The Most "Vintage" US City

[Paisley]

The older parts of Denver (Washington Park, much of downtown, old Englewood) was built around 1900, 1920, and still looks it. 20 or 30 years ago, preservationists fought the razing of historic buildings downtown. Now those old warehouses are high-priced lofts.

Much of Denver's suburbs, on the other hand, are miles of big box stores and ticky-tacky strip malls and acres of big, cookie cutter houses. Actually, I don't have anything against any of these, I just don't like it when they go as far as the eye can see.

With that said, vintage building aren't all they're cracked up to be. Some may need so much repair work that it's cheaper to tear down and build anew (and it's easier to say "spend the money" when it isn't your money). And a few years ago, an 8.? earthquake struck San Simeon, California. The only fatalities were those of two women fleeing the old building where they worked.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I think it's almost always worth the cost to preserve a little history. It would probably be a lot cheaper to raze Venice, fill it in, and build a "Disneyland" version. Probably a lot safer for everyone. Sure, comparing Denver to Paris is a stretch, but if we tear everything down when it's 80 years old we'll never have anything that's 500 years old. It will perpetually look like we just got here.

 

[Fu Manchu]

Karol is correct that Savannah is well preserved. It is truly one of America's most beautiful cities, as is Charleston, SC. Both have an F. Scott Fitzgerald feel. But if you really want to strut your stuff, I vote for Pasadena, CA.

Savannah's a great little city. I remember, however, that it was nearly impossible to find lunch on a Sunday afternoon. The whole town was closed!

Fu Manchu

 

[K.D. Lightner]

That sounds pretty vintage to me. In years gone by, many places rolled up the sidewalks on Sundays. You couldn't find anything open. Except churches.

karol

 

[J.B.]

Despite the recent departure of the J.B. Stetson company and the 1976 imploding of the Hotel Robidoux -- St. Joseph, Missouri gets my vote for Retro Queen! :clap (Some things truly never change.)

 

[koopkooper]

When I first visited the States in 1992 I was really sad to see how "modern" America is. However I found many of the old buildings in the country areas that I visited were just grand, I'd encourage you to visit the country.

From my time in the US I'd say that the most Authentic town could be found in parts of Memphis...take a wander down to Sun Studios and it's pretty much deserted and very origional.

Koop

 

[magneto]

San Francisco is in the running. What other city still has public transit extant which is virtually unchanged from the 1930's?

Even earlier! I have a Chamber of Commerce tourist booklet from early 1920s. All the lines therein are the same:
"Nos. 6 or 7, will take you to Haight and Broderick streets..."
"Take the K tunnel car..."
Parts of Nob Hill area are reminiscent of a better time.
On the other side of the balance sheet....the en masse conversion of "Dogpatch" and environs from industry to unrentable rental units... the destruction of the Emporium-Capwell store...and the White House store...the relentless move to turn anyone who gives a darn about cleaning up the city (i.e. middle-income families) into practically a persecuted minority... {{RANT SUPPRESSED}}

 

[chilidawgguy]

San Francisco use to be my favorite American city. I lived there briefly in the 60s..traveled there numerous times in the 70s and 80s. This past summer I returned there for the first time in 12 years, and I was shocked. Sadly,the city seems to have lost it's soul. The dot com money from the late 90s seems to have forced out the very people who made San Francisco what it was. It is very expensive now, and the hordes of tourists make it impossible to enjoy the simple pleasure of the cable cars. It almost broke my heart.

 

[jamespowers]

On the other side of the balance sheet....the en masse conversion of "Dogpatch" and environs from industry to unrentable rental units... the destruction of the Emporium-Capwell store...and the White House store...the relentless move to turn anyone who gives a darn about cleaning up the city (i.e. middle-income families) into practically a persecuted minority... {{RANT SUPPRESSED}}

The Barbary Coast is still the Barbary Coast.

Regards,

J

 

[topcat]

Not sure about its present day appearance but for a while I believe
Schenectady NY held the number one "most vintage place in America" ,so to speak,and may still be.

 

[chilidawgguy]

New Awlins

No one has mentioned one of the more obvious places, maybe because it's not really vintage. In the Garden District, Katrina aside, they're still stuck in time. Afternoon teas and card parties still abound. And on Sundays at Galatoire's in the Quarter you still find men in white linen suits and straw fedoras during the season. I bought one a few years ago solely for those occasions when I'm visiting. For a Southerner at least, nothing makes you feel more special than white linen. And if you want to listen to jazz or dance to boogie-woogie music, just step out the door and walk in any direction. Laizzez le bon tiemps rouler again! The sooner, the better.

 

[RondoHatton]

Ventura County, CA

Old downtown Ventura used to have a small town look which would make Rod Serling weep from nostalgia, but in their wisdom the city fathers sold its soul to Multiplex theatres and the like. My residence was in the Noble Hill apts, across the street from the Bard hospital, both very, very old. Fillmore and Santa Paula still have much of that bygone rustic charm. Been meaning to ride the historic railway there.

 

[RedPop4]

I don't know about y'all, but a "vintage city" being "too colonial?" They tore down old things to build what you all call "vintage". An all art-deco/Moderne/Beaux Arts city would be great, but still lacking in soul if the city were older.

Moderation and balance are the key.
I think New Orleans fits the bill well. Galveston, Texas fits the bill as does downtown Birmingham Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee.

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

Whitefield, New Hampshire

It's more of a sleepy little village than a city, but it's maintained it's small, all American hometown atmosphere with very little effort.

I spent a summer there a few years ago while working at a nearby hotel and I was completely charmed by the town. Rocking chairs on porches, sleeping dogs under the steps, a great little town center with a small park and gazebo. It looked exactly the same as in this photo from 1940.

 

[Steve]

Pensacola, FL's downtown district has managed to keep it's Pre-50s look quite well, as evidenced by these photos from last November:

Of course, some if it did jump ahead fifteen years or so:

Heck, you can even go to the Naval Air Station in the fall and see some barnstorming:

 

[jspina]

shuffle off to...

Buffalo. It's everything New York and chicago should still be. The architecture reeks of Wright.

 

[Steven180]

Not sure if it would rate as the 'Most Vintage' city, but Asheville, North Carolina has, at the very least, many different examples of early 20th Century architecture.

Just a few examples that span city-wide...

And how often do you see this anymore...?

Best,
M.

 

[Stanley Doble]

What you need to find is a city that died on the vine at some point. A place that stopped growing and developing, but did not shrink and shrivel up either.

I know such places exist, I grew up in one, the town of Port Hope Ontario. Like many Ontario towns its main shopping street was built in the 1870s and 1880s. Unlike other towns, for some reason it got left behind by progress around 1890. It never died but it never grew much either. When I was a kid in the fifties the population was 5000 or 6000, it was probably 4000 in the 1890s and it is about 8000 now.

The old place went along from year to year never changing much. Then in the 1970s people started to appreciate the Victorian style. Since then the main street has been largely restored. Other towns could not do this because their downtowns had been radically altered in the forties and fifties.

In the last 40 years over 100 movies and tv shows have been filmed in Port Hope because of its nostalgic qualities. Today the downtown is full of antique shops and boutiques catering to summer visitors from Toronto.

This may not be your cup of tea but it illustrates the preservative qualities of becoming a backwater.

If you can find a city that flourished in the twenties, thirties and forties and languished ever since without actually becoming a ghost town, you will find what you are looking for. I suspect there are hundreds of them in the northeast.

 

[randooch]

Nice!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

http://www.mightymac.org/island.htm

Take a peek at Mackinac Island, up North here in Michigan. NO cars allowed, just horse carriages or bicycles. All Vintage homes and hotels, (The Grand Hotel being one of them), and all the city is right out of a movie......vintage.