Downtown.

Pretend you went to the downtown of your favorite city, or yout hometown. What would you expect to see?

Just wondering.

LF

hmm....i would expect to see small storefronts around park squares, with lots of oak trees (old, big ones) that have huge divots dug out of thier trunks at fender level. Cafes with sidewalk tables, old houses that have been turned into all kinds of small businesses (restraunts, galleries, bed and breakfast ect). Some restored old homes that offer tours, some that are private residences. These are all tucked inbetween larger roads that get more traffic, and have larger buildings that are new, or have been abandoned and restored- banks, hotels, college campus buildings. All of these streets terminate at a waterfront of old docks and warehouses, many of which have been turned into small specialty shops, restraunts, and bars.

thats what i would expect to see downtown in my favorite city, anyway

Let's see.. I was downtown today. This is pretty easy.

I saw trash on the streets, bums lying in doorways, boarded up stores, steam being vented from understreet piping and abandoned cars in dark alleys.

Architecturally, I saw 1930s-50s era storefronts that were boarded up, for sale signs - both real estate and pre-Xmas sale, hurricane tape that has not yet been removed from hurricane season and lots of security doors/fences/windows.

Downtown basically sucks except for the tourist areas - then one city seems to look pretty much like another.... fast food crud, one or two featured buildings, and cabs.

I would expect to see used condoms and needles in the parks. But what I'd like to see is something we have alot of here in montreal which is outside terraces at the restaurants with little round tables and parlour type chairs. It's nice here in the summer.

Disclaimer: I am not being a smartass.

Try the Google Image search for Downtown.

It matched a lot of what I would have tried to write out here. And what Neph said.

As far as what I would imagine it would be like in SL, what Aimee did in Hawthorne was this close to perfect in looks and style.

Additional info you may ignore:

The Prelinger Archives also have several older films that show both good and bad downtowns and urban planning.

*** Begin transmission (F:0x0043E34 // Offset: 0x01 // RecRecpt: 00.232.293.8DE) ***

||||'''||"'|'' Year of the ||``

Large flanks of buildings punching the smog layer at 100m, reaching for the sky. Topped by lights so bright, you can't stare at them without your eyes filling with protective tears. Below the smog (an artifact of curious origins, the ancestors exhausted every fuel supply without bothering to attend to its byproducts!), years of toxic condensation and evaporative processes stain the material with a faint orange patina, cast into red by the warning lights that dot the edges down into the darkness below.

Large organic supply feeds ring the structure, thrumming with activity as their nano-fueled peristalic motions move large quantities of supplies to the main connectors on the base. A small ecosystem of parasites, adapted from earlier releases of unlicensed nano-tech, ring the lines in a silver haze, harvesting minute quantities from the molting feed seals.

Rising above the smog, the outer panels shine brightly, lit by the same process as biochemical lights used by creatures in the deepest seas. Their reinforcing grown fibers darken the light slightly, like a leaf caught in the sun, nutrient channels dividing into fractal infinity.

Grown from a simple set of instructions, the structure seeks the light, reinforces against gravity, while simultaneously tapering to fit both constraints. Rebuilding and growing, it responds to disaster by healing itself, directing supplies along pathways to build new additions.

It extends a taproot down to the lowest levels of the earth, anchoring itself, feeding on the heat emanating from the earth's core. When it can grow no more, it ejects a pod from the apex, which starts the cycle anew.

*** End transmission (F:0x0043E34 // Offset: 0x01 // RecRecpt: 00.232.293.8DE) ***

I haven't been downtown in a few weeks, so the streets should be condom and needle free by now.

I would expect to see chalk outlines and blood stains....crack viles...needles...ho's. Baltimore city is a real family oriented place

Super! It's stopped smelling like old sneakers around here too.

What about haphazard patches of asphalt to cover up the unending street excavation by EVERY local telecom?

I live downtown, so lemme look out the window...

buses, taxis, panhandlers, tourists looking up, lots of brightly colored plastic employment newspaper bins huddling together for warmth, that one-legged guy in a wheelchair with his colostomy bag on his lap bumming smokes, rows of small businesses at the base of the towers, two streets with dozens of trees and expensive art, lots of streets with no art and no trees, bicycles locked up to every signpost (even through the winter), a handful of beautiful half block parks, very little litter, christmas lights strung from trees and awnings, cold people smoking in doorways...

Well, from my window I can only see parking ramps and the tops of the towers, but that's a pretty good superficial view of Minneapolis on a cold winter Sunday.

Downtown of my favorite city...would be well landscaped (flower boxes, trees, etc), have at least one sidewalk cafe (several in this case), statuery here and there, have more than one good ethinic resturant, the occasional life preformer on the street corner. Most of the buildings are occupied, well kept and tastefull: big chains mix freely with the small businesses in buildings that are an artsy mix of 19th Century Victorian and 20th century chiq. A park and/or a waterfront area is especialy appreciated. There would probably be at least one large university in town as that tends to attract more of the artsy crowd, but the city also gets a lot of summer tourists. For my purposes, it had also better have at least one library, bookstore, craft store, specialty food market...

Or you could just google Saratoga Springs, NY (not where I currently live). It's my favorite...at least untill I move to bigger cities and get a taste of what that's like.

I have no idea. I've spent most of the past twelve years in the Detroit area, and "downtown" was a good 30 miles away.

I would see parking lots, chinese restaurants, old builings with fire escapes, news stand, some dude selling chicken kabobs, this chick wearing jeans way too small for her, some guys that shold be working on a construction site but are instead yapping to each other and laughing about something.

Ok enough looking out the window.

-aimee

A draw bridge over the Erie Canal.
A mill spewing hot water into the canal.
Two or three storey late 19th century buildings masonry facades with a few Masonic symbols containing retail, pharmacy, etc.
Couple-three newer looking stores with aluminum/quonset look.
Lampost Luncheonette where the cheeseburgers are so-so, milkshakes good.
Joe's Cigars, with wooden floors, old-fashioned candy racks, condoms, scary tabloids, and Joe, who has to be like 90 now.
Hit or Miss Fashions, site of the old Woolworth's building unchanged since late 1880s complete with fire scorch marks.
Brick-and-steel dentist office, one storey, no waiting.
Public Library which looks like a temple in ancient Greece done in brick and white columns.
About a dozen wooden houses with carriage steps still at the curb revamped out of their upstate chronic poverty multi-family-dwelling hell of the 1960s into doctors' homes in the six figures with grants from the Historical Preservation Society in bad pastel paint colours.
War memorial -- extra credit to find the Korean veterans.
[Town Name] Bar and Grill with wooden benches, linoleum floor, crumbling brick exterior.
Silver Dollar Diner which isn't some cutesie rendition of a train car but actually a real train car that somebody left there in 1957.
Town commons with the usual cannons and statues of old dead white rich guys with guns and then some god-awful turd-in-the-square modern sculpture.
Used book store, stone early 20th century front.
Funeral parlour.
Empty lot [site of my future Internet cafe done in Lordfly style architecture har har har].

That's just 10-15 blocks of Main Street.

Downtown Denver, Lots of tall buildings... beatufully lighted in the night... trees , parks, "Light rail" (similar to a bus stations but they are trolleys that go through out the city). Lots of people , lots of traffic, and one way streets... 16 th Street mall, A strip with shops with big windows for easy window shopping, and some undeground clubs.

Hmmm, well to focus on the things I LIKE about my favorite cities:

1. The 16th Street Mall in Denver - a mile-long pedestrian mall with free shuttle buses. It features lots of street-level cafe's, sculpture gardens, and a very eclectic crowd.
http://www.denvergov.org/panoramas/16thmall_web1.asp

2. Sixth Street in Austin - a dirty, rowdy turn-of-the century row of buildings, bars, clubs and people.
http://www.6street.com/6s_pg_about.htm

3. Seattle - the best downtown on the West Coast IMO. It's got it all: Waterfront/piers, a blend of new and old, parks and plazas.
http://www.downtownseattle.com/

Edit: Dang! Sensual beat me to the punch with Denver.

Casinos, restaurants, arcades, street performers, doomsayers, random religious group trying to save us from ourselves, casinos, hotels, lost tourists, scammed tourists, homeless people, bike police, cobblestone, neon, neon, neon.

That's if I went downtown today.

Ideally, I would like to see lots of ethnic and import shops, mom and pop stores, outdoor markets, delis, news/magazine stands, no one in leopard print anything.

the rose-colored glasses view:

west village: smaller (5-story) houses converted into apartment buildings; smaller streets lined with trees, people walking their dogs or walking with a stroller, cool tiny coffee shops and restaurants that look like they can barely fit 20 people, maze of streets making it impossible for tourists or upper-west siders to find their way around (heh heh); mix of people young old gay straight withkids/dogs single etc

east side: grungier condition of streets, mix of older somewhat decrepit houses mixed with newer glossy apartment buildings; crazy mix of day-glo sushi restaurants, polish diners, hipster bars, pizza joints, etc. Young people dressed in artsier attire smoking outside...

union square: fancy restaurants next to 5th avenue shopping district (pick your brand), petco, barnes n noble all surrouding a public park with people walking dogs and strollers, taking lunch outside on a bench, pigeons and squirrels everywhere, homeless people resting on benches, anti-bush protesters yelling into megaphones on one end, Falun Gong anti-chinagov protesters on the other end; dog shelter folks with pups up for adoption in cages and on the sidewalk on leashes...

chelsea: gazillion restaurants, art galleries; revamped manufacturing buildings turned into lofts; gay couples; tree lined streets; ghetto low-income buildings smack dab in the middle of all of this

Born and Rasied! Sorry toots ! hehe

<<<4th Generation Denver Native, m'dear!

Woot!

I'd see tall houses with tall windows from the year 1900.
Old streets made from small stones.

LOADS of shops, comfy pubs , bars , small clubs , narrow streets...


i'd say show you some pics but this computer is behind an ISA server , so i can upload or download.

McDonalds
Starbucks
Burger King
Home Depot
Wallmart
Wallgreens
Target
Circuit City
The Olive Garden
The Outback
Lone Star Steak House
7-Eleven
Texaco
Shell
Mobile
Bank of America
Mariott Hotel

These are things I see in every city I visit.

Cool topic.

If I went downtown it would kind of depend which part. In the warehouse district I would see a lot of renovated warehouses containing lofts, coffee houses and eclectic/ethnic restaurants. A lot of turn of the century brown brick.

If I went to central downtown I would see lots of glassy, modern architecture- mostly skyscrapers, businesses of all sorts, banks, puffs of steam from the sewer system, buses, clubs of all types, theaters (I especially love the ones from the 20's that they have restored), Museums, art galleries, schools of all sorts, hospitals, the train, lots of people from many different backgrounds, and patches of snow here and there.

By the riverfront I would see stunning bridges, the lock and dam, boats, barges, St. Anthony Falls, The University of Minnesota, and some ice forming along the edges of the river.

In any of these districts, I would certainly see my breath, as it's cold here this time of year.