Cities that weren't what you expected.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by CherryCreek

Flint, Michigan. For all the bad press it's gotten, I found it charming and affordable. Lot's of interesting old housing stock, though much of could use a fresh coat of paint.

Yes, today's paints are on special and lead-free...

[Omaharocks]

I would echo the former that mentioned Athens, and I agree it's an amazing place.

My impression is that it gets its reputation precisely because it is often visited in conjunction with more polished places in neighboring Italy (like Venice, Florence) or of course the greek islands, which are among the most beautiful spots on the planet.

So of course a "real" city isn't going to compare for most visitors, but if you take it out of that context, well, I think it would be the number 1 urban/natural beauty combo in, say, all of North America.

The natural scenery and weather of L.A., an urbanity that matches Boston or Philly or Montreal, a spectacular and visible history, and with regular ferries to the Greek islands to boot. These days it's also got a nightlife that rivals Berlin.

For places closer to home, I'd say El Paso really surprised me when I spent significant time there years ago - such close ties to Mexico, and with more midwest-style urbanity than I expected.

The place I generally like the least compared with everyone else's super positive impression, is Boulder, CO. I just don't get it. But I'm not one for yuppies or college bro's, so I guess that's my beef.

[Centropolis]

el paso is definitely one ive always wondered about.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

el paso is definitely one ive always wondered about.

It's kind of like if Albuquerque and Tucson had a child.

[Ric 0_0]

A city that surprised me was Vienna. Everyone said it was boring and Prague was much more lively, but I actually enjoyed Vienna more. Plus, the architecture and overall was amazing.

[StethJeff]

Seattle and Atlanta both seemed bigger, more vibrant, and with better urban cores than I expected for cities of their size. Seem to punch well above their weight.

To add to the Baltimore conversation, outside of the inner harbor, the rest of the city looked completely neglected.

Tokyo, in the sense that I expected the most insane and pleasing urban experience on Earth, actually delivered beyond anything I expected. Same goes for Osaka. Makes NYC, HK, Shanghai, London, Paris, etc seem like quaint suburbs by comparison.

When discussing San José, I really mean the greater central valley that represents Costa Rica's core population center. I'd last visited ~15 years ago so my expectations were at their usual pathetically low before recently visiting this summer. Although the potholes remain bad and the rougher neighborhoods still look terrible, the metro as a whole is cleaner, newer, and has so much better infrastructure. I used to advise people to avoid San José altogether before going on their surf or ecotourism trip but now there are a lot of cool neighborhoods and places to hang out.

Singapore just altogether sucked. Totally devoid of character. Perfect place to host a North Korean summit.

Havana. Underwhelming. Once you get past the fixed-up classic American cars and colonial forts, you're mostly left with awful food, human despair, and just a rotten feeling of sadness. If you want an even better Caribbean pirate city with way more impressive colonial architecture and military fortifications, amazing food, crazy vibrancy, . . . basically a place that overwhelms instead, Cartagena is where it's at.

[cabasse]

miami blew me away with how huge it felt - the sheer number of skyscrapers along the coast. it feels like the biggest city in the region by far. i wasn't expecting how metropolitan it was, having lived in florida for the first 15yrs of my life and having visited every other big city in the state.

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

To add to the Baltimore conversation, outside of the inner harbor, the rest of the city looked completely neglected.

I was beginning to think I was unique in this observation.

Inner Harbor appeared to be the heart of the CBD and most lively area for locals.

Fells Point = scenic (yet somewhat of a touristy feel), somewhat reminiscent of DC / Philly.

The area around Camden Yards and the football stadium was decent, yet lacked much in the way of post-game recreation / nightlife.

Beyond those areas, everywhere else I saw looked neglected, tattered and generations behind in terms of progress, development, livelihood, etc. Unlike any other mid-Atlantic, Southeastern or Northeastern city I've visited.

[tayser]

In the grand scheme of things both trips Ive done to the US involved many different cities.

While I'm aware how sensitive this place is to criticism or praise (depending on your POV) I think we can all agree, the two main cities on the US tourist trail are Los Angeles & New York (or New York and Los Angeles if you live to the east of the US).

They're top tier major gateways and host many of things us foreigners get access to through the major caultural exports from Uncle Sam Land.

Chicago, which doesn't really need an introduction for... reasons, is not in the same league as NY or LA in the tourism stakes but since going there I've pretty much told every other person who's said they're planning a trip to the US that they must put it on the list (it works from a logistical POV thanks to AA and UA's hubs in O'Hare but mostly it works from a overall tourism POV because it's one of those places when you scratch the surface you find goldmines). LA & NY are like your Paris and Londons: you know what you're going to get (and hell, you might find other non-tourist path gems, but they're the main attractors).

I put Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and New Orleans all on the same tier - many people outside the Us know of them but again, they're not LA or NY and the main tourism gateways. But I put all of them on the same tier / found all of them whereupon first visit you need to scratch the surface to find the gems and I generally spruik them as places where you won't be disappointed by deviating from the well-worn tourist path of Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Grand Canyon-New York.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

I agree, for its size Victoria is just awesome. Every time I go I'm still surprised at how many tourists there are. But it has a strong downtown, the streets are always busy...probably one of the most successful cities of its size in North America.

Victoria is one of the few significant cities in Canada I haven't gotten to yet. Of BC cities I've only been to Vancouver and Kelowna. How does Victoria compare to Kelowna? Is it a bigger version of Kelowna or entirely different. I'm also interested to know whether you think Nanaimo will eventually follow in Victoria's footsteps.

[LouisianaRush]

Originally Posted by Ric 0_0

A city that surprised me was Vienna. Everyone said it was boring and Prague was much more lively, but I actually enjoyed Vienna more. Plus, the architecture and overall was amazing.

I agree with you. I was shocked how much I loved Vienna. Prague reminded me of an overcrowded Disney Land.

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by tayser

I put Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and New Orleans all on the same tier

Curious, in what tier would you include D.C., Miami, and Boston?

[Cirrus]

Another couple of answers for me:

Dallas: I had always pictured Dallas as basically a larger Denver, and thus assumed it would have approximately the same level of pedestrian activity downtown and in the central neighborhoods as Denver. Nope. Dallas is a lot more car-oriented even in the central city. I never found a main street with a critical mass of pedestrians.

Seattle: Same but in the opposite direction. I had always pictured Seattle as a larger Denver. Nope. Seattle's a lot more urban and legit than I expected.

[isaidso]

Ottawa surprised me in how beautiful and grand the area along Wellington Street and the Rideau Canal are. The suburbs looked very affluent and the infrastructure top notch. On the flip side I was surprised how dead the downtown was. Once you go beyond Parliament Hill and the museums/galleries there's not much to see or do. Byward Market was ok but one can do it in about an hour. After that I was searching for stuff to see but there wasn't anything interesting.

[Mountain man]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Another couple of answers for me:

Dallas: I had always pictured Dallas as basically a larger Denver, and thus assumed it would have approximately the same level of pedestrian activity downtown and in the central neighborhoods as Denver. Nope. Dallas is a lot more car-oriented even in the central city. I never found a main street with a critical mass of pedestrians.

Seattle: Same but in the opposite direction. I had always pictured Seattle as a larger Denver. Nope. Seattle's a lot more urban and legit than I expected.

When was the last time you have been to Denver? It's urban infill and low/midrise boom this cycle has been on overdrive, its getting crazy urban... It may not have added as many 400' buildings as Seattle but Denver sure has added a ton of urban development not only to the core but to the entire area surrounding downtown. To me Denver definitely punches above its weight, especially for a metro its size. I have always found Denver to be pretty dang urban and legit

[Jonesy55]

I was in Frankfurt a couple of weeks ago and was a bit underwhelmed. It's a pleasant enough place no doubt and I know it isn't huge but with its skyline and reputation as a leading financial centre I was expecting it to feel a bit bigger.

A couple of days before I was in Munich which seems to have a much bigger feel to me even though people sometimes describe it as a 'villagey' city.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by tayser

I put Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and New Orleans all on the same tier - many people outside the Us know of them but again, they're not LA or NY and the main tourism gateways. But I put all of them on the same tier / found all of them whereupon first visit you need to scratch the surface to find the gems and I generally spruik them as places where you won't be disappointed by deviating from the well-worn tourist path of Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Grand Canyon-New York.

Really? Philly is one of my favorite cities in the U.S., but I would put it far down the list of tourist magnets. To me it's more of a well kept secret that doesn't get as much attention from the media as it could.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by LMich

Honestly, even all these years later, and it's not aged poorly. I love flying in or out of Metro. And if you grew up here and remember the old Metro, it's like night and day. Old Metro was one of the darkest, most camped airports of any major city you'd fly out of it. It's a really, really great front door for the region.

Not only has the Metro upgrade aged very well, but it is being imitated. JFK's T4 was designed to emulate DTW's McNamara terminal, but despite JFK T4 being newer McNamara is still much better.

[Crawford]

I'm surprised so many people had high expectations of Frankfurt, given its reputation as a staid, boring town; the least beloved major German city.

Also surprised at low expectations for Vienna, given it was the grand seat of empire for over 1,000 years.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Ottawa surprised me in how beautiful and grand the area along Wellington Street and the Rideau Canal are. The suburbs looked very affluent and the infrastructure top notch. On the flip side I was surprised how dead the downtown was. Once you go beyond Parliament Hill and the museums/galleries there's not much to see or do. Byward Market was ok but one can do it in about an hour. After that I was searching for stuff to see but there wasn't anything interesting.

I think that is a reasonable view of my home city. The downtown area can be both beautiful and sterile at the same time. Too many government buildings making it less than bustling outside of Parliament Hill, Confederation Square and the close by Byward Market area and Rideau Centre.

However, there are lots of things to see and do, but you may need to seek them out and think beyond the obvious locations that attract the most attention. There are lots of festivals during the warmer months, some of them not located in the downtown area. Mosaiculture is a world class garden sculpture exhibit located adjacent to the Museum of History.

The city is also very green and recreational. Excellent scenic biking routes run the length of the city and hiking opportunities in neighbouring Gatineau Park can provide beautiful views. It all depends on ones interests.

The soon to open downtown subway will be a game changer. The area immediately west of downtown has been barren for 50 years, but a transformation is starting to take place. One of the most exciting parts will be the opening up of Chaudiere Falls for public access after being hidden behind industrial development for over 100 years. This area is being planned as Ottawa's new premiere mixed use communities and is currently under construction. The vistas of downtown and looking up and down the Ottawa River will be amazing.


A native like myself can direct people to places off the beaten track that are really worth visiting. Like the Diefenbunker, which provides a view back to the days of the Cold War. I always take people to an outlier northern bog just on the outskirts of the city. A great place for nature lovers. And in season, abundant blueberries within easy reach of the boardwalk.