Quote:
Originally Posted by LA21st
I don't get this at all. You don't want Phoenix compared to the I.E or San Jose, but you want it compared to LA???
Many people think the IE is like Phoenix or Vegas.
Again, Phoenix and LA didnt develop the same way. Pre 1950, downtown LA was the center of the metro, and thriving. It had the biggest street car network in the world and one the of the biggest metros in the country.
These other sunbelt towns didn't have this.
It's just weird to me that you're trying to lump LA into this, when Dallas, Houston are more comparable here.
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I did use Dallas, but I also think LA is a good comparison, because as stated, despite being much larger and thus starting with a bigger downtown baseline after that all the cities developed in much the same way. Riverside and San Jose despite being massive in and of themselves operate as essentially giant suburbs to other Gorilla cities in their region, phoenix does not and thus they arent really as good of a comparison.
Try to get over the hangup you have with LA being bigger earlier. I know skyline pictures arent really the best example but lets be real here.
Riverside:
Yeah Riverside is the same size as Phoenix but these two cities CLEARLY did not develop in the same way, as riverside and the greater IE are essentially giant suburbs.
San Jose:
San Jose is quite a bit larger but I can see what you refer to as suburban office park feel.
Now dont Mistake my intent here because I am not trying to claim that the downtown is Big but it is certainly not laid out in a suburban fashion it does not have wide streets or tons of space between the buildings. Its a tight cluster that you get as the central core of a region, San Jose and Riverside dont quite fulfill the same thing as they are by their very nature, secondary in the region.
Actually San Jose reminds me of the Texas Medical Center outside of downtown Houston, or a big version of what we call midtown (which is actually where I work) about 1.5 miles north of downtown. or if you look in the background a cluster of office buildings loosely called Biltmore which is about as big as Riversides downtown.