Dear New Yorkers..How Do You Rate Other Urban Experiences?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Razor

Yes that was a very good Bordain quote about Chicago.

I wonder how native New Yorkers would view a city like Detroit from their lens? More specifically, when it was doing well?. Detroit is an iconic American city after all.

Bourdain loved Detroit too:


"Detroit looks like nowhere else. Detroit looks like motherfuckin' Detroit. As it should.

I'll say it again. And again.

I love Detroit. I love Detroiters. You've got to have a sense of humor to live in a city so relentlessly fucked. You've got to be tough -- and occasionally even devious. And Detroiters are funny, tough -- and supreme improvisers.

They are also among the best and most fun drinkers in the country."


"Detroit isn't just a national treasure. It IS America. And wherever you may live, you wouldn't be there -- and wouldn't be who you are in the same way -- without Detroit"

- Anthony Bourdain

[Shawn]

I religiously watched and read Bourdain, his loss is still a sore sport for me. Him and Jessica Walter.

For North American cities outside of NYC, Bourdain held Chicago, LA, Charleston SC, and Cape Cod (specifically Provincetown) in highest regard. He goes into great detail about each in his posthumous book World Travel: An Irreverent Guide. I remember he also loved Detroit, Montreal, and Mexico City.

His favorite city in the world to eat though, even more than NYC? Tokyo

(to hauntedhead's earlier point though, I guess he didn't bother trying the Mexican )

[Omaharocks]

^ Yeah, there were plenty of cities outside North America he loved too, of course. Some that stood out were Beirut and Hanoi.

He didn't seem to be a fan of northern Europe in general, likely not a great match for his personality type.

[Razor]

Well Bourdain liked the food scene in Toronto, but "ouch" on the city.

“It’s not a good-looking city,” he said while taking a taxi through the city. “It’s not a good-looking town. You’ve got all the worst architectural fads of the 20th century. That’s crypto-fascist Bauhaus. Mussolini would have been perfectly at home in that one. Looks like every public school in America. And every third-tier public library.”

He is a New Yorker after all, so his opinions good or bad are valid to this thread.

[Crawford]

Anglo Canada typically doesn't do public spaces or civic buildings very well, though I think that's changing somewhat. Also so much of the built environment is from the 1960's-1970's, so basically the worst era design-wise.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by LA21st

While I like Bourdain and love Chicago, there is a fair amount of douchebags on the northside and downtown. There used to be a well known blog in the 00s documenting their behavior before social media really took over.

Wrigleyville and Wrigelyfield are known for doucehery. Maybe he's ignoring this side of the city in his quote?

I dunno. I think his quote takes that into account and it still works fine.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Camelback

LOL! Which one is the wookie?!

[benp]

As long as we are talking about Bourdain quotes on cities:

"Buffalo is a different culture. I look at Buffalo and Buffalonians as a different culture now. Ten years ago, I would have looked at them as those poor guys who live upstate, and I'm lucky enough to live in Manhattan. That's the way I would have seen it 10 years ago. Now I see it as a very distinct personality, a very distinct culture with its own architecture, its own kinda feel. It's actually a weirdly wonderful place. Even in the winter. I think it took me traveling around the world to get to that point".

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by JManc

I'm no fan of the Kardashian-Jenner cabal but they turned their famous-for being-famous into a cottage industry with Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner becoming legit billionaires...worth way more than their parents. Same with Paris Hilton. They milked their vapid superficial brands and created businesses out of them.

I'm sure they do work, but that's not the same energy as Pam Anderson coming from nowhere and becoming one of the most famous women in the world. Or Rihanna, who also came from nowhere, and is now worth more than Paris Hilton and Kim K combined.

Also, there is a straight line from Paris Hilton to Kim K, as the latter was the former's assistant.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Anglo Canada typically doesn't do public spaces or civic buildings very well, though I think that's changing somewhat. Also so much of the built environment is from the 1960's-1970's, so basically the worst era design-wise.

His points are all valid, but I picture Bourdain driving down University or Jarvis in a taxi as he's making a statement like that. You'd have to think that he would have been right at home in Kensington, Queen West, around Trinity Bellwoods, etc.

The problem with Toronto is that if you follow the typical North American big city vacation itinerary of: book a downtown hotel room, see the tourist attractions and museums, find a place near the CN tower to eat dinner, etc. then you're probably going to be disappointed. I remember Hauntedhead once saying that he didn't understand the hype around Toronto after he visited. I think he had a layover and took the train downtown for half a day, walked around the financial district, and said "I don't get it, it's basically Charlotte with slightly bigger office towers". Toronto requires a bit more adventurism, especially for American travelers who can be predisposed to thinking that inner city but outside of the downtown core = dangerous and not for visitors. This is the part that I find interesting since Bourdain obviously doesn't give off that impression.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

His points are all valid, but I picture Bourdain driving down University or Jarvis in a taxi as he's making a statement like that. You'd have to think that he would have been right at home in Kensington, Queen West, around Trinity Bellwoods, etc.

The problem with Toronto is that if you follow the typical North American big city vacation itinerary of: book a downtown hotel room, see the tourist attractions and museums, find a place near the CN tower to eat dinner, etc. then you're probably going to be disappointed. I remember Hauntedhead once saying that he didn't understand the hype around Toronto after he visited. I think he had a layover and took the train downtown for half a day, walked around the financial district, and said "I don't get it, it's basically Charlotte with slightly bigger office towers". Toronto requires a bit more adventurism, especially for American travelers who can be predisposed to thinking that inner city but outside of the downtown core = dangerous and not for visitors. This is the part that I find interesting since Bourdain obviously doesn't give off that impression.

Well, Bourdain being from New York, I think he would be more inclined to venture into the neighborhoods. New Yorkers generally think that the central business districts are the least interesting places in NYC. The same perception carries over when they visit other places.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Well, Bourdain being from New York, I think he would be more inclined to venture into the neighborhoods. New Yorkers generally think that the central business districts are the least interesting places in NYC. The same perception carries over when they visit other places.

That's why I find it odd because his points about the architecture don't really carry over to the aforementioned neighbourhoods, and are much more apt to describe the major north-south arterials in the central city.

[Crawford]

Yeah, all valid points. Toronto does have many attractive and cozy residential neighborhoods.

From a visitor perspective, the showplace core neighborhoods are really heavy on the 1970's concrete and weird plazas, like that building off Bloor with the Eataly.

[kool maudit]

He was a Montreal guy as far as Canada.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

He was a Montreal guy as far as Canada.

Yes he was..Don't shoot the messenger.

"This is a great country because of this city. Without Montreal, Canada would be hopeless."

Anthony Bourdain

Obviously, he's looking at it from a culinary perspective, and Montreal does food well..The Rolling Stones absolutely adore Toronto, but that irrelevant to this thread..Anthony Bourdain is a New Yorker..I actually made small talk with quite a few Americans whenever I day tripped or spent a weekend in Montreal, and the majority of them seemed to be from the NYC area..His quote was harsh, but yes thinking about it, a Canada without Montreal would actually be more devastating then an America without a Chicago or L.A IMO.