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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes, but there are pockets of "suburban" living even in Georgetown.  Places where you can have a backyard and a cookout.  There are adorable little streets in WestEnd that are entirely residential, yet close to retail.  If she can afford Georgetown and its environs, why settle for anything else?  I concede the lack of a metro stop is annoying, but lots of convenient buses-- preferrable to be above ground when you are new to the city anyway!  Seems to me that Georgetown IS suburban compared to NYC.

Signed,

Happy Cap Hill Resident[/quote]

NYC is not Manhattan, it's also Queens, Bronx and Brooklyn, and Staten Island (which is pretty much suburban).  There are deeply suburban areas in Queens and Bronx, which would make you forget you are anywhere near the city and a lot of Brooklyn is low rise and lower density urban.  I'd say most of DC (outside of National Mall) is similar to Brooklyn in terms of density and access to amenities, I would even say, DC is better, because it is better served by chain stores like Whole foods and Trader Joes, which Brooklyn lacks, and has more cultural amenities and museums and it's cleaner.  The subway stations in Brooklyn are vomit-inducing.    [/quote]

in urban environments, most residents live in apartments. If most residents live in houses or townhmes that is not an urban environment. Such arrangements simply cannot create sufficient population density.[/quote]

Most people in US cities, except  Manhattan don't live in apartments, certain percentage does, but most US cities have lots of central neighborhoods with rowhome/townhome type of housing or even detached SFHs, and low-rise apartment buildings. To me if the neighborhood is central inside the city boundaries, and walkable and has PT access, and you can live there without a car, it's urban.  If for you urban means having people living on top of each other stacked 1/5 mile high, then you must refer to the world's densest metropolises, which are very few outside of Asia.  
Then US doesn't have any real cities other than Manhattan, because this is the case in most cities.  Most people live in SFH or attached townhomes in US cities with a certain percentage of apartment buildings.  [/quote]

Indeed, the US does not have any real cities except for Manhattan - that was my point. There are plenty of real cities in Europe, not just Asia. A vast majority of Europeans live in apartments, and most of those are between 500 and 750 sqft in buildings 5-10 stories tall. Areas that are fairly removed from downtown are still very urban and in fact often more urban than the city centers.

Your definition of urban is simply incorrect. Centrality connects to urbanity only to the extent that increases density through tourists and people who work in the area.[/quote]

Actually, being a destination for jobs and tourists is an important factor defining urbanity.  It adds to density and brings in businesses and street life, that otherwise would not be there just to serve residents alone.  That is why there is less stuff in NWDC residential neighborhoods than in let's say Dupont, which is essentially low rise low density housing.  And being a part of historic city center, being an older area, also is a part of this.  Density of population is not everything.

You seem to think that urban = high rise living.  This is not as simple.    If this was the case then Rosslyn/Arlington or Tysons should be more urban in your eyes. [/quote]

Umm, I am the one that pointed out that attracting people and workers is a factor in urbanity. But urbanity is essentially high density within a modern city infrastructure. Density in Tyson's is very low even by DC standards. High rise living is related to density but its not the same thing. You can pack a lot people in a rowhouse as is the case in Manhattan and achieve the same effect in a seemingly townlike environment.[/quote]

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