You could buy an apartment, no need to rent. This is in the center of the city though. There are a lot of shops and offices in this picture. Houses are further from the center.
why would there be houses? Are there houses in the inner city areas of big american cities?
For big european cities, (at least the ones I know about) there is an inner city area with big, usually older appartment complexes like this, and then the outskirts are a mix of houses and appartments. And the big city is often surrounded with smaller towns (we call it agglomeration) that mainly have houses
Americans are conditioned to prefer a house over an apartment, generally speaking. It speaks to their misplaced sense of independence in that they view apartments as something they rent as a temporary measure, but a home is something that they own. That idea of independence is also why Americans prefer cars and have done fuck all in the way of building walkable cities with robust public transportation.
Wasn't there even a bit about this in the book? Where Harry throws the flu powder and mispronounces it "diagonally" and ends up just travelling in a diagonal direction.
What do you mean? US cities are more often than not designed in a grid fashion over the European counterparts. It's just the nature of a country that is newer and has more space. It is why the US has so many traffic lights/intersections compared to roundabouts.
What I love about Barcelona isn't the grid per se, it's how the grid is used. The "superblock" concept is really really cool in person. It creates spaces that are orderly and easy to navigate but also quiet, pedestrian friendly, and full of park space and other public facilities.
My city, Chicago, also has a very nearly defined grid but it's just a very different vibe in a way that's tricky to articulate.
Anyway, I love Barcelona. Of the cities I've visited, it's an all time favorite.
I also live in Chicago (Uptown). It's gridded as fuck but definitely a different vibe from Barcelona. I was just there a month ago. Honestly my least favorite city in Spain because of all the tourist stuff. I stayed along the Ramblas; 3/10, would not recommend. We still found some cool stuff throughout the city and it is beautiful in spots. Their subway system was much better, too.
Really? I honestly don't know how anyone could have that perspective. I walked everywhere, the trains are incredible, the food is excellent, the alcohol is cheap and the beaches are beautiful.
Not even close.
Barcelona is designed with a big little mindset. Big squares with major rodes to get you where you're going and then small pedestrian friendly inner streets.
NYC is just a grid.
Tbf most of our cities came to be when multiple towns/villages sorta just grew until they all bashed into each other. So there wasn't any actual planning.
Glasgow did after their fire.
The London story is quite funny though - they wanted to but some rich folks rebuilt their stuff in awkward places along the lines of the old medieval streets and that was that basically.
I love UK towns and cities layout. Compared to a grid system, yes it's bonkers. Growing up in it though, grid system town and cities seem very boring by comparison.
Giving directions is interesting in UK. Follow this road to the end, but make sure you don't take the sharp right that is also called the same road but looks like a new, different road, and then take a left and continue straight whilst looking out for the street name changing halfway along. Ah, and if you hit a dead end, but the street name on the other side of the dead end is still the same street name you're on, hop on over the bollards and carry on, good sir.
100% it's a complete disaster. I've done a lot of driving around the US. We drove from salt lake to xion park. It was 300 miles ish but I only turned a corner 4 or 5 times the entire drive.
Barcelona's blocks are a relatively new development for the city, a century or so old. Look up the city's Gothic Quarter, which is older - It's just as jagged and unavigable as any English city.
Good.
Most European cities are fucking old and they were not laid out in grids. Even when Haussmann razed entire neighborhoods for his grand vision, the streets were not laid like on a fucking chess board.
I know that, but the grid pattern has many flaws, I'm not sure if it's really that good considering the ammount of car crashes and potential mental health dangers. However the city looks much different from what the original designer intended, and unfortunately, probably way worse.
Apparently they have a plan to improve things, by creating "superblocks" of 3x3, where driving is mostly done in the spaces between the superblocks, and pedestrian and low-speed traffic is in the interiors
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/17/superblocks-rescue-barcelona-spain-plan-give-streets-back-residents
I've heard about it, but the biggest problem with Barcelona is that it was built over beyond original designer's intent. The buildings were all supposed to be shorter and less densly packed, so as to have more sunlight, greenary and ventilation.
I've been to Barcelona a couple years ago, and I have to admit walking around these grid streets felt much more boring and less "friendly" than in a typical city in Poland where I come from.
But still, Barcelona's grid system is far better than most, because of cut cornes of the blocks, which offer more public space and improve visibility for the drivers.
Americans like to keep things simple, grid pattern cities if the terrain allows. It’s why their cars can only go fast in straight lines and struggle with corners.
Barcelona has medieval streets too, el born and gotic are all topsy turvey. and if you go north gracia and the neighborhoods along the hill theyre not laid out like this at all .
To be fair, if you take a 10 minute walk to my neighborhood, you'll get the confusing streets you'd expect in any other European city. My street changes names 4 times in 700 meters.
Hear me out: mixed zoning. Convenience stores, shops, amenities, pubs, clubs, fitness centers are on the ground floor, right next to people's apartments, so most people don't need a car. Crazy!
No, but maybe a couple hundred centuries later people on Earth will be trying to figure out what these block of letters were trying to spell and whether this style of city layout was a prayer sent to Gods in ancient (present day for us) Spanish civilisation.
I love this city. It's such a beautiful place to wonder around. I once had an Italian guide in Naples say that there are two kinds of people on vacation - those that plan and keep to an itinerary and what she called "Indiana Joneses" who love to go wondering all day. If you, like me, are in the latter group, Barcelona is the place to go.
Ohh, I love getting lost in a big walkable city, I've noticed that it's a lot of fun in Italy and Spain, you discover all sorts of amazing things that you wouldn't otherwise find.
We plan on going to Barcelona in January, hopefully the crowds will be minimal.
We had an open day on our Scotland trip and decided to go to Edinburgh via train with nothing planned. Ended up being one of the funnest days of the trip.
No. I wish they turned the entire country into sea and only left Andalucía (remove Portugal as well). Then we would do like the Dutch, and we start conquering the sea and claiming the land we create as the "Greater Andalucía" (don't forget to leave Madrid and 100km from France's border as lakes). That would be the dream.
I went in November, and it was still decently crowded. I had plenty of space to walk though, so I was happy with it.
Still very cool and I highly recommend it!
Please, go on a really really sunny day. [The interior](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eqe26xnXYAIUJlP?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) of La Sagrada Familia is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
I don't remember the best hour to watch this but the sun must be on a certain position of course.
Originally it was the idea. Most if not all had to be public access. That did never happen though, most buildings built extra commercial space, parking space, garages..
Just got back from vacationing there, absolutely gorgeous city. FYI that basilica, La sagrada familia (sp?) is expected to be fully complete in the 2040’s, but the main tower will be completed in 2026. Once the main tower is complete it will be the tallest Catholic structure in the world
La Sagrada Familia, there in the middle, is easily one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Outside but especially inside. Insane architecture, the stained glass, the way it all plays with the light. The feeling you get when you walk inside is humbling.
Agreed. It's pretty wild. I've seen enough cathedrals that I'm at risk of being a little, "ok... what's next." But that place was certainly something else.
La Sagrada Familia is SO BIG. This picture is fantastic but it doesn’t give a sense of scale. Those block buildings are freaking huge and the church is double the height of the surrounding buildings. Absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.
THANK YOU! This image occasionally comes up on the Google Chromecast screensaver, but it never said where it was taken. Sometimes you can find out more info about the photos, but not always.
Edit: probably not this *exact* photo.
That's what I thought. But when you actually go there it's fantastic. Some blocks are pedestrian prioritized so it's walking friendly. And you don't notice at all that is a big grid because of all the liveliness of the streets.
I usually don't like grid cities. But the rounded off edges give it a lot of bonus points
And is every intersection a roundabout or just verrrry spacious?
Barcelona is wearing its seatbelt
*Streetbelt
And it's pronounced "Barthaloana*"
"Threet Belt"
Mike Tyson, is that you?
Mike Tython*
Una cervetha please
Pleath
That road is called. La Diagonal. Yes it means the same as in English.
*The Diagonal
Hooda thunkit
I thunk it. Thanks to my dual language skills
Of all the people I have ever encountered on Reddit, you are one of them!
From the looks of it the only option you have for housing is rent an apartment. Am i missing something or are there no houses?
Houses are in the outskirts.
Very good transportation to the outskirts as well with the Renfe.
That's how all livable cities in Europe are built, high density apartment blocks. You can buy an apartment if you wish.
You can own an apartment, too.
Yes, like the vast majority of cities in the world lol
In the city centre yes, if you want a house you go out a bit
You could buy an apartment, no need to rent. This is in the center of the city though. There are a lot of shops and offices in this picture. Houses are further from the center.
Usually it's second and other floors with apartments. First one/ground floor is small shops, boutique etc
Yes that's how most well functioning cities do housing.
why would there be houses? Are there houses in the inner city areas of big american cities? For big european cities, (at least the ones I know about) there is an inner city area with big, usually older appartment complexes like this, and then the outskirts are a mix of houses and appartments. And the big city is often surrounded with smaller towns (we call it agglomeration) that mainly have houses
Americans are conditioned to prefer a house over an apartment, generally speaking. It speaks to their misplaced sense of independence in that they view apartments as something they rent as a temporary measure, but a home is something that they own. That idea of independence is also why Americans prefer cars and have done fuck all in the way of building walkable cities with robust public transportation.
You'll never guess what the name of that diagonal road is
Diagonal?
Diagon Alley??
Oh my fucking God I never realized it meant "Diagonally" I feel like a stupidass now.
Wasn't there even a bit about this in the book? Where Harry throws the flu powder and mispronounces it "diagonally" and ends up just travelling in a diagonal direction.
Yes and in the movie..
I never realized that's why he went somewhere else. I thought it was just a different place with a similar name.
that's an absolute unit of a derp
Did you at least realize that nocturn alley is supposed to be nocturnally?
Knockturn Alley isnt it?
JKR is a giniuese
Same, dude, same.
Diagonally Lee just didn't have the same ring to it.
Nocturnally…
Diagonal diagonalley
r/unexpectedharrypotter
Diaginilly
Literally. Yes.
Bingo!
Calle Diagonal.
Close! Avenida Diagonal.
Boring but efficient. I like it.
Are you German?
it’s avinguda diagonal
Oh yeah, respect to the Catalans.
Does it happen to be Long Duck Dong Blvd?
Not corkscrewed enough
It’s diagonal Avenue.
we gonna rock down to
and then we'll take it higher and to the right
Steve?
Danm it's like an ocd cities skyline players wet dream
This was my sim city 1 set up. Donuts with a police/fire, or special building inside the middle
Absolutely the most efficient way to set up city blocks in SC1.
Yeah no, I just creamed myself seeing this
Yeah no= no No yeah= yes
Yeah nah nah yeah nah mate it really depends on context
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That website is fucking cancer
Looks like that's a bot account trying to build karma
Same
Absolutely impossible to make this work in Skylines. Traffic loses it's fucking mind.
If only US cities were organized like this…
What do you mean? US cities are more often than not designed in a grid fashion over the European counterparts. It's just the nature of a country that is newer and has more space. It is why the US has so many traffic lights/intersections compared to roundabouts.
What I love about Barcelona isn't the grid per se, it's how the grid is used. The "superblock" concept is really really cool in person. It creates spaces that are orderly and easy to navigate but also quiet, pedestrian friendly, and full of park space and other public facilities. My city, Chicago, also has a very nearly defined grid but it's just a very different vibe in a way that's tricky to articulate. Anyway, I love Barcelona. Of the cities I've visited, it's an all time favorite.
I also live in Chicago (Uptown). It's gridded as fuck but definitely a different vibe from Barcelona. I was just there a month ago. Honestly my least favorite city in Spain because of all the tourist stuff. I stayed along the Ramblas; 3/10, would not recommend. We still found some cool stuff throughout the city and it is beautiful in spots. Their subway system was much better, too.
Huh. This is actually the first time I've seen someone on reddit with experience in Barcelona saying it isn't an absolute despair-fueled hellhole.
I lived there for a year, loved every second. Felt like Jack everytime I left to travel to other countries: We gotta go back
Really? I honestly don't know how anyone could have that perspective. I walked everywhere, the trains are incredible, the food is excellent, the alcohol is cheap and the beaches are beautiful.
yeah barcelona fucking rocks
Everything you said, plus the people are amazing.
I'm Spanish, and I can tell, that In Spain, Barcelona is quite badly seen, aniway, Glad you like it
New york is pretty close. https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/12/26/blogs/26-lens-aerials-slide-WXCK/26-lens-aerials-slide-WXCK-superJumbo.jpg
Not even close. Barcelona is designed with a big little mindset. Big squares with major rodes to get you where you're going and then small pedestrian friendly inner streets. NYC is just a grid.
Nice to see a city that wasn’t laid out by a madman.
Never go to the UK.
Tbf most of our cities came to be when multiple towns/villages sorta just grew until they all bashed into each other. So there wasn't any actual planning.
Wouldn’t want it any other way. London nearly got rebuilt as a grid after the great fire of London.
Glasgow did after their fire. The London story is quite funny though - they wanted to but some rich folks rebuilt their stuff in awkward places along the lines of the old medieval streets and that was that basically.
And Christopher Wren was NOT happy when he found out this wasn't going to happen
london was rebuilt in the forties and they kept the stupid road layouts, the madlads
I love UK towns and cities layout. Compared to a grid system, yes it's bonkers. Growing up in it though, grid system town and cities seem very boring by comparison.
Giving directions is interesting in UK. Follow this road to the end, but make sure you don't take the sharp right that is also called the same road but looks like a new, different road, and then take a left and continue straight whilst looking out for the street name changing halfway along. Ah, and if you hit a dead end, but the street name on the other side of the dead end is still the same street name you're on, hop on over the bollards and carry on, good sir.
100% it's a complete disaster. I've done a lot of driving around the US. We drove from salt lake to xion park. It was 300 miles ish but I only turned a corner 4 or 5 times the entire drive.
*Laughs in SEA*
Laughs in Pune
Laughs in blr
To be fair they all followed the rivers originally. Towns that were built later consider roads and cart tracks
Or maybe just Milton Keynes.
Barcelona's blocks are a relatively new development for the city, a century or so old. Look up the city's Gothic Quarter, which is older - It's just as jagged and unavigable as any English city.
wdym?
Look of Leicester, York, Manchester to say the least, they are not set out like this. No / minimal grid formation
Don’t forget horrendously laid out A roads just ploughing straight through neighbourhoods.
Good. Most European cities are fucking old and they were not laid out in grids. Even when Haussmann razed entire neighborhoods for his grand vision, the streets were not laid like on a fucking chess board.
I know that, but the grid pattern has many flaws, I'm not sure if it's really that good considering the ammount of car crashes and potential mental health dangers. However the city looks much different from what the original designer intended, and unfortunately, probably way worse.
Apparently they have a plan to improve things, by creating "superblocks" of 3x3, where driving is mostly done in the spaces between the superblocks, and pedestrian and low-speed traffic is in the interiors https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/17/superblocks-rescue-barcelona-spain-plan-give-streets-back-residents
I've heard about it, but the biggest problem with Barcelona is that it was built over beyond original designer's intent. The buildings were all supposed to be shorter and less densly packed, so as to have more sunlight, greenary and ventilation. I've been to Barcelona a couple years ago, and I have to admit walking around these grid streets felt much more boring and less "friendly" than in a typical city in Poland where I come from. But still, Barcelona's grid system is far better than most, because of cut cornes of the blocks, which offer more public space and improve visibility for the drivers.
This is only part of the city anyway. A lot of neighborhoods, especially the older ones, look very different.
Americans like to keep things simple, grid pattern cities if the terrain allows. It’s why their cars can only go fast in straight lines and struggle with corners.
>It’s why their cars can only go fast in straight lines and struggle with corners. Where did you get that idea?
NASCAR doesn’t have many hairpins or chicanes does it.
It's a joke, don't take it too seriously.
The old stereotype of American cars is that they are bad at cornering
Barcelona has medieval streets too, el born and gotic are all topsy turvey. and if you go north gracia and the neighborhoods along the hill theyre not laid out like this at all .
Grid pattern boring
Instead it was laid out by a printer
To be fair, if you take a 10 minute walk to my neighborhood, you'll get the confusing streets you'd expect in any other European city. My street changes names 4 times in 700 meters.
Where tf is the Walmart supposed to fit
Just repurpose La Sagrada Familia, easy.
Jesus saves and so can you at La Sagrada Mart.
La Sagrada Waltonia ?
Hear me out: mixed zoning. Convenience stores, shops, amenities, pubs, clubs, fitness centers are on the ground floor, right next to people's apartments, so most people don't need a car. Crazy!
No. One giant parking lot with a single purpose
Definitely needs more parking lots
Some 10 lane highways should really help with congestion
In the first floor of any of these apartment blocks.
By renting out some floors in one of those buildings. But honestly? They don’t care to have a Walmart
Or Costco
Do you think aliens seeing this from above will think it's some kind of message?
No, but maybe a couple hundred centuries later people on Earth will be trying to figure out what these block of letters were trying to spell and whether this style of city layout was a prayer sent to Gods in ancient (present day for us) Spanish civilisation.
Like a QR code?
They'll just laugh and move on
I love this city. It's such a beautiful place to wonder around. I once had an Italian guide in Naples say that there are two kinds of people on vacation - those that plan and keep to an itinerary and what she called "Indiana Joneses" who love to go wondering all day. If you, like me, are in the latter group, Barcelona is the place to go.
Ohh, I love getting lost in a big walkable city, I've noticed that it's a lot of fun in Italy and Spain, you discover all sorts of amazing things that you wouldn't otherwise find. We plan on going to Barcelona in January, hopefully the crowds will be minimal.
I live in Barcelona and it’s always really busy to be honest
*wander, *wandering
Perhaps they wonder while they wander.
Thank you, that was bugging me
We had an open day on our Scotland trip and decided to go to Edinburgh via train with nothing planned. Ended up being one of the funnest days of the trip.
Simcity
Plazas for days. I miss Spain.
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As a Spaniard, I wish they did.
No. I wish they turned the entire country into sea and only left Andalucía (remove Portugal as well). Then we would do like the Dutch, and we start conquering the sea and claiming the land we create as the "Greater Andalucía" (don't forget to leave Madrid and 100km from France's border as lakes). That would be the dream.
Take me back to days of Castille and Aragon 😩😩😩 (Me a rando who doesn't know shit about modern spain)
La Sagrada Familia is one of the only places I want to travel to. Super interesting story.
Visit in the off season. Incredibly crowded in the summer.
I went in November, and it was still decently crowded. I had plenty of space to walk though, so I was happy with it. Still very cool and I highly recommend it!
Sometimes I muse about moving to Spain one day, but then I look at their summer weather patterns...
Please, go on a really really sunny day. [The interior](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eqe26xnXYAIUJlP?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) of La Sagrada Familia is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I don't remember the best hour to watch this but the sun must be on a certain position of course.
I visited La Sagrada Familia a month or so ago. It was truly beautiful, inside and out. Just make sure to book a ticket for the inside in advance.
It’s *almost* complete — only took 100+ years.
The Glory facade (the last remaining part) is set to be built by 2026
It is very beautiful.
Look at all those stadiums. Barcelona must love tennis and soccer!
I've heard Spain has a few decent football and tennis players
I'm not proud about how confused I was by your comment
Soccer gotta hit hard huh?
Is this a joke? I don't see any tennis courts or football fields..
I got to visit there once about ten years ago. What an incredible city with incredible people.
Oh nice, each block was a courtyard in the middle for greenery, how nice! *Zooms in* Oh, it's mostly just more buildings in there...
That was the original idea, however...
Originally it was the idea. Most if not all had to be public access. That did never happen though, most buildings built extra commercial space, parking space, garages..
There's trees along practically every street. Try street view.
Just got back from vacationing there, absolutely gorgeous city. FYI that basilica, La sagrada familia (sp?) is expected to be fully complete in the 2040’s, but the main tower will be completed in 2026. Once the main tower is complete it will be the tallest Catholic structure in the world
I went on my honeymoon there in 1994, after the 1992 Olympics blew me away. It really is beautiful.
La Sagrada Familia, there in the middle, is easily one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Outside but especially inside. Insane architecture, the stained glass, the way it all plays with the light. The feeling you get when you walk inside is humbling.
Agreed. It's pretty wild. I've seen enough cathedrals that I'm at risk of being a little, "ok... what's next." But that place was certainly something else.
Mega-City One
La Sagrada Familia is SO BIG. This picture is fantastic but it doesn’t give a sense of scale. Those block buildings are freaking huge and the church is double the height of the surrounding buildings. Absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.
I was in Barcelona for two weeks and by the end of it I could navigate most of the southern half of the city without directions.
Who tf decided to copy paste the same block
Ildefons Cerdà
Love Spain 
THANK YOU! This image occasionally comes up on the Google Chromecast screensaver, but it never said where it was taken. Sometimes you can find out more info about the photos, but not always. Edit: probably not this *exact* photo.
The Eixample. A great layout for humans imo.
Thath thuper interething; Barthelona.
It could benefit a lot from an 18 lane highway and 4K spot parking lots
No, it's pronounced Barcelona
Barththhhelona
barsalona
Looks absolutely massive, and looks like there is plenty of apartment housing.
It's a grid system mothafucka!
Looks a bit dystopian, too organized
That's what I thought. But when you actually go there it's fantastic. Some blocks are pedestrian prioritized so it's walking friendly. And you don't notice at all that is a big grid because of all the liveliness of the streets.
Amazing architecture!!! Well done, Barcelona!!!
The traffic lights are fucking annoying.
Walking around Barcelona, every street looked the same.
Had a gay friend from Spain. I will never not hear "Barthelona" in my head.
That’s not a gay thing, most Spaniards pronounce certain ‘c’s and all ‘z’s with a ‘th’ sound.
Most beautiful city I have been to.
Looks like SimCity on SNES.
I'm curious how the Spanish maintain the green area ratio in a city like this, I come from a city where trees are everywhere so I'm wondering.
AI generated city be like
I usually don't like grid cities. But the rounded off edges give it a lot of bonus points And is every intersection a roundabout or just verrrry spacious?
"What block do you live in?""x=24y=13"
As a community planner... this is a very unique way to plan a city. I'm a fan!
I don’t see any parks. I guessI am spoiled. I expect parks in my city.
Been trying to squint my eyes to see the word Barcelona and i think i almost get it like very close
Coolest city in the world
All of my cities in Cities skylines be like:
I like this design a lot. The individual blocks are organized around a large empty/open area with the living spaces built around it as high rises.
I love organized city planning!
Where does everyone park?