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I'm not so sure New York City is a valid comparison with other cities (in the US) wrt "downtown" living. NYC has a long, solid history of this kind of living th
by jimt1234 2y ago
I'm not so sure New York City is a valid comparison with other cities (in the US) wrt "downtown" living. NYC has a long, solid history of this kind of living that most other cities just don't have. For example, transportation: NYC is perhaps the only city in the US where you can live a completely full life without a car. Most other cities have developed around cars as the primary transportation method, so if you want to live any sort of normal life, you're probably gonna need a car. If you live on the Upper West side in Manhattan and want to see a friend in Hicksville, Long Island, it's a simple subway/train ride. However, if you live in downtown St. Louis, and you wanna see a friend in Oakville, South County, you're not getting there without a car. And I think most cities in the US are like this - maybe exceptions are San Francisco and Chicago? Maybe?
- bluGill 2y agoThat isn't quite true, but close. Most cities before about 1950 developed just like NYC. However NYC had subways that were not torn out unlike most cities with streetcars that got ripped out. That difference meant that NYC stayed dense in the core, while other cities were forced to become less dense in the core because the residential options didn't work.