Which city has your favorite downtown district?

Madrid: Sol is the hub of the wheel, with medieval streets radiating outward.

LA. It's grimy and I have a soft spot for some of the old restaurants still left there.

Sao Paulo.

Madrid for sure .

Another vote for Madrid, coolest city in the world.

San Francisco before the ship-in invasion. A microcosm of unique, elegance, exciting and wonderful. Market Street! Powell! Geary Street! Union Square!

Tokyo, Shinjuku.

New Orleans

nyc ?

Hooterville

Mayberry

Seattle before Amazon ruined it.

If we're talking just city center: Cuzco, Peru.

If you mean big, urban hub of commerce and business, filled with skyscrapers, I amend my prior, sentimental response of DTLA to Chicago's.

Salzburg

Other than that Cape Town

Washington Square West - Philadelphia.

Metropolis.

Great shopping and excitement, and relatively safe, except when something like Starro the Conqueror attacks.

Portland, OR. At least, it was my favorite back in the '80s.

Whichever one Petula was singing about.

I've never seen Portland, R18, but I'd love to. I'm a fan of pedestrian-friendly cities, hence my vote for Madrid. I've read that the city blocks in downtown Portland were built to be half the size of standard city blocks in order to make walking more pleasant and interesting.

I used to love walking home from work, r20. I worked at First and Morrison SW, and lived at 22nd and Glisan NW. So much shopping. So much eating.

Amazon ruined Seattle.

I didn't like downtown Seattle much, except around the Pike Place Market. Oh, and Frederick and Nelson. There were too many Xtian shriekers on the corners.

Second vote for Los Angeles. It has so many amazing buildings downtown: Beaux Arts, Googie, Spanish Colonial, Art Deco, Modernist... Of course it also has its fair share of that international style soulless schlock.

I love these little gems like the Mayan Theater in downtown.

Vienna. The Innere Stadt and surrounding areas between the Ringstraße and the Gürtel. So grand. So imperial. I feel like a princess at the Royal Ball.

Sante Fe

Philly and S.F.are shitholes. Baltimore is fantastic with Cleveland and Bratislava closely following.

Florence Italy has a beautiful downtown and mostly pedestrian.

Wash West in philly? It’s only one or two blocks. Fishtown/Northern Liberties has much better restaurants.

Seville: small, sure, but friendly and easy to navigate.

Barcelona: a perfect city to me.

Madrid: mentioned above.

Bologna: You can walk down some car-free streets and watch the sun streak the cobblestones full of people sauntering. I love it.

*Santa Fe

"—Philly Top "

Oxymoron?

Las Vegas

Baltimore

I love all the Asian cites that still have their own distinct culture and have rejected cultural imperialism from the west.

Osaka, Pusan, Shanghai, Kathmandu, Hanoi, Suzhou, Yangon, Chiang Mai, Taipei, Macau, Kyoto, Hoi An, Malacca, Vientiane.....

In the U.S: Boston. Charming from Beacon Hill to Copley Square.

Bonifacio Global City (BGC). Cosmopolitan with an artsy, village appeal.

[QUOTE]Amazon ruined Seattle.

Amazon will ruin the whole fucking world is people don't stand up to its Lex Luthor-ish founder.

R38 I know two people that think Amazon will own the world one day.

Boston —north end in particular

Love Boston and Barcelona.

Boston-Back Bay

Somebody mentioned Florence....dirty as hell with crappy restaurants and midget locals. Paris is the best. You can just walk for hours.

Kansas City, 100%.

But it's not what it used to be.

[quote]I know two people that think Amazon will own the world one day.

Oh, dear.

Another vote for Boston. I also love Asheville's small downtown area.

I know r44 is a joke, but I like KC. An ex moved there and I visited a few times. He was a history teacher and could give a pretty good private tour of downtown KC and other parts of town as we drove around.

Yet another vote for Boston

This will shock you: Dallas has probably the most boring downtown of any major U.S. city.

Barcelona

Beirut

Barcelona, Seville, Bologna

Prague. Of course, I don't love the hordes of tourists, but it's still magical. Edinburgh is pretty nice. As far as more modern/urban cities go, I like Vancouver.

Overrated (for me) - Paris, Barcelona, Manhattan

St. Pete, Florida

Is Riverwalk considered to be in downtown San Antonio?. I really liked that area, although rest of city sucked.

^^ The Riverwalk is considered the center of downtown San Antonio. It's highly overrated.

On the other hand, Houston has done wonders with its downtown in the last 5 years. It's the best downtown among major Texas cities.

Another vote for the San Antonio Riverwalk. Maybe not the best in the country but definitely the best downtown in Texas. Interesting, historic and pretty and expanding every year into the old buildings around it. Nice for a weekend - especially in winter when it’s cold up north - but not much else in San Antonio. And the gay bar scene is kinda lame - but at least a few places to go. I miss Bonham Exchange next to the Alamo - now it’s a straight club.

A few of the American ones that stick out in my mind

Boston MA

Savannah GA

Asheville NC

Alexandria VA

Charlotte, North Carolina

There is a beach right next to their downtown on the Chesapeake River

Huh r57? You are not talking about Charlotte, there is no water. Are you talking about the Cheasapake Bay in Baltimore?

I may be wrong on the city, but it's definitely in North Carolina. Are there any major cities on the river?

Wilmington NC?

It has to be Wilmington, it has the river front district with the Cape fear river.

Houston's downtown has greatly improved over the last 20 years. The rail line down Main St has boosted restaurants at the train stations. It's so easy now to just jump on the train, grab lunch and get back to the office on time. The city has added art on Main St as well as the lights and fountains at Main Street Square. And my alma mater, HSPVA (fuck the Kinders) has moved downtown, which classes up the joint.

I like London and San Francisco, Beverley Hills isn't bad either

DTLA. It’s booming. Especially the restaurant and art scene. Love the old theaters being renovated on Broadway.

DTLA is gorgeous but it’s so expensive now. Yikes

Paris, Nice, Monte Carlo, Rome, Napoli, Aleppo (formerly), Algers

Washington DC. I love walking down Pennsylvania Avenue from GW to Eastern Market. Especially at night when the capitol is all aglow.

London

Downtown LA seriously? It’s a slum. Better than it was and some nice places but the general vibe is dirty, homeless, dark and filled with desperation. Makes downtown San Francisco look clean and wealthy. They are trying but as long as it has the largest homeless encampment in the US, it will always feel like a depressing slum. Especially given stark contrast to the wealth and beauty of West LA.

Ur of the Chaldees.

Houston's downtown is better than it used to be, which was nothing, but it still belongs nowhere in a discussion of best downtowns.

Would someone please tell us where they believe Paris' "downtown" is?

Sydney. Huge "central business district" aka downtown with good looking men of all ethnicities.