# The suburbs of Toulouse - European or American?



## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Toulouse, in southwest France, is the European capital of the aerospace industry, with notably the headquarters of Airbus, but also many other key actors of the European aerospace industry such as Thales Alenia Space, Galileo, CNES's Toulouse Space Centre, and many more. Once one of the major cities in Europe (it was the fourth largest European city at the fall of the Roman Empire, and later the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse which extended from the Loire Valley in the north to the Strait of Gilbratar in the south), Toulouse fell into decline after the Renaissance and completely missed the Industrial Revolution, thus falling down the ranks of European cities. However, the fortunes of the city have been revived since the relocation of key aerospace industries there in the 20th century.

Due to its flourishing high-tech industrial base, as well as its southern climate and vibrant character, Toulouse is attracting lots of new residents (including many foreign engineers from northern European countries) and is thus one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. Between the 1999 and 2006 censuses, the metropolitan area of Toulouse registered a population growth of nearly 2% a year, which is enormous for a European city. The metropolitan area of Toulouse (as defined in 1999) saw its population grow from 841,152 in 1990 to 1,102,882 in 2006. Population growth has remained high since 2006, and the city has not been affected by the world crisis so far (the aerospace industry usually lags 2-3 years behind the rest of the economy, and in previous downturns of the aerospace industry Toulouse nonetheless continued to grow steadily). The metro area is thus on its way to reach 1.5 million by 2025, perhaps even 2 million by mid-century, which would have Toulouse rank once again among the major cities in Europe.

As a consequence of this huge population growth, many suburbs have appeared around Toulouse in the past 40 years. Toulouse is one of the most "suburbanized" cities in Europe, so to speak. People there like to have their detached houses with garden and swimming pool, so the urbanization is now spreading more than 30 km from the center of Toulouse in all directions. It's quite different from the denser urbanization in northern Europe. Toulouse is also one of the European metropolitan areas with the most use of private cars, and the least use of public transportation (despite the opening of two subway lines in the past 15 years).

I've always found Toulouse fascinating because it's so different from the rest of France and indeed from the rest of Europe. I often find life there more American than European in many respects, but you be the judge. I took some aerial pictures of the suburbs of Toulouse with Bing Aerial Images. The pictures were taken all over the suburbs, north, south, east, west, with different levels of zooms, trying to show the varied aspects of the suburbs. Most of the areas shown in the pics are less than 20 years old, so what you'll see here are essentially the suburbs that have appeared since 1990.

So, European or American? Feel free to comment.










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3. This huge shopping mall, where I shopped once, is actually quite pleasant at ground level.









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5. The Roman atrium still lives on in the suburban villas of Toulouse (at one time the fourth-largest city in the Western Roman Empire).









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7. And the building boom continues... Got to accomodate 20,000 new people every year in the metro area.









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10. This one is actually officially the largest hypermarket in France, perhaps also in Europe, I don't know. I went there once, it's BIG.









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17. Airbus-land.









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19. A380, baby! :rock:









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## pixel2008 (Sep 18, 2008)

>>The suburbs of Toulouse - European or American? <<

Among other things in the pictures I can see huge parking lots, a lot of concrete, nice houses w/swimming pools. These 3 characteristics make the suburbs of Toulouse resemble American counterparts (at least stereotypically ).


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

pixel2008 said:


> a lot of concrete, nice houses


Actually the houses are made of hollow insulating bricks (not concrete) covered with plaster.

Insulating bricks:


















Covered with plaster:


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## Zaqattaq (Nov 17, 2004)

Amazing, very surprising


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## I-275westcoastfl (Feb 15, 2005)

Wow that is definitely different from the rest of Europe, cool stuff!


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## Vapour (Jul 31, 2002)

brisavoine said:


> 10. This one is actually officially the largest hypermarket in France, perhaps also in Europe, I don't know. I went there once, it's BIG.


How big is it in m2?


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Toulouse its a great city, really very nice; in the question: mostly European


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## pixel2008 (Sep 18, 2008)

brisavoine said:


> Actually the houses are made of hollow insulating bricks (not concrete) covered with plaster.


I didn't say the houses were made of concrete. I was thinking of concrete covering the ground (parking lots, sidewalks, streets...) as oppose to grass, trees, etc.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Vapour said:


> How big is it in m2?


25,000 m² (270,000 sq. ft).


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## urba31 (Jan 21, 2007)

Thanks Brisavoine for theses questions : European or American.

Urban explosion was born in 60's / 70's around Toulouse. The time we start to use cars for everything (work, shop, hobbies). 28km Underground (subway) is just built in the city-center (so expensive to go into far suburbs with justs houses). Just the historical city-center is "european", you can find here :http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=841944
All suburbs are with "american urbanization"!
Toulouse's Urban area : 841 000 in 1990, 965 000 inhabitants en 1999, 1 103 000 in 2006, est. 1 165 000 in 2009.
Toulouse city center : 390 000 in 1999, 438 000 in 2006, est. 460 000 today.
So suburbs, 482 000 in 1990, 575 000 in 1999, 665 000 in 2006 and est. 705 000 today.

Other examples of suburbs around Toulouse :
Balma









Blagnac









Colomiers









Labège Innopole









Seilh









St Orens 









L'Union


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

What is even more interesting is how it differes from the inner city.
Inner Toulouse has some of densest district of France outside Paris. 
It is very southwestern european city center.

Anyway this type of sprawl is not only a Toulouse problem, infact France is one of sprawlest and most car dependant country in Europe. 
This is not for any reason that the first big hypermarket in Europe were created in France.
It is really weird to see the real difference with someone living in Paris (inner city and inner suburbs) or in the inner city of french cities well served by transportation and the rest of the population.

I know it I lived most of my life outside Paris in a little city of Central France, without cars you can almost do nothing (OK I could buy baguette, go the Arab grocer as we call it, or in a Pahrmacy without walking so much). 
If you want to do some shopping you take your car to go in the city center (there is always big park lot, often underground) and you go in suburban retail area.

UK or Germany can bee seen as suburban but suburbs in these countries grew with the train. 
In France and the United States, the suburbs grew with the car. Outside Paris you don't have any real suburban train system.


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## urba31 (Jan 21, 2007)

Yes but Toulouse (and Montpellier) are the alone french cities wich suburbs born with cars' usings in 60's and 70's.
For others cities, first suburbs around city-center were born before 60's and 70's. 
The same "american" urbanisation was for far suburbs for these cities, but for first and far suburbs for Toulouse.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Minato ku said:


> Anyway this type of sprawl is not only a Toulouse problem, infact France is one of sprawlest and most car dependant country in Europe.


Yes, but Toulouse is the metropolitan area where people use the most their cars in France.

Here is the percentage of people in each metropolitan area who use only their car to go to work (note that people who combine their car and public transportation are not included). The figures come from the 1999 census:
- Paris metropolitan area: 43.1% of people use only their car to go to work
- Strasbourg metropolitan area: 65.4%
- Lyon metropolitan area: 66.7%
- Nice metropolitan area: 66.8%
- Marseille metropolitan area: 68.1%
- Lille metropolitan area: 70.1%
- Nantes metropolitan area: 71.8%
- Montpellier metropolitan area: 73.5%
- Bordeaux metropolitan area: 74.1%
- Toulouse metropolitan area: 74.7%


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## sky-eye (Jan 2, 2003)

If you didn't say it was Toulouse and if i didn't saw the Carrefour i thought is was a suburb in the USA.


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

brisavoine said:


> Yes, but Toulouse is the metropolitan area where people use the most their cars in France.


I never said he oposite but these data show what I mean, only Paris is under 50% while all the other big metropolitan area are over 65%. 
There is a higher gap between Paris and Strasbourg than between Strasbourg and Toulouse.

Anyway I see that in some cities, the use of the car is suprisely high.
Lille is one of few cities where many suburbs grew before the WWII as it was a very industrial region. It is also the densest metropolitan area in France .
There is many track in the whole area but it show that few are really used as suburban train.
I am also suprised by Nantes, this city is know to be well served by light rail (even in 1999). 

On the oposite I thought that Nice was more car dependent, in 1999 it was the only a city around the million with Bordeaux without a urban rail system.
Anyway as I know there is quite many regional train station with frequent service.

These data are from 1999 the use of car in many urban area declined since, due at the increase and improving of public transportation system (I could also add the increase of the gas price  ).


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## urba31 (Jan 21, 2007)

sky-eye said:


> If you didn't say it was Toulouse and if i didn't saw the Carrefour i thought is was a suburb in the USA.


I think the same!
I live in a suburb of Toulouse, and by the ground, the impression is not the same.
With aerian view you can feel and think "it seems to be an american suburb" not an european suburb.

Now there is a local political reflexion to think a different urban develpment with more density and with high construction in Toulouse inner and in first suburbs to!


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Minato ku said:


> Anyway I see that in some cities, the use of the car is suprisely high.
> Lille is one of few cities where many suburbs grew before the WWII as it was a very industrial region. It is also the densest metropolitan area in France .
> There is many track in the whole area but it show that few are really used as suburban train.
> I am also suprised by Nantes, this city is know to be well served by light rail (even in 1999).
> ...


Interpretation of data can be tricky though. For example in Nice fewer people user only their car to go to work, but this not really because they use more public transportation than in Toulouse, this is essentially because more people go to work by walking only (9.6% of people in the Nice metropolitan area go to work by walking only vs. 5.2% in the Toulouse metropolitan area). Now don't ask me why people in Nice walk so much, I have no clue!


Minato ku said:


> These data are from 1999 the use of car in many urban area declined since, due at the increase and improving of public transportation system (I could also add the increase of the gas price  ).


I don't think it declined in Toulouse though. Suburbanization around Toulouse has increased a lot since 1999, so car use should have increased too despite the opening of the 2nd subway line.


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## xylene (Jan 14, 2007)

From these pics it's as though France is just endless expanse of suburbia, shopping centers, and tract houses. I must be in a place with much more character and charm, such as Houston or Las Vegas.


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## Ribarca (Jan 28, 2005)

It does seem rather "copy paste". No need for an architect as all houses are the same.


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## MexiQuebecois (Sep 22, 2008)

One thing that I found very interesting is that many houses are not directly facing the street, hence in like a diagonal position, to me it looks pretty cool giving the city it's own "unique" kinda look


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## cristof (Feb 8, 2006)

amazing.... yeah it looks so Vegas Style...
i think it's unique in Europe. i've heard the population of Toulouse grows very quick ... i can imagine why now  i'd love to live there my frenchy dream


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

As I said earlier, what is interresting is how it contrasts with the inner city.

Typicallly southwestern european look, Toulouse is called la ville rose (pink city)









The suburbs









The last metro station of the line A, next to a hypermarket.


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## xiote (Apr 25, 2009)

EDIT:


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## cristof (Feb 8, 2006)

it is like the east Parisian though


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Minato ku said:


> These data are from 1999 the use of car in many urban area declined since, due at the increase and improving of public transportation system (I could also add the increase of the gas price  ).


According to the latest data published by the French statistical office, at the 2006 census the number of people whose main mean of transportation to work was their car (note that this is not exactly comparable with the 1999 census, where the figures I gave refered to the people who used only their car to go to work) was:
- Paris metropolitan area: 44.5%
- Lyon metropolitan area: 67.2%
- Strasbourg metropolitan area: 67.3%
- Nice metropolitan area: 68.1%
- Marseille metropolitan area: 70.1%
- Lille metropolitan area: 71.6%
- Montpellier metropolitan area: 73.5%
- Nantes metropolitan area: 73.6%
- Bordeaux metropolitan area: 75.6%
- Toulouse metropolitan area: 76.1%


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## urba31 (Jan 21, 2007)

sorry error


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## NorthWesternGuy (Aug 25, 2005)

Toulouse looks nice. I thought the pictures were of a city located in Southern California:lol:


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Looks typical Mediterranean IMO. Similar suburbs are found all over Spain.


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## Mekky II (Oct 29, 2003)

On ground level, it looks indeed very different :




























some look definitely neo-classical, what americans are crazy to have around las vegas 



















Commonly seen houses










But overall, i would say toulouse suburbs are mix of different architecture, basque, landaise, creutoise, it's not an homogeneous sprawl... and since a lot of parisians are coming, you can even see ile de france style villas... :nuts:


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## SnowMan (Dec 2, 2003)

Very American


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Some more views of the Toulouse suburbs and exurbs. Or more precisely, the fringes where the outer suburbs mix with the scenic countryside around Toulouse.

Toulouse sits in a very empty corner of Europe, density 200 km around Toulouse is very low for Western Europe, almost comparable to the population density in the US Midwest, so there is no large city or urban area stopping the spread of the metropolitan area. In northern Europe, people couldn't move too far from the center of their cities in search of cheap housing, because they would soon run into the next city or urban area, where housing prices would be high again, whereas in Toulouse people can go as far from the city center as they want, the further they go the cheaper housing gets. The next big city is 250 km away, so there is room. This explains why several rings of suburbs have developped over time, with the 3rd ring now 30 km (20 miles) from the city center, and many people moving still further into the very scenic countryside surrounding Toulouse on all sides, a countryside dotted with Romanesque churches, vineyards, forests, and beautiful pre-19th century farms. More and more people choose to live there despite the long commutes, especially the newcomers from crowded northern Europe who come to work for Airbus and the other high-tech industries. They very much enjoy the luxury of living amidst vast empty spaces.

Personally, the world of the exurbs in the countryside 30 km+ from the center of Toulouse is the one I like the most. The quality of life there is very high. A new term was coined in French to describe this new world beyond the outer suburbs: "rurbanisation". At the moment it's the "rurban" areas that are growing the most in France, not just in Toulouse.

Wintertime over the countryside surrounding Toulouse. The ski slopes of the Pyrenees (the mountain range that you can see in this pic) are only one and a half hour by car from Toulouse:









This picture was taken only half an hour by car from the center of Toulouse:









This one 40 minutes from the center of Toulouse:









This picture was taken on the edge of the 3rd ring of suburbs to the north of the city (the guy carefully shot his picture so the suburbs are not visible, but they are there just behind the photographer). Toulouse authorities plan to build the new Toulouse airport there, but local people are admantly opposed:









On that picture you can see the 2nd ring of suburbs up the hills on the horizon. Those hills are 20 minutes by car from the center of Toulouse (without traffic jam of course):









Young families typically move to these old villages in the 3rd ring of sububs, about 30 km from downtown Toulouse, where a lot of land is being opened for development (the 21st century suburbs are built litterally next to the Medieval village nuclei):









A typical pre-18th century farm in the 3rd ring of suburbs (about 30 minutes from the center of Toulouse by car). Maybe it's a German or Northern French engineer working at Airbus who lives there, who knows.









Another typical pre-18th century farm around Toulouse. These are dearly sough after by upper-middle class people (they renovate them, usually add a swimming pool and sometimes a tennis court, not to forget the BBQ area):









Typical Medieval church in the 3rd ring of suburbs:









Again the rolling countryside around Toulouse. This is only a 20 minutes drive from the main Airbus site, and about 35 minutes from the center Toulouse:









Another Medieval church in the 3rd ring of suburbs:









An ancient ruin in the countryside around Toulouse (Toulouse is sometimes reminiscent of Spain, and sometimes of Italy; definitely NOT Parisian):









One of the many rural estates dotting the countryside around Toulouse, but that's for the rich people. This one is only an incredible 15 minutes drive from the main Airbus site:









This picture is interesting because you can see a bit of the suburbanization that is little by little engulfing the vast countryside beyond the 2nd ring of suburbs. A lot of people prefer to live in this scenic semi-rural environment on the edges of the city (the "rurban" area) rather than in crammed apartments in the inner city.


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Thanks for the interesting photos and the discussion point.

When I first looked at your photos I almost agreed with you about the city being "American". Those suburbs did, at least from the air, looks similar to suburbs from most of the developed "new world" nations.

However, when I crossed to the link also posted of central Toulouse, it looks like a French/European city.

So, the central part of the city is European, and _some_ of the suburbs are similar to the developed "new world" (I don't really want to just say American, as it is also similar to Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc)

What percentage of the suburbs are like this? Can I expect, once I leave the central core, to be in nappy land surrounded by McMansions?

Actually, I must say that I remember a lot more single, fully detatched houses in France than other countries I've been to in Europe. I was in St. Malo last year and most of the homes outside the core seemed to be detached houses. Very different to Germany say, where what often looks like a detached house is actually apartments still.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Justme said:


> What percentage of the suburbs are like this? Can I expect, once I leave the central core, to be in nappy land surrounded by McMansions?


This is how it works: the central area of Toulouse, downtown Toulouse, is a beautifully preserved Medieval city center, with a few large and imposing 18th and 19th century avenues cutting across the Medieval urban fabric. In downtown Toulouse I really have a feel of being in a large city (the Medieval area was the fourth largest in Western Europe at the fall of the Roman Empire). This most central area of Toulouse was beautifully restored in the past 30 years. It's a pure delight.

As you leave this most central area, you enter the 19th and early 20th century faubourgs (outskirts of the inner city). These faubourgs are usually poorly built (Toulouse was in decline in the 19th and early 20th century), the buildings are not as tall as in the central area, they are often shabby (at least that's how they look to me), and the further you go, the more you see old shabby little insignificant pre-WW2 houses. If it was me, I would destroy many of these little buildings and houses in the faubourgs and replace them with high quality high rises (i.e. extend the most central area of Toulouse).

Then beyond those faubourgs you have some 1945-1960 neiborhoods of mostly single (and shabby) houses, typically in 1950s style, with a few 1960s high-rise apartment buildings built hapazardly among them. That part of Toulouse is the one I like the least. Post-WW2 low quality urbanism at its worst.

Beyond those areas you enter the 1st ring of the suburbs (the 1st ring is partly inside the municipality of Toulouse, because the municipality of Toulouse is very large, unlike most other French cities, and party in surrounding suburban municipalities). This 1st ring corresponds to the suburbs which developped in the 1960s and 1970s. They are mostly made up of single detached houses sitting on larger lots than the 1945-1960 areas. They are not as high quality as the suburbs built later, but they are already better than the areas we've crossed between the most central area of Toulouse and the 1st ring of suburbs.

Beyond the 1st ring of suburbs, lies, well, the 2nd ring of suburbs (a few of them inside the municipality of Toulouse, most of them in surrounding suburban municipalities). They were developped in the 1980s and early 1990s. Here the quality of architecture and urbanism gets better (most of the aerial views that I have posted were in the 2nd ring). The materials used to build the houses are much nicer than those used between 1930-1980. The houses also try to respect the Toulouse southern style (whereas between 1930-1980 they built some really out-of-style houses).

Beyond it lies the 3rd ring of suburbs, developped since the mid-1990s more or less. They are the most pleasant suburbs in my opinion. Mostly detached single houses with gardens, just like the 1st and 2nd ring, but larger lots and newer houses, with good materials.

Then beyond the 3rd ring you have the rurban area which I have presented in post #30. Rurbanization is taking place at a fast pace, so these rurban areas might soon turn into a 4th ring of suburbs.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

From those last photos, from the airport, the churches and all those houses, it is (if not 100%) at least 80-90% European


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Thanks brisavoine for that in depth description. Would it be possible for you to tag some google streetview links under each period you describe to give a good example of what type of buildings would be typical.

Hope I'm not asking too much here, but I do find this very interesting. I also have this incredible urge to visit Toulouse right now.


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## JoseRodolfo (Jul 9, 2003)

Very interesting thread.


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

brisavoine said:


> This one is actually officially the largest hypermarket in France, perhaps also in Europe, I don't know. I went there once, it's BIG.


Wow, I'm very surprised. It looks so quintessentially Canadian. I never would have pegged this for anywhere in Europe.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

To illustrate what I explained, here you can see some pictures of each layer of the metropolitan area.

The three first pictures show the most central area. Here a Medieval street. This one was actually the main street (cardo maximus) at the center of the Roman city of Tolosa 18 centuries ago. The Google car could access that street only at the very end of the day, when stores are closed. During the day this street is absolutely packed with people.









Some 19th century avenues cutting across the Medieval fabric, with buildings trying to copy Haussmannian Paris. Thanks God, due to the fact that Toulouse was in decline in the 19th century, there wasn't as much Haussmannization in Toulouse as in the other French cities, so most of the Medieval fabric is still intact today.









Another Medieval street in a quieter part of the ancient heart of the city. It is in this area that the members of the Languedoc Parliament lived before the French Revolution, so there are lots of aristocratic mansions with gardens hidden behind walls, just like in the Marais in Paris. I like this street very much because it contains a living treasure: the shop of one of the last wood-gilders in southern France (a craftsman gilding wood furnitures and mirrors just like in the old days... the Arab princes usually love it).









In the next three pictures you can see the 19th and early 20th century faubourgs lying immediately outside the most central Medieval area. At the time, while Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lille were in full economic boom, Toulouse was experiencing great economic decline, away from the coal mining areas and from the ocean routes.



























The next three pictures show the 1945-1960 neighborhoods that lie immediately after the faubourgs. In Paris that kind of urban fabric would be found in the 2nd ring of suburbs, but in Toulouse we're not even in the suburbs yet. When these 1945-1960 neighborhoods were built, Toulouse was still a small and sleepy provincial city (aerospace picked up only in the 1960s), and so these neighbohoods are quite close to the center (in Paris you would still be in some Haussmannian districts here). That's the shabby part of Toulouse that I like the least, with some out-of-style houses, and some 1960s high-rise apartment buildings built hapazardly among them.



























In comparison, the 1st ring of suburbs, which were developped after 1960 when the demographic boom due to the aerospace industry and the arrival of the North African Pieds-Noirs (European refugees from North Africa) hit the city:









The 2nd ring of suburbs (building materials respecting the local Toulouse southern style are finally used again after more than 50 years of poor materials disregarding the local architecture):









The 3rd ring of suburbs:









Rurbanization beyond the 3rd ring of suburbs:


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Fantastic, thanks for the effort brisavoine, actually, I don't mind the buildings shown above for the faubourgs. I think with a lick of paint, these could look really nice. Being close to the city, I wouldn't be surprised if they become more popular as many other inner city neighbourhoods around the world have. 

Also, the area afterwards you show, in the next ring, also doesn't look too bad. At least in those examples. But I do agree the odd commie block ruins things as usual.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Interesting little experience yesterday. My car collapsed on the motorway just before Toulouse. It had to be towed to a garage. The garage was located in the 2nd ring of suburbs surrounding Toulouse, in a suburban municipality called Montrabé (but local people seem to pronounce "Montrabe"). I hadn't been in that part of the suburbs in ages, and oh boy, did it change! It's unbelievable how much they have built up the hills over there. When I was in high school (which wasn't that long ago) it was still countryside, but now it's built up everywhere, including a few tall buildings here and there. It's not as thickly and homogenously dense as the Paris suburbs, it reminded me more of the Taipei suburbs in Taiwan, i.e. hapazard constructions everywhere, with no apparent order, and no attention paid to the terrain. It doesn't feel like a part of the city, it feels like a blanket of buildings over the countryside, in a place where they don't belong. It's exactly the same impression I had in the suburbs of Taipei, with buildings put over the many hills in the most hapazard and artificial fashion.

The guy who towed my car was a 50 y/o working-class guy with the thickest Toulouse accent ever, including rolling the "r". I asked him whether he was originally from Toulouse (he could have been a Spanish immigrant due to his rolling "r"), but he said yes he was born and had grown up in Toulouse. So I told him, 'Toulouse must have changed a lot since you were a child', and he said, 'oh yes, it has changed tremendously, and not for the better!'. It's interesting how many people don't like the fact that their city grow actually. When this guy was in high school, the Toulouse metropolitan area had 600,000 inhabitants, and now it has 1.15 million inhabitants, i.e. the population almost doubled.

PS: At the garage I also talked with a young couple of "néo-Toulousains" (newcomers, as they are called in Toulouse) who were stranded like me. Originally from Nîmes on the Mediterranean, they arrived in Toulouse in 1997. They told me how much their neighborhood (Jolimont, a part of the city located between the suburbs and the hypercenter) has changed in just 12 years. Like many people, they came to Toulouse because of jobs oportunities (Toulouse has a booming economy due to the aerospace sector and also due to the mere demographic boom which feeds the economy).


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## HerreríaCR (Aug 26, 2009)

*Toulouse looks like...*

Toulouse looks like Toulouse, cannot be compared with another country or city.hno:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

The first aerial photo showing Toulouse city center, Minato?


Minato ku said:


>


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

^^This shows a part of the central area, but not the actual center of the city. The center of the city today is the Place du Capitole, where the Toulouse City Hall (the "Capitole") is located. Back during the Roman Empire the center of Toulouse (_Tolosa_) was the Place Esquirol, where the Roman forum of Toulouse was located.

This is the Place du Capitole, with the Toulouse City Hall (the "Capitole"). The Occitan Cross at the center of the square is the official center of Toulouse, and the center of Occitania too. One of my all-time favorite squares in the world:









This is Place Esquirol (in between the two buses, from left to right), where the Roman forum was located. It was the center of the Roman city of _Palladia Tolosa_ (Toulouse was dedicated to the godess Pallas Athena by Emperor Domitian around 90 after Christ). To the right you can see the 14th century Convent of the Augustinians which is now a museum containing the largest collection of Romanesque sculptures in the world:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ Thanks for those photos and the info about Toulouse


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^ Thanks for those photos and the info about Toulouse @brisavoine


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Last week I took some pictures of boomtown Toulouse in the cold winter for you. I went to the northern end of the subway line B where an entire new urban district is under construction. Buildings U/C everywhere! This is not really a suburb, it's right inside the city proper, and it's definitely more European than the American suburbs around Toulouse, but I thought I would post these here.

This is the first batch of pictures. 2nd batch tomorrow.

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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

The 2nd batch of pictures.

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Taking the subway to return to downtown Toulouse.

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Even in the Medieval downtown, there is work going on. :nuts:

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But most of the Medieval center of Toulouse is still as beautiful and out of time as ever (one of the few European cities with no destructions at all during WW1 and WW2).

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