Slowest Paced Big Cities (live, retiree, best)

[f1000]

not sure if a similar thread has been posted, but I remember Salt Lake City, Denver, Tampa Bay, San Antonio, Portland, Las Vegas & New Orleans to be relatively big cities that to me seemed particularly slow paced, when it comes to things like driving, speed of people walking, customer service efficiency, laid-back 'energy vibes' of downtowns, looks on people's faces when waiting in random long lines, etc, etc.
Now of course these cities are not considered "huge" but with metro area populations over one million, there's still substantial population.
When I lived outside Los Angeles with its 10 million or so inhabitants, people there generally seemed very laidback & quite slow paced (compared to northern big cities), until they stepped into their cars...(same with San Deigo). Seattle metro (where I live), is not too slow- pretty moderate relatively.
Being a person of somewhat impatient nature, I definitely notice when things slow down (not that it's a bad thing of course, just interesting to observe & appreciate how people/ places are different).

A slightly related subquestion would be, do Americans appreciate or loathe the pace of many big European & Asian cities that are noticeably faster-paced than most American counterparts except perhaps our Northeastern cities?

[CMDallas]

Not all European and Asian cities are fast paced, just the Big ones like Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, London, Seoul etc... Nanjing is a relatively big city that moved sort of slow.

yes, there has been a thread on this. This one guy called DC slow and everyone went berserk.

I get Comments on how Dallas is soooo slow compared to Phoenix, but I don't know San Antonio and San Diego seem slow to me... its all opinion.

[Katiana]

Denver drivers like to drive fast. We were one of the first states to raise the speed limit when the feds said we could. People do seem a tad more patient about waiting in lines here, but on the other criteria you mentioned, it's about the same as anywhere else I have ever lived (Pittsburgh, Champaign, IL, Wilmington, DE, upstate NY).

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by f1000

When I lived outside Los Angeles with its 10 million or so inhabitants, people there generally seemed very laidback & quite slow paced (compared to northern big cities), until they stepped into their cars...(same with San Deigo). Seattle metro (where I live), is not too slow- pretty moderate relatively.
Being a person of somewhat impatient nature, I definitely notice when things slow down (not that it's a bad thing of course, just interesting to observe & appreciate how people/ places are different).

San Diego is a stressful place to drive (and L.A. even moreso). That's when I notice the majority of rude behaviors there. Other than that, San Diego is pretty slow. I can understand what you mean about how other people's laidback attitude can cause someone to be impatient. A perfect example is as a customer in a store, I might be in a hurry to get in and out of there, but the clerks take their time since their used to being laid back which is a disadvantage for me.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by CMDallas

I get Comments on how Dallas is soooo slow compared to Phoenix, but I don't know San Antonio and San Diego seem slow to me... its all opinion.

HA! I've been to Phoenix and that's laughable. You have to light a fire into Phoenix residents to get them active partly because many of the city is retirees. Dallas is much faster in pace than Phoenix. Dallas is laid back though. Also, New Orleans is anything but slow pace.

I would say Jacksonville and Oklahoma City are slow paced big cities.

[WildWestDude]

It was mentioned that Las Vegas is slow paced! It is anything but that!
If you came in the middle of the summer in 120F when people stayed indoors maybe you could have thought that.

El Paso is one of the slowest cities. The "manana" mentality prevails.
This means don't do anything today that you can do tomorrow, and of course you say the same thing the next day.

[dullnboring]

El Paso is definitely really slow-paced. So is Albuquerque. The whole southwestern U.S., whether urban or rural (the South seems to only be slow-paced in rural areas) seems to be very laid-back. I think the weather has a lot to do with it. Lots and lots of sun and mild weather.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by Spade

I would say.../...Oklahoma City are slow paced big cities.

I'd concur with Okla City. It's a large city with a small-town feel, most everyone [to me] seems pretty relaxed.

The one exception is the highway system, which IMO resemble a wild-west rodeo. People drive fast, but it's not a "rude" kind of fast with road rage, etc. It's more of a laid-back efficient type of fast, with everyone just jockeying for position and trying to make the best of it. Of course, traffic Okla City is practically non-existent compared to most big cities, with the exception of I-44 S during rush hour.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by dullnboring

El Paso is definitely really slow-paced. So is Albuquerque.

I've never been to El Paso, but I would concur with Albuq.

[Colts]

Well, it depends on what your criteria for "slow-paced" is.

Do you mean a city in which people literally walk and talk slow? Or how about a city with just a laid-back vibe?