Best waterfront?

[xzmattzx]

what city has the best waterfront in your opinion? what city has the best riverfront? what city has the best general waterfront (whether it be the ocean, a great lake, a large bay, etc)? what city has a small lake nearby that they have utilized? what city has the potential to have a great waterfront? do you think a city is better off having a waterfront focused on a river or on something bigger like a bay or a lake?

as usual, pictures will make this thread even better.

[eweezerinc]

While maybe not the best riverfront now, Louisville I think has tons of potential for a truely awesome waterfront.

Waterfront Park:











Everything but phase III and the conversion of an old railroad bridge into a pedestrian and biking bridge is completed.





RiverPark Place will be almost a continuation of Waterfront Park, with two main residentional towers (among lots of smaller 6-5 story towers), retail and a marina.

[krazeeboi]

I'm impressed with Louisville's progress and future plans.

From what I've seen, for a city its size, Chattanooga has utilized its riverfront extremely well.

I love Charleston's waterfront. Downtown Charleston on the water is just picture perfect.

The Battery






Waterfront Park









As far as potential goes, I give the nod to Columbia, SC for riverfront development.

As is:


What shall be:

[DGM]

Miami Beach?

[Xusein]

Baltimore has a nice harborfront, as people know.

[Evangelion]

I personally love Chicago's waterfront, the stretch of park running almost the entire lenght of the city

[Soulbrotha]

does charleston have a good flood wall? those homes look awefully close to the edge.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by krazeeboi

What shall be:

why is the stadium facing away from the river? this is something they did in harrisburg, pennsylvania, with their stadium, and people now with that the stadium faced the susquehanna river and the harrisburg skyline on the other side of the river, instead of to a grove of trees and a parking lot.

[bay_area]

San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, by the bay to the east and north and the pacific to the west. There are lots of activities right on the waterfront-you have fishermans wharf as well as The Embarcadero Area in front of the Financial District-not to mention AT&T Park, where the Giants play, also right on the waterfront. On the north you have aquatic park, chrissy field and the Marina District. Right past the Golden Gate Bridge you have the rugged coastline, china beach, baker beach and ocean beach on the coast. Locals like it.

[bay_area]

double post.

[krazeeboi]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

why is the stadium facing away from the river? this is something they did in harrisburg, pennsylvania, with their stadium, and people now with that the stadium faced the susquehanna river and the harrisburg skyline on the other side of the river, instead of to a grove of trees and a parking lot.

The stadium will be facing the skyline (look carefully at the top of the graphic). The other side of the river is another municipality (actually two), and there's not enough available riverfront property on the other side. Furthermore, the ballpark will be incorporated into USC's research campus being built downtown; the campus combines economic development and academic research with urban development. Here's how it will look at ground level:



I think it will be a smash.

[eweezerinc]

A smash indeed! All that Columbia development looks awesome!
How much land is that? Is everything there already just going to be flattened?

[krazeeboi]

All of that land is actually undeveloped. A significant portion of the land is owned by a family that has roots in the area; they wanted to hold out until something really grand was built there, something that would do the entire community good (and also give the family name some shine no dbout). An assortment of private landholders constitute the majority though. All together the research campus will be spread out over 200 acres. A lot of the land closer to downtown is held by the USC Foundation, which is a private foundation.

[krazeeboi]

Originally Posted by Soulbrotha

does charleston have a good flood wall? those homes look awefully close to the edge.

Good question and I don't know.

[edsg25]

How wonderful to see how US cities are redeveloping their waterfronts for recreational use today. But how about a city that thought about doing so a 100 years ago....and succeeded on a massive, massive scale. The city? Of course Chicago. Our lakefront is a gem, open to the public with inviting parkland and beaches from virtually the whole length of the city...including the vast majority of land on the North and South sides and the entire downtown area. No city today could put together such a massive stretch of waterfront. And the city keeps making this treasure greater and greater all the time.

Doublely blessed, our "second waterfront" on the Chicago River is becoming an urban jewel. Nowhere on the planet does such a fascinating river exist, a manmade canyon with high rises lining the banks of both sides of the river's main channel and south branch. The architecture is magnificent and the city is enhancing this environment with a river walk that, when finished, will easily rival our lakefront.

IMHO, no city embraces water to degree that Chicago does.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by krazeeboi

The stadium will be facing the skyline (look carefully at the top of the graphic). The other side of the river is another municipality (actually two), and there's not enough available riverfront property on the other side. Furthermore, the ballpark will be incorporated into USC's research campus being built downtown; the campus combines economic development and academic research with urban development. Here's how it will look at ground level:



I think it will be a smash.

that makes sense now. it's almost exactly the same way our baseball stadium is here in wilmington. back when the riverfront plans were put on the table at around 1990 or so, the plan was for a stadium to face the christina river. but instead of building the stadium facing the river, the stadium was turned 90º so that it faces the skyline. the result is a great view of the wilmington skyline. another interesting outcome is something like a "freeway monster"; just beyond the left field fence is the elevated i-95, and it towers over left field kind of like the green monster in boston. no one has ever hit a ball onto i-95 though (it would take a home run over 500 feet long to even ceom close to the deck of i-95).

the wilmington skyline from daniel frawley stadium, circa 2004 (our skyline has gotten a little bigger since then):

[SNL]

let me think...Chicago & Chicago.

I'm impressed with Columbia, SC. That will be a very nice water front upon completion. Who plays in that baseball stadium?

[krazeeboi]

xzmattxz, that's a pretty good view. I'm sure no one regrets that decision.

SNL, USC's baseball team will play there, but has been some speculation that it may become a joint-use stadium with a minor league team. I sure hope so.

[svs]

Originally Posted by edsg25

How wonderful to see how US cities are redeveloping their waterfronts for recreational use today. But how about a city that thought about doing so a 100 years ago....and succeeded on a massive, massive scale. The city? Of course Chicago. Our lakefront is a gem, open to the public with inviting parkland and beaches from virtually the whole length of the city...including the vast majority of land on the North and South sides and the entire downtown area. No city today could put together such a massive stretch of waterfront. And the city keeps making this treasure greater and greater all the time.

Doublely blessed, our "second waterfront" on the Chicago River is becoming an urban jewel. Nowhere on the planet does such a fascinating river exist, a manmade canyon with high rises lining the banks of both sides of the river's main channel and south branch. The architecture is magnificent and the city is enhancing this environment with a river walk that, when finished, will easily rival our lakefront.

IMHO, no city embraces water to degree that Chicago does.

Nah.......the problem with Chicago's waterfront is that it is cut off from the surrounding city by Lake Shore Drive and though it is beautiful to look at, it is fairly difficult to get to and seems separate from downtown and the parks. In short, the lake, beautiful as it is, just doesn't seem integrated with the rest of the city.

I think San Francisco's waterfront since the freeway fell down is much nicer, more amusements directly on the water. A trolley line just away from the shore. that great food court near the ferry building, the Circus, the piers, the seals, the crush of people. Giardelli square, the cable cars that come right down to the water, the outdoor food vendors, and the fact that its usable twelve months a year is really very hard for Chicago to compete with.

I think San Diego with its double harbor, lighthouse, islands, recreational areas, Coronado Island, the peninsulas, restaaurants, beach communities, access to the San Diego Trolley, and easy walking to San Diego Old Town and La Jolla also trump Chicago. I tend to prefer Seattle's lakes and Ocean combination as well and when you combine that with the Washington State ferry system......I could also mention Miami, St. Petersburg, and Fort Lauterdale, but you probably catch my drift.

I know you really love Chicago. So do I. Its where I grew up. (I spent a lot of summers on Morse beach.) And it does have a beautiful waterfront, but not the best in the country.

[SNL]

Giradelli Square??? Come on! not nearly as many people have heard of that place as they have heard of Navy Pier. You can't even compare the two cities. Since Chicago is the most bicycle friendly city around, there are multiple bridges going over LSD. Including a very nice bridge designed by Ghery. San Diego...sounds like you're a Cali homer.

In fact, 10x as many people visit Navy Pier as they do Giradelli square...whatever that place is. Do they make sandwiches there?

Chicago is America's greenest city. thus it is common sense their lakefront, littered with parks, is the most beautiful. it's no contest really.

Also, you are very narrow minded. You seem to resent non-tropical/hot climates. Do you not think cities up North can have beautiful lakefronts? Perhaps, you need to grow some balls and visit some colder climate cities. Florida and Cali...that's all that seems to exist in your world.