The cities of Louisville and Cincinnati are ~100 miles apart and yet feel incredibly different, while Indianapolis and Columbus, OH feel much more similar to each other, despite being about 175 miles from each other. Los Angeles and San Diego don't feel too different, and are ~120 miles apart yet both Niagara Falls feel rather different than each other.
Obviously these can be attributed due to geographical regions, but it absolutely boggles my mind how different Louisville, Cincy, and Indy feel to each other; Louisville feeling like the usual Southern city, Indianapolis feeling like the average boring suburban Midwestern city, and Cincinnati feeling like an Appalachian city with coal and stuff. Its northern suburbs feel more midwestern, though.
Heck, even Louisville and Jeffersonville, IN feel very different than each other in terms of shops, demographics, and general "feeling".
Fort Worth, TX feels different than Dallas, TX despite being next door neighbors separated by Arlington and Irving.
This seems totally subjective to me, since I think San Diego and Los Angeles are quite different.
Not a lot of similarities between DC and Baltimore.
Quote from: davewiecking on May 30, 2024, 08:53:20 AMNot a lot of similarities between DC and Baltimore.
That's a good one. Not just subtle differences there... even culturally they're very different. And Baltimore is often overshadowed by DC despite being more populous until recently.
Quote from: webny99 on May 30, 2024, 09:02:00 AMQuote from: davewiecking on May 30, 2024, 08:53:20 AMNot a lot of similarities between DC and Baltimore.
That's a good one. Not just subtle differences there... even culturally they're very different. And Baltimore is often overshadowed by DC despite being more populous until recently.
It makes a big difference too whether you're talking about Black DC and Black Baltimore or White DC and White Baltimore. There are a lot of subtleties that make a difference around our cities. But both are great!
Not to sound like a caricature of myself, but I think Rochester and Buffalo are very different for how close they are (73 miles between downtowns). Yes, Rochester has the old Kodak Park, but otherwise doesn't feel much like the Rust Belt at all, especially in the suburbs. The housing stock is also very different. Buffalo has tons of neighborhoods that look like this (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VaJkbhLDGkrYginq6) and this (https://maps.app.goo.gl/QCvfEnCiNPV85Wz46) which to me is a very Rust Belt/quasi-Midwestern look. Rochester has hardly any neighborhoods that look like those (though there are some on the west side) while having a lot more 2-3 story homes on narrower properties, and split-level homes like this (https://maps.app.goo.gl/ygjMgdd7t8ztKcB87).
Buffalo also has a more blue collar inner ring of suburbs (Lackawanna/West Seneca, Cheektowaga, and the Tonawandas), that are a big part of what give the area its Rust Belt feel. Meanwhile I would argue Buffalo doesn't have the white collar equivalent of Pittsford/Mendon/Victor which are among the wealthiest suburbs upstate. That's not to say Buffalo doesn't have some really nice suburbs (Orchard Park, Hamburg, Clarence, etc.), but they're not quite on the same level.
Richmond, Petersburg, and Hopewell are the classic examples of this for central Virginia:
Richmond has quite a few affluent areas and is becoming gentrified in some of the more historically economically depressed areas, though there are some areas that continue to suffer from the effects of segregated development (primarily in the southern and eastern parts of the city). It also has healthy suburbs in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties.
Petersburg has a thriving (but gentrified) old town neighborhood but is otherwise quite dilapidated, mainly due to white flight (to Colonial Heights, and Chesterfield and Dinwiddie Counties) after the collapse of the Byrd Organization, underfunding of infrastructure, and occasional corruption within the city government and its contractors. There was a long saga of Petersburg contracting companies to tear down an infamous former Ramada Inn that was visible from I-95, only for those contractors to take the city's money and run. The hotel finally got torn down a couple of years ago.
Hopewell is an economically depressed military town with a very high crime rate, and large amounts of heavy industry that encroach on low-income residential areas. There have been attempts to revitalize parts of Hopewell, particularly the downtown area, but otherwise it's a pollution-choked wasteland. It also suffered from white flight as people moved into Prince George and Chesterfield Counties, and that is likely to continue with some very high-income housing being built in southeastern Chesterfield.
Madison and Milwaukee.
Milwaukee is much more similar to Chicago than it is to the second largest city in the state. And this isn't a "Madison is liberal" thing. Milwaukee attracted similar immigrant groups as Chicago (Polish, German, etc.).
I also think Milwaukee has a much more distinctive "Northern Cities Vowel Shift" accent similar to Chicago.
I think Denver and Colorado Springs, while obviously having some things in common, aren't all that similar. Colorado Springs is either blue collar or waspy with little in between, while Denver has pockets of a little bit of everything.
Hartford and Providence.
I've been to both downtowns of these cities and each feel way different. Not much happens in Hartford as compared to Providence. The latter feels like a more up and coming city while Hartford just feels very depressing to be there with not much going on. Hartford also seems to have more in common with New York than Boston.
OKC/Tulsa are quite different. So are Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Quote from: MATraveler128 on May 30, 2024, 10:35:11 AMHartford and Providence.
I've been to both downtowns of these cities and each feel way different. Not much happens in Hartford as compared to Providence. The latter feels like a more up and coming city while Hartford just feels very depressing to be there with not much going on. Hartford also seems to have more in common with New York than Boston.
Hartford and Providence are a world apart despite their "as the crow flies" distance.
I think we could probably add Austin and San Antonio to this list pretty easily.
Quote from: someone17 on May 30, 2024, 01:09:26 AMThe cities of Louisville and Cincinnati are ~100 miles apart and yet feel incredibly different, while Indianapolis and Columbus, OH feel much more similar to each other, despite being about 175 miles from each other. Los Angeles and San Diego don't feel too different, and are ~120 miles apart yet both Niagara Falls feel rather different than each other.
Obviously these can be attributed due to geographical regions, but it absolutely boggles my mind how different Louisville, Cincy, and Indy feel to each other; Louisville feeling like the usual Southern city, Indianapolis feeling like the average boring suburban Midwestern city, and Cincinnati feeling like an Appalachian city with coal and stuff. Its northern suburbs feel more midwestern, though.
Heck, even Louisville and Jeffersonville, IN feel very different than each other in terms of shops, demographics, and general "feeling".
I was going to say Louisville and Cincy, Louisville and Indy, Indy and Cincy, and will throw in Louisville and Nashville as well.
^ All four of Tennessee's largest cities are very different from one another.
Downtown Memphis is older and feels very depressing. The only safeish areas of the city proper are maybe along the Union Ave, Poplar Ave, and Walnut Grove Rd corridors (due east), and possibly around the University of Memphis. Everyplace else is very dangerous. The suburbs of Bartlett, Germantown, and Collierville are also considered safe, as well as most of the Mississippi suburbs, but the West Memphis, AR area is nearly as dangerous as Memphis proper.
Nashville is now thriving just about everywhere. Even the traditionally dangerous parts of town (North Nashville, Bordeaux, and parts of Antioch) are experiencing regentrification. There has always been some sort of industry there, but white collar/tech jobs are really starting to take off nowadays. The suburbs are all pretty much generally safe, though LaVergne is starting to not be quite as safe.
Knoxville is very much an Appalachian city and proud of it. Proximity to the vacation areas of the Smokey Mountains have driven its growth, but not by as much as Nashville.
Chattanooga is a nice mix of Atlanta, Nashville, and Knoxville. The locals identify with Atlanta more than Nashville because it's closer, but their downtown entertainment district, while smaller, seems to have more in common with Nashville's, and it shares a lot of the same Appalachian traits with Knoxville. It also once had a Birmingham feel with the old steel mills, but they are all shut down now. Manufacturing is still big with a fairly new Volkswagen assembly plant.
San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose all feel different from each other. San Francisco is the only one of the three where true Manhattanization took place. Oakland feels the most industrial and San Jose the most modern.
Quote from: davewiecking on May 30, 2024, 08:53:20 AMNot a lot of similarities between DC and Baltimore.
I'm a Baltimorean, my parents both from DC, and my dad and I have different outlooks when it comes to a lot of things. These cities are polar opposites.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 30, 2024, 05:16:28 PMSan Francisco, Oakland and San Jose all feel different from each other. San Francisco is the only one of the three where true Manhattanization took place. Oakland feels the most industrial and San Jose the most modern.
I agree with this for my birthplace the Bay Area. I remember it used to be a big deal whenever two Norcal teams in the MLB and NFL were against each other and we called it the "Bay Bridge Series." The only one where there is a NorCal Rivalry for many years to come is in the NBA where the Kings Vs. Warriors fight for the NorCal Audience. Also the dividing line between the Sacramento area and Bay Area happens to be in Solano County where we mix the two together.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 30, 2024, 05:16:28 PMSan Francisco, Oakland and San Jose all feel different from each other. San Francisco is the only one of the three where true Manhattanization took place. Oakland feels the most industrial and San Jose the most modern.
San Jose is definitely the one part where SoCal/Texas type sprawl (albeit on a smaller scale) has occurred. The downtown being low-rise is more a consequence of SJC airport being next door, but I do find that the late night dining/bar scene there is a bit more consistently lively compared to post-pandemic SF.
Downtown Oakland has some tall buildings, yet overall doesn't feel particularly thriving. Oakland itself is a great example of severe economic inequality in the Bay Area (compare Oakland Hills to the residential neighborhoods immediately near Oakland Coliseum) and to some degree that has spilled over into the downtown area, there were noticeable empty storefronts before the pandemic (as opposed to SF getting impacted the most by lockdown and subsequent retrenchment of day-to-day employees).
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Since Louisville vs. Cincy was mentioned...a similar dynamic exists with the Bay Area vs. Sacramento:
- Sacramento's vibe is a bit more midwestern due to climate and flatter geography
- While lots of Bay Area people have moved to Sac, and I lived there for 7 years...there's a distinct, "We're Californian but we're not from the more famous areas" attitude in that part of the valley
- Sacramento has one sports team that is firmly a part of the municipal identity (the Kings) while the Bay has numerous sports teams, some of which reflect existing Oakland/SF rivalry splits
- Downtown Sacramento is kind of a mix of Oakland and San Jose's downtowns in vibe - somewhat thriving, but with some of the issues that downtown Oakland had with empty storefronts, iffy city blocks outside of the core shopping area, etc. Suburban Sacramento resembles the flat, sprawling Santa Clara County devleopment pattern (but with less of the tech or gentrification out there)
Sacramento vs. Stockton: the two cities are only 45 miles apart, but...
- Stockton's downtown is one of the worst I have ever been to anywhere. Very little pedestrian activity, even during the day. Despite the arena and some mid-rise towers, overall it felt like a ghost town (and not that sort of "desolate, but nobody's here so it's safe") - this was true in 2017 and then in later visits in 2020 during the pandemic.
- Stockton's suburban neighborhoods are kinda like the lower-income suburban parts of Sacramento (South Sacramento, North Highlands, parts of Rancho Cordova, parts of West Sacramento), but less safe. Pretty much the only districts in Stockton I can vouch for as being "okay" are around Miracle Mile and the community college.
- Sacramento and the Bay Area each have numerous tourist attractions. Stockton? Not really sure.
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Bakersfield is about 110 miles from Fresno and 120 from downtown Los Angeles and definitely feels like neither of those places, in part due to Bakersfield's more desert-like climate, its history with cowboy/country music culture, and its history with oil wells in the nearby area.
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Quote from: bing101I remember it used to be a big deal whenever two Norcal teams in the MLB and NFL were against each other and we called it the "Bay Bridge Series." The only one where there is a NorCal Rivalry for many years to come is in the NBA where the Kings Vs. Warriors.
...that's in part because 2 of the Oakland teams have moved or are moving to Las Vegas (A's and Raiders). I recall the Raiders/Niners games had problems with violent fan confrontations over the years.
Quote from: wriddle082 on May 30, 2024, 04:28:49 PM^ All four of Tennessee's largest cities are very different from one another.
Downtown Memphis is older and feels very depressing. The only safeish areas of the city proper are maybe along the Union Ave, Poplar Ave, and Walnut Grove Rd corridors (due east), and possibly around the University of Memphis. Everyplace else is very dangerous. The suburbs of Bartlett, Germantown, and Collierville are also considered safe, as well as most of the Mississippi suburbs, but the West Memphis, AR area is nearly as dangerous as Memphis proper.
Nashville is now thriving just about everywhere. Even the traditionally dangerous parts of town (North Nashville, Bordeaux, and parts of Antioch) are experiencing regentrification. There has always been some sort of industry there, but white collar/tech jobs are really starting to take off nowadays. The suburbs are all pretty much generally safe, though LaVergne is starting to not be quite as safe.
Knoxville is very much an Appalachian city and proud of it. Proximity to the vacation areas of the Smokey Mountains have driven its growth, but not by as much as Nashville.
Chattanooga is a nice mix of Atlanta, Nashville, and Knoxville. The locals identify with Atlanta more than Nashville because it's closer, but their downtown entertainment district, while smaller, seems to have more in common with Nashville's, and it shares a lot of the same Appalachian traits with Knoxville. It also once had a Birmingham feel with the old steel mills, but they are all shut down now. Manufacturing is still big with a fairly new Volkswagen assembly plant.
Although Memphis is having some dark days right now, I find your assessment overly negative.
Quote from: TheStranger on May 30, 2024, 06:36:06 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on May 30, 2024, 05:16:28 PMSan Francisco, Oakland and San Jose all feel different from each other. San Francisco is the only one of the three where true Manhattanization took place. Oakland feels the most industrial and San Jose the most modern.
San Jose is definitely the one part where SoCal/Texas type sprawl (albeit on a smaller scale) has occurred. The downtown being low-rise is more a consequence of SJC airport being next door, but I do find that the late night dining/bar scene there is a bit more consistently lively compared to post-pandemic SF.
Downtown Oakland has some tall buildings, yet overall doesn't feel particularly thriving. Oakland itself is a great example of severe economic inequality in the Bay Area (compare Oakland Hills to the residential neighborhoods immediately near Oakland Coliseum) and to some degree that has spilled over into the downtown area, there were noticeable empty storefronts before the pandemic (as opposed to SF getting impacted the most by lockdown and subsequent retrenchment of day-to-day employees).
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Since Louisville vs. Cincy was mentioned...a similar dynamic exists with the Bay Area vs. Sacramento:
- Sacramento's vibe is a bit more midwestern due to climate and flatter geography
- While lots of Bay Area people have moved to Sac, and I lived there for 7 years...there's a distinct, "We're Californian but we're not from the more famous areas" attitude in that part of the valley
- Sacramento has one sports team that is firmly a part of the municipal identity (the Kings) while the Bay has numerous sports teams, some of which reflect existing Oakland/SF rivalry splits
- Downtown Sacramento is kind of a mix of Oakland and San Jose's downtowns in vibe - somewhat thriving, but with some of the issues that downtown Oakland had with empty storefronts, iffy city blocks outside of the core shopping area, etc. Suburban Sacramento resembles the flat, sprawling Santa Clara County devleopment pattern (but with less of the tech or gentrification out there)
Sacramento vs. Stockton: the two cities are only 45 miles apart, but...
- Stockton's downtown is one of the worst I have ever been to anywhere. Very little pedestrian activity, even during the day. Despite the arena and some mid-rise towers, overall it felt like a ghost town (and not that sort of "desolate, but nobody's here so it's safe") - this was true in 2017 and then in later visits in 2020 during the pandemic.
- Stockton's suburban neighborhoods are kinda like the lower-income suburban parts of Sacramento (South Sacramento, North Highlands, parts of Rancho Cordova, parts of West Sacramento), but less safe. Pretty much the only districts in Stockton I can vouch for as being "okay" are around Miracle Mile and the community college.
- Sacramento and the Bay Area each have numerous tourist attractions. Stockton? Not really sure.
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Bakersfield is about 110 miles from Fresno and 120 from downtown Los Angeles and definitely feels like neither of those places, in part due to Bakersfield's more desert-like climate, its history with cowboy/country music culture, and its history with oil wells in the nearby area.
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Quote from: bing101I remember it used to be a big deal whenever two Norcal teams in the MLB and NFL were against each other and we called it the "Bay Bridge Series." The only one where there is a NorCal Rivalry for many years to come is in the NBA where the Kings Vs. Warriors.
...that's in part because 2 of the Oakland teams have moved or are moving to Las Vegas (A's and Raiders). I recall the Raiders/Niners games had problems with violent fan confrontations over the years.
On the Suburban levels Tracy mainly focuses on commuters to San Jose, Palo Alto, San Mateo. On the other hand places like Fairfield, Suisun City and Vacaville has to respond to commuters to Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Davis, West Sacramento and Sacramento commuters.
And yes if its the NBA's Kings and Warriors its called the I-80 Series and Solano County happens to be the dividing line between Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.
Bakersfield always felt more like Clovis than it does Fresno to me. They lean heavily into the that whole "cowboy/mountain" aesthetic in Clovis and Bakersfield.
Here's one I like bringing up a lot from personal experience:
In the Philippines' National Capital Region, Manila and Makati are next door neighbors, and Makati also borders the Bonifacio Global City district of Taguig.
Without going into the (very extensive) ongoing Makati/Taguig war over territorial control of BGC - which is still a problem even after Philippine courts have ruled that the BGC district is permanently Taguig's - here's the vibe differences I get in what is essentially less than 10 miles total from one end to the other.
Manila
- While the more prominent city historically, overcrowding there led to Makati going from an airport-centered suburb (not dissimilar to San Bruno, California) in the mid-1940s...to Makati being the financial capital of the Philippines, which it remains to this day despite the gleaming new developments in BGC.
- Binondo, the Chinatown/CBD north of the Pasig River, is all at once nicely developed (some newer malls) but also showing its age compared to the BGC and Makati skyscraper sets.
- Malate and Ermita once represented the main tourist areas with waterfront views and access along Roxas Boulevard; the hotel and entertainment district in Bay City in Pasay immediately to the south has taken over for most of that, centered around Mall of Asia. for that matter, the Makati luxury hotel district near the core Greenbelt/Glorietta mall complex was created virtually overnight in 1976 and continues to provide its own set of first-world quality accomodations, too.
- While Manila has very good malls in city limits (namely Robinsons Manila and SM City Manila), they don't have the regional/tourist cache of say Mall of Asia, or Mandaluyong's Megamall, or Greenbelt/Glorietta, or the various malls and outdoor pedestrian street (Bonifacio High Street) in BGC.
- The abandoned/dilaipdated theater district along Rizal Avenue is roughly equivalent to Los Angeles' Broadway or San Francisco's Mid-Market.
- For historic reasons, Manila has most of the universities in the region, along the University Belt district. (Though the University of the Philippines has a major campus in Quezon City's Diliman area, which is not immediately nearby to Manila's city limits)
Makati
- Prior to 1947, the main international airport (Nielsen Field) was operational in this city; when the airport closed due to the government moving all commercial air to NAIA, the old Nielsen Field runways became the three key streets of the CBD (Ayala Avenue, Makati Avenue, Paseo de Roxas)
- Gated subdivisions near the CBD, i.e. Dasmarinas Village just south of the hotel district, Bel-Air Village
- 1960s photos show plenty of empty land south of Buendia Avenue and along Dela Rosa Street; though that slowly started fillling in by the mid-70s, 1960s Makati more resembled an Irvine than a major urban core. But the skyscraper boom of the 90s firmly established Makati as a major city in its own right and not simply a business park suburb of Manila; by the time of my first visit (2016) the Ayala CBD offers similarities to San Francisco's Financial District in terms of density and walkability.
- Outside of the CBD, the apartment stock does look a tiny bit more dilapidated, whether its due to construction materials, paint quality, or the sheer amount of traffic and jeepney exhaust pollution. That being said, even the less-luxurious parts of Makati overall look better than the poorer parts of Manila.
- the Rockwell district of Makati can be likened to a miniature version of West LA, with a luxury mall (Power Plant) and nicer restaurants/establishments somewhat hidden away from the rest the city.
- Poblacion, the original municipal center of Makati, can be likened to San Francisco's Civic Center, except that Poblacion also is the heart of Makati's nightlife and does have several decent hotels (if less luxurious than anything near Greenbelt mall).
- Amusingly, even though there are parts of residential Makati that superficially resemble the portions of Manila it borders (dilapidated low-rise housing), one way to tell the two cities apart is the quality of drivers: Makati drivers do crowd to intersections but they rarely ever ignore stoplights or do truly zany things on the road; Manila drivers ignore red lights and road markings are sometimes a suggestion. (I've also seen a situation where someone placed a hot tub out on a public sidewalk on Pedro Gil Street in Manila...)
Bonifacio Global City
- Since development of this former American military base started ca. 1995, everything here is hyper modern, and the streets are very spread out. Kinda reminds me of Dallas if Dallas didn't have any freeways cutting through it; BGC has a nearby partial expressway (C-5) on its south edge, but not really through town.
- Jeepneys are banned throughout most of the CBD, likely to discourage possible pollution in the area but also to prevent the disorganized stop-and-go pickup style of jeepney drivers from interfering with local traffic.
- If Makati is very much Manhattanized 1970s Western style, BGC is 90s-present hyper modern first world development, stylistically somewhere between an Irvine and a Dubai. Large city blocks.
- BGC also has its thriving bits of nightlife, probably in part due to its modernity and perceived safety compared to Manila
- Lot less aggressive driving in BGC than Makati or Manila, and stoplights are always followed. Feels like driving in Fremont in terms of everyone mostly sticking to traffic rules, not over-crowding, etc.
Quote from: TheStranger on May 30, 2024, 07:31:03 PMHere's one I like bringing up a lot from personal experience:
In the Philippines' National Capital Region, Manila and Makati are next door neighbors, and Makati also borders the Bonifacio Global City district of Taguig.
Without going into the (very extensive) ongoing Makati/Taguig war over territorial control of BGC - which is still a problem even after Philippine courts have ruled that the BGC district is permanently Taguig's - here's the vibe differences I get in what is essentially less than 10 miles total from one end to the other.
Manila
- While the more prominent city historically, overcrowding there led to Makati going from an airport-centered suburb (not dissimilar to San Bruno, California) in the mid-1940s...to Makati being the financial capital of the Philippines, which it remains to this day despite the gleaming new developments in BGC.
- Binondo, the Chinatown/CBD north of the Pasig River, is all at once nicely developed (some newer malls) but also showing its age compared to the BGC and Makati skyscraper sets.
- Malate and Ermita once represented the main tourist areas with waterfront views and access along Roxas Boulevard; the hotel and entertainment district in Bay City in Pasay immediately to the south has taken over for most of that, centered around Mall of Asia. for that matter, the Makati luxury hotel district near the core Greenbelt/Glorietta mall complex was created virtually overnight in 1976 and continues to provide its own set of first-world quality accomodations, too.
- While Manila has very good malls in city limits (namely Robinsons Manila and SM City Manila), they don't have the regional/tourist cache of say Mall of Asia, or Mandaluyong's Megamall, or Greenbelt/Glorietta, or the various malls and outdoor pedestrian street (Bonifacio High Street) in BGC.
- The abandoned/dilaipdated theater district along Rizal Avenue is roughly equivalent to Los Angeles' Broadway or San Francisco's Mid-Market.
- For historic reasons, Manila has most of the universities in the region, along the University Belt district. (Though the University of the Philippines has a major campus in Quezon City's Diliman area, which is not immediately nearby to Manila's city limits)
Makati
- Prior to 1947, the main international airport (Nielsen Field) was operational in this city; when the airport closed due to the government moving all commercial air to NAIA, the old Nielsen Field runways became the three key streets of the CBD (Ayala Avenue, Makati Avenue, Paseo de Roxas)
- Gated subdivisions near the CBD, i.e. Dasmarinas Village just south of the hotel district, Bel-Air Village
- 1960s photos show plenty of empty land south of Buendia Avenue and along Dela Rosa Street; though that slowly started fillling in by the mid-70s, 1960s Makati more resembled an Irvine than a major urban core. But the skyscraper boom of the 90s firmly established Makati as a major city in its own right and not simply a business park suburb of Manila; by the time of my first visit (2016) the Ayala CBD offers similarities to San Francisco's Financial District in terms of density and walkability.
- Outside of the CBD, the apartment stock does look a tiny bit more dilapidated, whether its due to construction materials, paint quality, or the sheer amount of traffic and jeepney exhaust pollution. That being said, even the less-luxurious parts of Makati overall look better than the poorer parts of Manila.
- the Rockwell district of Makati can be likened to a miniature version of West LA, with a luxury mall (Power Plant) and nicer restaurants/establishments somewhat hidden away from the rest the city.
- Poblacion, the original municipal center of Makati, can be likened to San Francisco's Civic Center, except that Poblacion also is the heart of Makati's nightlife and does have several decent hotels (if less luxurious than anything near Greenbelt mall).
- Amusingly, even though there are parts of residential Makati that superficially resemble the portions of Manila it borders (dilapidated low-rise housing), one way to tell the two cities apart is the quality of drivers: Makati drivers do crowd to intersections but they rarely ever ignore stoplights or do truly zany things on the road; Manila drivers ignore red lights and road markings are sometimes a suggestion. (I've also seen a situation where someone placed a hot tub out on a public sidewalk on Pedro Gil Street in Manila...)
Bonifacio Global City
- Since development of this former American military base started ca. 1995, everything here is hyper modern, and the streets are very spread out. Kinda reminds me of Dallas if Dallas didn't have any freeways cutting through it; BGC has a nearby partial expressway (C-5) on its south edge, but not really through town.
- Jeepneys are banned throughout most of the CBD, likely to discourage possible pollution in the area but also to prevent the disorganized stop-and-go pickup style of jeepney drivers from interfering with local traffic.
- If Makati is very much Manhattanized 1970s Western style, BGC is 90s-present hyper modern first world development, stylistically somewhere between an Irvine and a Dubai. Large city blocks.
- BGC also has its thriving bits of nightlife, probably in part due to its modernity and perceived safety compared to Manila
- Lot less aggressive driving in BGC than Makati or Manila, and stoplights are always followed. Feels like driving in Fremont in terms of everyone mostly sticking to traffic rules, not over-crowding, etc.
I have another one Cebu City
They started putting up more skyscrapers in the area and they are the tallest buildings outside Metro Manila. Also they have the CCLEX Bridge which is basically the Bay Bridge of Visayas. They are up there for next economic hub after Manila. Its all a part of decentralizing the Philippine economy. Its a case of its less crowded than metro Manila as of 2024 and population density is subject to change.
Lynchburg and Roanoke (both in VA).
Lynchburg feels like a small city along the James River with nice scenic views of the mountains from somewhat afar (about 20 miles to the Blue Ridge).
Roanoke feels like a somewhat bustling city surrounded by mountains no matter where you look, and those mountains feel like a short walking distance away (the Parkway is about 3 miles from the center point of the city that Google Maps put the Roanoke tag on).
Quote from: Rothman on May 30, 2024, 06:47:28 PMQuote from: wriddle082 on May 30, 2024, 04:28:49 PM^ All four of Tennessee's largest cities are very different from one another.
Downtown Memphis is older and feels very depressing. The only safeish areas of the city proper are maybe along the Union Ave, Poplar Ave, and Walnut Grove Rd corridors (due east), and possibly around the University of Memphis. Everyplace else is very dangerous. The suburbs of Bartlett, Germantown, and Collierville are also considered safe, as well as most of the Mississippi suburbs, but the West Memphis, AR area is nearly as dangerous as Memphis proper.
Nashville is now thriving just about everywhere. Even the traditionally dangerous parts of town (North Nashville, Bordeaux, and parts of Antioch) are experiencing regentrification. There has always been some sort of industry there, but white collar/tech jobs are really starting to take off nowadays. The suburbs are all pretty much generally safe, though LaVergne is starting to not be quite as safe.
Knoxville is very much an Appalachian city and proud of it. Proximity to the vacation areas of the Smokey Mountains have driven its growth, but not by as much as Nashville.
Chattanooga is a nice mix of Atlanta, Nashville, and Knoxville. The locals identify with Atlanta more than Nashville because it's closer, but their downtown entertainment district, while smaller, seems to have more in common with Nashville's, and it shares a lot of the same Appalachian traits with Knoxville. It also once had a Birmingham feel with the old steel mills, but they are all shut down now. Manufacturing is still big with a fairly new Volkswagen assembly plant.
Although Memphis is having some dark days right now, I find your assessment overly negative.
Maybe it is, but sadly I speak the truth. Spend any amount of time there and you'll see. I know at least three co-workers whose cars have been broken into while they were working in the Downtown area or other not-so-safe areas. Cars are frequently stolen in Memphis and driven to chop shops across either state line, where they are usually never found intact again. And speaking of driving, the drivers are some of the worst in the country, with speeding and accidents galore.
My father is a proud Memphis State graduate who refuses to call it the University of Memphis, and has a lot of fond memories of his time there. I remember having some good times there when I was younger, and to this day I have never had better BBQ than the dry rub ribs at The Rendezvous. So to me it's very sad to have witnessed the drastic and seemingly endless decline over the years. What they really need is completely new leadership to make things right, but in a respectful way. I just don't know if that will ever happen in our lifetimes. Who knows, maybe that future new I-55 bridge will help?
Chicago and Milwaukee definitely qualify, especially in the industries they are best known for: One is a meatpacking hub, while the other is known for its beer factories. But those two cities will forever be tied together by Hollywood magic, thanks to the famous car chase scene from The Blues Brothers.
Two very different cities are Little Rock and North Little Rock.
I lived in NLR and the culture is entirely different. It's very much like an Eastern city in that it's a collection of neighborhoods (Baring Cross, Levy, Amboy, downtown Argenta which is the old name for NLR etc.). Little Rock proper has its neighborhoods for sure but they aren't as prominent.
Not very close, but Montréal and Québec City feel way different from each other despite being only 250-300 km away. Montréal is a huge metropolis, and while Québec City's metropolitan area has reached a million people, it still has the feeling of a smaller town like Trois-Rivières or Sherbrooke.
Quote from: TheStranger on May 30, 2024, 06:36:06 PMSince Louisville vs. Cincy was mentioned...a similar dynamic exists with the Bay Area vs. Sacramento:
- Sacramento's vibe is a bit more midwestern due to climate and flatter geography
- While lots of Bay Area people have moved to Sac, and I lived there for 7 years...there's a distinct, "We're Californian but we're not from the more famous areas" attitude in that part of the valley
- Sacramento has one sports team that is firmly a part of the municipal identity (the Kings) while the Bay has numerous sports teams, some of which reflect existing Oakland/SF rivalry splits
This sounds a lot like upstate NY vs NYC... in fact almost to a word. Obviously Sacremento=upstate and Bay Area=NYC in this scenario and the Bills are that one sports team, so being from Buffalo they're not as close geographically to NYC. But all three of these same dynamics clearly exist.
I'm just not sure how any of those same dynamics apply to Louisville vs. Cincinnati; those two cities seem quite similar compared to the larger vs. mid-sized cities in NoCal and NY state.
But...where us Upstate NY?
*ducks and runs*
Sacramento being so close to the Delta will make you think that you in Louisiana at times (sans humidity). Stockton has that element also, but it is further removed from the city core.
Quote from: webny99 on May 31, 2024, 07:59:29 AMQuote from: TheStrangerSince Louisville vs. Cincy was mentioned...a similar dynamic exists with the Bay Area vs. Sacramento:
- Sacramento's vibe is a bit more midwestern due to climate and flatter geography
- While lots of Bay Area people have moved to Sac, and I lived there for 7 years...there's a distinct, "We're Californian but we're not from the more famous areas" attitude in that part of the valley
- Sacramento has one sports team that is firmly a part of the municipal identity (the Kings) while the Bay has numerous sports teams, some of which reflect existing Oakland/SF rivalry splits
This sounds a lot like upstate NY vs NYC... in fact almost to a word. Obviously Sacremento=upstate and Bay Area=NYC in this scenario and the Bills are that one sports team, so being from Buffalo they're not as close geographically to NYC. But all three of these same dynamics clearly exist.
(correcting the quotations as I was the one who made the comments re: Sacramento, not bing101)
Buffalo does have the Sabres so they are not quite the one-sport town Sacramento is (also historically Buffalo was larger, which is how the AFL expanded there in the 1960s and the NHL in 1970 - while in comparison Sacramento has grown more over the last 25 to 40 years, the Kings moving there from Kansas City in 1985).
Quote from: webny99 on May 31, 2024, 07:59:29 AMI'm just not sure how any of those same dynamics apply to Louisville vs. Cincinnati; those two cities seem quite similar compared to the larger vs. mid-sized cities in NoCal and NY state.
Cincy has much more of a national reknown than Louisville:
- two major pro sports teams (Bengals, Reds) vs. zero (the main sporting focus in Louisville is UofL). Reds are over a century old and were more successful in past decades, Bengals have existed since the late 1960s and have been to 3 Super Bowls
- Louisville's current population (larger than Detroit!) is primarily a function of a city/county merger, as opposed to growth within the original city core. (Jefferson County pre-2003 also had the unique issue of lots of small "suburbs" that were no more than a single cul-de-sac or subdivision)
- Louisville's biggest sporting event, the Kentucky Derby, happens once a year
- Cincy's airport was a hub for Delta at one point if I'm not mistaken, I don't think Louisville's has ever been a passenger hub though it is where UPS Airlines bases most of their cargo fleet.
Quote from: Rothman on May 31, 2024, 08:16:17 AMBut...where us Upstate NY?
*ducks and runs*
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/K%C3%B6ppen_Climate_Types_New_York.png)Here is how a climate map defines upstate New York and it's in the Continental climate zones in blue. :sombrero:
I'd say Minneapolis and St. Paul feel pretty different. They did formerly have an intense rivalry and distaste for one another that time and growth have eroded away. St. Paul has a much more Victorian feel owing to Irish Catholic roots, while Minneapolis feels much more similar to Rust Belt cities in some aspects,
Quote from: bing101 on May 31, 2024, 01:57:49 PMQuote from: Rothman on May 31, 2024, 08:16:17 AMBut...where us Upstate NY?
*ducks and runs*
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/K%C3%B6ppen_Climate_Types_New_York.png)Here is how a climate map defines upstate New York and it's in the Continental climate zones in blue. :sombrero:
Dunkirk is downstate? And Youngstown? :bigass:
Quote from: TheStranger on May 30, 2024, 07:31:03 PMHere's one I like bringing up a lot from personal experience:
In the Philippines' National Capital Region, Manila and Makati are next door neighbors, and Makati also borders the Bonifacio Global City district of Taguig.
Without going into the (very extensive) ongoing Makati/Taguig war over territorial control of BGC - which is still a problem even after Philippine courts have ruled that the BGC district is permanently Taguig's - here's the vibe differences I get in what is essentially less than 10 miles total from one end to the other.
Manila
- While the more prominent city historically, overcrowding there led to Makati going from an airport-centered suburb (not dissimilar to San Bruno, California) in the mid-1940s...to Makati being the financial capital of the Philippines, which it remains to this day despite the gleaming new developments in BGC.
- Binondo, the Chinatown/CBD north of the Pasig River, is all at once nicely developed (some newer malls) but also showing its age compared to the BGC and Makati skyscraper sets.
- Malate and Ermita once represented the main tourist areas with waterfront views and access along Roxas Boulevard; the hotel and entertainment district in Bay City in Pasay immediately to the south has taken over for most of that, centered around Mall of Asia. for that matter, the Makati luxury hotel district near the core Greenbelt/Glorietta mall complex was created virtually overnight in 1976 and continues to provide its own set of first-world quality accomodations, too.
- While Manila has very good malls in city limits (namely Robinsons Manila and SM City Manila), they don't have the regional/tourist cache of say Mall of Asia, or Mandaluyong's Megamall, or Greenbelt/Glorietta, or the various malls and outdoor pedestrian street (Bonifacio High Street) in BGC.
- The abandoned/dilaipdated theater district along Rizal Avenue is roughly equivalent to Los Angeles' Broadway or San Francisco's Mid-Market.
- For historic reasons, Manila has most of the universities in the region, along the University Belt district. (Though the University of the Philippines has a major campus in Quezon City's Diliman area, which is not immediately nearby to Manila's city limits)
Makati
- Prior to 1947, the main international airport (Nielsen Field) was operational in this city; when the airport closed due to the government moving all commercial air to NAIA, the old Nielsen Field runways became the three key streets of the CBD (Ayala Avenue, Makati Avenue, Paseo de Roxas)
- Gated subdivisions near the CBD, i.e. Dasmarinas Village just south of the hotel district, Bel-Air Village
- 1960s photos show plenty of empty land south of Buendia Avenue and along Dela Rosa Street; though that slowly started fillling in by the mid-70s, 1960s Makati more resembled an Irvine than a major urban core. But the skyscraper boom of the 90s firmly established Makati as a major city in its own right and not simply a business park suburb of Manila; by the time of my first visit (2016) the Ayala CBD offers similarities to San Francisco's Financial District in terms of density and walkability.
- Outside of the CBD, the apartment stock does look a tiny bit more dilapidated, whether its due to construction materials, paint quality, or the sheer amount of traffic and jeepney exhaust pollution. That being said, even the less-luxurious parts of Makati overall look better than the poorer parts of Manila.
- the Rockwell district of Makati can be likened to a miniature version of West LA, with a luxury mall (Power Plant) and nicer restaurants/establishments somewhat hidden away from the rest the city.
- Poblacion, the original municipal center of Makati, can be likened to San Francisco's Civic Center, except that Poblacion also is the heart of Makati's nightlife and does have several decent hotels (if less luxurious than anything near Greenbelt mall).
- Amusingly, even though there are parts of residential Makati that superficially resemble the portions of Manila it borders (dilapidated low-rise housing), one way to tell the two cities apart is the quality of drivers: Makati drivers do crowd to intersections but they rarely ever ignore stoplights or do truly zany things on the road; Manila drivers ignore red lights and road markings are sometimes a suggestion. (I've also seen a situation where someone placed a hot tub out on a public sidewalk on Pedro Gil Street in Manila...)
Bonifacio Global City
- Since development of this former American military base started ca. 1995, everything here is hyper modern, and the streets are very spread out. Kinda reminds me of Dallas if Dallas didn't have any freeways cutting through it; BGC has a nearby partial expressway (C-5) on its south edge, but not really through town.
- Jeepneys are banned throughout most of the CBD, likely to discourage possible pollution in the area but also to prevent the disorganized stop-and-go pickup style of jeepney drivers from interfering with local traffic.
- If Makati is very much Manhattanized 1970s Western style, BGC is 90s-present hyper modern first world development, stylistically somewhere between an Irvine and a Dubai. Large city blocks.
- BGC also has its thriving bits of nightlife, probably in part due to its modernity and perceived safety compared to Manila
- Lot less aggressive driving in BGC than Makati or Manila, and stoplights are always followed. Feels like driving in Fremont in terms of everyone mostly sticking to traffic rules, not over-crowding, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Clark_City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Global_City
Clark Global City and New Clark City it's in a different part of the Philippines and it's basically if "California Forever" is a reality. New Clark City and Clark Global City are in places surrounding Clark Airport and Clark Air Force Base.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Forever
Quote from: Hunty2022 on May 30, 2024, 09:20:10 PMLynchburg and Roanoke (both in VA).
Lynchburg feels like a small city along the James River with nice scenic views of the mountains from somewhat afar (about 20 miles to the Blue Ridge).
Roanoke feels like a somewhat bustling city surrounded by mountains no matter where you look, and those mountains feel like a short walking distance away (the Parkway is about 3 miles from the center point of the city that Google Maps put the Roanoke tag on).
Roanoke feels like a much larger city than it actually is while Lynchburg feels fairly suburban with only a very small downtown area.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 31, 2024, 08:17:39 AMSacramento being so close to the Delta will make you think that you in Louisiana at times (sans humidity). Stockton has that element also, but it is further removed from the city core.
Sacramento is more of a White Collar city from my time working and going to school there. Also Davis is Berkeley of the Sacramento Valley.
I understand once you get outside of the suburban sprawl of Sacramento Metro area plus parts of Solano County and travel to other parts of the valley it's more of agricultural and blue collar that made the Central Valley famous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California
Stockton the biggest claim to fame is that they have University of the Pacific and has been mentioned for being one of the largest cities in the San Joaquin Valley along with Fresno.
Erwin and Dunn NC
Provided that the former was a part of Dunn, until 1967.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 31, 2024, 08:17:39 AMSacramento being so close to the Delta will make you think that you in Louisiana at times (sans humidity). Stockton has that element also, but it is further removed from the city core.
Having visited Shreveport as part of my 2021 roadtrip, that city feels like...a hybrid of the sleepy aspects of downtown Sacramento, and the sketchier parts of downtown Stockton.
Though hey the El Dorado Hotel in Shreveport IS pretty decent. Driving west along US 80 though and the realities of the less well-off in that area become very starkly noticeable.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan3561 on May 31, 2024, 03:00:14 PMI'd say Minneapolis and St. Paul feel pretty different. They did formerly have an intense rivalry and distaste for one another that time and growth have eroded away. St. Paul has a much more Victorian feel owing to Irish Catholic roots, while Minneapolis feels much more similar to Rust Belt cities in some aspects,
I always thought that originally, St. Paul was settled by Catholics and Minneapolis was primarily Lutherans of German and Scandinavian origin.
The one I definitely think about in Iowa that fits is Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Waterloo is old and industrial while Cedar Falls is a college town.
I gotta say Dallas and OKC feel like two different worlds to me. One is alive and popping and the other is called an up and coming city but is just dead most of time with few areas being the exception.
Yes, I'm late to the thread. I'll offer Toronto and Buffalo as two VERY different cities in relatively close proximity to one another.
Quote from: wriddle082 on May 30, 2024, 09:23:03 PMTo this day I have never had better BBQ than the dry rub ribs at The Rendezvous.
You poor, poor deprived soul. Rendezvous is the overrated place that tourists go to. There is much, much better 'que in Memphis, although opinions will vary on how to rank-order it.
I do think that you've overshot the mark in describing the situation in Memphis. In the early 80's, it was worse, and I semi-disagree with your conflation of property crime and "safety".
Memphis is very much a place where "good" vs "bad" varies from block to block, although which ones are "good" and "bad" do evolve over time.
Part of Memphis' problem is that the city has never really recovered from the civil rights era. Money left Memphis for Dallas and Atlanta, and more recently Nashville, making poverty and the issues it causes much, much easier to notice.
In more recent years, pressures on policing (e.g. accusations of bias and corruption influencing tactics, litigation making simple traffic stops and pursuits potentially expensive enough as to discourage them) and an apparently botched implementation of bail reform have definitely aggravated those challenges.
Memphis definitely has its challenges, and I will admit that I'm skeptical that the nature of political shenanigans (not unique to Memphis) will interfere with overcoming those challenges.
However, one of those challenges is that it has to overcome the perception of danger that is partially disconnected from the reality.
Although not in the USA but still somewhat mutually close geographically, Seoul and Pyongyang are definitely different from each other.
:-o
Mike
Seattle and Vancouver: both are Pacific Northwestern, but Vancouver has a lot of Canadianisms (much larger Asian populations, higher density pockets, non-coherent road network).
Quote from: mgk920 on June 16, 2024, 02:08:54 PMAlthough not in the USA but still somewhat mutually close geographically, Seoul and Pyongyang are definitely different from each other.
:-o
Mike
Yes! and the stuff seen here with Korea resembles what Berlin used to be prior to 1991.
Still waiting for someone to mention the obvious: Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina.
One major distinction is that Durham was a "tobacco factory town", with the major tobacco plants and warehouses nestled up against the downtown, with factory workers homes nearby. On the other hand, Raleigh, being the state capital, had large and grand antebellum homes surrounding its downtown. But due to the influence of tobacco magnate J. B. Duke, Durham certainly had its own grand and glorious sections, pushed back away from the downtown.
This distinction resulted in much different cultures. Wealthy residents of Raleigh tended to have luxurious homes in the city, as well as small farms at the edge of the city limits where they lived during the summers to avoid malaria. Wealthy residents of Durham, however, already lived in luxurious homes on small farms at the edge, so they tended to have "city homes" in places like New York and Boston to ride out the hot summer.
Long-term families in both cities have a reputation for looking down their noses at the other city.
It is interesting to note that both cities have well-developed cultural arts communities, often competing against each other. Folks in Durham often go to Raleigh for the symphonies and big concerts, and folks in Raleigh often go to Durham for its Broadway shows, cultural festivals and music.
Duke University may be the true Ivy League school of the South, but N. C. State University has quietly positioned itself as one of the best Biotech schools in the world. In spite of its history linked to tobacco, you will not find any tobacco products at Duke University or Duke Hospital. However, Raleigh is becoming a magnet for international tobacco corporations looking to enter the United States market.
Philadelphia and New York.
They both wallow in the pain of watching their basketball teams never get past the conference semifinals.
Both have really crappy suburbs in New Jersey. No, the American Dream mall will not convince me to visit the Meadowlands.
Otherwise they're worlds apart.
Newark and
Jersey City. Jersey City to me feels like an NJ version of Brooklyn or something, while Newark feels like... Newark...
Norfolk and
Virginia Beach. Because Norfolk for the most part looks and functions like an actual city while Virginia Beach, the former Princess Anne County, functions like an actual anything but.
Boston and
Manchester. Because aside from the obvious lack of rowhomes and tri-levels and trains and such, most people in Manchester aren't jackasses :-P
Quote from: noelbotevera on June 16, 2024, 11:00:25 PMPhiladelphia and New York.
You beat me to it.
Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on May 30, 2024, 09:46:26 AMRichmond, Petersburg, and Hopewell are the classic examples of this for central Virginia:
Richmond has quite a few affluent areas and is becoming gentrified in some of the more historically economically depressed areas, though there are some areas that continue to suffer from the effects of segregated development (primarily in the southern and eastern parts of the city). It also has healthy suburbs in Henrico and Chesterfield Counties.
Petersburg has a thriving (but gentrified) old town neighborhood but is otherwise quite dilapidated, mainly due to white flight (to Colonial Heights, and Chesterfield and Dinwiddie Counties) after the collapse of the Byrd Organization, underfunding of infrastructure, and occasional corruption within the city government and its contractors. There was a long saga of Petersburg contracting companies to tear down an infamous former Ramada Inn that was visible from I-95, only for those contractors to take the city's money and run. The hotel finally got torn down a couple of years ago.
Hopewell is an economically depressed military town with a very high crime rate, and large amounts of heavy industry that encroach on low-income residential areas. There have been attempts to revitalize parts of Hopewell, particularly the downtown area, but otherwise it's a pollution-choked wasteland. It also suffered from white flight as people moved into Prince George and Chesterfield Counties, and that is likely to continue with some very high-income housing being built in southeastern Chesterfield.
The Tri-Cities (Colonial Heights included) feels different from one another despite them being so close to each other. It's real noticable between Colonial Heights and Petersburg, both in the build and the vibe.
Richmond, while it is the capital of Virginia, feels (and looks/functions) differently than literally every other city in the state, especially nowadays. Maybe a few similarities to Alexandria, but not really.
Another Philippine adjacent-city comparison:
Quezon City (capital 1948 to 1976) vs. Manila (capital before 1948 and after 1976)
- Manila as noted in the comparison to Makati, is crowded, a bit sootier, has a waterfront that was a tourist hot spot but is not the safest area (Ermita), has a historic if quiet CBD (Binondo), is not known as a tourist attraction for its malls. It does have centuries of indigineous and colonialist history that are apparent in spots like Intramuros.
- Quezon City...
1. Because it was planned to be a master-designed capital city, a lot of the road layout towards Diliman is similar to Washington DC...except for the realities of lack of funding in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of those master planned roads got overrun with squatters in the late 1980s, after planned structures did not come to fruition.
Further north, the NLEX Citi Link expressway project currently in planning involves right of way...that was proposed as far back as the 1950s, but overrun by informal developments through time!
2. Has similarities to Los Angeles in that it absorbed numerous other nearby communities (namely the 1930s suburb New Manila, parts of Caloocan, and San Francisco Del Monte) into an ever-unrecognizable conurbation in which there is not really one core area. Cubao arguably is the main CBD of Quezon City, but then parts of the Ortigas CBD and all of the Eastwood district are within the city limits)
3. Has almost as many people total as Chicago, but were it not for Skyway skirting the west edge of the city, has presently one of the worst limited-access highway networks for a multi-million resident area ever. EDSA being turned into a sea of commercial driveways and storefronts from the 1980s on, starting with the North EDSA mall and exacerbated by Megamall at the Quezon City/Mandaluyong border in Ortigas district, really turned QC into a chokepoint for long-distance traffic that only finally got any sort of relief with Skyway's opening in late 2020.
C-5 is slated to have full expressway upgrades at some point, but also is packed too massively to have any effect as a bypass.
For comparison, Manila already has both Skyway and NLEX Connector, and a planned waterfront tunnel/port corridor is in the works.
4. The Philippine National Railways lines center around Manila, so Manila and Makati have much better rail access than the vast majority of QC. The LRT-2 and MRT-3 lines do go into Quezon City and a proposed subway will also head through the city
5. Quezon City has very little international renown, even though an event globally associated with the city of Manila happened within its borders (the "Thrilla in Manila" Ali/Frazier III fight in 1975 at Araneta Coliseum in Cubao).
6. Quezon City's commercial developments blend almost too seamlessly into nearby cities: the westernmost part of QC is barely distinguishable from Manila in vibe, while the portions near San Juan also look a lot like the rest of San Juan, and Ortigas is shared amongst three cities despite being its own distict. BGC in Taguig has its own cachet and identity almost beyond that of its parent city, but definitely more publicity for modern development than any of the Quezon City areas at this point.
7. As noted earlier, QC absorbed large districts in the 1940s similar to LA's capturing of San Fernando Valley through Mulholland's water projects. End result: those districts are more known on their own than as part of QC. This is true even of newer developed areas like Novaliches to the far north.
8. Even QC's slum district Payatas is not as known as the Smokey Mountain dump site in northern Manila.
I guess this thread really should've been about what cities are close to each other and are virtually identical. Because it seems like almost every city has its own unique identity According to this thread.
Quote from: Plutonic Panda on June 17, 2024, 10:22:27 AMI guess this thread really should've been about what cities are close to each other and are virtually identical. Because it seems like almost every city has its own unique identity According to this thread.
Some off the top of my head:
Columbus and Indianapolis
Des Moines and Omaha
Orlando and Tampa
Portland and Seattle
Los Angeles and San Diego
Amarillo and Lubbock
El Paso and Las Cruces
Baltimore and Philadelphia
Charlotte and Atlanta
Savannah and Charleston
Quote from: MikeTheActuary on June 16, 2024, 01:41:10 PMYes, I'm late to the thread. I'll offer Toronto and Buffalo as two VERY different cities in relatively close proximity to one another.
This would normally be a great use of the "like" function, but seeing as you slid it in at the top of a much longer post, I figured I would call it out specifically. Definitely agreed... you can't possibly get more different in just about every aspect imaginable: history, culture, development patterns, governance, economy, infrastructure, and even weather: Buffalo is infamous for lake effect snow while Toronto gets basically none.
Quote from: TheStranger on June 17, 2024, 01:55:27 AMAnother Philippine adjacent-city comparison:
Quezon City (capital 1948 to 1976) vs. Manila (capital before 1948 and after 1976)
- Manila as noted in the comparison to Makati, is crowded, a bit sootier, has a waterfront that was a tourist hot spot but is not the safest area (Ermita), has a historic if quiet CBD (Binondo), is not known as a tourist attraction for its malls. It does have centuries of indigineous and colonialist history that are apparent in spots like Intramuros.
- Quezon City...
1. Because it was planned to be a master-designed capital city, a lot of the road layout towards Diliman is similar to Washington DC...except for the realities of lack of funding in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of those master planned roads got overrun with squatters in the late 1980s, after planned structures did not come to fruition.
Further north, the NLEX Citi Link expressway project currently in planning involves right of way...that was proposed as far back as the 1950s, but overrun by informal developments through time!
2. Has similarities to Los Angeles in that it absorbed numerous other nearby communities (namely the 1930s suburb New Manila, parts of Caloocan, and San Francisco Del Monte) into an ever-unrecognizable conurbation in which there is not really one core area. Cubao arguably is the main CBD of Quezon City, but then parts of the Ortigas CBD and all of the Eastwood district are within the city limits)
3. Has almost as many people total as Chicago, but were it not for Skyway skirting the west edge of the city, has presently one of the worst limited-access highway networks for a multi-million resident area ever. EDSA being turned into a sea of commercial driveways and storefronts from the 1980s on, starting with the North EDSA mall and exacerbated by Megamall at the Quezon City/Mandaluyong border in Ortigas district, really turned QC into a chokepoint for long-distance traffic that only finally got any sort of relief with Skyway's opening in late 2020.
C-5 is slated to have full expressway upgrades at some point, but also is packed too massively to have any effect as a bypass.
For comparison, Manila already has both Skyway and NLEX Connector, and a planned waterfront tunnel/port corridor is in the works.
4. The Philippine National Railways lines center around Manila, so Manila and Makati have much better rail access than the vast majority of QC. The LRT-2 and MRT-3 lines do go into Quezon City and a proposed subway will also head through the city
5. Quezon City has very little international renown, even though an event globally associated with the city of Manila happened within its borders (the "Thrilla in Manila" Ali/Frazier III fight in 1975 at Araneta Coliseum in Cubao).
6. Quezon City's commercial developments blend almost too seamlessly into nearby cities: the westernmost part of QC is barely distinguishable from Manila in vibe, while the portions near San Juan also look a lot like the rest of San Juan, and Ortigas is shared amongst three cities despite being its own distict. BGC in Taguig has its own cachet and identity almost beyond that of its parent city, but definitely more publicity for modern development than any of the Quezon City areas at this point.
7. As noted earlier, QC absorbed large districts in the 1940s similar to LA's capturing of San Fernando Valley through Mulholland's water projects. End result: those districts are more known on their own than as part of QC. This is true even of newer developed areas like Novaliches to the far north.
8. Even QC's slum district Payatas is not as known as the Smokey Mountain dump site in northern Manila.
Another one Baguio City, Philippines it's a major city on top of the highest mountains in Luzon and is less humid than other parts of the country. This city is a multi hour drive from Manila that it's akin to driving from Sacramento to San Diego on I-5. This city gets mentioned for having a different climate zone than the rest of the Philippines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguio
Oahu vs Maui in Hawaii
Oahu has the most people in the state of Hawaii and gets compared to places like Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco in a tropical setting if one is in the Honolulu area.
Maui if you remove the 2023 wildfires off the picture resembles California's central coast.