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San Diego - As an angeleno I hated this place for a long time. Actually, hate is too strong a word. I just thought it was incredibly boring. And I still believe that most of the suburban areas pretty much are. But, as I've spent more time there I've fallen in love with OB and all of the "urban mesa" neighborhoods around the park. I'm a big fan of the "craftsman bungalow in the california sunshine" lifestyle and it truly abounds there. Downtown still sucks, though.. (no flavor).
Seattle - I thought it was going to be kinda sterile like downtown SD (endless condo boxes) but there's a real diversity of architecture there which I really love, and downtown has a great mix of neighborhoods and all of them are well connected.
Greenville, SC - Such a nice little city! I love the river flowing through town.
DC - pretty damn boring and expected downtown (federal overpowering greyness..) But as you get further out there's some interesting stuff here. Especially love the awesome topography in the northwest -- I had no idea there was a canyon running through town. The hilly neighborhoods are truly spectacular, and obviously georgetown is a sight to behold. I could never imagine living there, but I'm glad it exists in the US.
Disappointments:
Boston - For having so many college students, you'd think this place would be a hopping culture hub. Why oh why is it so boring?!? Everyone in boston seems to be either a total square or a "haadcore" idiot or some ******* who wants to fight. I went to school nearby and honestly made like 5 trips to the 'big city' before giving up on it.. With so much potential it's such a letdown. They need to learn from SF, minneapolis, Denver, etc. on how to be a "cool" mid-big city.
Vancouver - First impression when I got off the highway: THIS is vancouver? the highway lets you off way outside of downtown, so the first thing you see are these absolutely depressingly hideous 70s tract houses that would be eyesores even in the southern california suburbs... then after finally making it to downtown I was utterly dissapointed. Vancouver hypes itself so much, and yes all of the condo towers is impressive. But is it nice? Is it interesting? Does it have character? I couldn't find it. I liked the skid row area for like two blocks where everyone's an addict and there's all the old victorian buildings. I did go to the so-called "counter-culture" neighborhood outside of downtown and again.. it was a strip of depressing 70s-y dentist-office style buildings with a couple painted bright colors. Just a really depressing cityscape (obviously a gorgeous natural setting though! and the park is fantastic! But c'mon vancouverites! make this city live up to it's hype!)
Wow, what he said ∧↑↑↑∧, my sentiments exactly, except i spent a great deal of my youth in San Diego and never thought it boring.
I don't think I have been disappointed visiting any city. I always go with an open mind.
I was impressed by how polite the drivers were in Phoenix, I was surprised that Seattle is far from as drab as people made it out to be.
I was surprised by how different Las Vegas looked off of the strip.
I was surprised that SF was so small and surprised by some of it hoods.
If I had to pick a biggest let down it would probably be Austin. Because it is in my state I hear sooooo much about it, and although it isn't bad, the hype is just impossible to match
I was pleasantly surprised by Seattle when I first moved here. I never had any problems making friends, acquaintences, finding a date, or not knowing what to do. Current mayor is screwing things up though by making it cost an arm and a leg to just cross over from the Eastside. Tourists shouldn't be especially impacted much. Parking though is going up from $1.00 / hr to $4 in some parts! And they're tearing up roads for bike lanes and "buffer zones" and other utter nonsense. I know many businesses who will be leaving for the Eastside. It will eventually be known as "Seattle-Bellevue" instead of just Seeattle, like "Minneapolis-St. Paul" and "Dallas - Ft. Worth".
I don't know if it will disappoint in the future, but do expect it to cost SIGNIFICANTLY more to go to Seattle in the near future.
I was also surprised in a good way about San Fransisco. Many beautiful women were there and the latinas were especially gorgeous (I still remember one even though it's been like 8 months since I was there). I could see myself living there perhaps and will likely visit again. I wanted to see more of the Presidio and go to the western beaches and linger a bit more in Chinatown and little Italy. EXPENSIVE though.
I was pleasantly surprised by Indianapolis. For such a "small" city, it has an interesting downtown, some nice parts, and I absolutely loved Broad Ripple. It was also CHEAP.
Vancouver: the nightlife there is what saves the city, and the interesting strips in some of the neighborhoods. I have a Moroccan friend who would take me up there ... ahh, I wonder how he's doing these days back home ... .
Odawara, Japan: For a "suburban" city, it is awfully close to all the natural hotsprings, has a really interesting history, and the HASHIRIYA (street racers)! I saw Lamborghini's, Ferraris, BMWs, Audis, Porsche's, TVRs, Nissan GTR's, old American muscle cars, highly customized and some hand-built cars, and countless awesome motorcycles. I lost count of how many old, exotic, and interesting cars I saw on that highway.
Hiroshima: The history of this place and the newness (for obvious reasons) and the beautiful personality of the people here are what makes the city. I was awestruck at the Peace Dome and the museum, but I warn you, do NOT go in there if you are weak of stomach. Anyone who doesn't come out of that museum an ardent supporter of the destruction of all nuclear weapons is a heartless idiot or someone who doesn't value humanity.
Disappointing:
Tokyo. Some parts are awesome, like Harajuku, the Emperor's grounds, Ginza, the historic buildings from the Meiji restoration, and the shrines, but other parts are just plain, dirty, big city. I guess you can't have it all, but I, for some reason, what expecting ....... something. I don't know.
LA: Endless traffic jams, some crazies, absolutely crazy attempts at navigation without a GPS, and less than unhelpful citizens really put me off for this city. Oh its got attractions, but it was the PEOPLE who really put me off. I'm never going back.
Phoenix: See LA. And add the undercurrent of racism, bravado, and fugly grey-brown-red architecture EVERYWHERE and you have Phoenix. The only redeeming parts were, it was cheap, I have a fascination with the desert so I could easily escape, and Scottsdale. Everything else was just ... yuck! I'm going to Vegas if I'm going to see the Grand Canyon again.
Oh I made friends and had a blast there, but I could never live there.
Indianapolis: I thought it was a fine city, Downtown Indianapolis is absolutely beautiful. I was pleasantly surprised.
Cincinnati: I knew it had some rough neighborhoods but Downtown Cincinnati is very nice and I had a lot of fun exploring it.
Lexington, KY: I was a bit disappointed. It feels like a small town, did not see anything interesting in Lexington
Knoxville, TN: I really liked it. I pictured it to be a typical Southern City but it reminded me a lot of other college cities like Madison and Austin. Very nice place!
1) Kansas City - my first thoughts driving in to the city were that it was WAY prettier than i ever expected (rolling hills, large abundance of trees, etc.). The city also was way more urban/dense than I expected. It had a great gritty character without feeling old and decrepit. I literally loved everything about my time there. My first trip was only for 2 days so I went back a year later to spend more time. On the second trip i spent a long weekend there and had 2 of the most fun nights of my life. The night life really is excellent for my style. One night i spent at The Phoenix club enjoying classic KC style jazz (Jazz is extremely lacking and sub-par here in Dallas) and the other was in Westport making my way through the different clubs/bars dancing. What i noticed mostly that was in contrast to what we have in Dallas is that the clubs/bars felt racially-integrated and un-pretentious. And the specialty coffee scene is top notch...not nearly on the level of PDX or Seattle, but pretty much as good as I've seen outside of those. I now plan to move to KC when i get my house finished and sold this spring.
2) St Louis - way more urban bustling than expected. Had some resemblances to Chicago and KC. I could definitely live there.
3) Tulsa & Oklahoma City - Much prettier setting than expected. Rolling hills and nice rivers. Parts of eastern OK were mountainous and heavily forested. I had always pictured Oklahoma looking like a pancake with no trees.
Disappointments:
1) Austin - I found it kinda boring and non-cohesive and not urban at all. The nightlife areas were small and spread out (not including 6th street which is not at all my cup of tea). Traffic is extremely bad there and i came across more pretentiousness/snobbiness than i even find here in Dallas (which is a lot!).
2) Nashville - was okay but people talk of it like it's so cool and fun but i just couldn't find it when i was there. Pretty place though.
3) NYC - I think the countless movies and tv shows and hype I'd seen/heard prior to going there built up my expectations too much. It is an amazing city, just not how i had envisioned it for the first 24 years of my life.
Louisville: Has some interesting neighborhoods, restaurants, and decent shopping options. The road layout is great and easy to get around. Before, it was just a bathroom break on the way to family in Cincinnati.
Charlotte: Went on a business trip with my bf and had the chance to explore the city. It is really a nice city with many new housing units, commercial developments, and I love the lynx system for getting around.
Disappointments:
Austin: Nothing was there. It felt like a small town trying to be a big city. The roads were awful, and the people were very pretentious. Not for me.
Memphis: I didn't feel safe, and the area looked run down with thug types everywhere. Beale Street was overrated.
Lodi, California - Feared that it would be just another run-down central valley town, but it turns out to be a quaint, quirky little working class town with some great restaurants and wineries and nice, lamp-post-lined residential streets.
Detroit, Michigan - Haters gonna hate, Detroit is finally going somewhere. Downtown has some cool looking buildings and good dive bars with kind of a cool social vibe. Not to mention this is and has always been a top tier live sports city and Detroit has also produced some great rock music. There's also more ethnic/immigrant diversity around here (particularly in the suburbs) than some give credit for. I can see how Detroit was a rockin' city some 50 years ago. The infrastructure is there, it could become a bangin city once again.
Disappointments:
Tuscon, Arizona - Meh, fascinating surrounding scenery, but kind of like just a piece of the Los Angeles san fernando valley that ended up out in AZ. Lots of CA expats. LA's eastern-most suburb?
Seattle, Washington - For years, everyone has gushed about this as the snazzy, go-to, hipster, freakishly cool city up in the corner of America!! I second a previous poster that Seattle for me just feels like a whitebread San Francisco. That's still not a bad thing though since I think SF is pretty amazing; Seattle is still a pretty cool place itself, but certainly not as awesome as the hype speaks. Good enough for a 3 day vacation.
I just wanted to bump this thread as I think it is a pretty interesting one...anyone else care to share anything?
I guess I can add a bit more as I am currently on a business trip in Houston. I used to live here for a short stint in 2007 and really did not enjoy my time. I was fresh outta school so I was probably pretty jaded at the time. So I'm here now 7 years later and this place has surprised me for the better. It is really not much like Dallas at all other than being a similar size and it's a sunbelt/Texas city. But it has a feel to it that is all its own. Lots of high rises have sprung up since I left, many new restaurants, bars, and coffee shops have come in and development in general seems to have exploded. This city just seems to "feel" more bustling and fast-paced than Dallas. Maybe it's because I don't know it like the back of my hand like I do dallas. Regardless...I'm impressed this time. Still don't want to live here, but worth a visit if you are ever get a chance (probably not worth a special trip unless you are already nearby, though).
Dallas- think like other texas cities it's underrated vastly.
Las Vegas- strip is everything you expect it to be
The beautiful austin
Charleston (minus the sketchy area as we were nearing the bridge)
St Augustine beach
Surprised in a negative way
Milwaukee (so dead at night it's almost feels abandon although it has some cool architecture downtown)
Savannah (beautiful beautiful however once you get away from the touristy areas we got lost in an endless ghetto)
Panama City.. Overrated
Kansas City.. Seemed dirty and tired. Didn't care for any of Kansas though.
St. Louis.. Great architecture however kind of felt uneasy walking some of the streets- arch is cool
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