One thing that really struck me about New Orleans in contrast to Seattle was how much more of a *human* scale the city's built at.
The U District is rapidly becoming nothing but huge brutalist apartment blocks with no ornamentation at all; New Orleans is full of two-story places that have a lot of cute details.
The one major outcropping of brutalism - the Desire projects - were razed after Katrina, and have been rebuilt as three-story buildings whose outsides fit with the style of the rest of the city. There's trees, there's playgrounds, there's room to wander about and do your daily business. It looks a little prefab but it still feels like a *human* place.
I'm really not gonna miss living in a city that's rapidly turning itself into a Le Corbusier drawing. That shit's just miserable to live in.
One thing that really struck me about New Orleans in contrast to Seattle was how much more of a *human* scale the city's built at.
@anthracite A. and I spent much of our time wandering around Seattle critiquing the architecture of the apartment buildings and echoed your thoughts exactly.
re: One thing that really struck me about New Orleans in contrast to Seattle was how much more of a *human* scale the city's built at.
@eredien @anthracite The first time I lived here, most of the apartment buildings were these big sprawling multiunit things. The 3-4 story tall townhouses/apartments are new though.
