What cities have you been pleasantly surprised or disappointed by on Streetview?

[NorthernDancer]

What cities have you never been to but have been surprised or disappointed by after looking at on Streetview?

Disappointed:

Salt Lake City. I knew SLC had a decent-sized open-air mall in the middle of it's downtown with Macy's, Nordstrom, and other major retailers. This is more than many American metros of similar population. I also knew of the open-air mall on the far west edge of the downtown area. And I'd actually looked at them both in Streetview (as much as you can anyways). But when I decided to see what the walk between these two malls looked like, I was disappointed. Mainly because of the obscene width (ESPECIALLY for a metro of under 2 million) of many of the streets. The really wide streets combined with a relative lack of tall buildings looks like it leaves one with a really "exposed" feel. One of the streets looked to be 9 lanes wide from curb to curb (4 lanes each direction plus a centre turn lane). I can't imagine any scenario where that many lanes are needed in a city with a relatively small population.


Surprised:

Boston's North End. I was actually in Boston once. But it was only for a few days 30 years ago when I was a kid, with my parents and brother. So I wasn't wondering around on my own exploring (though we did walk around Faneuil Hall area, as well as some other parts of downtown). The North End on Streetview has a vibe similar to some cities I've been to in the U.K. Cambridge looks really cool too from an urban perspective. I'd like to go back and do some aimless wondering there.

[Centropolis]

basically anglo-oceania ftw.

[BrandonJXN]

Toronto via street view is not a pretty city.

[BG918]

Salt Lake City is known for its obscenely wide streets. It dates back to when the city was first laid out by the Mormon pioneers in the 1850's. Some interesting history:

The ideas for the layout of Salt Lake City originated with Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church.

Smith’s concept of city planning originated in what was known as the City of Zion plan, prepared in 1833. The plan called for a grid pattern with streets 132 feet wide, multi-acre lots within each city block, backyard gardens, houses set 25 feet back from the street and staggered so that no house directly faced another on the opposite side of the street.

Regarding the width of the streets, the story goes that Brigham Young, who led Mormon settlers to the West in 1847, directed that the streets of Salt Lake City be made sufficiently wide so that a wagon team could turn around without “resorting to profanity” (Deseret News, July 13, 2009).

http://widestreetsofsaltlake.blogspo...ystem.html?m=1

[chris08876]

My neighborhood does not have street view. Its an upscale area, but no street view.

They have bloody Jakarta and the outlying villages on street view, but not my area.

One city I was surprised was Jakarta. Looks very cozy. Might be a fun walk. Just randomly get lost and explore those side streets.

[King Kill 'em]

For surprised I'd say Houston because of all the townhomes

[TonyAnderson]

Originally Posted by BG918

Salt Lake City is known for its obscenely wide streets. It dates back to when the city was first laid out by the Mormon pioneers in the 1850's. Some interesting history:

The ideas for the layout of Salt Lake City originated with Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church.

Smith’s concept of city planning originated in what was known as the City of Zion plan, prepared in 1833. The plan called for a grid pattern with streets 132 feet wide, multi-acre lots within each city block, backyard gardens, houses set 25 feet back from the street and staggered so that no house directly faced another on the opposite side of the street.

Regarding the width of the streets, the story goes that Brigham Young, who led Mormon settlers to the West in 1847, directed that the streets of Salt Lake City be made sufficiently wide so that a wagon team could turn around without “resorting to profanity” (Deseret News, July 13, 2009).

http://widestreetsofsaltlake.blogspo...ystem.html?m=1

But the City doesn't really take advantage of that and in many instances just creates, as noted above, 7, 8, or even 9 lane streets. They could easily create huge, wide sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, etc. and still have enough to spare for a couple car lanes.

[The North One]

Portland's downtown street-view is very meh. Especially for a city whose transplants want to pretend it's a mini-San Francisco, it's not remotely similar to SF's urban fabric.

Some cute historical buildings, but even Toledo Ohio is more impressive in that regard.

[dc_denizen]

^^ Sorry that's false.

Portland is best described as a Columbus or Austin, but with every single low-value block (parking, etc) developed into housing, parks or what have you.

I have not heard anyone ever compare it to SF.

You just have a chip on your shoulder.

[JManc]

Surprised: Moscow. Not the stark Orwellian wasteland dominated by commieblocks and monuments to Lenin I'd thought it'd be.
Seoul: Amazing density, density, hilly topography.

Disappointing: Athens/ Tel Aviv. These cities could use a fresh coat of paint.

Btw, Streetview makes any city look like shit.

[eschaton]

I don't think I've ever seen a beautiful street view in Japan. Most of the architecture is very utilitarian, and it seems like utility lines are basically never buried and always overhead. By U.S. standards, everything looks a little gritty and run down generally.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

^^ Sorry that's false.

Portland is best described as a Columbus or Austin, but with every single low-value block (parking, etc) developed into housing, parks or what have you.

I have not heard anyone ever compare it to SF.

You just have a chip on your shoulder.

Or maybe you have a problem with reading comprehension?

I was comparing the historical building stock itself hence the use of "in that regard" not the overall city.

Pretty much every basic West Coaster and their mother that moves there want's to compare Portland to SF, I've read several comparisons of the two on this site alone.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

^^ Sorry that's false.

Portland is best described as a Columbus or Austin, but with every single low-value block (parking, etc) developed into housing, parks or what have you.

I have not heard anyone ever compare it to SF.

You just have a chip on your shoulder.

San Franciscans often compare Portland to their city but not because of its physical layout, buildings or whatever you can see on Streetview (although we share an extensive "modern streetcar" system). What they are usually talking about is progressive politics and the zeitgeist on display on "Portlandia". The subject often comes up in conversations like, "This town (SF) is too expensive and the techies have ruined it. I'm thinking about moving to Portland. It's more like SF was in the good old days when I first moved here . . . ".

I beiieve Portland does also have its share of Victorian houses and some other architechtural features--historic ones--in common with SF. I've never been there (except passing through on a train going to Seattle), though, so I can't say.

[a very long weekend]

saint john's, newfoundland, canada - quaint and charming
belfast - lovely
edinburgh - impressive

toronto - very ugly, borderline distopian.
pittsburgh - rough, heavy on the parking lots and roadway

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by a very long weekend

pittsburgh - rough, heavy on the parking lots and roadway

What part of Pittsburgh were you looking at? It varies dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood.

[chris08876]

Check out Ghana on street view. Interesting stuff.

Good starting points:

https://www.google.com/maps/@5.58941...7i13312!8i6656 (Highway)

https://www.google.com/maps/@5.58777...6!9m2!1b1!2i37 (market)

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by JManc

Btw, Streetview makes any city look like shit.

How can you say that? I can recall at 3 times I was standing on the sidewalk when the Google Streetview camera car came by and I'm sure I made their pictures look fabulous.

[Crawford]

Portland, to me, looks like a Midwest town transported to the PNW (based on visits, not Streetview).

It's also way less hipster than you think (I mean, yeah, there's tons, but there are also lots of total redneck areas to the east, and super conservative upscale suburbs that could be exurban Atlanta or something to the west).

I guess my point is that Portland is kinda weird, but not nearly as much as the Portlandia stereotype indicates. You'll come across rednecks and yuppie soccer moms as much as pretentious hipster types.

[ithakas]

Pleasantly surprised: Downtown Detroit. I had just come back from a trip staying in downtown LA and it reminded me of it quite a bit – lots of prewar towers and building stock being renovated.

[CaliNative]

Downtown L.A. east of Olive, especially Broadway east, has a very 1920ish feel. So many old buildings and old theaters. Looks like some older parts of Manhattan, although the buildings are lower because of the pre-1960 150' height limit. Often stands in for NYC or Chicago in films/TV shows. Very unlike the sterotypical image of L.A.