which north american cities have the most narrow streets and how important is it?

Larry King · #1 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:12 PM**

Thoughts?

dc_denizen · #2 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:21 PM**

boston

destroycreate · #3 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:27 PM**

I think San Francisco must be one of the top. In particular neighborhoods like the Mission, Union Square/FiDi (Maiden Lane), North Beach, Nob Hill (Pacific Street and some of other streets where the cable car runs), and Chinatown are full of narrow Alleyways (that are actually streets not dumpster ends) and tight corridors...

Maiden Lane

http://www.sanfranciscodays.com/phot...ane-tables.jpg

One of the alleys in Chinatown

http://www.terragalleria.com/images/...usca34348.jpeg

http://daily.sightline.org/wp-conten...bbf71cd9_z.jpg

North Beach Alley

http://cdn.funcheap.com/wp-content/u...ouak-alley.jpg

North Beach street (Grant)

http://tupelosf.com/wp-content/uploa...1/Tupelo-1.jpg

I really prefer narrow streets because I think it creates an intimate ambiance that one finds in European or Asian cities. I actually can't think of a single other West Coast city that has what SF has in terms of what you're asking.

Steely Dan · #4 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:28 PM**

out of the american cities i've visited, i gotta agree with boston having the narrowest streets on average. narrow streets are cool because with proper street wall construction, they can create a sense of enclosure and intimacy that a wider street is simply incapable of. howerver, on the flip side, wider streets, if designed correctly, can convey a sense of grandeur and splendor that narrower streets cannot. a city with narrow side streets and some grand avenues/boulevards thrown in is probably close to ideal, again if the streets are designed well. it all comes down to design

brickell · #5 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:41 PM**

Philadelphia. It was one of the defining things about the city for me. A much pleasurable walking experience than NYC.
Boston's NorthEnd probably takes the cake though.

destroycreate · #6 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by brickell

Philadelphia. It was one of the defining things about the city for me. A much pleasurable walking experience than NYC.
Boston's NorthEnd probably takes the cake though.

I had no idea about Philadelphia. Is that predominantly in the old quarter or is it commonplace throughout the city?

MonkeyRonin · #7 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:53 PM**

Boston, Philly, Baltimore, Quebec City. Those are the only major cities where streetscapes like these are at all common:

They can be found in parts of pretty much any other eastern North American city, but not to the same extent.

Cirrus · #8 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:54 PM**

Philly, Boston, and SF are the 3 main cities I thought of. Add in some smaller ones, like Quebec and Charleston.

hammersklavier · #9 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 6:56 PM**

Boston, Philly, and Baltimore for me (in the US). Lower Manhattan also has a fair inventory of narrow streets (Wall Street, anyone?), but the skyscrapers there give a different, colder "feel"...

MonkeyRonin · #10 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:12 PM**

I don't see San Francisco's streets as being any narrower than those of Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, DC, etc. They seem pretty typical of the class of older-but-not-the-oldest of North America's cities. I'd say its New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit that are the outliers among them.

Londonee · #11 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:13 PM**

Philadelphia is lined with narrow streets. Below is a link to Camac street, which, if you look closely you can see, is the only all wooden street in America:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Phila...197.26,,0,5.25

There's an abundance in Washington Square West, where you can wander through labyrinthine blocks of beautiful row home streets.

In my neighborhood, G-Ho, this is a fairly common sight--narrow row-home blocks that open onto a pedestrian only walkway and garden:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=madis...100.09,,0,1.25

Prahaboheme · #12 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:20 PM**

Let's not forget New Orleans.

Segun · #13 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:25 PM**

Philly takes this one easily, simply because the narrow streets continue way outside the core area. Not just narrow, but super narrow, so narrow cars have to park on the sidewalk on one side of the street narrow. Montreal and Boston only have them within a small geographic area.

South Philly - The whole South Philly is like this
http://goo.gl/maps/S8ZjI

North Philly
http://goo.gl/maps/Yzelq

West Philly
http://goo.gl/maps/e3QRx

NW Philly
http://goo.gl/maps/AxOA5

This is one of those comparisons that's not even close.

Cirrus · #14 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I don't see San Francisco's streets as being any narrower than those of Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, DC, etc.

SF is maybe debatable, but DC has excessively wide streets for such an otherwise urban city and definitely does not belong on this list.

Steely Dan · #15 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Segun

South Philly - The whole South Philly is like this
http://goo.gl/maps/S8ZjI

i know we like to fetishize everything "urban" on this forum, but that's a good example of a street that's too narrow for my tastes. i like super-cozy and intimate streetscapes like that for novelty of it all, but i guess i'm too much of a greedy midwestern space-hog to ever want to live on a street that narrow. give me an extra 10'-15' of ROW at the very least to get a row of trees and a planting strip along one side of the street or the other. i like a little bit of green and trees on residential side streets.

Crawford · #16 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:55 PM**

Philly is the correct answer, IMO.

Philly has narrow streets over a larger geography than any other U.S./Canadian city.

Boston has narrow streets, but only in the core. NYC has a lot of narrow streets in scattered districts, but overall no. SF has some narrow streets, but also scattered.

But the North End in Boston has probably the narrowest streets at a neighborhood-level.

summersm343 · #17 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 7:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I had no idea about Philadelphia. Is that predominantly in the old quarter or is it commonplace throughout the city?

Londonee · #18 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 8:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

i know we like to fetishize everything "urban" on this forum, but that's a good example of a street that's too narrow for my tastes. i like super-cozy and intimate streetscapes like that for novelty of it all, but i guess i'm too much of a greedy midwestern space-hog to ever want to live on a street that narrow. give me an extra 10'-15' of ROW at the very least to get a row of trees and a planting strip along one side of the street or the other. i like a little bit of green and trees on residential side streets.

I actually agree--i think Segun went out of his way to post the 4 ugliest blocks in all of Philly. But trust me, you can still get plenty of charm on very narrow streets, same width as the hideous ones shared above:

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.94696...,18.96,,0,2.13

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.94740...11,196.56,,0,0

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.94567...76.14,,0,-0.25

Just a wee bit more charm...

summersm343 · #19 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 8:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

i know we like to fetishize everything "urban" on this forum, but that's a good example of a street that's too narrow for my tastes. i like super-cozy and intimate streetscapes like that for novelty of it all, but i guess i'm too much of a greedy midwestern space-hog to ever want to live on a street that narrow. give me an extra 10'-15' of ROW at the very least to get a row of trees and a planting strip along one side of the street or the other. i like a little bit of green and trees on residential side streets.

Plenty of "normal sized" streets in Philly with green
http://goo.gl/maps/w9PpI
http://goo.gl/maps/99OrF
http://goo.gl/maps/hnEl0
http://goo.gl/maps/qdu3D
http://goo.gl/maps/ZnmpK
http://goo.gl/maps/n9tEP
http://goo.gl/maps/iCtkk
http://goo.gl/maps/mZqEz
http://goo.gl/maps/JJKpT

However even these streets seem to be more narrow than normal for the US

Steely Dan · #20 Posted **Nov 26, 2013, 8:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Londonee

I actually agree--i think Segun went out of his way to post the 4 ugliest blocks in all of Philly. But trust me, you can still get plenty of charm on very narrow streets, same width as the hideous ones shared above:

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.94696...,18.96,,0,2.13

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.94740...11,196.56,,0,0

https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.94567...76.14,,0,-0.25

Just a wee bit more charm...

those streetscapes certainly have loads more charm, it's amazing what better architecture, maintenance, and the presence of trees can do. however, coming from a midwestern perspective, they still seem a tad claustrophobic to me. like i said before, i can certainly see the appeal of streets like that to go get lost in as a tourist, but for day to day living, i'm just used to having a little more breathing space in my built environment. i'm not saying i'd want to live along some god-awful 6 lane suburban arterial (shoot me), but there is a point where streets can get too narrow for my tastes, speaking solely for myself and my preferences.