Photos from other cities

[KentXie]

Let's have a thread for photos of other cities. Yay.

NYC:

Montreal:

Providence:

San Juan:

 

[blade_bltz]

Is that Isla Verde? I might have seen you. LoL.

 

[Patrick]

Great idea.
Vancouver BC. Vancouver has eclipsed Manhattan as the most densely populated residential area in North America.
Source: http://polisnyc.wordpress.com/2005/09/20/

Copenhagen, Biking capitol of the western world (arguably)

Shanghai, Biking capitol of the east (but they have banned bikes in many areas)

Sydney, Au

Melbourne, Au

calgary canada

Portland, Or and surrounding greenbelts (UGB induced)

 

[kennedy]

That Copenhagen building is awesome!

 

[commuter guy]

Vancouver BC. Vancouver has eclipsed Manhattan as the most densely populated residential area in North America.
Source: http://polisnyc.wordpress.com/2005/09/20/

This fact sounded dubious to me and a quick google search indicates that most densely populated section of downtown vancouver is still significantly less dense than the entire island of manhattan. The city of Vancouver as a whole is much much less dense than Manhattan.

 

[Patrick]

I know it sounds doubtful, that's why I posted it. I have heard it from more than one spot, though. http://intensecity.blogspot.com/

remember that vancouver may be denser in just a limited sense: residentially. also, it may be for a smaller geographical area (just the downtown), and manhattan may be skewed by the existence of central park or other places...

Portland Maine has a portion of the city that is denser than any area of Providence RI for similar reasons. I don't know if it is true.

 

[a630]

Thinking of you stuck in the snow. Photos from a hike in the Hollywood Hills today.

We have snow here too ... in the San Gabriel Mts. Visible here with Griffith Observatory in the foreground.


View to downtown with Hollywood in the foreground:


The Hollywood sign has been covered up by protesters upset over a proposed development on the peak:


Hollywood Hills to downtown - the smog layer is there but this is very clear:


Infrastructure! View to Palos Verdes and the Pacific.

 

[KentXie]

Although that's only part of the entire skyline, LA barely has any skyscrapers from those views.

 

[a630]

well there's century city, but that was directly into the sun.

 

[Patrick]

interesting. I had never heard of century city. what explains its disconnect from downtown?

 

[Ron Newman]

Century City is a large office and shopping complex built on the former site of 20th Century Fox's studio backlot.

The Century Plaza Hotel there is a modernist landmark, and a plan to demolish it has become quite controversial.

 

[Patrick]

I gathered that much Ron, but thanks for posting anyway. I guess what I'm confused about is what explains the development pattern that led to a disconnect between two major business sectors? Is downtown limited somehow in expandability?

 

[Ron Newman]

"Movie studio lost lots of money, decided to develop its backlot to regain profitability" seems to me a sufficient explanation.

 

[a630]

Century City grew up as many suburban "edge cities" - serving the suburban west side, west valley and south bay populations - and certainly many people from the city to the east too. Commerce had been decentralizing from downtown since the 1920s, when wilshire boulevard west from downtown was gradually rezoned to commercial - Wilshere's become a sort of linear downtown. In the late 1950s when Fox decided to develop its backlot on the westside, near the intersection of Wilshire and Sta Monica Blvds (Century City is about 10 miles due west from downtown), it was very convenient to many developing areas ... it's become one of the foci of the continually densifying and congested wealthy west side (well known areas of the west side include Santa Monica, Brentwood, Belair, Westwood, Beverly Hills ... Santa Monica and Bev Hills are independent cities).
Check out this photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0727-CA-CenturyCity.jpg
Development has been long in coming, and is still happening ... the hotel sat there with little company for a while. My favorite modernist buildings in LA the Century Plaza Towers joined in 1975 (designed by Yamasaki).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Plaza_Towers
A few condos had joined it by that time ... my grandparents actually lived there in the 1970s for a bit. Huge luxury shopping center. Now it's full of condo developments.
Basically, it's a massive high-rise mixed use suburban office park. It must be one of or the largest non-downtown downtown in the country. The city is trying to implement a design overlay to make new development more pedestrian friendly ... but I dunno if it can reverse 50 years of high-rises on lawns type development.

 

[Patrick]

Interesting. It makes more sense knowing the approximate distance between the cores (is it fair to call century city a "core"?). It looked closer than 10 miles to me the first time I viewed a picture of it, but at that distance I can imagine, especially in a car, that things would naturally tend to develop along city centERS instead of a city centER.

Which part of town is most enjoyable to be in? Is century city or downtown better from an urbanist perspective? Where is there more to do?

The picture you linked to (the aerial) looks less built up than the pix I previously linked to. Is it recent? Perhaps things look misleadingly dense from an on the ground perspective?

 

[tobyjug]

Kendall Sq/E. Cambridge remind me of Century City.

 

[Boston02124]

^ great info,I might go to LA this fall for the 1st time so the more I know before I go is great!,St Petersburg Fla.

Tampa Fla.

 

[Ron Newman]

Downtown is more traditionally urban, but Century City had its own charms, at least when I lived in LA in the 1980s. A big annual film festival called Filmex occurred every year at the Century Plaza Cinemas, which were luxuriously comfortable. Sadly, the cinema and the adjoining Shubert Theatre were torn down a few years ago.

Contrary to usual LA stereotypes, I would sometimes bicycle there from Santa Monica.

 

[tobyjug]

That's a helluva cycle!

 

[Ron Newman]

Not really. A little over 4 miles, slightly less than the distance from Davis Square to downtown Boston.