4 ms·

Davis square is sparse and suburban?

eru 10y ago
Do you mean this Davis Square?: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Davis+Square,+Somerville,+MA/@42.3964443,-71.1223206,3a,75y,168.78h,79.66t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWsdVr_IYLZpEfWT6lPjhGw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DWsdVr_IYLZpEfWT6lPjhGw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D116.10755%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e37718e8045c57:0xa391027f1d5bb552!8m2!3d42.3967172!4d-71.1223151!6m1!1e1 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Davis+Square,+Somerville,+... ? (Sorry, I can only judge by the Street View pictures, I haven't been in Somerville.) If that's the densest they have, yes, that's sparse sprawl by European standards. Have a look at https://duckduckgo.com/?q=!i+innenstadt https://duckduckgo.com/?q=!i+innenstadt for some random pictures of German inner cities. (You can use Google translate to look for eg the equivalent in Spanish, centro de la ciudad, or other languages/countries.)
- nikofeyn 10y ago
  somerville was last rated the 16th most densely populated city in the US. i don't know how you can call it "sparse sprawl". have you actually ever been there?
  - aioprisan 10y ago
    Having lived in Somerville, it's definitely very much sparsely populated when compared to nearly Cambridge or Allston.
    - shados 10y ago
      There's almost no commerce in Somerville (compared to other cities). It's residential next to residential next to residential. As someone pointed out, it is among the most densely populated cities in the US, and significantly more so than Cambridge, because there's nothing else BUT residential properties. So even though the buildings aren't that large, it's really dense.
      - nikofeyn 10y ago
        exactly. how many cities are forced to close schools on snow days basically just so that school parking lots can host residents' cars while the streets are plowed?
  - eru 10y ago
    As I said, I have not. (In the US, I've only been to Silicon Valley and New York City.) So I had to rely on on the street view pictures. And, yes, I can very well believe that it's the 16th most densely populated city in the US. The US just doesn't have many proper cities.
    - nikofeyn 10y ago
      "proper cities." lol. okay.
- shados 10y ago
  Somerville's population density is, from good old Wikipedia, 7,253.3/km2 It's no Paris or NYC, and doesn't make the list of most dense cities in the world by any mean, but it isn't a "sparse sprawl" either. A quick glance at population density statistics Eg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Germany_by_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Germany_by_p... The main reason being that Somerville doesn't have that many large buildings (though there are some bigger ones. No real skyscrapper mind you), but there's nearly nothing else. Very few businesses and commerce. It's just people packed against each other.
  - eru 10y ago
    Yes, that drives residential density. (Of course, it doesn't drive felt density. I guess I was complaining more about a sparse look.)
- fader 10y ago
  Do you mean this Innenstadt?: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.117833,8.6878675,3a,75y,83.68h,93.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjbdvPpJa1Scv-vL5DPaDQw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@50.117833,8.6878675,3a,75y,83.6... If you cherry pick an area where several of the main roads for a town come together, it's not going to look very dense. Go a block or two away and you see actual representation of Somerville: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3967365,-71.119784,3a,75y,119.16h,77.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skaC_Lk55_Oxrr0hl1joXQw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3967365,-71.119784,3a,75y,11... Street after street of densely packed three family houses and nothing else.
  - eru 10y ago
    Funny that you choose Frankfurt. When I was living around there for an internship, I had exactly the same complaint. Thanks for the other street view. I still thinks that's pretty sparse---there's lots of space between them. But, hey, I'm used to Barcelona or Singapore by now.

eru 10y ago

Do you mean this Davis Square?: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Davis+Square,+Somerville,+MA/@42.3964443,-71.1223206,3a,75y,168.78h,79.66t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWsdVr_IYLZpEfWT6lPjhGw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DWsdVr_IYLZpEfWT6lPjhGw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D116.10755%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e37718e8045c57:0xa391027f1d5bb552!8m2!3d42.3967172!4d-71.1223151!6m1!1e1 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Davis+Square,+Somerville,+... ? (Sorry, I can only judge by the Street View pictures, I haven't been in Somerville.) If that's the densest they have, yes, that's sparse sprawl by European standards. Have a look at https://duckduckgo.com/?q=!i+innenstadt https://duckduckgo.com/?q=!i+innenstadt for some random pictures of German inner cities. (You can use Google translate to look for eg the equivalent in Spanish, centro de la ciudad, or other languages/countries.)

nikofeyn 10y ago
somerville was last rated the 16th most densely populated city in the US. i don't know how you can call it "sparse sprawl". have you actually ever been there?
- aioprisan 10y ago
  Having lived in Somerville, it's definitely very much sparsely populated when compared to nearly Cambridge or Allston.
  - shados 10y ago
    There's almost no commerce in Somerville (compared to other cities). It's residential next to residential next to residential. As someone pointed out, it is among the most densely populated cities in the US, and significantly more so than Cambridge, because there's nothing else BUT residential properties. So even though the buildings aren't that large, it's really dense.
    - nikofeyn 10y ago
      exactly. how many cities are forced to close schools on snow days basically just so that school parking lots can host residents' cars while the streets are plowed?
- eru 10y ago
  As I said, I have not. (In the US, I've only been to Silicon Valley and New York City.) So I had to rely on on the street view pictures. And, yes, I can very well believe that it's the 16th most densely populated city in the US. The US just doesn't have many proper cities.
  - nikofeyn 10y ago
    "proper cities." lol. okay.
shados 10y ago
Somerville's population density is, from good old Wikipedia, 7,253.3/km2 It's no Paris or NYC, and doesn't make the list of most dense cities in the world by any mean, but it isn't a "sparse sprawl" either. A quick glance at population density statistics Eg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Germany_by_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Germany_by_p... The main reason being that Somerville doesn't have that many large buildings (though there are some bigger ones. No real skyscrapper mind you), but there's nearly nothing else. Very few businesses and commerce. It's just people packed against each other.
- eru 10y ago
  Yes, that drives residential density. (Of course, it doesn't drive felt density. I guess I was complaining more about a sparse look.)
fader 10y ago
Do you mean this Innenstadt?: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.117833,8.6878675,3a,75y,83.68h,93.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjbdvPpJa1Scv-vL5DPaDQw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@50.117833,8.6878675,3a,75y,83.6... If you cherry pick an area where several of the main roads for a town come together, it's not going to look very dense. Go a block or two away and you see actual representation of Somerville: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3967365,-71.119784,3a,75y,119.16h,77.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skaC_Lk55_Oxrr0hl1joXQw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3967365,-71.119784,3a,75y,11... Street after street of densely packed three family houses and nothing else.
- eru 10y ago
  Funny that you choose Frankfurt. When I was living around there for an internship, I had exactly the same complaint. Thanks for the other street view. I still thinks that's pretty sparse---there's lots of space between them. But, hey, I'm used to Barcelona or Singapore by now.