The similarities between Sorrento, Italy (off the Amalfi Coast) and Tomball, Texas are striking. No wonder Jimmy Butler feels so much pride for Tomball.
Boston just because of how old it is and the architecture. It's also very clean with good pedestrian and bike infrastructure, which is common in European cities, more so than other major US cities. As for DC, it's really only due to the city layout. The grid was designed by a Frenchmen, and the height restrictions make the city resemble many European cities. No, really only the city proper itself. And as I said above, it's primarily the layout that reminds me of a European city.
If we're including Canada, then it has to be Montreal. Vancouver used to have some of that but the influx of Chinese investors is completely altering the dynamics of the city. No one can even afford to live there anymore. Quebec goes out of its way to preserve its heritage so it will naturally be the closest thing to Europe in North America. Their laws are structured to purposely ensure that.
Solvang FTW. I went there a few months ago. Really pretty little town. Definitely the most Euro town I've been to in the US. Too bad there are so many damn tourists.
DC, SF, NYC, BOS. And of course little oddities like Solvang which I'm sure there are plenty of around the country. DC was literally designed by a Frenchman, and its keeping with the low-rise, neoclassical architecture and height restrictions, coupled with its focus on pedestrianism and public transport, certainly give it a European feel. San Francisco is small and dense, also with a heavy focus on public transport and pedestrianism, and also features a rustic trolley system which traverses its hilly portions. It also features some underrated pieces of City Beautiful architecture, which were intentionally designed to reflect a European aesthetic. New York City, as well, was originally designed and laid out to mirror its European peers and was one of the biggest and earliest cities invested in in the country's history. It stands to reason that it would be the most reflective of the "European" model. So alike, in fact, that much like the European powerhouses of London, Paris, Berlin, etc., it suffered from similarly rampant slum-living throughout the 19th century and early 20th. Boston was designed early enough and snake-like enough that much of it (not all) avoided the modern superblock urban design of the Western city, which allowed it to focus on pedestrianism and public transport (noticing a pattern?), and also gave it a lot of winding and criss-crossing streets almost reminiscent of medieval layouts. Boston's North End is a great example of all of these features, and incidentally is one of the oldest and most Euro-looking portions of the city. The fact that you occasionally encounter cobblestone streets tops it off.
Yep, but there were so many other tourists we left without getting out of the car. We were there between Christmas and the New year. Instead, we went to Firestone Walker Barrelworks in Buellton a few miles down the road. We won. They can have their windmills and cool buildings. I'll be satisfied with Buellton's barrel aged beers. Lucky for me, I get to actually go to Denmark in May and see more windmills and cool buildings.
