Your city's "Beverly Hills"

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by matt777

In Dallas, it is definitely Highland Park with its stately mansions and luxury town center, Highland Park Village. Spanish/Mediterranean architecture is common throughout.

yes, highland park (or similar areas) in dallas was what i was thinking of in an above post discussing the kansas city plaza.
i think it's a good example of what the OP was looking for, as opposed to just wealthy areas of city x.

[Centropolis]

(dallas)


(a mansion in st. louis)

the above mansion in dallas looks like something copied from a victorian neighborhood in st. louis ...highland park doesnt appear to be victorian vintage (if it were it wouldn't meet the requirements of the thread anyway) so i presume it's new construction? it has some incongruous flourishes and a finish which reads as nouveau-riche construction to me.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Is Beverly Hills new money or old money? If it's new money Toronto's Beverly Hills is the Bridle Path or Forest Hill South. If it's old money, it's York Mills.

This is inaccurate. York Mills is "newer" than Forest Hill which is more transitional than "nouveau riche."

[matt777]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

(dallas)


(a mansion in st. louis)

the above mansion in dallas looks like something copied from a victorian neighborhood in st. louis ...highland park doesnt appear to be victorian vintage (if it were it wouldn't meet the requirements of the thread anyway) so i presume it's new construction? it has some incongruous flourishes and a finish which reads as nouveau-riche construction to me.

That example in Highland Park is newer construction, but pleasing nonetheless given the small lot sizes in most of Highland Park. It's hard to make a narrow and tall home attractive but this one does a good job. Highland Park dates back to the 1920's and 30's, but tear downs do happen with newer, larger homes taking their place. Some are worthy of tearing down but unfortunately some lovely but smaller, less luxurious, older homes do meet the wrecking ball.

[matt777]

Fun fact: Highland Park Village, opened in 1931, was the first self-contained shopping center in America and is a National Historic Landmark.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park_Village

[ardecila]

Does this count?

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by matt777

Fun fact: Highland Park Village, opened in 1931, was the first self-contained shopping center in America and is a National Historic Landmark.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park_Village

i brought up both dallas and kansas city at the same time for a reason, the country club plaza in kc is highland parks big brother of course and claims the same thing circa 1923. in any case i love the scale of both (although the plaza goes a bit heavy with the spanish inspiration) and are amongst the closest analogues to beverly hills i can think of.

highland park village developers were on record of course as being directly inspired by the district in kansas city so i'm not sure who is claiming that it was the first.

[TimCity2000]

For Birmingham (and Alabama in general), only one place even comes close: Mountain Brook.

An inner/first-ring suburb with mansions and old money galore. Not urban by any means, but definitely a step up from "suburban". No real "high-end" brand-name shopping ,though... mainly just expensive local boutiques.

[Centropolis]

here's some more history of highland park, continuing the connection with beverly hills as well as kansas city:

They asked Los Angeles landscape architect and planner Wilbur D. Cook, known for creating Beverly Hills, to design a residential community centered on the Dallas Country Club, built in 1912. In 1924 the developers set aside 10 acres across Preston Road for an automobile and pedestrian-accessible shopping center that could also function as a town square.

Designed in 1928-29 by James B. Cheek and Marion F. Fooshee, Highland Park Village was influenced by Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri...
https://tclf.org/landscapes/highland-park-village

[Centropolis]

also in that beverly hills/highland park/country club plaza design era/pedigree is (i've briefly mentioned) westwood village near beverly hills (as i am referring more to urban design and the origins):

blogspot.com

itsnotaboutme.tv

onceclassblog.com

while the genesis is similar the current retail mix is not the same, however. it feels like a campus town for UCLA. although i've seen references to west beverly hills, whatever that is, when i've stayed at a hotel near westwood village...

[matt777]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i brought up both dallas and kansas city at the same time for a reason, the country club plaza in kc is highland parks big brother of course and claims the same thing circa 1923. in any case i love the scale of both (although the plaza goes a bit heavy with the spanish inspiration) and are amongst the closest analogues to beverly hills i can think of.

highland park village developers were on record of course as being directly inspired by the district in kansas city so i'm not sure who is claiming that it was the first.

I think by "self-contained" they mean that Highland Park Village was the first shopping center as we know them today. One parcel of land, all privately owned and developed at once, with the inner roads and parking being private as well. Country Club Plaza looks like it was developed as multiple parcels surrounded by public roads, but I could be wrong. Highland Park Village has no public roads running through it and is more akin to the town center development we see in modern times.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by matt777

I think by "self-contained" they mean that Highland Park Village was the first shopping center as we know them today. One parcel of land, all privately owned and developed at once, with the inner roads and parking being private as well. Country Club Plaza looks like it was developed as multiple parcels surrounded by public roads, but I could be wrong. Highland Park Village has no public roads running through it and is more akin to the town center development we see in modern times.

J.C. Nichols Co. developed/owned/operated the plaza for decades until it was bought by the Highwoods property goliath several years ago (I think someone else owns the entire thing now). There may be some technicalities with street ownership there I guess that Highland Park can claim but the developers I believe visited KC and essentially wanted to turnkey emulate it.

Highland Park does look like a half-step further towards that contemporary shopping center model with the inward facing section but at least retains a shred of proper urbanism.

[Centropolis]

funnily, lifestyle centers are essentially evolving back to the highland park/cc plaza model...tweaking the urbanism back up along with architectural variation but still single ownership.

[matt777]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

funnily, lifestyle centers are essentially evolving back to the highland park/cc plaza model...tweaking the urbanism back up along with architectural variation but still single ownership.

Yes, and I love that! West Village in Uptown Dallas is another example of that.

[McBane]

Beverly Hills to me, is a wealthy suburban enclave whose reputation overshadows its more modest neighborhoods.

To me the Philadelphia equivalent is the Main Line. Rittenhouse is tony but is within city limits and follows a highly urbanized build. Chestnut Hill is walkable/suburban but still within city limits, so I don't think it would count. But the Main Line is very recognizable and its prestige, like Bev Hills, overshadows the more modest homes that exist within the Main Line suburbs.

Of course, the Philadelphia area has other upscale towns but none are quite as well known or contain the sheer number of old money estates that can be found on the Main Line.

[Centropolis]

river oaks shopping center in houston is sort of related to the others, although seems heavily modified and is of late 1930s vintage and is a bit more austere. i'm not sure how "upscale" it is, relatively speaking. it's old enough to have a vintage cinema as an anchor, however, like the others, co-developed with upscale housing.


365thingsinhouston.com

trip advisor

[Obadno]

Paradise Valley Arizona: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Valley,_Arizona

The wealthiest suburb in Arizona, just a few miles from Downtown/central Phoenix and sandwiched between the city and the famous and wealthy suburb of Scottsdale. This is the oldest and wealthiest "rich" area in the metro area and is home to upscale resorts and sprawling estates, it is part of the "pizza wedge" of upscale housing that starts downtown and heads roughly north and east as far as you can imagine until civilization peters out into mountains.

The area is tucked behind (and on) camelback mountain and has homes perched on mountainsides and with fantastic views, the general are expands into both Scottsdale and Phoenix creating a very wealthy and upscale area that rests all around and on Camelback mountain and is roughly outlined in this map: https://goo.gl/maps/63ZbnsqDcFU2

A good indicator of how wealthy a neighborhood is in Phoenix, is how green it is. If you find yourself in an area with very few trees, its likely not very wealthy.











The town Is home to most of our upscale resorts, and the newest addition is going to be the New Ritz-Carlton:



The area around Paradise Valley is also all incredibly nice, home to all of the upscale shopping and restaurants your going to find.

McCormick Ranch:


Old Town Scottsdale


Keirland



Biltmore


Arcadia, The current new-rich boomtown (if only I could have bought in10 years ago )



And North Central Phoenix

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

river oaks shopping center in houston is sort of related to the others, although seems heavily modified and is of late 1930s vintage and is a bit more austere. i'm not sure how "upscale" it is, relatively speaking. it's old enough to have a vintage cinema as an anchor, however, like the others, co-developed with upscale housing.


365thingsinhouston.com

trip advisor

It's nice but not very "upscale" at least not to River Oak's wealth caliber. They go to Highland Village, a more pretentious shopping center a few miles away. Though someone did shoot out part of the huge glass facade of Apple store a few years ago.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Paradise Valley Arizona: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Valley,_Arizona

The wealthiest suburb in Arizona, just a few miles from Downtown/central Phoenix and sandwiched between the city and the famous and wealthy suburb of Scottsdale. This is the oldest and wealthiest "rich" area in the metro area and is home to upscale resorts and sprawling estates, it is part of the "pizza wedge" of upscale housing that starts downtown and heads roughly north and east as far as you can imagine until civilization peters out into mountains.

The area is tucked behind (and on) camelback mountain and has homes perched on mountainsides and with fantastic views, the general are expands into both Scottsdale and Phoenix creating a very wealthy and upscale area that rests all around and on Camelback mountain and is roughly outlined in this map: https://goo.gl/maps/63ZbnsqDcFU2

A good indicator of how wealthy a neighborhood is in Phoenix, is how green it is. If you find yourself in an area with very few trees, its likely not very wealthy.











The town Is home to most of our upscale resorts, and the newest addition is going to be the New Ritz-Carlton:



The area around Paradise Valley is also all incredibly nice, home to all of the upscale shopping and restaurants your going to find.

McCormick Ranch:


Old Town Scottsdale


Keirland



Biltmore


Arcadia, The current new-rich boomtown (if only I could have bought in10 years ago )



And North Central Phoenix

Stunning!

[JManc]

Lawns and trees in the desert. Why? The last house could be anywhere in the US.