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Screwy thing about Omaha is approaching from the south on I-29. You're surrounded by corn fields, yet you can see the skyline in the distance. It's funny-looking.
Worse than I thought .... Miami specically South (Miami) Beach. I mean, really, who cares where the celebs and (C)rappers go to nightclubs... not impressed.
Better than I thought... Philadelphia. Very vibrant and nice (just stay away from the bad areas)
Worse than I thought .... Miami specically South (Miami) Beach. I mean, really, who cares where the celebs and (C)rappers go to nightclubs... not impressed.
Better than I thought... Philadelphia. Very vibrant and nice (just stay away from the bad areas)
I also do a lot of research before going to cities but here are a few of the places that I've been that stood out in a good and bad way.
Impressed:
Atlanta - city was much larger than I thought. Surprisingly more historic buildings and grit (especially in downtown) than I thought. MARTA is a very well run system on little money, very clean and even had TVs, better than D.C. METRO IMO (especially for the amount of money METRO gets). Can be very much a 24 hour city more than Miami. Airpot is nice, Architecture is great, some buildings almost close to 1920s New York in detail.
Las Vegas - This is really one of the other few cities that I've been to that lives up to the hype. It is a 24 hour city and lots of fun. Despite how fake people say it is I was surprised at the architectural detail in and outside some of the buildings. The place is like a Bee hive, very well coordinated.
Not impressed
New York
I was impressed with NY at first but then started to take a closer look. Ya it's big but its all dirty as hell, with all the money there I expected better streetscaping and subway stations. Infrastructure is just falling a part. There's also this "we're the best people in the world" attitude.
Not impressed and just plain sucked
Miami
The airport is very badly run and 1970s old, everybody has a big ego and big attitude. Switched gates so many times and silly delays.
Not a 24 hour city like people say and this was on labor day weekend. Miami Beach shuts down like 2 or 3 am. Dont really see hordes of people around that time.
I know what you mean about Chicago in a sense. I've been to NYC, Chicago, Philly, Nashville, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Indianapolis, and Memphis (just the major cities I've spent time in). I can honestly say that Chicago is my second favorite city after NYC. The problem is that many people who visit it think it is just like NYC, when, while there are some similarities, the city has its own vibe. It has a lot of ethnic and religious diversity (Blacks, Poles, Jews, Italians, Irish, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Asian Indian, etc.) in and around the city and has many cultural amenities, but it is much slower paced than NYC and much less dense (though Chicago is still a very densely populated city, just not to NY standards). Anybody expecting any city to be like NYC is going to be thoroughly disappointed.
Good points. Chicago and New York have some basic similarities but are very different cities. New York did not seem 'fast paced' to me though it is a very active city.
Before we visited New Orleans, NYC was my shining star in the U.S. I had no strong feelings either way about NOLA, but was interested to visit. Now I'm looking forward to moving there permanently one day.
Galveston was also a lovely surprise, the gorgeous weather, friendly people, beautiful setting and the Lone Star Flight Museum combined to make it somewhere I'd like to return.
NYC, well I'd go back there but it was somehow not what I expected. I think if I had more time there to explore it'd be a different story. I was also really looking forward to seeing Boston, but for some strange reason it reminded me too much of Sydney for me to want to stay too long. Obviously it's just my own strange viewpoint talking here, but I really was disappointed.
New Orleans - When I first went last year, I had moderate expectations and thought it would be a large Southern city with an urban culture and some unique quirks (only based on what I had seen in films). What I found was a city with THE most beautiful architecture in the U.S., THE best food out of any major U.S. city, friendly people, always something to do, and the feeling of Old South meets Europe which makes it one of the world's most unique cities
San Diego - In general I find California overhyped, so expected San Diego to be a materialistic plastic city with very little to offer for myself. Instead, it was beautiful, both in landscape and architecture, well-preserved, people were MUCH more friendly than in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it wasn't as crazy liberal either.
Fort Worth - So much better than Dallas. Has a feel of "the South meets the West". Maintains its Southern and Texan culture (UNLIKE Dallas), has some beautiful women, a great historical section, friendly people, awesome food, and an enjoyable downtown.
Worse:
Seattle - This is a major U.S. city on par with Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, NYC, and LA? The famous "Pikes Place" market closed up at 6:00! At 8:00, when trying to find something for dinner, I was directed by two different people to a McDonald's, and when I asked for something more local, I was told that a bar would have some snacks if I wanted to walk 8 or 9 blocks down. This is a major city? What a joke!
EVERYTHING is expensive. They overhype the monorail which leads to downtown and nothing else. What is downtown? Nothing but a depressing area dominated by upscale department stores like Nordstrom's. No culture, other than extreme pretentiousness.
The feel of Seattle was as if Starbucks and Google collaborated to make some super-city filled with narcissistic yuppie pricks.
Some of the nastiest, most spoiled, arrogant people anywhere - Made NYC and Boston look like beacons of good grace and hospitality.
The city's excitement doesn't extend beyond the Space Needle, which is also, by the way, prostituted out by an overpriced restaurant, an overpriced ride to the top, and a criminally expensive parking lot built around it with parking goons waiting to extract more money from tourists a minute over their time allowance.
Seattle was a disgrace.
Funny, because I loved Portland.
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