Guadalajara Mexico

[Xing500]

From my trip there last summer

 

[ablarc]

Sure looks good, like a European city. Most American citites don't.

Probably many Mexican cities also don't. Do they?

Helps that there are no high rises.

 

[Xing500]

Sure looks good, like a European city. Most American citites don't.

Probably many Mexican cities also don't. Do they?

Helps that there are no high rises.

Sorry, I should explain that this is the old downtown. The new downtown does have some high rises, but I didn't make it out there.

 

[ablarc]

So there's an old downtown and a new area of high rises.

You find that solution these days in some European cities that don't want to screw up their old cities. In Paris there is La Defense on the outskirts, a skyline comparable to that of, say Dallas or Houston. London has Canary Wharf, which helps to keep high rise development somewhat under control elsewhere in the city.

Those new skyscraper cities in Europe are usually pretty sterile. They suffer from modern zoning concepts, sci-fi spaces and huge-increment development. And it doesn't help that they are off to the side. People desert them as soon as they get off work, making them pretty much office parks with rail transit. Boring.

 

[bocian]

Sure looks good, like a European city. Most American citites don't.

Well, should American cities look "European"? American cities look like.. well.. American cities..


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great pictures by the way - I love the pedestrianized streets and civic plazas with grand architecture..

 

[Xing500]

Well, should American cities look "European"? American cities look like.. well.. American cities..


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great pictures by the way - I love the pedestrianized streets and civic plazas with grand architecture..

Some American cities look European, and not all Mexican cities look European. Juarez does not look European at all, except for maybe a few places downtown.

 

[sammy_sf]

Some American cities look European, and not all Mexican cities look European. Juarez does not look European at all, except for maybe a few places downtown.

Of the cities in Mexico I've visited, nearly ALL of them are infinitely more european (and livable) than even the most "european" cities in the US (including SF, NY and Chicago!). Even the border towns (including Juarez) are very dense and lively. Ciudad Acuna - across the border from Del Rio, TX - is a relatively small town but you actually see people on the street, vendors, plazas, shops, housing above retail - URBAN! What you don't see (typically) in most Mexican cities is the amount of parking. Even small American cities devote nearly half of their downtowns to parking while Mexican cities (even new ones - like Cancun) orient themselves to the Zocalo or Jardin where everybody gathers. It's a part of the culture to live close to people in Mexico. I think the sprawl you see in cities like Monterrey and Guadalajara is far less offensive than what you see in the States.