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We're talking about cities, generally sitting in steep hilly/mountain areas, where, everywhere you look, you're all but looking at natural walls. Hills/Mountains that zoom up vertically out of the city! Ever found one of those cities in the U.S.? And where? No coastal city could ever qualify for this!
Las Vegas has that wrap-around mountain effect, everywhere you look you see mountains, but it suffers from the mountains being too far away from the city. You simply don't get that zooming verticality that can take your breath away, although, at times, even when I drive down the steeper hill to my house, those Sheep Mountains to the north seem close enough to touch, even though they're 20 miles away!
Salt Lake City comes close. Some of those Wasatch mountains seem to zoom straight up to the west, particularly I've noticed it staying in Provo.
I also got that feeling, one time, in Charleston, West Virginia, those hills zooming so vertically out of the river there!
Certainly not a large city, but the town I live in- Glenwood Springs, Co- could qualify. Much of the town is in the narrow part of a valley that varies from several hundred yards to about a 1/2 mile wide. Here's a pic- mountains on all sides, though the walls (about 2500 high) look much steeper when you're on the valley floor. Not a lot of overhead sunlight in the middle of the winter! http://www.ourtownglenwoodsprings.co...ssociation.jpghttp://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2013/02...ew%20Horiz.jpg
Claustrophobia is a fear people wish they didn't have but the rest of your post sounds like you want a place thats closed in by mountains. Theres no major cities like that. You're limited to towns in the Mountain West, mostly CO or a few towns in Montana.
I suppose you could get that feeling in Pittsburgh, especially if you are looking south.
When I read this Pittsburgh also popped into my mind. Also Johnstown, PA I think deserves to be mentioned, the Johnstown Flood of 1889 speaks to the fact of how closed in the town originally was, with 2,200 people losing their lives from the dam breaking.
When I read this Pittsburgh also popped into my mind. Also Johnstown, PA I think deserves to be mentioned, the Johnstown Flood of 1889 speaks to the fact of how closed in the town originally was, with 2,200 people losing their lives from the dam breaking.
Lots of places on the Upper Mississippi River are located in between the river and giant bluffs. The only "city" (if it's big enough) that really qualifies is probably La Crosse, WI, bluffs/hills on left, river just to the right:
Many of the towns and small cities along the Great River Road are tighter than La Crosse, like Alma WI, which has 2 N-S streets (often connected with steep stairway "roads"). There's very little land in between the river and the bluffs, and it pinches further on the outskirts:
If no water features are allowed (OP mentioned rivers above), then there are dozens of inland Driftless towns and cities that are in the cup of a valley, like Richland Center or Gays Mills:
Just figured I'd throw the Driftless into the ring besides the obvious mountain towns. It's called "Hidden Valleys" by some locals, as there are hundreds of them throughout the region, and many have towns or cities tucked away in them.
Any city in a valley would probably fit. Binghamton NY comes to mind due to sitting at the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers, while being surrounded by hills. Ithaca NY is another one that comes to mind. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre both come to mind too.
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