Blackbird
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- Feb 2, 2014
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Just got home from a trip to Iceland, where I was really impressed by the capital city of Reykjavik. The whole country has only 376,000 people, and the capital region only has 233,000. Still, the city was bustling with people. It had a good mix of stores and restaurants, pedestrianized streets, a nice waterfront, and a convenient, extensive, seemingly well-used bus network.
I wasn't able to take many photos of the city, but I'd highly recommend taking a quick virtual tour on Google: 9 Skólavörðustígur - Google Maps
Our small cities here in the US (or at least in New England) are generally so economically depressed or stagnant and have been kept desolate for the last century by some combination of urban renewal, white flight, or NIMBYism. So, I've generally had a prejudice in my mind that urban amenities and vibrancy can only be found in larger cities with at least 500k people in the metro area. Reykjavik really challenged that idea for me and now I'm frustrated by the state of affairs in places like Lowell, Lawrence, Lynn, etc. which aren't too far off from the Icelandic city in population. I think the closest we have to it might be Portland, ME, but it still feels significantly smaller, sleepier, and more reliant on souvenir shops (though to be fair Reykjavik had plenty of those too).
And yes, I know that being a capital city, even of a small country, makes Reykjavik a different beast from a Lawrence, which is barely the biggest city in its county, let alone in the greater metropolitan area. Still, it's a good case study of how you can really do a lot with a little when it comes to urbanity.
I wasn't able to take many photos of the city, but I'd highly recommend taking a quick virtual tour on Google: 9 Skólavörðustígur - Google Maps
Our small cities here in the US (or at least in New England) are generally so economically depressed or stagnant and have been kept desolate for the last century by some combination of urban renewal, white flight, or NIMBYism. So, I've generally had a prejudice in my mind that urban amenities and vibrancy can only be found in larger cities with at least 500k people in the metro area. Reykjavik really challenged that idea for me and now I'm frustrated by the state of affairs in places like Lowell, Lawrence, Lynn, etc. which aren't too far off from the Icelandic city in population. I think the closest we have to it might be Portland, ME, but it still feels significantly smaller, sleepier, and more reliant on souvenir shops (though to be fair Reykjavik had plenty of those too).
And yes, I know that being a capital city, even of a small country, makes Reykjavik a different beast from a Lawrence, which is barely the biggest city in its county, let alone in the greater metropolitan area. Still, it's a good case study of how you can really do a lot with a little when it comes to urbanity.
