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I think all cities are unique. I think with a lot of the bigger cities the difference are more pronounced, with smaller cities they are more subtle. I will concede that there are cities that have more unique character than others, but ultimately every city is still unique.
I agree and I said that... but they aren't THAT unique....
Your not gonna find much different stuff to do in a lot of cities in general... they all have their downtowns, their hip area with all the bars/clubs, their nearby quaint areas, the sprawling suburbs... most have museums and a zoo, of course some are better then others.
Like I said, there are only two "truly unique" cities in America. Of course every city in America is unique. Heck, even the Twin Cities are unique. You entirely missed the point though. As different as Chicago and Detroit may seem, they were both started to exploit the Great Lakes and Prairie. Both San Francisco and Seattle started off as port towns and experienced booms from Gold Rushes. In each case however both city pairings took off in their own direction at some point.
And again, not being "truly unique" does not equal not being unique or important.
Starting off and what they currently offer doesn't mean the same thing. You'd have an easier time saying not much different between Detroit and St. Louis.... but saying it and throwing Chicago in there? Come on....
Chicago is on a whole different level, and if you ask people in some random city in Europe, they know Chicago, they don't know Detroit or STL for the most part.
I can’t say for sure what is the most unique city in the U.S., but I do feel that New Orleans is definitely one of the the most interesting cities in America, given it’s distinctive history, culture, architecture, food, etc. Here you have a city that’s right up there with Boston and Philadelphia in terms of age (generally speaking), yet it’s not the typical East Coast colonial type city that you usually think of when it comes to American cities that originated in that time period.
OP, you have no idea what you're talking about. I've traveled a fair bit around the US and world.. and each city has it's own uniqueness and qualities to them.. but the cities you listed are NOT the only interesting cities. There were some cities that were absolutely boring.. ironically it's the city you are from. Don't even compare Cleveland and Milwaukee to Kansas City..
If you were bored in KC its cuz you were clueless about what there is to do here. Not surprising though, most people FROM KC (at least burbs) are clueless about what there is to do here. So if that was your OH SNAP then you just massively failed.
Like I said i've been guilty of hyping me own city, as most people have... but your not gonna find much difference between those 3 cities as far as things to do. Please point out to me any significant differences it'd be appreciated.
I have never visited a city or town, big or small, that wasn't unique.
I mean, yeah, if you want to oversimplify... ALL cities are the same worldwide. A bunch of people living by each other, mixed in with commerce and industry. Buildings, trees, streets and people. Good Lord, I'm getting bored already. All cities are the same.
Could there maybe be something on Mars that I'd find interesting? Maybe. But I hear they are largely intolerant of other life forms and lack public transportation.
LOL.... you see this is the problem with some peoples outlook.
All cities offer relatively the same thing, but some cities offer more. I broke this down already...
I'm talking REALLY unique, not... oh look my city has the Rock and Roll hall of fame we so unique! Or my city has the most starbucks, my city makes a ton of cars, my city drinks a ton of beer... blah blah blah... sure thats unique.. but its not REALLY unique.
To quote my favorite South Park episode... "I'm sorry, I thought this was America!!"
I'm saying as far as what stands out.... not saying their opinion is what matters. It's another example.
If you ask people in the US good luck getting anything solid either, in my personal experience most people in the US don't know much about their own city let alone the rest of the world, those who know anything know more about the region they are in. East and west coast people are clueless about the midwest, the south is clueless about the north, the midwest full of people who have never seen the ocean.
In fact, I'd say standing out to people in Europe IS actually significant now that I think about it. Why? Consider travel....
I've been all over the US, and when I go from one city to another, besides the few REALLY unique cities, as I said they mostly look the same, the culture of the people are surprisingly the same (some places conservative, some liberal.... not to much differences in between). You can expect the same big box neighborhoods in every single American city.
I've made this comment before to people I know, you do find differences, you do find unique things, but it is all distinctly American in the end. No matter how one may try to work around it and say its so unique and different.... it's American, its stamped it, you got the same mcdonalds eating mofos... i'm not saying this is a bad thing. I AM SAYING that we are a big a$$ country with a lot of the same stuff in every place.
Now Europe, you go to another country and things change massively. Culture, history, archetecture... here in the US most people travel to other states, in Europe most people travel to other countries.
I'm not telling anyone not to argue the merits of their city... but in the end if your not one of the REALLY unique cities in the US.... then it comes down to cost of living, jobs, and weather in the area.
I've made this comment before to people I know, you do find differences, you do find unique things, but it is all distinctly American in the end. No matter how one may try to work around it and say its so unique and different.... it's American, its stamped it, you got the same mcdonalds eating mofos... i'm not saying this is a bad thing. I AM SAYING that we are a big a$$ country with a lot of the same stuff in every place.
Now Europe, you go to another country and things change massively. Culture, history, archetecture... here in the US most people travel to other states, in Europe most people travel to other countries.
I'm not telling anyone not to argue the merits of their city... but in the end if your not one of the REALLY unique cities in the US.... then it comes down to cost of living, jobs, and weather in the area.
Shouldn't everything in this country be distinctly American? We are in America. We have a lot of the same stuff in every place, but there are also lots of differences.
As much as I love the south and it's weather, it's all very much the same feel.
Perhaps, although I'm skeptical, but I think the South is relatively unique to America. The Plains have some analogue in Canada's Prairie areas. The Pacific Northwest has commonalities with British Colombia. The Southwest has similarities to Mexico. The Northeast has similarities to the Maritimes or Ontario.
"The South" does not border another nation (exempting Texas which I'm not really dealing with here) and its culture largely originates in seventeenth century England, Scotland, and Ulster. "The South" is one of the only places in the developed world to be both highly religious and Protestant. The only others I can think of are the Dutch "Bible Belt", the Outer Hebrides, and maybe Northern Ireland. (Modern nations that come out fairly religious in studies; Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Malta are all Orthodox or Catholic) And my guess would be Southern cities are quite different to Northern Irish, Hebridean, or Dutch "Bible Belt" ones.
So I would think that Southern cities that retain a strong "Southern character", even if they are/were similar to each other, would be rather uniquely American.
Boston is historically significant.... and you can see that in many places not just the history books.
Denver is a mountain city, even if most people are leaving the city to go to places near by, its still the significant metro in the area. But yeah I also think Denver could be a bit sketchy..
Chicago... how could you not have Chicago? It's like THE all American city. Skyscrapers, history, what it has to offer in relation to other cities....
Denver isn't the only city near the Rocky Mountains, what about Salt Lake City, Santa Fe, Boise, and Phoenix? SLC and Santa Fe strike me as being very unique cities. Santa Fe is the 2nd oldest city in the US. SLC is dominated by the LDS church.
I totally agree with you about Chicago. NYC, LA, Miami, and SF are great cities, but they're not very "American." Chicago still feels distinctly American, while still being a diverse major metropolis.
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