Southern Cities: Most Overrated and Most Underrated

[polo89]

Originally Posted by travel-a-lot

I know people in Florida seem more crazy than anywhere in America by far but is it really that bad state wide or are you just talking about palm beach, broward, and dade?

Crime rates are high statewide. But Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade are the worst of the lot. Florida's no joke. South Florida is especially violent. Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach(Northside Tamarind Ave/Palm Beach Lakes corridor), Miami Gardens, Lauderhill, Opa-Locka, Liberty City, Overtown, Little Haiti, etc. No-go zones. Here's a homicide map for Palm Beach County over a 5yr period:

INTERACTIVE: Palm Beach County homicides | www.palmbeachpost.com


As you can see, most of them are in Riviera Beach and the Northside of West Palm Beach. Palm Beach County averages between 75 and 105 homicides per year.

[isawooty]

Originally Posted by LNKNE-ADJ

I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to answer this question. I'm not a southerner but my sales territory is the southeast...so I've had a wonderful opportunity over the last few years to travel the southeast EXTENSIVELY. So...here's my abbreviated list of gems and duds.

***Disclaimer*** This is obviously very subjective and based solely on MY experiences in these cities. It isn't my intent to offend by any stretch. I'm sure that all cities have awesome parts...I'm just basing my opinion on the experiences that I have had in each of these cities.

Overrated: Atlanta. I'm sorry...I know this will probably get me throttled on here but I just wasn't impressed with it. It's an average, run-of-the-mill, mid-large city. It has museums, pro sports, a fairly large skyline, and nice weather...it just didn't strike me as overtly remarkable. But...I'll be in Atlanta next week...So I'll maybe pay closer attention to it next time.

Overrated: Nashville. This could be a by-product of the people that hyped it up for me. I was told wonderous fables of the great night-life. I thought it was meh. A few colleagues took me to some bars downtown and then some restaurants where they live in Franklin and it was nice....but again....nothing that grabbed me as being really great.

Underrated: Asheville. The views and local scenery are absolutely stunning. The local food and breweries were all great. The Orange Peel is a great venue with awesome acoustics and the crowds were fun-loving and happy to be there. The city just had a great vibe.

Underrated: Williamsburg/Newport News. My initial ideas were as follows: history, old buildings, revolutionary war, battlefields...blah blah blah. Well, I was wrong. The areas around the northern section of Hampton Roads were beautiful. I had pretty bad conceptions of the history but Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown's battlefields were quite fun to check out. I had the opportunity to go sailing twice and we played golf at some great courses. I was very impressed with my trips there.

Underrated: Tallahassee. Food, people, bars, and the love of FSU football was fun and contagious. Great fun in Tallahassee.

Overrated: Orlando. The most magical place in the world? Nope.

Underrated: Jacksonville. Wonderful golf courses and beaches. The scenery was amazing and you're just a quick drive to St. Augustine which was a treat all by itself.

Underrated: Lafayette, LA. I had a hell of a time in Lafayette. I was driven by a friend to Breaux Bridge for a crawfish festival and it was awesome. We also hit a lot of local restaurants in the city itself and I literally had no bad meals there. On top of that...the bayous of southern LA were so unique and fun to experience.

Overrated: Richmond, VA. The Fan is a nice area because of the restaurants and museums but for the most part the city just seemed dirty and unsafe.

Underrated: Ok...give me some latitude on this one. I'm not sure if most people consider West Virginia in the South but I really like Charleston, WV. Literally the entire city is split on the Kanawha River and the Appalachian Mountains roll through the entire city creating a beautiful dynamic. There's not a ton to do in Charleston but the natural beauty is pretty impressive and they have a ton of outdoorsy type things to get into.

My heart swells every time I ride into Bradfordville down 319. There is a Cajun food joint right on the outskirts of Tallahassee, Coosh's Bayou... food is awesome. Tallahassee, especially during football season, is wonderful. I love, love, love that city. I just can't stand Florida and I make no apologizes for it.

[polo89]

Tallahassee's a nice city.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by isawooty

Let me walk into a gay bar and say: wow there are a lot of pseudo-gay people in here and then after making the comment try and back pedal. It doesn't work that way.

On the other hand, having a degree doesn't make you educated, I agree. But don't seemingly discredit one city (Atlanta) while giving a nod to the other (D.C.)

And you did say that Miami earned the right to be flashy coming off the heels of my comment about a 5th ER physican driving an Aston Martin, which is absurd and screams pretentious. Not to mention, he's going broke because he wasn't established enough to afford a $150k vehicle. Whether it be Atlanta or Miami, living beyond your means is fake and aggravating as hell.

Now if I misinterpreted what you were "trying" to say, you now realize why.

And as far as shade, you're the queen of shade throwing on City Data. I'm not mad at all, just don't try to push it off as honest posting.

The validity of my statements do not change just because they made you feel some type of way, which they clearly did, no matter how much you state otherwise. So if you choose to see it as shade, then that's on you. Not my problem. I stand by what I said as not only honest but true, in my experience. Perhaps your experiences are different. I even went so far as to say that it was mostly Atlanta transplants that I observed this problem with. Maybe that's why you took it personal.

I certainly won't be losing any sleep over my given title as the shade king.

*Nairobi is the name of a city in Africa, in case you weren't aware.

[isawooty]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

The validity of my statements do not change just because they made you feel some type of way, which they clearly did, no matter how much you state otherwise. So if you choose to see it as shade, then that's on you. Not my problem. I stand by what I said as not only honest but true, in my experience. Perhaps your experiences are different. I even went so far as to say that it was mostly Atlanta transplants that I observed this problem with. Maybe that's why you took it personal.

I certainly won't be losing any sleep over my given title as the shade king.

*Nairobi is the name of a city in Africa, in case you weren't aware.

You are the "king" of throwing shade, but clearly not reading it.

And yes, your comments made me feel some type of way. That's why I responded. Not to change your mind, but to point out that I didn't miss what you were implying.

At the end of the day, you salty too. Maybe that's why YOU took me reading you for what it was personal.

[xhgz]

Originally Posted by travel-a-lot

Lafayette really? I always assumed it would be another crime filled little city like baton rouge but you're not the first person I've seen on these boards talking about how nice it is

Crime filled little city? Where are you coming from man?
S. Chicago? S. Memphis?

[Newsboy]

I saw a brand-new Rolls Royce Ultimate in downtown Savannah tonight. Still had the dealer plates on it. The valet was nervous about putting it in the garage. I think that was pretty pretentious, but it doesn't reflect negatively on Savannah IMO.

Cities are only as good as the people who inhabit them, and who frequent them.

[JMT]

And thus we see why negative threads are not allowed. This one is now closed.