Best City in America?

i have had 2 different friends (one male, one female) live in columbus. both were under 30. both hated it with a passion. They said besides OSU saturdays in the fall, there is jack shit to do. granted, these people both previously lived in washington DC, so ...

 

Lots of love for our humble city. Maybe that interest-only loan is worth it. :

Other favorites:
Portland, Ore.: A great version of citified nature.
St. Peterburg: Clean and much improved.
Colorado Springs: Lovely and close to a lot of diversions.
San Francisco: Natch.
Poipu Beach, Kauai: For the snorkeler in all of us.

Not that impressed with Austin outside the downtown core. The rest of the area is generic with horrible traffic.

 

Places I dig ...

Milwaukee (duh)
Madison
Appleton
Louisville
St. Louis
St. Paul, Minn.
Omaha
Cleveland
Pittsburgh
Nashville
Albany, N.Y.
Boston
New York
Washington, D.C.
Asheville, N.C.
Bloomington, Ind.

Milwaukeean begrudingly accepting that its OK, even though its my birthright to hate it, and I'd never want to live there unless I could commute on the train ...
Chicago

Underrated ...
Springfield, Mo. (seriously, its not bad)
Des Moines
Kalamazoo, Mich.
La Crosse, Wis.
Duluth, Minn. (beautiful city once you get past the ore docks ... really)
Terre Haute, Ind. (well, at least in proportion to its dog ass reputation)

Overrated, but tolerable ...
Cincinnati
Columbus (though the area from Ohio State to downtown down whatever main drag that is kind of rocks)
Minneapolis

Shitholes ...
Detroit
Toledo (aka South Detroit)
Buffalo
Champaign, Ill.
Muncie, Ind. (sorry alma mater)
Youngstown, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Tulsa, Okla. (at least what I saw)
Lubbock, Texas

 

Those friends?

Drew Henson and his girlfriend.

 

To each their own ....

 

Sirs, Madames,

The usual suspects

NY: Heads my list. Tho' I'd say my first dozen trips were more rewarding than the last dozen. Regret will be never living there.
Chi: More liveable, idiosyncratic.
Boston: Ditto.
Philly: Not for everybody but I've had good times there.

The unlikely ones

Pittsburgh: What was said about live/visit in an earlier thread. Roomie in college was from Mt Lebanon. Few times went down with him on long weekends and a visit during summer. It was like going into the Wayback Machine.

Anywhere in New Mexico: Just me. Had to spend a long stretch there, all over state.

Greensboro: Was supposed to be the worst stop (briefly) on NHL circuit. Dead as doornails downtown after dark on a Sunday night. (The hotel restaurant, a Hilton, wasn't even open, had to file an expense from Subway.) But again, when you're stuck someplace for a week you make the best of it. Ended up gabbing with anybody just to break the tedium, I made friends with locals and have stayed in touch eight years or so, went down to visit on vacation.

YHS, etc

 

Well done, halfmiler. Raleigh was good long before the Hurricanes got to town. Didn't take a Stanley Cup to make it more inviting ... though it helps.

 

One girl's view:

1. Pittsburgh -- Most beautiful skyline, landscape, maybe in the world
2. San Francisco -- All class
3. Nashville -- Can't beat their Broadway, even if you can't stand country music
4. Chicago -- Friendliest people of any big town
5. Milwaukee -- Is there a better-kept secret in the country?
6. New York -- Just because it's New York
7. Denver -- Amazing backdrop, and every city should have a 16th Street Mall
8. San Diego -- A little less urban than I like, but still a nice match for the weather
9. St. Paul -- A personal favorite
10. Cincinnati -- Should do more with riverfronts, but people are great

 

For someone who lives in Pittsburgh I am surprised by how many mentions it has gotten on this thread. Don't get me wrong I certainly don't think it a shithole and the surrounding communities are definitely great places to live, but I never thought of the city itself as being all that special.

 

Mentone is very cool, but also the antithesis of "city."

 

I'm surprised by the love that the Midwest is getting here.

 

I just can't imagine putting any city of a "Best" list with the kind of traffic problems many of cities here (Nashville, for instance) suffer with. ... I'll throw down a vote for Asheville.