US equivalents of Calgary? - Page 4

Pavlov · #61 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 1:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fresh

Where are the most vibrant neighbourhoods in Calgary? It looks dense but rather bland from the street level, those 5 lane one way traffic sewers downtown don't seem to help.

That's a pretty fair assessment. Outside of Stephen Avenue and Chinatown, the CBD is very corporate and bland (although very busy and vibrant during working hours). However, the Beltline and Mission are both established urban neighbourhoods and I think are quite vibrant (for a city Calgary's size). Bridgeland and East Village are new urban neighbourhoods so haven't hit a vibrancy critical mass yet.

dc_denizen · #62 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 1:48 AM**

here are calgary, austin and nashville from roughly the same height

Austin

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Au...!4d-97.7430608

Nashville

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Na...!4d-86.7816016

Calgary

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0433.../data=!3m1!1e3

whats immediately obvious is that Calgary has a much more concentrated downtown. nightlife, restaurants, offices, seem close to downtown

Austin has downtown (defined, lets say, as everything from the river to U of T .but , typically for growing, urbanistically progressive american cities, there are midrise districts extending out from the core along narrow arterials.

for example

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2648...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2481...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2545...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.3084...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.3965...7i16384!8i8192

some are still works in progress, others are pretty complete.

It's harder to find these types of areas in Calgary.

just different approaches to urbanism

dc_denizen · #63 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Nashville gets a lot of unwarranted hype, IMO. I don't find that ^ image to be substantially more impressive than a similar shot of any of the top 25-30 largest u.s. cities.

whats not to like here?

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1610...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1632...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1529...7i16384!8i8192

new construction connecting vandy to downtown

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1551...7i16384!8i8192

not many cities this size can manage such a critical mass of attractions

BG918 · #64 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Downtown Austin is arguably more vibrant than both downtown Nashville or downtown New Orleans as of 2020. And yes, I've visited all three.

I would say downtown Austin is on par with downtown Nashville in vibrancy, both have experienced a ton of growth but still have sleepy, parking lot-dominated areas outside the most active districts. Downtown New Orleans "the CBD" is dominated by office buildings and not very active; however from Canal St east toward the French Quarter is probably the most vibrant urban area in the South. New Orleans overall is much more vibrant than both Nashville and Austin.

The North One · #65 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Wow.

Yeah, no way Austin, Charlotte, Denver, Nashville or any of the other cities mentioned in this thread rival the overall look of Calgary's skyline. None appear to come close.

Yeah and on top of it that aerial is old, it's from 2013. Calgary has built multiple prominent towers since then.

Edit: oh wait scratch that, the specific one you quoted is much more up to date.

SIGSEGV · #66 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:47 AM**

I spent about an hour walking around downtown Calgary last February on my way back from Lake Louise. It was -40 outside and snowing, but there were quite a few people out and about.

Fresh · #67 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 3:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pavlov

That's a pretty fair assessment. Outside of Stephen Avenue and Chinatown, the CBD is very corporate and bland (although very busy and vibrant during working hours). However, the Beltline and Mission are both established urban neighbourhoods and I think are quite vibrant (for a city Calgary's size). Bridgeland and East Village are new urban neighbourhoods so haven't hit a vibrancy critical mass yet.

Fair enough, 4th Street in Mission looks alright and must be nice on a summer evening.

I don't even know how to judge Calgary to be honest, i'm struggling to think of many other places that look this this!

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0420...7i13312!8i6656

mhays · #68 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 4:18 AM**

Put those three images in tilt 3D slightly closer...Calgary is on a whole different level from the others.

Ant131531 · #69 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 7:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nite

Calgary's skyline does not rival Toronto's but it does still have an amazing skyline.
I also don't see how Nashville, Austin or Charlotte are close to Calgary's Skyline or will be anytime soon

Calgary

https://fortunavista.com/photo/6th-avenuehenge

https://edmontongazette.com/safest-c...-2018/calgary/

https://www.stockaerialphotos.com/me...algary-alberta

Yeah those three cities definitely don't compare to Calgary....that is an insane skyline for a 1.5 million metro. Honestly, if you plop that in US, it might be a top 5 downtown skyline. NYC, Chicago, SF, then probably either Boston or Calgary.

badrunner · #70 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

Calgary has also a rater high office vacancy rate, over 25% in its downtown.

I bet residential vacancies are higher.

skysoar · #71 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Yeah those three cities definitely don't compare to Calgary....that is an insane skyline for a 1.5 million metro. Honestly, if you plop that in US, it might be a top 5 downtown skyline. NYC, Chicago, SF, then probably either Boston or Calgary.

You think it would top Miami, Houston, Seattle, Philadelphia, and maybe Dallas? umm.
I must agree Calgary has a very impressive downtown, but somehow it reminds me of a slightly larger version of downtown Denver.

destroycreate · #72 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:29 PM**

Denver and Calgary seem almost likey clones. Same aesthetics/architecture, landscape, density, etc.

badrunner · #73 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Yeah those three cities definitely don't compare to Calgary....that is an insane skyline for a 1.5 million metro. Honestly, if you plop that in US, it might be a top 5 downtown skyline. NYC, Chicago, SF, then probably either Boston or Calgary.

um.. Boston isn't even a top 10 skyline in the US. Calgary would be though, maybe.

The North One · #74 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Denver and Calgary seem almost likey clones. Same aesthetics/architecture, landscape, density, etc.

They dont look the same at all to me.

dc_denizen · #75 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:50 PM**

Is there any multifamily outside of the core in either Calgary or Edmonton? Or any significant commercial outside of the major commercial / industrial districts?

urbanists talk a lot about segregation of uses, but check out these cities..the non-core residential areas seem completely (SFH) residential. to go shopping, you have to visit semi-industrial / commercial areas with manufacturing and retail

https://www.google.com/maps/search/c.../data=!3m1!1e3

dc_denizen · #76 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The North One

They dont look the same at all to me.

right, totally different cities

denver

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7482...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9138...7i16384!8i8192

Calgary

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0475...7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.1376...7i13312!8i6656

BG918 · #77 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 2:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Having 50K+ 18-22 year olds (UT) a stones throw away from the major nightlife districts (West 6th, 6th, Rainey, etc.) gives Austin the edge IMO.

Perhaps pre-Katrina. As of 2020, I give the edge to Austin.

Sorry but Austin has no contiguously vibrant urban district like the French Quarter. If you're talking just the CBD/Warehouse District in New Orleans then I agree with you.

TexasPlaya · #78 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 3:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BG918

Sorry but Austin has no contiguously vibrant urban district like the French Quarter. If you're talking just the CBD/Warehouse District in New Orleans then I agree with you.

Most US cities don't have a French Quarter but Austin does have contiguously mostly, vibrant urban district(s) that stretches 3 miles along 6th street.

Austin is past Nashville as it had a head start.

Atlas · #79 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 3:58 PM**

Denver and Calgary do seem pretty similar to me, although Calgary definitely has the edge in terms of the number of highrises. They seem pretty analogous in some ways, but just looking at the satellite imagery (same scale) of the two cities shows a clear difference between US and Canadian planning/growth/governmental paradigms (the specifics of which I have no idea). The delineation between developed land and farmland is much more distinct in Canada (Calgary is more "bounded") and the growth seems to be more orderly to my eye. There are probably 2x as many people in the Denver shot, but they're probably contained in more than 2x the land area (less density). Another observation is that there are more distinct towns/cities in the Denver area whereas Calgary seems more centralized.

On a side note, I love downtown Denver and I've never been to Calgary so I can't say I can add much more to the conversation than this.

JManc · #80 Posted **Jul 13, 2020, 4:04 PM**

Isn't Calgary, Canada's 'Houston'?