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Sure Austin Texas comes to mine as a Capitol city everyone is fighting to move there and is a popular tourist spot that city is bursting at the seems .
What are some of the less popular under appreciated capitols around the country that you enjoy ?
I for when say my home city of Albany . It is the capital of New York , many overlook that and assume New York City is the capital in fact it's not , people in the upstate and pretty much anywhere hate New York City and think it should be its own state . Upstate and downstate but I digress .
Why I think Albany is under appreciated :
1) great economy right now , lot of tech jobs moved into the area and a lot of the suburbs are exploding
2) traffic is not bad at all . I can commute to my job in under 15 minutes , as with any city you have problem roads at peak times but you just avoid them
3) weather . Yes winters are brutal cold for new comers but I enjoy them , snowboarding , snowmobileing hiking and our springs , summers and falls are near perfect . Low humidity , breezy
4) can't find a much more beautiful area in the country , mountains , forests , cliffs and rolling hills everywhere you look
5) great history and architecture downtown
6) very walkable downtown .
7) some of the best farm to table in the country
8) beer and wine scene is outstanding
Last edited by Upstateanddown; 05-06-2016 at 03:54 PM..
Gotta disagree with this. I think that Albany is a city that punches way below its weight, even for a smaller city of 100,000 or so. It seems especially so considering it's a state capitol that also has a major research facility (SUNY Albany). The entertainment options are anemic, the public schools are awful, most of the housing is boring and pedestrian, the sate capitol buildings and plaza are ugly as hell, quality and interesting retailing is extinct, and as for street vibrancy and liveliness,that is is practically non-existent. Granted, there are a few lovely, single-family neighborhoods within the city, but most of Albany looks beaten-up, lost, and forgotten. And I emphasize I am NOT comparing it to New York City--even to less densely populated outer borough NYC. Just looking at what's there and thinking of how uninspiring it is.
The suburbs are probably a whole lot nicer and they're certainly prettier. And a nearby tourist spot like Saratoga Springs is a lot fun. (I've been a few times.) But then again, they're not Albany. They're NEAR Albany.
I think that some of the most underrated state capitals are probably in the Midwest. Places like Des Moines, Columbus, Madison, and Indianopolis get a lot of C-D love, though I haven't visited them. Same with Sacramento and, off the mainland, Honolulu. But in general, I think because so few state capitols are the big cities in their states, they just tend to be boring , unattractive cities plopped down in the center of the state with little going for them but state government. I mean all else being equal, who'd choose to live in Frankfort rather than Louisville, Hartford instead of Greenwich, Jefferson City instead of KC or St Louis, Olympia rather than Seattle, etc etc.
Interesting and vibrant state capitols like Denver, Boston, Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, St. Paul (Minneapolis), Salt Lake City, and Phoenix tend to be the exceptions, not the rule.
Last edited by citylove101; 05-06-2016 at 05:57 PM..
Gotta disagree with this. I think that Albany is a city that punches way below its weight, even for a smaller city of 100,000 or so. It seems especially so considering it's a state capitol that also has a major research facility (SUNY Albany). The entertainment options are anemic, the public schools are awful, most of the housing is boring and pedestrian, the sate capitol buildings and plaza are ugly as hell, quality and interesting retailing is extinct, and as for street vibrancy and liveliness,that is is practically non-existent. Granted, there are a few lovely, single-family neighborhoods within the city, but most of Albany looks beaten-up, lost, and forgotten. And I emphasize I am NOT comparing it to New York City--even to less densely populated outer borough NYC. Just looking at what's there and thinking of how uninspiring it is.
The suburbs are probably a whole lot nicer and they're certainly prettier. And a nearby tourist spot like Saratoga Springs is a lot fun. (I've been a few times.) But then again, they're not Albany. They're NEAR Albany.
I think that some of the most underrated state capitals are probably in the Midwest. Places like Des Moines, Columbus, Madison, and Indianopolis get a lot of C-D love, though I haven't visited them. Same with Sacramento. But in general, I think because so few state capitols are the big cities in their states, they just tend to be boring , unattractive cities plopped down in the center of the state with little going for them but state government. I mean all else being equal, who'd choose to live in Frankfort rather than Louisville, Hartford instead of Greenwich, Jefferson City instead of KC or St Louis, etc etc.
Places like Denver, Boston, Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, St. Paul (Minneapolis), Salt Lake City, and Phoenix tend to be the exceptions, not the rule.
Albany does have neighborhoods like Center Square and Delaware Avenue that are fine, with the whole SW Quarter or so of the city being middle class. There are row houses which are in good condition within the city as well.
What you also have to consider is that it has a few other cities in its area that it share amenities with.
Its public school system varies and there are other school options within and just outside of the city. For example, Green Tech Charter HS is an all male and overwhelmingly Black school with a graduation rate above the state and national percentage(86%). There's also the Albany Academies and Bishop Maginn within the city. So, there are options in terms of schools.
Why I think Albany is under appreciated :
1) great economy right now , lot of tech jobs moved into the area and a lot of the suburbs are exploding
2) traffic is not bad at all . I can commute to my job in under 15 minutes , as with any city you have problem roads at peak times but you just avoid them
3) weather . Yes winters are brutal cold for new comers but I enjoy them , snowboarding , snowmobileing hiking and our springs , summers and falls are near perfect . Low humidity , breezy
4) can't find a much more beautiful area in the country , mountains , forests , cliffs and rolling hills everywhere you look
5) great history and architecture downtown
6) very walkable downtown .
7) some of the best farm to table in the country
8) beer and wine scene is outstanding
And yet, you are planning to move across the country
I think Providence Rhode Island is a very underrated city. In some ways it's more fun than Boston but real estate is half the cost. I could see it becoming the Portland of the east coast. Travel and Leisure named it the top food city in the country. The Rhode Island coastline is also beautiful.
Austin has the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum, one of the biggest and best. Also the well-known music/club scene makes this one of the best, if not underrated capitals in the country.
No huge deal, but the spelling of "capital" usually pertains to State capitals, and the spelling of the U.S. "capitol" pertains to "as all". I notice the OP and atleast one other poster used both! But that is understandable.
Austin has the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum, one of the biggest and best. Also the well-known music/club scene makes this one of the best, if not underrated capitals in the country.
No huge deal, but the spelling of "capital" usually pertains to State capitals, and the spelling of the U.S. "capitol" pertains to "as all". I notice the OP and atleast one other poster used both! But that is understandable.
Came here to post this exact same thing.
Capitol is also the terminology used for the physical building where the seat of government operates. All capital cities have a capitol building.
I personally think that Richmond, VA is underrated. I also think that it gets overshadowed by NOVA/DC. People, at least out west, tend to think of it as "ghetto", "rundown", and sketchy when it actually has a lot to offer, especially when you take into consideration its size.
And yet, you are planning to move across the country
When you have job opportunities in other cities , regardless if you enjoy where you are raised you will research those possibilities . You seem to have a hard on for me , follow me around the forums .
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