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Tale of the Tape:
Akron Population 2008: 207,510 (City); 698,553 (Metro) - (incorporated in 1825)
Jacksonville Pop. 2008: 807,815 (City); 1,313,228 (Metro) - (incorporated in 1832)
City population 1950: Jacksonville (204,517); Akron (274,605)
Metropolitan Area Growth rate (2000-2008)
Akron: +0.52%%
Jacksonville: +15.86%
Urban Area Population (2000 census)
Akron: 570,215 (ranked 60 nationwide)
Jacksonville: 882,295 (ranked 43 nationwide)
Urban Area Population Density (2000 census)
Akron: 1,852.5
Jacksonville: 2,149.2
City Population Growth from 2000 to 2008
Akron: -9,564
Jacksonville: +72,312
Convention Center Exhibition Space:
Akron: John S. Knight Center (1994) - 43,000 square feet
Jacksonville: Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center (1986) - 78,500 square feet
Adjacent to Convention Center:
Akron: N/A
Jacksonville: N/A
Tallest Building:
Akron: FirstMerit Tower - 330 feet
Jacksonville: Bank of America Tower - 617 feet
Fortune 500 companies 2009 (City limits only):
Alexandria: Goodyear Tire & Rubber (127), FirstEnergy (194)
Jacksonville: CSX (240), Winn-Dixie (340)
Urban infill obstacles:
Akron: Martin Luther King Blvd cuts Downtown off from neighborhoods to the west.
Jacksonville: State & Union Streets cut off Downtown Jacksonville from Springfield.
Downtown Nightlife:
Akron: South Main Street
Jacksonville: East Bay Street, located between Main Street and Liberty Street.
Common Downtown Albatross:
Surface parking lots.
Who's Downtown is more walkable?
Akron: 98 out of 100, according to walkscore.com (downtown Akron as keyword)
Jacksonville: 88 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
City Land Area
Akron: 62.1 square miles
Jacksonville: 767 square miles
Green = Jacksonville's city limits (current urban core) before consolidation in 1968
Red = Jacksonville's current consolidated city-county limits
Jacksonville's current and original city limit boundaries over Akron's limits (highlighted in purple).
Downtown Akron Photo Tour
Canal Place
Downtown Akron is a place with several major adaptive reuse projects. Now a mixed-use center, Canal Place occupies the former BFGoodrich rubber manufacturing plant.
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Canal Place is truly a special place. Its tie to the BFGoodrich Company dating back to 1871 and its contribution to the livelihood of thousands of people make this property a landmark of Akron, Ohio. To fully appreciate Canal Place, one must acknowledge its proud past, its role in the community and the groundwork it has laid for an exciting future.
The year was 1871 when Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich relocated his small rubber company from Melrose, New York to Akron, Ohio. The company settled on the banks of the Ohio Canal and was neighbors with the former Diamond Rubber Company. In 1912, the two rubber companies merged and, with constant construction over the next thirty years, BFGoodrich became the largest rubber factory in the world. With over ninety buildings by the end of World War II, the complex was a self-contained city with its own police, fire and medical services and boasted the first telephone system in Akron.
In 1988, operation "Green Grass" was scheduled to demolish the complex. The operation would cost BFGoodrich approximately $18 million and would have left an open pasture measuring thirty-eight acres. However, Covington Capital Corporation, then a New York-based real estate development company, could see what no one else could and bought the complex from BFGoodrich. Stuart Lichter, Gerald Wendel, and Barry Lang saw a diamond in the rough. An idea that is now called Canal Place.
The year was 1871 when Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich relocated his small rubber company from Melrose, New York to Akron, Ohio. The company settled on the banks of the Ohio Canal and was neighbors with the former Diamond Rubber Company. In 1912, the two rubber companies merged and, with constant construction over the next thirty years, BFGoodrich became the largest rubber factory in the world. With over ninety buildings by the end of World War II, the complex was a self-contained city with its own police, fire and medical services and boasted the first telephone system in Akron.
In 1988, operation "Green Grass" was scheduled to demolish the complex. The operation would cost BFGoodrich approximately $18 million and would have left an open pasture measuring thirty-eight acres. However, Covington Capital Corporation, then a New York-based real estate development company, could see what no one else could and bought the complex from BFGoodrich. Stuart Lichter, Gerald Wendel, and Barry Lang saw a diamond in the rough. An idea that is now called Canal Place.
http://www.canalplace.com/history.asp
Canal Park
Canal Park baseball stadium - Home to the Akron Aeros and the largest free-standing scoreboard in minor league baseball.
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Canal Park is a baseball stadium located in Akron, Ohio, United States, that is the home of the Akron Aeros of the Eastern League. The team is a double-A minor-league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The stadium was designed by HOK Sport, the same architectural firm that designed Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field), the Indians' stadium that opened three years earlier. The stadium takes its name from its location adjacent to the Ohio and Erie Canal, which runs behind the left-field wall.
The stadium is designed as a single deck with the concourse at the top. All seats for Aeros games are sold for one price, regardless of number of rows from the field, except for right-field bleacher seating which is one dollar less. Seats extend all the way from one foul pole to the other (farther than most other parks at this level), and most sections contain 20 to 25 rows, although they taper to as little as five in the corners.
A series of 25 luxury boxes, and the press box, covers the concourse and the top few rows of seats from first base around to third base. The walkway down the right-field line is also covered, and contains a restaurant and the Aeros' team shop. A picnic berm in left field is available for pre-game rental by groups of 25 or more.
During the 2006 Akron Aeros season, the team celebrated its 10th season in Canal Park with several events.
Aside from Akron Aeros baseball, Canal Park will occasionally host special events such as local high school and college baseball, and the Akron Marathon.
The stadium is designed as a single deck with the concourse at the top. All seats for Aeros games are sold for one price, regardless of number of rows from the field, except for right-field bleacher seating which is one dollar less. Seats extend all the way from one foul pole to the other (farther than most other parks at this level), and most sections contain 20 to 25 rows, although they taper to as little as five in the corners.
A series of 25 luxury boxes, and the press box, covers the concourse and the top few rows of seats from first base around to third base. The walkway down the right-field line is also covered, and contains a restaurant and the Aeros' team shop. A picnic berm in left field is available for pre-game rental by groups of 25 or more.
During the 2006 Akron Aeros season, the team celebrated its 10th season in Canal Park with several events.
Aside from Akron Aeros baseball, Canal Park will occasionally host special events such as local high school and college baseball, and the Akron Marathon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_Park_(Akron,_Ohio)
New lofts along South Main Street
Adjacent to Canal Park, South Main Street is home to a strip of bars, clubs and restaurants.
The Towpath Trail
The Towpath is a regional bike and hike trail that follows the Ohio and Erie Canal. This popular urban trail attracts over 2 million visitors annually.
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The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail is part of Akron's history, and, in a way, without, Akron would not be here today. The Ohio & Erie Canal, begun in 1825, connected Cleveland to the landbound areas of Ohio. General Simon Perkins recognized the need for a connecting point along the canal and thus Akron was born. Horses walked the towpath to pull the barges along the canal.
Today the trail is a 20-mile long stretch of the canal towpath which has a solid crushed limestone surface making it ideal for hiking or biking. The trail is frequently being expanded and soon visitors will be able to go from Cleveland to well-south of Akron. Visitor centers and exhibits along the way provide a look into the area's rich past.
www.virtualakron.com/towpathtrail/Today the trail is a 20-mile long stretch of the canal towpath which has a solid crushed limestone surface making it ideal for hiking or biking. The trail is frequently being expanded and soon visitors will be able to go from Cleveland to well-south of Akron. Visitor centers and exhibits along the way provide a look into the area's rich past.
Looking east down Exchange Street
Lock 3 Park
Lock 3 Park is the city's hub for entertainment, featuring an outdoor amphitheater that hosts live musical events and festivals year-round. More than 65,000 guests use the park for recreation annually. From November through February, the park is transformed into an outdoor ice-skating rink.
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Welcome to Lock 3!
Akron's Affordable Family Friendly Entertainment!
Lock 3 is located next to the Akron Civic Theatre in downtown Akron, Ohio. Each summer Lock 3 features a dynamic variety of entertainment.
Friday nights the amphitheatre hosts WONE's FREE Admission Rock the Lock Concerts featuring the country's best tribute acts. Saturday brings our Lock 3 Live! Concerts with national touring artists. And July is HOT! in 2009 with the Annual Rib, White and Blue Festival, Akron's Italian Festival and The National Hamburger Festival.
May also starts off our Lock 3 Farmers Markets.
But the excitement doesn't end when the weather turns windy. November - January, Lock 3 hosts Ohio's largest outdoor ice skating rink and America's most authentic German Chriskindl Market.
http://www.lock3live.com/Akron's Affordable Family Friendly Entertainment!
Lock 3 is located next to the Akron Civic Theatre in downtown Akron, Ohio. Each summer Lock 3 features a dynamic variety of entertainment.
Friday nights the amphitheatre hosts WONE's FREE Admission Rock the Lock Concerts featuring the country's best tribute acts. Saturday brings our Lock 3 Live! Concerts with national touring artists. And July is HOT! in 2009 with the Annual Rib, White and Blue Festival, Akron's Italian Festival and The National Hamburger Festival.
May also starts off our Lock 3 Farmers Markets.
But the excitement doesn't end when the weather turns windy. November - January, Lock 3 hosts Ohio's largest outdoor ice skating rink and America's most authentic German Chriskindl Market.
Looking north into downtown along South Main Street.
University of Akron
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The University of Akron is a public university located in Akron, Ohio. The fourth largest university in Ohio, it was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of Akron. In 1967 the university became a state institution. The University of Akron is regarded as a world leader in polymer research. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. In the last decade it has sought to increase its research portfolio and gain recognition for its productivity in technology transfer and commercialization.
The University recently underwent a $300 million construction project, which added nine new buildings and renovated fourteen, and closed several streets. A new football stadium, Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium, was constructed on campus as a replacement for the University's previous stadium, the Rubber Bowl. The school offers more than 200 undergraduate and 100 graduate majors. Total enrollment was 27,911 students in Fall 2009, with students representing 44 U.S. states and 79 foreign countries. The University's best-known program is its College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, which is located in a 13-story reflective glass building that overlooks Akron's downtown. The Archives of the History of American Psychology are located in the Polsky building at the University. The university has a branch campus, Wayne College, located in Orrville, Ohio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_AkronThe University recently underwent a $300 million construction project, which added nine new buildings and renovated fourteen, and closed several streets. A new football stadium, Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium, was constructed on campus as a replacement for the University's previous stadium, the Rubber Bowl. The school offers more than 200 undergraduate and 100 graduate majors. Total enrollment was 27,911 students in Fall 2009, with students representing 44 U.S. states and 79 foreign countries. The University's best-known program is its College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, which is located in a 13-story reflective glass building that overlooks Akron's downtown. The Archives of the History of American Psychology are located in the Polsky building at the University. The university has a branch campus, Wayne College, located in Orrville, Ohio.
Akron Art Museum
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The 63,000-square-foot John S. and James L. Knight Building was designed by the Viennese architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au following an international competition. The firm was chosen in part for its adaptive use of historic buildings, and the Knight Building is the firm’s first project in the Americas.
Coop Himmelb(l)au’s design integrates additional gallery space, an auditorium and café with the museum’s 1899 building utilizing contrasting, surprising and fanciful visual elements.
• The “Crystal,” a three-story glass lobby that serves as the public entry and as the focal visual space connecting the museum’s artistic, educational, administrative, and public programming;
• The “Gallery Box,” comprising the Arnstein, Haslinger, Bidwell and Isroff Galleries, accommodates the museum’s collection and temporary exhibitions;
• The “Roof Cloud,” a 327-foot (100 m)-long cantilevered steel and aluminum armature extends over the old and the new, creating a striking landmark for Akron’s downtown which a critic once described as "a mechanical alligator snarfing down a Beaux Arts post office."
The expansion dramatically increases the museum’s ability to present traveling exhibitions and to organize its own distinctive exhibitions. The expansion also allows for the display of major, rarely-seen works, including Elliot Torrey’s Surf, the first work to enter the Akron Art Institute’s collection in 1923.
“The design embraces the past, rather than replacing or destroying it,” said Coop Himmelb(l)au founder, and principal architect for the project, Wolf D. Prix. “It uses architecture to create a public space within the city and a private space within our own souls-reinventing both the city and ourselves at the same time. With such a project, there is a great opportunity to make a living contribution to a city.”
Ground Breaking for the new building was held on May 22, 2004. The new Akron Art Museum was open to the public on July 17, 2007 with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony by Mayor of Akron Don Plusquellic and Museum Director and CEO Mitchell Kahan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron_Art_MuseumCoop Himmelb(l)au’s design integrates additional gallery space, an auditorium and café with the museum’s 1899 building utilizing contrasting, surprising and fanciful visual elements.
• The “Crystal,” a three-story glass lobby that serves as the public entry and as the focal visual space connecting the museum’s artistic, educational, administrative, and public programming;
• The “Gallery Box,” comprising the Arnstein, Haslinger, Bidwell and Isroff Galleries, accommodates the museum’s collection and temporary exhibitions;
• The “Roof Cloud,” a 327-foot (100 m)-long cantilevered steel and aluminum armature extends over the old and the new, creating a striking landmark for Akron’s downtown which a critic once described as "a mechanical alligator snarfing down a Beaux Arts post office."
The expansion dramatically increases the museum’s ability to present traveling exhibitions and to organize its own distinctive exhibitions. The expansion also allows for the display of major, rarely-seen works, including Elliot Torrey’s Surf, the first work to enter the Akron Art Institute’s collection in 1923.
“The design embraces the past, rather than replacing or destroying it,” said Coop Himmelb(l)au founder, and principal architect for the project, Wolf D. Prix. “It uses architecture to create a public space within the city and a private space within our own souls-reinventing both the city and ourselves at the same time. With such a project, there is a great opportunity to make a living contribution to a city.”
Ground Breaking for the new building was held on May 22, 2004. The new Akron Art Museum was open to the public on July 17, 2007 with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony by Mayor of Akron Don Plusquellic and Museum Director and CEO Mitchell Kahan.
Quaker Square
Quaker Square is a former Quaker Oats mill that has been converted into a mall and hotel. The mill operated from 1932 to 1970.
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The facility was repurposed in March 1973, and reopened 01 April 1975 with four shops and an ice cream parlor.
The silos were converted into a Hilton Hotel which opened in 1980. Later it became a Crowne Plaza hotel. The hotel is built into the suite of silos and is famed for its 196 completely round rooms. (Source: "Quaker Chronicle" promotional sheet available at the hotel.)
The Trackside Grille & Ice Cream Parlor, a restaurant themed with railroads which run parallel to the building, also provides a narrative of Akron’s history. The Trackside Dining Room was constructed with the beams and columns of the factory building. (Source: "Quaker Chronicle" promotional sheet available at the hotel.)
The Quaker Square General Store offers oatmeal cookies, pie-baking classes for children, and "nostalgic" candy. (Source: "Quaker Chronicle" promotional sheet available at the hotel.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_SquareThe silos were converted into a Hilton Hotel which opened in 1980. Later it became a Crowne Plaza hotel. The hotel is built into the suite of silos and is famed for its 196 completely round rooms. (Source: "Quaker Chronicle" promotional sheet available at the hotel.)
The Trackside Grille & Ice Cream Parlor, a restaurant themed with railroads which run parallel to the building, also provides a narrative of Akron’s history. The Trackside Dining Room was constructed with the beams and columns of the factory building. (Source: "Quaker Chronicle" promotional sheet available at the hotel.)
The Quaker Square General Store offers oatmeal cookies, pie-baking classes for children, and "nostalgic" candy. (Source: "Quaker Chronicle" promotional sheet available at the hotel.)
Quaker Square was purchased by the University of Akron in 2007. The university plans to convert the hotel into student housing but has agreed to give the city time to secure more downtown hotel space before fully moving forward with plans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_Square
Unique Akron
- Akron was founded in 1825 near the Ohio and Erie Canal, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location at a staircase of locks.
- The name "Akron", is a rough translation of summit in Greek. Akros, part of the original Greek word akrópolis, means highest.
- Alchololics Anonymous was founded in Akron in 1935.
- The rubber industry transformed Akron from a small canal town into a fledgling city.
- Akron is the birthplace of the American trucking industry. B.F. Goodrich, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, General Tire and Firestone Tire and Rubber Company were all founded in Akron.
- Marbles were invented in Akron.
- City nicknames include "Rubber Capital of the World," "Rubber City," "City of Invention," "Summit City," and "Tire City."
- Akron was a research and manufacturing center of dirigibles (Zeppelins) until the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.
- Akron is the home of the Soap Box Derby.
- Ferdinand Schumacher aka The Oatmeal King, created the first breakfast cereal in Akron.
- The Akron Pros (1920-1926) were the first team to win a championship in the National Football League.
- The Negro League's Akron Black Tyrites played in the city in 1933.
- Akron is the "Meth Capital of Ohio."
- In 2001, Newsweek magazine named Akron one of the nine "high-tech havens," in the country.
- The University of Akron is the fifth largest public university in Ohio with nearly 26,000 students.
Learning from Akron
Despite a declining manufacturing base and being in the shadows of Cleveland and Ohio's larger cities, Akron has found a way to diversify its economy and stimulate life in downtown by capitalizing on its unique local assets.
Photo tour by Ennis Davis
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vicupstate
December 18, 2009, 09:06:48 AMNice looking city, very clean and polished. I like the Convention Center architecture too. The quaker Mill reuse is pretty inventive too.
fsu813
December 18, 2009, 10:29:59 AMThe Akron Zips is a top 10 college mascot name.
Overstreet
December 18, 2009, 01:35:40 PM"The quaker Mill reuse is pretty inventive too."
Inventive yes, but can't seem to make it as a hotel. Two seperate hotels and now owned by the college. But they are going to run it as a hotel until the city replaces the hotel beds. Would have been an interesting clean up project.
Bostech
December 19, 2009, 02:42:35 AMCities of USA are so depressing except NYC.Empty streets,no people,looks like cheesy version of Armagedon.
You cant win against car culture.
thelakelander
December 19, 2009, 08:32:52 AMWhat about cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, DC, Philadelphia, etc.?
San Francisco
Bostech
December 19, 2009, 03:02:08 PMMaybe SF and Chicago,only place Ive seen people 24/7 is NYC.But all those cities are expensive like hell.
Rest of US is car culture,no way anything will ever change.
krazeeboi
December 23, 2009, 01:36:11 PMThat doesn't mean that all other US cities are depressing with nothing to offer. The US wouldn't be as powerful and prosperous as it is if that were the case.
Ocklawaha
December 26, 2009, 03:29:58 PMWhat was in the Art Museum? But of course darling, a 1963 Avanti Motorcar.
OCKLAWAHA
Ocklawaha
December 26, 2009, 03:34:59 PMRest of US is car culture,no way anything will ever change.
Guess you haven't been in New Orleans or St. Augustine or Santa Fe, or Taos, or Reno, or Vegas, or Tahoe, or even Helen Georgia either?
http://www.helenga.org/
OCKLAWAHA
Bostech
December 26, 2009, 04:05:47 PMWell,people instead of being on street having good time they are at work..working.
I guess that makes you more prosperous but you dont have any fun in life.People in other countries have less but they have more fun and they are happier (based on polling).
So it comes down what you like more,having money and materialistic things or having fun and interacting with people.Somehow you can't have both.Its rule of living life.You either get one or another.Its like women,you either get dumb and pretty or ugly and smart.
Urban life just doesnt seem to work in US,except NYC which has history.
Sure,you can build urban areas,clean it up but unless people start living urban life nothing will change.
I guess its easier just to go and visit NYC or Europe,get some taste of urban life then come back.90% of US will always live suburban lifestyle.
tufsu1
December 27, 2009, 09:27:54 AMI think you are way off base...there are plenty of cities (small and large) in the U.S. that have vibrant urban street activity....in addition to the ones mentioned above, how about Portland, Greenville SC, Baltimore (Inner Harbor area), Philly, and Boston....and the only one that might qualify as crazy expensive (housing costs only) is Boston!
Ocklawaha
December 27, 2009, 10:28:00 AMI generally agree with Bostech on this issue, there is a HUGE difference in city life that only immigrants and expatriots have really experienced. For example on any given day, even in the upscale shopping districts of Medellin, there are streets/walks so crowded you have to squeeze through the crowds (Jax Landing Style).
The Colombians joke about it:
"The frantic American businessman got in the taxi and to his horror the driver pulls off down a dirt road to a creek and proceeds to start fishing. Waving his hands the American is going crazy, he has a hotel room waiting, big meeting tomorrow and, and, and... The little Colombian Taxista looks up from the Rock he's now sitting on and asks "What is it you Americans do?" By now red in the face the businessman half yells, "I get up at 5am every day, not like YOU, I work from 7am until 8-9 pm everyday, I'm busy damn it, someday I'll take it easy and when I go fishing I'll have a cabin by the creek, but for now, let's get the hell back on the road." The Colombian leans back on his rock and rolls his eyes as he replies, "Oh si, now I understand, you see, that's what I'm doing NOW!"
OCKLAWAHA
Dog Walker
December 27, 2009, 04:31:06 PMAdd Ashville, NC to that list. 3AM and people are still on the street.
Ocklawaha
December 27, 2009, 04:53:04 PMThe difference is the crowd, not that there is life, it's actually a mob, herd, or crowd all of the time in these foreign cities. When we speak of sustainable and "live" downtowns, we are talking St. Augustine style, St. George Street, King Street, type street activities. The closest thing I have seen in the USA is the typical mob on "Main Street USA" in Disney or at special City wide bashes at The Jacksonville Landing." If we took that landing crowd and packed not just the landing but all of Laura and Hogan, up to Monroe, then and only then would we see something like Bosnia or Colombian "Life".
BTW, Boston is crazy expensive and so is San Francisco, New York City, and Portland. The Northeast and Pacific tend to be high dollar playgrounds. The midwest, South, southwest, plains states, all tend to be much better priced and in my opinion
OCKLAWAHA
thelakelander
December 27, 2009, 05:17:02 PMPerhaps age and technology have something to do with it. The places you offer as comparisons have been established urban centers for centuries. On the other hand, most of this country's major urban centers are not even or barely 200 years old and a chunk of their development has occurred after the explosion of the automobile. These two elements make it hard to compare apples to apples.
Ocklawaha
December 27, 2009, 06:23:10 PMCould be Lake, the Colombian towns go back to colonial Spain, and most are laid out in a European style, and it's easy to see when Autos came into the picture. Hit suburbia, and you wouldn't know if you were in Bogota or Birmingham. On the other hand there is scarcely a village or city in Europe that isn't brand new - ancient. That is it was rebuilt in the last 60 years from DUST, on the same bones as the ancient city before it. There are a number of cities in Europe that simply vanished in WWII.
EXAMPLE:
SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich was a supremely arrogant young man who liked to travel between his country home and headquarters in Prague in an open top green Mercedes without an armed escort as a show of confidence in his intimidation of the resistance and successful pacification of the population.
In 1942 Heydrich was assassinated in Prague, and so the Czechs saved their nation, but thousands of innocent Czech lives had been lost in executions.
Nazi Germany destroyed an innocent Czech village - Lidice - to avenge the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. The village itself was completely destroyed. The village was burned, the remains dynamited, and then bulldozed so that no structure was left standing. Lidice became a symbol of Nazi barbarism.
Strange that Europe was able to turn the Nazi/Fascist policy's into an opportunity to rebuild a new and different society and urban life.
OCKLAWAHA
thelakelander
December 27, 2009, 06:27:47 PMAny examples of cities that have been largely built after the worldwide acceptance of the automobile (something that Akron helped facilitate....to keep thread on topic
Ocklawaha
December 27, 2009, 11:39:08 PMHIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
BOTH PHOTOS HIROSHIMA
BOTH PHOTOS NAGASAKI
OCKLAWAHA
thelakelander
December 27, 2009, 11:49:31 PMAny photos at street level? Are these places just as vibrant as a Tokyo, London or Paris at street level or are they like Miami (dense but in an auto oriented way)?
Ocklawaha
December 28, 2009, 12:55:09 AMHIROSHIMA including Peace Park and City Council building bomb ruins.
NAGASAKI including Nagasaki Peace Park and downtown shopping district.
I think this speaks to HOW they did it, and WHAT they did that is completely different then the American model. Ya know Lake, asking me for photos is dangerous!
OCKLAWAHA
thelakelander
December 28, 2009, 08:49:30 AMGreat pics, however Hiroshima wasn't completely erased. It had nearly 420,000 residents before the bomb and never dropped below 137,197 in the period after. By 1955, the population had returned to pre-war levels. This suggests that they did not have to completely start over and that a significant amount of reconstruction had already taken place before America (I know we've jumped to Japan) really started to embrace low density sprawl. American zoning practices aside, its also helmed in by mountains and water, which helps with density. The same goes for Nagasaki, which dates back to the 16th century.
Btw, I think we all know the American model is different. Going back to what I stated earlier, a part of the reason the American model is different deals with the age of this country, its urban areas and technology. Sprinkle in land availability and culture and right or wrong, you end up with a different product.
Dog Walker
December 28, 2009, 11:15:12 AMThe historic center of Nagasaki was not destroyed by the bomb. It fell on the other side of that hill you see which shielded the old city from most of the damage. The old city is pedestrian, charming and has many European influenced buildings since it was the only port where Westerners were allowed until 1849. It would remind you of San Francisco since it overlooks a bay with islands in it.
The bomb was aimed at the Mitsubishi ship building yard that you can see in Ocks picture of the bay. It missed.
Peace park is where the center of the blast was and is a beautiful and moving place.
Ocklawaha
December 28, 2009, 11:30:28 AMLake, the fact that many survived the bomb as Dog Walker has pointed out did not lessen the TOTAL and COMPLETE destruction of these cities. Even the ancient temples, and shrines had to be rebuilt, hell EVERYTHING had to be rebuilt. As Dogwalker said one side of the hill caught the bomb, the other side caught the FIRE BOMBS (which were far more deadly and destructive). They really had nothing to work with.
The difference in our culture and styles is really where it stands out. We elect a president and Japan elects a cabinet which stands under the Emperor who descends from the Ujigami (Gods) sometime before 660 BC! By the way the Ujigami spirits usually live in the woods, and meadows, thus the gardens Japan is famous for.
OCKLAWAHA
Dog Walker
December 28, 2009, 11:36:07 AMPart of the difference in our cities is caused by the fact that only a tiny portion of Japan's land can be built on. I think it is something like 5% so population density in the towns and cities is much higher than ours. Japan is mostly mountains; rugged, volcanic mountains.
thelakelander
December 28, 2009, 11:56:35 AMYes. This is what I meant in this previous post. To compare these places with the American experience is pretty useless to do based on many of the environmental factors expressed in past post.
Btw, I think we all know the American model is different. Going back to what I stated earlier, a part of the reason the American model is different deals with the age of this country, its urban areas and technology. Sprinkle in land availability and culture and right or wrong, you end up with a different product.