Your Ideal City

[IronTiger]

So, with the volatile 9/11 thread floating on this board, I wanted to make something fun and light-hearted: a topic to describe your ideal city!

So here, you can basically describe through words, drawings, etc. of a city that would be the ideal city, either as a place you'd like to live, a world-class city, or both. It could be a population center or a quiet functional town.

1. Be creative! Don't just say "Houston with more mass transit and a higher concentration of tall buildings" or "New York with a good freeway system and better Tex-Mex", because that's boring. It's alright to use something as a template, though.

2. Don't just add lots of photos from your favorite towns, I want good descriptions.

So I'm gonna start: the template will be Houston with several changes. It will be closer to the coastline, so imagine if everything southeast of Webster was trimmed out for a small area a lot closer to a bigger Galveston (physically bigger), which would front some beautiful beaches, not like what Galveston is today. Hurricanes will be less frequent. The "Houston" isn't quite like what it is today, the light rail is noticeably different, resembling more of the DART. The Bank of the Southwest Tower is there, too, and downtown has much more skyscrapers. The physical footprint of Houston is much smaller, and Beltway 8 goes through a lot of largely undeveloped areas with more lakes and forests. Some topography is present throughout the town, and what would be a bayou is now a much larger river with a signature bridge.

Well, something like that. I'd like to hear you guys thoughts on yours, I might get ideas.

[LTAWACS]

How bout a wall. And photon torpedo turrets.

[cspwal]

Ideal city would have both the extensive highway network of Houston (it is amazing how quick you can get places off peak hours) and the extensive transit system of New York

[Luminare]

Ideal city would have both the extensive highway network of Houston (it is amazing how quick you can get places off peak hours) and the extensive transit system of New York

 

I echo Houston Highway network (it really is one of the best....just has way to many who use it -.-), I'll raise your New York transit system with the transit system in either London or Tokyo. There are lots of other stuff but when it comes to infrastructure those come to mind.

[Montrose1100]

My ideal city would be a mutt. The energy & food selection/quality of New York, the history and walk-ability (+light rail system), of Cologne, the Skyline of Houston, the shopping of London, the beaches of Punta Cana, the temperature and climate of San Diego, the street architecture of Paris, the kindness and friendliness of Manila, the education and universities of Boston, the class and grace of Vienna, and everyone would have Austrailian accent.

Edit: I would like to add the drink/cocktail standards of Vegas.

Double Edit: I also want mountains near by like Vancouver.

[samagon]

Take Houston, Munich, Salzburg all of the Netherlands, Manila and sprinkle of Paris. Put them in a blender, puree for 15 seconds, pulse for another 5. pour in a daiquiri glass put in a straw and one of those little umbrella thingies, serve chilled.

 

Manila mainly for the jeepnys and trikes, and because I'm a crazy person, their weather. Hot and humid year round.

Munich for the public transit, beer, and the olympic park.

Salzburg for the location, history, and beautiful landscape/architecture.  (maybe just a bit closer to the ocean though)

Houston for the dichotomy and diversity of life and food, and lack of zoning.

The Netherlands for the ease of getting from place to place via a complete bicycle network. 

A sprinkling of Paris, specifically just lift up everything from the arc de triumph down the champ elysees, through the parks and finishing with the louvre and just plop it right in the middle of town.

 

The name would be Samagonalopolis and where the Obelisk de Luxor is in the Place de la Concorde, there would be a statue of me in thoughtful ripose, it would be made of LEGO.

 

If I remember I'll get out my crayons tonight and start drawing.

[KinkaidAlum]

Has more than one resident who would be willing to date me. 

[Ross]

Houston, 1986, before all the posers and hipsters arrived.

[LarryDierker]

Houston, 1986, before all the posers and hipsters arrived.

 

I'm no poser. It's a way of life.

 

 

[IronTiger]

Dang, I'm depressed now because you guys have a much better idea of places than I've been to (specifically international cities), and all I can think of in terms of "non-Texas cities I've been to in the last 5 years" include Ann Arbor, Baton Rouge, Tampa Bay area, and Knoxville. Baton Rouge maybe for nostalgia purposes (I think it will "blend well" with Houston), Knoxville for the hills and neat semi-rural areas (not too hilly though—even if the roads were better marked and drivers paid better attention, it's still far too antagonistic for cycling), Ann Arbor for the small-town urbanity, and forget Tampa Bay (sorry).

 

In terms of non-American cities, perhaps Tokyo for the whole energy/culture aspect (but I've never been there, so...   ), perhaps as a large urban enclave district (cross-reference that with New York), and maybe even Jerusalem for the history, perhaps an "Old City" area. I'm really not too keen on having narrow alleyways only accessible through foot or bicycle (which is why I wouldn't want much of Amsterdam). 

 

There will be suburbs, of course (can't have everyone living in skyscrapers) but they won't be super-expansive (one of the reasons I didn't like Tampa, and one place why my Houston template won't be nearly as large). The actual "skyscraper area" will extend through Midtown and East Downtown (so "Chinatown" would stay in its original place, except it develops out properly)...well, something like that anyway. There will be definitely less parking lots downtown, that's for sure.