I was reading a list the other day of the nine (I don't know why it wasn't ten) more distinctive and important American cities for a visitor to our country. Without me saying which nine were used, I was curious what everyone's list would be. I would urge everyone not to be too esoteric -- I love Ann Arbor, but I would sooner have a visitor see Chicago -- but other than that, there are no rules. You can rank them 1-9 or not, give explanations as to why or don't, etc. What say you?
OK, you asked for our lists. here are my nine: New York San Francisco Boston Los Angeles Miami Charleston Louisville Salt Lake City Washington
here are my nine: New York Boston ( except for sports teams ) Miami Seattle Baltimore Memphis (only for BBQ ) Nashville Key West Washington DC
In no particular order: New York San Francisco New Orleans Chicago Seattle Washington Los Angeles Miami Charleston (SC - not WV)
In no particular order: Las Vegas San Francisco Boston New Orleans Portland, OR Philadelphia San Antonio San Diego Minneapolis
I like that both Minneapolis and Louisville have shown up. They're both on my underrated America cities, though I'm not sure they'd crack my Top 9.
San Antonio. True Tex-Mex vibe Austin. The opposite of Tex-Mex Vibe Portland. Either of them. DC. Because it is. and the Museums. West Hollywood/Santa Monica/Beverly Hills. Ultimate California NYC. Because it is NYC. Memphis. Blues and Jazz without the hype of New Orleans Columbus Ohio OR Kansas City OR St. Louis OR Milwaukee OR Anchorage. Standard Middle American City. Las Vegas. Because it is like DC and NYC. It just is.
I don't like the abbreviations others are using, so here is my list (in no particular order): LGA SFO AUS ABQ BOS MIA ORD MSY LAX
In no particular rank..... San Francisco Washington DC San Diego San Antonio New York Chicago Miami Honolulu Galveston
Of course it's sort of a "which child is your favorite?" question. I've escorted a number of overseas friends on tours (some limited, some extensive) of the US and certainly know which cities were their faves (and un-faves, yes, you, Houston.) I also know that in most cases the countryside - national parks, vistas, the sense of space, etc. - was almost always more compelling than the cities. But my list would be: Boston - Too much history to ignore; NYC - Duh. Washington DC - All that symbolism in a very interesting city; Chicago - The heart of the heartland; Memphis - Not just the music and the food, but the river and the Delta. Austin - Can't exclude Texas; the Hill Country is close enough too. Los Angeles - He who is tired of LA is tired of life. (Yes, I know, not original.) San Francisco - Every foreign visitor I've taken there walked around grinning. Seattle - A beautiful city easily outshone by its natural surroundings.
LXJenkins (and Sweet Willie) have come the closest to the original list that prompted this discussion, which was: New York City Washington D.C. Boston Chicago Los Angeles Miami New Orleans San Francisco Seattle Having just been to Portland, I would sub it in for Seattle, which underwhelmed me a smidge (though I did go on a dreary April weekend, and weather plays a surprisingly large role in determining how a city feels) but otherwise I think it's a pretty good list.
Houston Dallas Beaumont Luling Lockhart Austin Galveston Corpus Christi El Paso Oh...you said AMERICAN cities..... New York Boston Chicago San Francisco Austin Honolulu Seattle Vegas Washington D.C.
Texas is not a country damn texans SFO NYC ORD D.C. BOS LAX Honolulu SEA Kansas City, KS (GOOGLE FIBER OMFG!)
On the first part take out Dallas, Galveston, Corpus Christi and El Paso and you have a good tour of Texas Barbeque Cities.
In driving order: Boston New York Washington, DC Charleston New Orleans San Antonio Fort Worth San Diego San Francisco
New York, NY Chicago, IL Charleston, SC and/or Savannah, GA Seattle, WA Washington D.C. San Francisco, CA Boston, MA New Orleans, LA Santa Fe, NM
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