10 simple survey questions for you about cities

[volguus zildrohar]

1. What is your favorite US city?

Chicago, IL of all of the places that I've been.

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit?

San Francisco or Seattle. Can't really settle on one.

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?

Atlanta did nothing for me but I haven't been there in 15 years and am willing to give it another chance.

4. What's your favorite international city?

Haven't really been to any but I'm dying to check out Seoul.

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit?

See above.

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?

N/A.

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city?

Philadelphia - fierce sense of local identity among natives, intimate streetscape, fantastic food, fantastic beer, the religion of being an Eagles fan.

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city?

Chronic inertia, the hereditary 'second-best-is-good-enough' mentality that has to be in the water and the lack of a Lombardi Trophy.

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities?

Europe but that's only because I've never been anywhere.

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in?

No smaller than where I currently live. That limits my options unless it's on the dense side

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by kgbnsf

Austin seemed nice enough in itself. But, it really is hyped up. I can see why people in TX might hype it up compared to their other cities. Nonetheless, I just found it to be like other cities of that size, granted it's got some music and is more progressive than the rest of Texas.

A couple other cities I have been impressed with: Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Portland ME, Pittsburgh, & Cincinnati. All interesting cities worth visiting!

I live here in Austin. It is hugely over-rated as a city. In fact, it is just now becoming something of a real city, and it has a long way to go before it stacks up anywhere in the US top ten or top fifteen. Austin is fairly affordable. It has a nicely developing core, a great night life scene, a decent food scene, lots of young people, a booming local economy and a fairly progressive vibe. It also has horrible traffic, underdeveloped infrastructure, and a rather beastly climate (hot and humid for much of the year). Most of the two million area residents live in typical sunbelt suburban sprawl. Notwithstanding the University of Texas and its rich cultural offerings, Dallas, Houston, and possibly even Fort Worth offer more in terms of "high" cultural amenities. Still, Austin is home to a substantial community of artists, writers, and musicians. The natural setting is pleasant by Texas standards. Most locals adore the place. I am not in a majority with my sentiments. I kind of ended up here and rather regret the decision I made to move here fairly late in my life. I've been here twenty years and just turned 70. Guess I had better make my peace with this place.

[dktshb]

1. What is your favorite US city? Los Angeles. I could not imagine living anywhere else. Hopefully other forum members feel the same about their city they live in.

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit? Washington

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by? N/A

4. What's your favorite international city? Rome

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit? Lisbon

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by? The sovereign city-state of Monaco

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city? Most everything

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city? That it never rains anymore.

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities? Europe

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in? Presuming we are referring to metropolitan area I would say greater than 10 million...

[Swede]

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS:
Some of these are stolen from @BougieLA on Twitter.

1. What is your favorite US city?
New York

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit?
LA (I've only been to NYC, so the list is actually much longer - but only one is allowed here)

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
none (only been to NYC. Not underwhelmed)

4. What's your favorite international city?
London

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit?
The Pearl River Delta megalopolis

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
Barcelona. Way to much traffic and a metro that's far from friendly to us with small children.

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city?
The access to almost everything just 20-30 min away by subway.

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city?
The lack of urbanity outside the pre-1930s core.

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities?
Europe

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in?
Above 1 million

[initiald]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I have never found Philly (or Toronto) to be remotely "hyped".

The whole cheesesteak thing is way overhyped. Theirs are average at best. Maybe I shouldn't have based my answer on cheesesteak but I did.

[Teakwood]

Originally Posted by initiald

The whole cheesesteak thing is way overhyped. Theirs are average at best. Maybe I shouldn't have based my answer on cheesesteak but I did.

Where did you get one in Philly?

[Commentariat]

1. What is your favorite US city?

New York, but I also like the west coast cities too

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit?

Chicago

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?

Nashville, there didn't seem to be much happening when I visited

4. What's your favorite international city?

Paris, I think it is the pinnacle of humanity's city building efforts. More obscurely, the cities of Rajasthan in India are very atmospheric, especially Jodhpur, Jaipur and Jaisalmer

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit?

Tokyo

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?

Toronto. And every big city in South-East Asia somehow manages to pull off the odd combination of very high density and extreme pedestrian unfriendliness - even Singapore

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city?

(Perth, Australia) - good weather, everything is clean and shiny, very easy to live in. There's a reason why Australian cities always end up near the top in those 'liveability' surveys

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city?

Still way too much emphasis on building sprawl, inner city not dense enough, don't make enough use of the river and beaches

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities?

Pre-war Europe. Post-war Europe is just as crap as everywhere else

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in?

Depends on the city, I could live almost anywhere

[maru2501]

I really like Austin, but I can see the criticism of SXSW corporate creep

[Agent Orange]

1. What is your favorite US city?
As a visitor, New York. To live in, a tie between Boston and Seattle.

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit?
Philadelphia

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
Nashville. Gets compared to Portland and Austin, but is lacking in urbanity, which I should have expected given its Sunbelt location. Nonetheless there is an impressive art and food culture and the city’s form is moving in the right direction.

4. What's your favorite international city?
Mexico City. So much energy, great historic and modern architecture, very friendly people, incredible food, and absurdly cheap.

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit?
Hong Kong

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
Berlin. I found it fascinating, but perhaps due to the large amount of post-war construction, it felt sterile and less energetic compared to other European capitals. Many parts of town seemed very quiet and almost North American. I have a feeling you need to know locals to get an inside appreciation for the city (kind of like LA).

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city?
Proximity to inexhaustible natural beauty. Historic residential architecture. The public parks. Climate—for the large majority of the year, it’s quite comfortable to walk to your destination. Urbanizing quickly (for a largely post-war American city).

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city?
Creeping NIMBYism which threatens to hold the city back from becoming truly great.

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities?
I haven’t traveled enough to say, but I’ll go with Europe. Most of Europe’s large cities built up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which I'd consider to be the pinnacle of city building.

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in?
Theoretically, I’d be most comfortable with a metro of 2 to 4 million if built with a more European or East Asian standard of density and transit. A similar sized metro in North America might be too small for me.

[initiald]

Originally Posted by Teakwood

Where did you get one in Philly?

Talk of the Town. Giordano's came through for Chicago pizza. Anchor Bar came through for Buffalo's wings. You had one shot, Philly, and Talk of the Town's "best cheesesteaks" blew it!
• Video Link

[JManc]

Originally Posted by kgbnsf

Austin seemed nice enough in itself. But, it really is hyped up. I can see why people in TX might hype it up compared to their other cities. Nonetheless, I just found it to be like other cities of that size, granted it's got some music and is more progressive than the rest of Texas.

A couple other cities I have been impressed with: Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Portland ME, Pittsburgh, & Cincinnati. All interesting cities worth visiting!

I live in TX but not from TX originally and been all over the rest of the country and overseas, it's a great town. It's easily up there among my favorite cities esp as potential places to live. Decent climate (dry summers), natural setting, fairly progressive even on a national level and a lot to do...indoors and outdoors. It's just that the traffic is the absolute pits and there are very few direct flights for a city of its size.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by mousquet

For those who don't know the place yet, this is typically what he's talking about.


https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_du...ptembre_(Paris)

It's bland but also pretty, so very few care how bland it is. In fact, most call it consistency instead of blandness.
It was a bit extreme as was Napoleon III's regime, but since it's pretty, no one cares anymore.


Lol, so what? They're rude to anyone including themselves. At least, there's no discrimination here.
Not my fault when I most often preach benevolence anyway.

Maybe it's the shock of my first visit, as a teen, ending up with exploring Paris right after doing a little tour of places like St-Malo, Honfleur, Rouen, Lille, Bruges, Bruxelles... (in fact, the actual order was the opposite of that: we started in Belgium then moved west.)

I loved the medieval/Renaissance era buildings, and after that Paris seemed to be a bland "newish" city where everything is only 150 years old.

Even though my tastes might have at least partially changed since, I never really re-evaluated my initial impression of the city. I suppose I should give it a chance.

I had an uncle who lived in St-Maur-des-Fossés at the time, so I crashed there, but he doesn't live there anymore; my last visits to the Hex were limited to Nice and Antibes were the bulk of my relatives are. Maybe I should give Paris another try someday.

[AFW523]

Originally Posted by Agent Orange

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
Berlin. I found it fascinating, but perhaps due to the large amount of post-war construction, it felt sterile and less energetic compared to other European capitals. Many parts of town seemed very quiet and almost North American. I have a feeling you need to know locals to get an inside appreciation for the city (kind of like LA).

Man I got almost the exact same feel when I was there. I thought maybe I was missing something. Part of that I blame for not having enough time to really get too far beyond the city center...but the street level activation wasn't what I was expecting. A few chain restaurants here and there, a decent shopping corridor, and that's about it. An absolute mish-mash of (for obvious reasons) mid-rises (which I loved), but nothing felt like a true identity to me. Loved the massive transit centers, however. Incredible.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by kgbnsf

A couple other cities I have been impressed with: Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Portland ME, Pittsburgh, & Cincinnati. All interesting cities worth visiting!

that's a solid list of some of the best of america's unheralded non-coastal cities.

[maru2501]

pittsburgh really cool

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Man I got almost the exact same feel when I was there. I thought maybe I was missing something. Part of that I blame for not having enough time to really get too far beyond the city center...but the street level activation wasn't what I was expecting. A few chain restaurants here and there, a decent shopping corridor, and that's about it. An absolute mish-mash of (for obvious reasons) mid-rises (which I loved), but nothing felt like a true identity to me. Loved the massive transit centers, however. Incredible.

You're not alone. I'm not a huge Berlin fan either. Fascinating history and lots of interesting sites, but the streetscape, architecture and landscape do nothing for me.

Within Germany, Berlin is much less popular than outside Germany. It isn't a beloved capitol city, at all, and the govt. move back to Berlin is somewhat contentious to this day. Ultimately worth seeing though, even if not conventionally beautiful, and not particularly representative of Germany.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I'm surprised Toronto receives so much "hype" in the US now. At one time the complaint was that it was so low profile and under-publicised.

lots of Midwesterners are in the know I think. my sister went to u of t in the 80s so we spent a lot of time there driving from Michigan.

[LouisianaRush]

1. What is your favorite US city?
- Chicago. It is beautiful, clean, inexpensive, and vibrant

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit?
- Seattle

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
- Dallas. I just do not understand why people like it.

4. What's your favorite international city?
- Cape Town. It is just stunning and has so much to offer any type of traveler. Shark diving, hiking, museums, nature/safari, shopping, clubbing, fantastic vineyards, and a plethora of cultural attractions.

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit?
- Buenos Aires (will be there in 10 months)

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
- Munich it is the very opposite of Berlin which is one of my favorite cities.

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city?
- In Baltimore can walk or take transportation to everything I need to go to from my home. I hate to drive. It is very charming and affordable. I own a 3 story Victorian row home in a fabulous neighborhood next to John Hopkins University for the price of a one bedroom condo in other east coast cities. I am a 35 min train ride to DC, 1 hour train to Philly, or 2.15 min train to NYC. It is located on the harbor close to the ocean and 1 hr 15 min way from some ski slopes. I very happy I moved here four years ago.

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city?
-Corruption and ineffectiveness of elected officials/city government

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities?
- Northern Europe

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in?
- 5 million metro

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

lots of Midwesterners are in the know I think. my sister went to u of t in the 80s so we spent a lot of time there driving from Michigan.

I grew up in Metro Detroit, which is equidistant from Chicago and Toronto, and I always thought Chicago had a lot more pull. Maybe that's changed somewhat?

I mean, if someone is going away for a city weekend, it would almost certainly mean Chicago. That was the default big city within a comfortable drive. People would go to Toronto, of course, but it wasn't as common. You wouldn't have people doing shopping weekends or museum/theater trips quite as much as with Chicago.

Surprisingly, you would see a lot of Ontarians going to Metro Detroit, mostly for shopping weekends, at the local fancy mall, at least when the exchange rate was favorable. This was before Canada had stores like Saks and Nordstrom.

[Tom In Chicago]

1. What is your favorite US city?
Chicago - because all my stuff is here
New York City - because it feels like I grew up with it and is very familiar

2. What is a US city that you've not yet visited but would love to visit?
Philadelphia - Boston - Minneapolis - It's absolutely tragic that I haven't been to these places. . .

3. What is a US city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
Austin - I have a great time wherever I am, but I can sympathise with some of the comments people have already expressed. . .

4. What's your favorite international city?
Frankfurt - feels like Chicago. . . very 9-5 business city with cozy neighborhoods and an airport that gets you to anywhere in the world. . .

5. What international city have you not yet visited but would love to visit?
Buenos Aires

6. What's an international city you've visited that receives a lot of hype but that you were underwhelmed by?
Berlin meh. . .

7. What do you like most about living in your current home city?
Pizza, architecture, lakefront, O'Hare, proximity to Wisconsin

8. What do you dislike most about living in your current home city?
Winter, proximity to Mexico

9. Which continent, on average, has what you consider to be the best cities?
This is a dumb question. . .

10. What population size do you consider ideal for the city you would like to live in?
10+ million metro

. . .