Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well DC is definitely the biggest city I've ever been in. I was only there for four days. The Twin Cities is the largest metro I've ever really spent much time in. Other than that, the biggest area I've been in was DFW and that was only the airport.
Haven't been to the big cities on the coasts except for Orlando. In Middle America the 3 largest I have been to are Chicago, DFW, and Houston. Chicago born and obviously the biggest of the three. Mostly acquainted with Dallas/Fort Worth though.
Been around a good chuck of the US including the coasts, midwest etc. The only regions I have really not explored is the Upper Plains (though really would like to) Also the inter-mountain west is a place I have not spent a ton of time in, never been to SLC
I like people who say they've been to a city for a few hours....and it turns out it was a layover.
I mean no one in their right mind would say they've "visited Chicago" or "I went to Dallas once" because they had a layover, right?? That's just so strange, you didn't see a single bit of the city except the airport - which could have been any airport in the entire country.
I had a guy at work once tell me he hated Chicago more than almost any other city.....because he flew through once and had a really long boring layover.
Having lived in the DC area now for over four years, I can honestly say a few things.
First I'm comparing similar demographics that I live and work around. Middle and upper middle class, white collar suburban and urban people.
From my experience, people on the east coast are not near as traveled (domestically) as those in the midwest. I know you have your biz travelers that go everywhere, but the vast majority of the general population out here seems far less traveled. I mean most people out here have not been west of PA or OH unless they migrated to this area from the midwest or west and they rarely seem to travel to the next city that is only 1-2 hours away while people in the midwest don't think twice about driving 2-8 hours to reach places for a weekend getaway.
People in the Midwest tend to travel more to the east and west coasts, the south (texas, gulf of mexico etc) and pacific nw. I also think that similar people (demographic wise) might even travel more internationally than those on the coasts.
What I have found is that people out here just have very little idea of how much there really is to see in this country. They think they live near mountains. I'm sorry, these are not mountains out here and think that the cities they live in have "everything" so nothing else is worth visiting.
They seriously don't have a clue about major cities across the country, there are only like 20-30 true major cities and I don't think it's that difficult to have a basic understanding of most of them, but people don't.
People in the midwest travel more because more of the country is accessible to them and because they have more disposable income and more time to travel (daily rat race of east coast eats up lots of time). They don't travel because where they live sucks. Most midwestern cities offer a very similar (if not better) daily quality of life and cultural amenities than most coastal cities.
KC was a great place to live if you wanted to live in major city AND see the rest of the country on a very regular basis. You can drive to most of the country and most flights were only 1-2 hours, no more than 4 hours to any place.
I think people out here think places like KC are farm country. I was in Hartford this past weekend. A city much smaller than KC (and it feels way smaller) and I told somebody I was from KC and they acted like I was from a farm in Kansas (which is typical). I mean, you expect that from Boston or NYC, but you are just as likely to get it from Hartford or Providence or Richmond which are blown away by KC in every aspect. Then again, I get the same reaction in Louisville and Mobile and Tacoma. KC just has a "kansas" image it can't shake when yo get more than 100 miles from it.
But IMO east coast people (and from what I have experienced west coast as well), don't tend to know as much about the entire USA as midwesterners.
Anyone in Middle America who hasn't been to any of the big cities on the West or East Coasts? Gulf coast doesn't count.
If so- in this context, is Chicago or Dallas or Atlanta or Phoenix the "biggest" cities you're acquainted with?
Chicago is pretty big, dont'cha think? Only NY and LA are bigger than Chicago. How does not going to either of those equate to not experiencing a big city? Dallas is bigger than San Francisco, Atlanta is bigger than Boston.
I have lived in the Midwest my entire life and I have been to LA, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Rehoboth Beach, Baltimore, DC, Hampton Roads, Savannah, and Jacksonville.
I have also been to Tampa, New Orleans, Grand Marais, Duluth, Milwaukee, Chicago, Michigan City, Muskegon, Sandusky, Cleveland, and Rochester (and Toronto), all of which are coastal port cities, even if they aren't all saltwater coasts.
And let's go ahead and add Dublin, London, Amsterdam, Cape Town, Storms River, Port Elizabeth, East London, and Durban.
I'm much more interested in how many lifelong New Yorkers or Californians have been to Minneapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Louisville. I would bet money the percentage of Midwesterners who have been to a coast is higher than the percentage of East and West Coasters who have been to the Midwest.
I'm in NJ (close enough to NY) and I've been to all - spend well over a year total in Minneapolis, Columbus and Indy. I rock. LOL Let's also include Memphis, Fort Wayne, Dayton, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Newburgh, Quad Cities, Milwaukee, Peoria, Springfield, Cincinnati, Madison. And of course, one of my favs - Chicago.
Having lived in the DC area now for over four years, I can honestly say a few things.
First I'm comparing similar demographics that I live and work around. Middle and upper middle class, white collar suburban and urban people.
From my experience, people on the east coast are not near as traveled (domestically) as those in the midwest. I know you have your biz travelers that go everywhere, but the vast majority of the general population out here seems far less traveled. I mean most people out here have not been west of PA or OH unless they migrated to this area from the midwest or west and they rarely seem to travel to the next city that is only 1-2 hours away while people in the midwest don't think twice about driving 2-8 hours to reach places for a weekend getaway.
People in the Midwest tend to travel more to the east and west coasts, the south (texas, gulf of mexico etc) and pacific nw. I also think that similar people (demographic wise) might even travel more internationally than those on the coasts.
What I have found is that people out here just have very little idea of how much there really is to see in this country. They think they live near mountains. I'm sorry, these are not mountains out here and think that the cities they live in have "everything" so nothing else is worth visiting.
They seriously don't have a clue about major cities across the country, there are only like 20-30 true major cities and I don't think it's that difficult to have a basic understanding of most of them, but people don't.
People in the midwest travel more because more of the country is accessible to them and because they have more disposable income and more time to travel (daily rat race of east coast eats up lots of time). They don't travel because where they live sucks. Most midwestern cities offer a very similar (if not better) daily quality of life and cultural amenities than most coastal cities.
KC was a great place to live if you wanted to live in major city AND see the rest of the country on a very regular basis. You can drive to most of the country and most flights were only 1-2 hours, no more than 4 hours to any place.
I think people out here think places like KC are farm country. I was in Hartford this past weekend. A city much smaller than KC (and it feels way smaller) and I told somebody I was from KC and they acted like I was from a farm in Kansas (which is typical). I mean, you expect that from Boston or NYC, but you are just as likely to get it from Hartford or Providence or Richmond which are blown away by KC in every aspect. Then again, I get the same reaction in Louisville and Mobile and Tacoma. KC just has a "kansas" image it can't shake when yo get more than 100 miles from it.
But IMO east coast people (and from what I have experienced west coast as well), don't tend to know as much about the entire USA as midwesterners.
It's all in your perspective. I grew up a few miles from Manhattan and feel like there are only 2 real cities in this country - NY and Chicago (I was shocked when I heard Anthony Bourdain say the same thing). Nothing else comes close. You probably think that's crazy and that's ok. My perception has been skewed. People who grew up or have spent a ton of time in the Rockies laugh at the East Coast perception of "mountains" (although I'd argue that "hills" that rise over 5000 ft can be classified as a mountain, but I digress). That's ok. We all can be right.
I'm much more interested in how many lifelong New Yorkers or Californians have been to Minneapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Louisville. I would bet money the percentage of Midwesterners who have been to a coast is higher than the percentage of East and West Coasters who have been to the Midwest.
I'm a native Californian. And I've never been to those cities you've mentioned. But I did get to travel to Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison, WI.
Most people I know growing up in So Cal mostly travel to Las Vegas for an out of state destination and maybe NYC.
The Ironic thing is that where I'm from is alot closer to Tijuana Mexico than any other major US City. I'm sure someone in Seattle would feel the same way about Vancouver B.C being closer to them than any other major US city.
Many people that I know locally are not well-traveled, especially those with low income (however, you'd be amazed at how well-traveled - domestically - some of the "older" folk are at the low-end job I worked at most recently). However, at the school district I went to, most of my classmates had been to either "coast" by the time I was 12-15.
Of east coast destinations, about half of my class went to D.C. at the end of 8th grade. I did an impromptu "poll" using Facebook messenger and if I recall correctly, about 25% of the surveyed had been to NYC.
On the east coast personally, I've been to DC and NYC. Never been to Chicago, although I've wanted to go for like forever and it is only 8 hours away (I did spend time in MDW if that counts). Other cities of size I've been to outside the Midwest include Tampa, FL, Merida (YUC), Villahermosa (TAB), Comitan (CHIS), San Cristobal (CHIS), Cancun, Tuxtla Gutierrez (CHIS), San Jose (CR), Barcelona/Madrid/San Sebastian/Granada in Spain, and Tangier / Meknes / Marrakesh in Morocco.
Travel to the south and west seems more popular than travel to the east (with the exception of Florida, which has traditionally been massively popular) - at least that's my impression. You will probably find more people locally who have been to Oklahoma or Utah than to Maine or Connecticut, and probably an equal or greater number that have been to Alaska as to Vermont or Delaware. Probably the most common "west coast" destination is Las Vegas, although the real west coast gets visited a lot - San Diego right up to Seattle.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Let's also include Memphis, Fort Wayne, Dayton, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Newburgh, Quad Cities, Milwaukee, Peoria, Springfield, Cincinnati, Madison. And of course, one of my favs - Chicago.
