by Justine Smith
For the last two years, I have been in search of a city to live in. My partner and I made the decision to leave our hometown, Detroit, Michigan, and began researching on the Internet and by train, crisscrossing the country visiting cities that we thought would meet our criteria. We wanted a safe, clean, city with excellent public transit, and lots of jobs, culture and affordable housing. One of our goals was to live totally free of car ownership.
If we had been looking in most of Europe or Canada, we'd have our choice of half a dozen cities that fit the bill. Alas, we were looking in United States, where the neglect of our cities is reflected in urban blight, flight to the suburbs, and mediocre public transit. Despite the hype of the Chambers of Commerce across the land, we really haven't found any cities that meet all of these criteria in United States. If we were to believe the Tourist boards every city is "world class" or "revitalized." Admittedly, we have only visited about eight cities so our list is far from complete.
I've put together a list of what I found to be the best features of the cities we visited. If combined in one city, it would make for a great place. What follows is the best of what we have found so far in our visits to Buffalo, Chicago, Baltimore, New York City, Cleveland, New Orleans, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Our main objective was to discover the features that we thought would be important for daily life in these cities. With that in mind, we made a point of riding the public transit, visiting and walking in neighborhoods, and doing our research before we went.
- The downtown of New York or Chicago.
- The lakefront of Chicago
- The streetcar suburbs of Shaker Heights (Cleveland) and the Garden District (New Orleans)
- The neighborhood farmer's markets of Baltimore
- The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica
- The intact art deco buildings of Buffalo
- The low crime rate of Toronto
- The affordable rents and real estate of Detroit, Cleveland, or New Orleans.
- The Euclid Circle area of Cleveland
- The clean and pleasant transit of Seattle and Cleveland
As a transit rider, I look for some of the little things that make traveling by bus or train more pleasant and convenient for the rider - things like well designed shelters and clean, efficient rides.
I was particularly impressed with Cleveland's regard for the people who ride the transit. I think that one can tell a lot about the attitude towards transit by the places where people must wait for the bus or train. Some cities offer paltry shelters, often graffiti littered boxes in desolate areas. In Cleveland, the rail stations are gracefully designed, each one a pleasant, welcoming place to wait. Local rail riders transfer between trains at the beautifully restored Terminal Tower building where the rails converge. Riders can shop or eat at the bakeries and coffee shops before embarking on their train from the station on the lower level. All the downtown buses stop out in front of the building. While there for our four-day visit, we made a point of traveling everywhere by bus and train: to Euclid Circle, the West Side Market, Lakewood, Little Italy, Shaker Heights, the Theater District, and Coventry Gardens to name a few.
The drivers were all extremely helpful, as we were often hopelessly lost. I was impressed at how often the drivers went out of their way to help us--one even radioing ahead to ask another driver to wait for us so we could make our connection. Once, while we were coming back from a night on the town at the Warehouse District, the bus broke down on Euclid Avenue. I thought we were in for a long wait since it was past midnight on a Saturday night. However, within minutes a technician responded to the drivers radio call and after another three minutes had fixed the problem and we were on our way. Although the transit isn't as extensive as in some other cities, the cleanliness of the buses and trains as well as the courtesy of the drivers made riding it a pleasant experience. It would be something to look forward to rather than to dread riding on a daily basis. Cleveland spends $82 per capita on transit compared to Detroit which spends a pitiful $21 and Chicago which spends a respectable $62, and it shows. Unlike some cities that have recently cut transit, Cleveland is expanding theirs.
Another city that impressed me in its efforts to serve transit riders was Seattle. Although the area had voted down light rail, there is an extensive bus system. The transit authority seems to be making an effort to ensure a pleasant and safe trip for all passengers. Not only can Seattleites bring coffee on board when they ride, small pets are allowed as well. After 9 p.m. riders can request they be let off anywhere along the route, not just at designated stops. This policy is reassuring for those concerned with safety while riding at night.
Both cities have installed bike racks on many of the fleet and Cleveland allows bicycles on the trains at certain times of the day. These amenities may not cost much but go a long way in improving the quality of service.
I took a short bus ride on a warm fall day up Euclid Avenue to Euclid Circle which houses the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Botanical Gardens, and other cultural institutions. Majestically designed buildings sit on a gently sloping grass covered hills. After visiting the museums, we sat on a hillside overlooking a pond in this bucolic setting. There, one feels far removed from the bustle of city life. This pastoral setting is ideal for strolling from museum to museum, or just contemplating life. The area slopes down a little from Euclid Avenue creating a different feeling from museums that sit smack dab on a busy street with horns blasting and car fumes filling the air. An inexpensive mini bus circles the area, stopping at each of the major buildings. Unfortunately, it seemed emptier than one would expect on the day we visited. Someone told us later that Cleveland, a city built for one million people, now houses less the half a million, hence the sparseness of many areas. Sister Wendy found this art museum fit to be featured on her public broadcast of her favorite museums in the United States.
A hustling bustling downtown does not exist in Cleveland like it does in Chicago or New York. Chicago's downtown is filled not only with people working in the loop but a vibrant retail district as well. A strong retail presence downtown is now unfortunately rare in U.S. cities and towns. In New York and Chicago, department stores still adorn their windows with interesting displays during the holidays, ice skating is enjoyed in an outdoor rink with piped in music, and shoppers walk from store to store in the downtown districts.
The city of Chicago made a wise decision when it preserved so much of its lakefront for public use. Several beaches along the lake are busy with swimmers and sunbathers during the brief summer. The zoo in Lincoln Park is free. Some people might not like the lakefront because it is so crowded with people, but they are people out enjoying themselves and the beautiful lake. Bikers, walkers, skaters are out in force, especially during the warmer months, giving the lakefront area a lively appeal.
Chicago's rents might be considered reasonable by coastal standards but the average purchase price of a house in a neighborhood with good schools and low crime is around a quarter of a million or more, out of reach for many. Detroit on the other hand boasts some inexpensive housing. In neighborhoods within a mile or two of downtown Detroit, beautiful apartments with natural wood floors, built in cabinets, and bay windows can be had for well under $700 a month. Apartments in poorer condition are available for under $500. Modest well-kept three bedroom houses in Hamtramck go for $70,000 on the average. (Hamtramck is a small city within the city of Detroit where a lot of artists and recent immigrants live). Inexpensive flats can be found in the Ohio City area of Cleveland. So many young adults want to live in cities like Chicago and Boston, which have wonderful parks, cultural life, and jobs. Demand drives the prices up. If all our cities were truly vital, perhaps prices would level out since the demand wouldn't be so great in just a few areas.
Although Baltimore struggles with poverty and a high crime rate, the sense of community I've felt in many of its distinctive neighborhoods seemed almost palpable. Several neighborhoods have their own farmer's market, which serve as gathering spots for the local residents. Some of them even have bars that are open evening hours.
I cannot find any large city in the United States that has a very low crime rate, so I will name Toronto as the ideal. As a nation we've come to accept crime as a fact of life in our cities, and our media bombards us with horror stories on the 6 o'clock news. Meanwhile, we are told we have reason to be optimistic because crime has fallen in the last fifteen years or so. New York and others have made remarkable progress in driving down the crime rate by combining quality of life issues with aggressive policing. Compared to any city in Canada, though, we have no reason for jubilation. The proliferation of violent crime and the destruction of the fabric of city life that goes along with it are just unacceptable, or should be.
Streetcar suburbs grew along the rail lines and had several features in common. The area near the stop was rich in retail so that when passengers disembarked they could shop before heading home. The Garden District in New Orleans is an example of this type of development, with retail along Charles Avenue and large homes built close to the sidewalk within a short walk. Several blocks away sit more modest cottage style homes, still within easy walking distance of the streetcar stop.
Shaker Heights, a planned streetcar suburb in Cleveland, is still served by heavy rail. The central retail area has recently been redeveloped with a bookstore, movie theater, and several restaurants. Within a short walk of the rail stop is a mix of housing which includes apartments, townhouses and single family houses, all accessible to transit riders.