What North American cities REALLY stand out?

And by North AMerica I mean the whole fucking thing you provincial yanks! ;-)

I say Montreal for sure....very different.

Lakes RULE

...and, of course, Cleveland.

;)

oh, forget it, it's not funny

It's like calling New York City, "New York." Most people don't bother with the "city" part.

San Francisco, NYC, Minneapolis

Vancouverite here

for this East coaster. I would love to see Vancouver, but I haven't been out that way for years. I like Toronto, we used to go there all the time, and my parents didn't live too far from there when I was little. Very cosmopolitan compared to where I am from. And very friendly.

as for other cities... NYC. Seattle. San Francisco. Minneapolis/St. Paul. Washington DC has a certain beauty to it.

I would love to go there sometime! I haven't seen my dear friend from Seattle for years, either, and that isn't too far, is it? I love the mountains and water together. That is so cool.

Parts of Vancouver look like some of the worst slums I've seen in the U.S...

Give me Toronto any day over Vancouver...

trying to find a leather shop - well, that's another story. And we ended up in a "housing project" - but it appeared to be the safest and most pleasant housing project I had ever been in.

I think there is poverty and drug use pretty much everywhere, but I had never seen any in Toronto. But then, I haven't been there for quite a while.

Toroto is a big cold souless shithole

:shrug:

Any large city seems more impersonal than a small one...

But there are tons of great neighbourhoods, places to go, and people from all over the world living side by side...

Toronto in the 50's - now THAT was cold and lacked a soul... But any city that has the largest Gay pride celebration in North America doesn't seem too cold to me...

Funny, when I moved to San Francisco, I realized just how alike the two cities are in attitude... Very laid back, accepting of differences... Although I like the weather in SF a little better... especially in January!

Peter Ustinov called Toronto "New York run by the Swiss"... I think he was onto something...

Plenty worse urban disarray in TO.

Definitely.
Absolutely.
It's just that great.
No.
Really.
Come back!

That's the whole point... They are totally different cities...

It's really amazing how many Canadians outside of Toronto feel the need to attack Toronto... Even people who have never been there or have never been there for more than a weekend...



:eyes:

Not everyone is a city person... To each his own...

:-)

but had to fly from FL to get there. :-(

Great city, loved Stanley Park!

Especially our bellies!

;-)

I have a beer gut, but nothing like that!

How do you know what the future holds?:evilgrin:

;)

Always post a graphic content warning. Some of us have weak stomachs around here. :puke:

But, I don't know what you mean. :evilgrin:

I'm not THAT fat! ;-(

Yes I am west coast biased. So sue me.

:hi:

:)

Just from my own experience...

Would be a great setting for a film noir detective story.

Santa Fe-my favorite city on earth.

But I like Toronto, Ft Worth, Tacoma, and Vancouver as well.

And it spoiled me, because every city I've been to since then kind of sucks in comparison. They're kind of like towns, LOL.

I've not been to San Francisco though, or most places in Canada (they look perty). I did like Toronto.

In Seoul, you can do everything you can in New York and you can do it for half the cost.
In Tokyo, everything and more. Of course it cost just as much as New York.

I'll let you know about Shanghai later this year, though I've heard that Beijing is he much more exciting city...

I think I'd be too stressed not understanding much to fully enjoy it.

And, this thread was limited to North America--haven't been outside of North America (except for a brief stint in Germany) but I know some European/Asian/African cities rock out.

Prague looks especially beautiful, and Tokyo seems kind of wild and advanced (which isn't bad!).

but then the grandfather poster said "New York is the pinnacle of human civilization"...

You wouldn't need to worry about not speaking the languages, there are plenty of people over here who can't speak it at all (beyond saying "thanks" and "beer please") and they have a great time...:)

And hey, in both cities, you can walk wherever you want to after dark.

If you are looking for a city to go partying, shopping, have fun, etc, then Shanghai is probably preferable to Beijing, though I think the colleges in Beijing are generally higher quality. However, if you're looking for the more cultural side of things - opera, historical sites, etc - then go to Beijing. New York City has it all. I have not been to Hong Kong yet, however, so I can't compare NY to Hong Kong.

In both Shanghai & Beijing, you'll find all the street signs in both English & Chinese. Heck, you'll even get all your street signs in English in the mid-sized cities... all the major hotels will have staff that speak in English as well. If you call a hotel in a major city in China, you'll most likely get them answering first in English and then in Chinese. And, while Chinese call Shanghai an international city, seeing non-Chinese is still pretty rare. While I'd like to think the looks I got were because of my movie star handsomeness, it's because my Caucasian skin stood out... In NYC, you can see every race & every culture and probably dozens of languages. In China, if you don't speak Chinese or English, you're probably out of luck.

I could sure think of a few that stand out in my mind that i'd never want to go to again.. :)

for very high crime

The best North American city, the best city in the world actually.

OK, go over Pont Pierre-LaPorte, take Autoroute 20 to Montréal... Keep going... Go past Ottawa, Kingston and you will eventually come to Toronto...

Try it, there are even FRANCOPHONES in Toronto...

Franco-Ontariens... C'est formidable! Ils ont des francophones qui habites a Toronto! Et il y'a la télévision! En Français! C'est incroyable!

And I've even seen the Star Académie autobus here in "the city that sucks rock"...

;)

Wish I could afford to live there.

is that the high prices in Taos and Santa Fe are pushing out some of the poorer Indians and Hispanics that have lived there for centuries.

Geographically diverse, proud blue-collar heritage, stuck somwhere between the midwest, high south and east coast. Not to mention Pittsburgh has a regional dialect completely unique to anything else in North America.

cause the Steelers rule!

and it is a nice city. Clean, cultural, Democratic, and a ridiculous amount of bridges and tunnels.

I love my hometown for all the reasons you said and a few more: the people are friendly, the possibilities for higher education are phenomenal, and the health-care is top-notch.

Go Steelers!

Lived there for three years and loved every minute of it.

Downtown is nice, but the suburbanites tend to be simple-minded, shallow, and racist.

But still my favorite city.

:)

WHen I lived in NEw BRunswick.... always regretted it

Portland, ME. Of course, I used to all the time, living in Bangor, ME.

this place has to be experienced to be understood.

truly awesome. and i NEVER use awesome. :-)

Toronto, Houston, New Orleans, Tijuana.

For New Orleans.

The French influence is still very apparent, great entertainment, liberal population, and wonderful neighborhoods.

Also, its a small community -- less than 600,000 in the city itself, and about the same in the suburbs. Other than rush hour, you can be anywhere in the city in 20 minutes.

It also has sailing (big one for me) and very good whether (Tropical).

Yes!

Stands out for sucking so badly. Stands out for retiring wih the trophy "Most Likely To Burn".

It's like a little slice of Europe (even the weather), just thirty miles from my very Californian beach town.

even if it's ugly...those are the ones who stood up to the frigging Rethugs...

Almost every city voted for Kerry. Just the rural folks like Bush.

Lake Placid, NY all winter long
Toronto for the CNE (like a huge state fair)
Montreal all summer long (bonus points for the Jazz fest and the fireworks competitions)
NYC in October or for Christmas shopping (we do New Years pretty well too)
Woodstock, NY for tubing in late August
Saratoga Springs while the thoroughbreds are running

Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle.

Sorry, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Council Bluffs *snort*, Las Vegas.

DC is off the list because it does contribute to running the country, but in reality it's a shithole with nothing to do in it.

*gets in flame suit*

Asheville is neohippy central mixed with quaint mountain folk. Southern tip of the Blue Ridge parkway and the Cherokee nation. Magical place. Insert "O Brother where art thou" soundtrack into CD player upon entry.

Atlanta kicks all kinds of ass. Big southern city with fun from Buckhead to Peachtree Street. Easy going, multi-ethnic place. Great shopping at little five points. Mmm, fat matt's..

Los Angeles is a city of urban sprawl, one hour from everything. Gambling? one hour away. Skiing and snowboarding? Hour away. The Beach? hour away. 72 deg. and sunny all year round. A great 24/7 city.

Stands out as the worst city in North America.

The birthplace of jazz and one of the original Blues cities, New Orleans has given America its musical culture. Rock n Roll would not be but for New Orleans. The English colonies took a dim view of the musical expressions of its slaves. The east coast colonies prohibited Africans from particpating in music and would often punish slaves for using drums or other instruments from their native Africa. The French settlers in Louisiana had more experience with slave culture and understood that music was an important part of Arican culture that did not threaten the slave owners. As a result, in New Orleans on Sundays, slaves and other immigrants met in a place called Congo Square to sing, dance and socialize. You could hear all manner of music eminating from this small park, ranging from African drums to Irish jigs, it was the original melting pot of American music. Jazz developed out of the musical gumbo and polyrytmnic expressions heard at Congo square. It was in this small area of New Orleans that the back beat and other rythmnic complexities found there way into American music. Without Congo Square, we would never have had jazz, blues, or rock n roll.

<<ON EDIT>> Oh yeah, there's the food too.

Of course, I'm a Northwesterner so I'm biased.

Also:

San Francisco, CA
New York, NY
Boston, MA

And the smaller cities that are also great:

Portland, ME
Burlington, VT
Boulder, CO
Santa Fe, NM

Hmmm...I'm noticing a theme here...LOTS OF LIBERALS!

My three favourites!

My favorites:

Oaxaca
San Cristobal