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Do you live somewhere you believe is very unique & different from most places in the country? What makes it so unique? What does it have other places don't? Tell us about what makes your town or city special. Then tell us what you wish it had or what some of the drawbacks are.
About the only thing particularly unique about my particular city is a plaza called market square. There's an old gas station shaped like an airplane and a couple of unusual nature walks but other than that it is a pretty generic city. I like that it is near the mountains but many cities have that.
If you are looking for unique suggestions here are a couple: St Augustine is the oldest city in America, it has an old Spanish fort, a great colonial main street and the best beach within biking distance. There's a side street that reminds me of france, so hey, 3 counties in one.
On the other side of the US is Astoria Oregon. There's a park at the crest of the hill with water views in 3 directions, a grand vista of the cascades, ocean going ships on the Columbia river, etc, etc.
Key West, FL - very bohemian, party scene, unconventional people - extremely remote from other places - a high cost of living due to its limited space for building, and high cost to import products
Tangier Island, VA / Smith Island, MD - accessible only by boat - its fishing families are inbred and have a unique accent
Point Roberts, WA - an unusual tiny "exclave" cut-off from the USA and surrounded by Canadian territory, and heavily guarded
Mackinaw Island, MI - way up north - no cars allowed - has famous Victorian resort hotel
Santa Fe, NM and Taos, NM - extremely colorful - full of artists and Native American culture - unique culture - settled by Spanish in the 1500s - at 8,300 foot (2,700 meter) elevation
Barrow, AK - extremely remote, northernmost town in USA, gets no sunlight during winter, and no darkness during summer - accessible only by airplane
Ketchikan, AK - rains or mists literally every day, at least 100 inches (250 cm) a year or more - salmon canneries and cruise ships
New Orleans, LA - unique culture and history, celebrated worldwide. It used to be the largest city in the entire South.
Aroostook County, ME - its border towns seem like they belong more in french-speaking Quebec than in the USA
Kiryas Joel, NY (far exurban area, N.W. of NYC) - a settlement entirely composed of Orthodox Jews with very large families, and has the highest rate of welfare/ public assistance of anywhere in the USA
Last edited by slowlane3; 03-18-2017 at 06:32 PM..
Do you live somewhere you believe is very unique & different from most places in the country? What makes it so unique? What does it have other places don't? Tell us about what makes your town or city special. Then tell us what you wish it had or what some of the drawbacks are.
I think it's safe to say that NYC is pretty unique. There are lots of reasons, but one main one is that here a large majority of people don't drive, at least on an everyday basis, and most households in the city don't even have a single car. It is generally expected when you live here that you don't have a car, where everywhere else in America you are expected to have a car, and it is considered weird if you don't have one.
Washington DC is very unique given (a) it is the only federal capital in the U.S., (b) has a very unique layout by L'Enfant, (c) is largely neoclassical in roots
Santa Fe, and Taos, NM. The local architecture style follows the 1000-year-old adobe-style architecture of the local Native American tribes. Even contemporary homes are required to have stucco siding in variations of the tan adobe color. The towns are a mix of Hispanic, Native American and Anglo culture. They're full of art galleries featuring Native American and Hispanic art, as well as contemporary and classic American and European art styles. Santa Fe is tied with NYC for second place after Paris in amount of art sold. It's a big part of the local economy. Informal weekend art fairs and other cultural events are common. Santa Fe also has a local symphony, and opera.
Downside: because of the uniqueness of these places, they attract a variety of wealthy people around the country who buy vacation homes here, driving up real estate prices, which raises the COL, while wages remain low. They're also very attractive to retirees.
I think it's safe to say that NYC is pretty unique. There are lots of reasons, but one main one is that here a large majority of people don't drive, at least on an everyday basis, and most households in the city don't even have a single car. It is generally expected when you live here that you don't have a car, where everywhere else in America you are expected to have a car, and it is considered weird if you don't have one.
I agree. Driving in NYC is not the norm unless you live in the fringe areas with no subway access. Still, finding parking is a pain in the ass!
I'll also add that's it's by far the densest city in the country, with the possible exception of parts of NJ that are right across the river from Manhattan.
The high density is part of what makes NYC what it is.
Also, there are very few alleyways, I'm not sure if that's the norm in any other cities.
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