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Chicago being top 3 in both is interesting. I sure do see alot of yuppie content surrounding Chicago on Tiktok.
Chicago seems to have risen in popularity a lot recently. This follows the “Chi raq” era reputation of 5+ years ago it’s seemed to turn around rather quick as of late.
World class destinations should include Orlando, possibly Miami as a destination for Latin American world.
Regional destinations include Chicago.
Next tier is Nashville, Austin and Denver.
Forget Cleveland, STL and Minneapolis.
As for comparing ATL and CLE: remember Atlanta has Six Flags and that's huge. Another thing, ATL is in the middle of it's region, CLE is on the edge. Something else, Atlanta is chock full of successful black people. Even I notice this and I'm white. Wouldn't that be a draw for a black family coming from white bread America?
So forget Cleveland and St. Louis, but definitely include Austin?
What on earth would a foreign tourist do in Austin? Hang out at the lake?
The experience of visiting Atlanta doesn't knock it up two tiers is all I am writing. I love them both for visiting if I just so happen to be in town for an extra two or three days. The Atlanta economic status is enough to boost the number of visitors. The hype of Black Mecca is another boost. I am a Black man and the experience of visiting Atlanta doesn't place it two levels above Cleveland. That is my opinion. It definitely isn't on the level of NYC or Chicago. Atlanta may be a smidgen above Cleveland according to it being an interesting city.
Here is my ranking.
World Class Destination
New York City
Chicago
San Francisco
Washington DC
Philadelphia
Boston
Regional Destinations 1st tier
These cities can usually hold a tourist attention for over a week due to the number of amenities. They usually have "things" such as amusement parks, zoos and aquariums and do it very well. They may even be classified as a good regional shopping destination. The number of museums may be above average in the grand scop of things.
Atlanta
Seattle
San Diego
2nd tier regional destinations
This tier is for cities with a handful of world class cultural institutions. They usually touch all bases in terms of zoos, aquariums and amusement parks. They usually have one or two atributes that makes people say hmm like out doors' type things like mountain lakes or unique neighborhoods. Shopping is usually average. They have everything but nothing special.
Cleveland
St. Louis
Orlando
Minneapolis
3rd tier regional destinations
This is the tier of cities that may be a good place for two days or so. They usually have under 30 museums. They usually lack amusement parks, zoo and aquariums. They are usually over rated and hyped up due to excessive PR. These cities usually lack higher end retailers like Saks, Niemans and Bloomingdales. Some residents may have to leave the area for their shopping, cultural or amusement park fix.
Charlotte
Austin
Nashville
This is my tiered examples based upon my opinions.
I'm not going to flesh them out right now, but I'd say your "regional destinations" tiers all have too few cities in them. I'd also say that Orlando belongs in a tier higher than "regional destination." I understand why you're reluctant to label it "world class" because it doesn't have the whole menu of cultural, shopping and other attractions such cities usually have, but the nature of its chief draw and its hangers-on is such that it places the city in a class by itself. It certainly draws visitors from well beyond both its region and its country.
The experience of visiting Atlanta doesn't knock it up two tiers is all I am writing. I love them both for visiting if I just so happen to be in town for an extra two or three days. The Atlanta economic status is enough to boost the number of visitors. The hype of Black Mecca is another boost. I am a Black man and the experience of visiting Atlanta doesn't place it two levels above Cleveland. That is my opinion. It definitely isn't on the level of NYC or Chicago. Atlanta may be a smidgen above Cleveland according to it being an interesting city.
Here is my ranking.
World Class Destination
New York City
Chicago
San Francisco
Washington DC
Philadelphia
Boston
Regional Destinations 1st tier
These cities can usually hold a tourist attention for over a week due to the number of amenities. They usually have "things" such as amusement parks, zoos and aquariums and do it very well. They may even be classified as a good regional shopping destination. The number of museums may be above average in the grand scop of things.
Atlanta
Seattle
San Diego
2nd tier regional destinations
This tier is for cities with a handful of world class cultural institutions. They usually touch all bases in terms of zoos, aquariums and amusement parks. They usually have one or two atributes that makes people say hmm like out doors' type things like mountain lakes or unique neighborhoods. Shopping is usually average. They have everything but nothing special.
Cleveland
St. Louis
Orlando
Minneapolis
3rd tier regional destinations
This is the tier of cities that may be a good place for two days or so. They usually have under 30 museums. They usually lack amusement parks, zoo and aquariums. They are usually over rated and hyped up due to excessive PR. These cities usually lack higher end retailers like Saks, Niemans and Bloomingdales. Some residents may have to leave the area for their shopping, cultural or amusement park fix.
Charlotte
Austin
Nashville
This is my tiered examples based upon my opinions.
Not bad, but Los Angeles is obviously a miss on your list and, for better or worse, it belongs in the first tier as a world-class destination... if for Hollywood, alone, which in itself has such a national and global cultural and psychological impact, and Hollywood isn't just the one geographic LA neighborhood, but a mindset, culture, and lifestyle that permeates the entire LA area, and even much of SoCal beyond LA... And LA has considerably more than Hollywood. A national and worldwide destination city? Oh yeah.
Not bad, but Los Angeles is obviously a miss on your list and, for better or worse, it belongs in the first tier as a world-class destination... if for Hollywood, alone, which in itself has such a national and global cultural and psychological impact, and Hollywood isn't just the one geographic LA neighborhood, but a mindset, culture, and lifestyle that permeates the entire LA area, and even much of SoCal beyond LA... And LA has considerably more than Hollywood. A national and worldwide destination city? Oh yeah.
I wasn't going to sit there and fill in all top 50 msa's. But yes, LA has a top destination ambiance. You are right about Hollywood and numerous other areas.
If you think Atlanta is a destination city then you are out of touch. Can you imagine a European saying “I want to plan a trip to Atlanta?” No.
Secondly, who came up with tiers? They are meaningless.
True destination cities:
New York City
Los Angeles
Las Vegas
Honolulu
Washington D.C.
Miami
San Francisco
Any other cities are just “add on” not destination cities.
I'd probably add Denver. Not the city, but the region. It's where you go to ski right? Seattle too maybe. Lots of people go, just because it's Seattle imo.
Austin is ok for a four day getaway, lots to do, but after four days, what else would you do there that you can't do elsewhere?
We could add regions that people go to where the cities aren't the core of the attraction. Such as:
--Hawaii (beaches)
--Colorado (skiing)
--Utah (canyons)
You omit DC, Philly, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Austin, San Diego, but include Portland and Seattle?... ok...
Another poster had Dallas and not Houston on the list. What can one do in Dallas that you can't do in Houston? Plus Houston has NASA.
Actually, if you're in say Philly or Boston and you visit Dallas, what do you do? What makes Dallas a unique destination?
For Seattle, there's not a lot of neighborhoods that are similar to Ballard, Queen Anne, downtown, etc. You can definitely have a unique experience there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TacoSoup
Flagstaff, AZ gets more tourists than Anaheim, home of Disneyland? GTFO with this garbage list.
The experience of visiting Atlanta doesn't knock it up two tiers is all I am writing. I love them both for visiting if I just so happen to be in town for an extra two or three days. The Atlanta economic status is enough to boost the number of visitors. The hype of Black Mecca is another boost. I am a Black man and the experience of visiting Atlanta doesn't place it two levels above Cleveland. That is my opinion. It definitely isn't on the level of NYC or Chicago. Atlanta may be a smidgen above Cleveland according to it being an interesting city.
Here is my ranking.
World Class Destination
New York City
Chicago
San Francisco
Washington DC
Philadelphia
Boston
Regional Destinations 1st tier
These cities can usually hold a tourist attention for over a week due to the number of amenities. They usually have "things" such as amusement parks, zoos and aquariums and do it very well. They may even be classified as a good regional shopping destination. The number of museums may be above average in the grand scop of things.
Atlanta
Seattle
San Diego
2nd tier regional destinations
This tier is for cities with a handful of world class cultural institutions. They usually touch all bases in terms of zoos, aquariums and amusement parks. They usually have one or two atributes that makes people say hmm like out doors' type things like mountain lakes or unique neighborhoods. Shopping is usually average. They have everything but nothing special.
Cleveland
St. Louis
Orlando
Minneapolis
3rd tier regional destinations
This is the tier of cities that may be a good place for two days or so. They usually have under 30 museums. They usually lack amusement parks, zoo and aquariums. They are usually over rated and hyped up due to excessive PR. These cities usually lack higher end retailers like Saks, Niemans and Bloomingdales. Some residents may have to leave the area for their shopping, cultural or amusement park fix.
Charlotte
Austin
Nashville
This is my tiered examples based upon my opinions.
I'm pretty sure Minneapolis and Cleveland rank closer to tier 1 for world class museums and theater scenes.
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