle or Chicago.

Atlanta always had that uniqueness to it. When I lived in the metro for 3ish years a few decades ago, I was always fascinated by the fact that the skyscrapers would pop into sight in the middle of the woods. This was different compared to NYC and other old school cities where the metro around the skyscrapers were densely built. It's even different from most cities in the South and West where you have just bare suburbs in the near outskirts, besides maybe Charlotte.

Either way, I hope Atlanta can maintain its foliage as it continues to grow. Might as well since it can get pretty hot and the trees provide much needed shade.