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As a former San Franciscan and current Phoenician, I will say that the opposite of San Francisco is Phoenix.
No, they're both large American cities. The OP wants a place in the US, that's opposite of SF. So people answering "spain and italy" that's besides the point.
Opposite of SF in the US would be a small, conservative, non-coastal town. Some podunk place in Mississipi.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by 80skeys
No, they're both large American cities. The OP wants a place in the US, that's opposite of SF. So people answering "spain and italy" that's besides the point.
Opposite of SF in the US would be a small, conservative, non-coastal town. Some podunk place in Mississipi.
besides 50+ USA recommendations... note "Internationally. ..." qualifier, just in case C-D has a few million other readers... Or OP exhausts all the USA options.
Even Mayberry, (Mt Airy, NC) has features similar to SF. Visit Mayberry Thus I frequent Bill & Buford, WY far more often than Mayberry, and SF about the same... 3- 5x / yr
Any small rural town in an area that is far away from any large city will do. Actually, a whole bunch of different small towns that have different economic bases and levels would be best.
A mix, then:
- Towns still struggling after losing a dominant industry—logging, mining, farm crops.
- Towns that used to be bustling until an Interstate either bypassed it or split it in half. (Van - Horn, TX is undergoing a revival after such an event—add that one to your list besides towns that are slowly dying).
- Towns that are wrestling with becoming strictly tourist or strictly second-home places.
- Towns with such high unemployment that drug addiction is destroying them.
There are such places all over the country, not just in so-called flyover states.
Even Mayberry, (Mt Airy, NC) has features similar to SF. Visit Mayberry Thus I frequent Bill & Buford, WY far more often than Mayberry, and SF about the same... 3- 5x / yr
No doubt there are small communities reminiscent of SF.
(I live 30 miles from SF and I go there 1x/yr if that.)
My girlfriend and I live in San Francisco (and love it). We've traveled a moderate amount internationally (and loved it), but would like to start traveling more inside the US.
I'm originally from Milwaukee, WI and she is from France. We've been to NYC, Seattle, New Orleans, Boston, Miami, Portland and Utah and the Grand Canyon and a few others. Now we think it would be interesting to see the other side of America. Maybe the place that is the most culturally distant from San Francisco. Or the most representative of "flyover country" or something like that. Think "Travels with Charley" or "Hillbilly Elegy" or similar.
As far as what we want to do when we arrive, we probably just want to go to a drinking hole or two, talk to some locals, and maybe grab a bite to eat. It's be nice if there was a single "main attraction" that we could see nearby. For example, one option I was considering was to go see a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra and then driving down into Kentucky or West Virginia.
Or seeing what Texas is all about.
Any suggestions?
I know your heart is in the right place. But try not to use the term 'flyover country,' even ironically. In a sense, it speaks to myopia suffered by people on both coasts. They never suspect that, in between the two coasts and select enclaves such as Montana or Denver, there are achingly beautiful landscapes and smart, wise, and conscientious people who just don't have the same priorities as someone who lives in San Francisco or New York.
The strength of these regions is the people who live within them. To be sure, there are all kinds of attractions such as the Cleveland Orchestra or the Gateway Arch. But it's more important to not see things but to meet people. Find out what matters to them. And, yes, see the landscape and cities along the way.
I am always struck by a conversation I had at a conference in Monterey two years ago. It was the week before the presidential election. Mind you, I'm not Republican nor Conservative, and I wouldn't vote for Trump with a gun to my head. Yet this conference was nothing but West Coasters who couldn't imagine a possibility where Trump would win. Yet I warned them that it could very well happen.
When they asked me why, I pointed out the erosion to the manufacturing base and the idle factory workers, the unemployed coal miners, the farmers, a host of other working-class people to whom those jobs were well-paying and respectable livings. They were pretty much sidelined by globalism and betrayed by both political parties.
I might as well have been speaking Swahili to these people, chiefly because it was completely outside their experiences. To them, the Midwest, the South, and the Rust Belt might as well have been on the moon. On the morning after the election, I got several e-mails by these people, wondering how the hell I knew. I wasn't psychic. I just hadn't closed off my mind.
Travel broadens people. Not just when you visit a foreign country, but when you travel within your own country. So I would offer that you don't go out and see America, but rather go out and meet America. And do so with an open and receptive mind, not as if you're viewing exhibits in a zoo. You might be surprised by what you might find.
Last edited by MinivanDriver; 10-07-2018 at 05:43 PM..
My girlfriend and I live in San Francisco (and love it).
You don't mind the aggressive homeless people, the smashed in car windows, the tent cities, the human defecation on the streets?
Quote:
I'm originally from Milwaukee, WI and she is from France. We've been to NYC, Seattle, New Orleans, Boston, Miami, Portland and Utah and the Grand Canyon and a few others. Now we think it would be interesting to see the other side of America. Maybe the place that is the most culturally distant from San Francisco.
The back country in Minnesota is interesting. Very scenic. Laid-back. Peaceful. Small towns.
New Mexico is culturally distinct from anywhere else in the country.
Cajun Louisiana is culturally distinct from anywhere else
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Or seeing what Texas is all about.
A whole lot of nothing. I used to drive between Austin and Albuquerque to go back home for holidays and such. The most interminable, boring drives in my life.
I know your heart is in the right place. But try not to use the term 'flyover country,' even ironically. In a sense, it speaks to myopia suffered by people on both coasts. They never suspect that, in between the two coasts and select enclaves such as Montana or Denver, there are achingly beautiful landscapes and smart, wise, and conscientious people who just don't have the same priorities as someone who lives in San Francisco or New York.
The strength of these regions is the people who live within them. To be sure, there are all kinds of attractions such as the Cleveland Orchestra or the Gateway Arch. But it's more important to not see things but to meet people. Find out what matters to them. And, yes, see the landscape and cities along the way.
I am always struck by a conversation I had at a conference in Monterey two years ago. It was the week before the presidential election. Mind you, I'm not Republican nor Conservative, and I wouldn't vote for Trump with a gun to my head. Yet this conference was nothing but West Coasters who couldn't imagine a possibility where Trump would win. Yet I warned them that it could very well happen.
When they asked me why, I pointed out the erosion to the manufacturing base and the idle factory workers, the unemployed coal miners, the farmers, a host of other working-class people to whom those jobs were well-paying and respectable livings. They were pretty much sidelined by globalism and betrayed by both political parties.
I might as well have been speaking Swahili to these people, chiefly because it was completely outside their experiences. To them, the Midwest, the South, and the Rust Belt might as well have been on the moon. On the morning after the election, I got several e-mails by these people, wondering how the hell I knew. I wasn't psychic. I just hadn't closed off my mind.
Travel broadens people. Not just when you visit a foreign country, but when you travel within your own country. So I would offer that you don't go out and see America, but rather go out and meet America. And do so with an open and receptive mind, not as if you're viewing exhibits in a zoo. You might be surprised by what you might find.
Great post, and agreed on all counts. I thought I made it clear that I don't take the term very seriously by putting git in scare quotes.
You don't mind the aggressive homeless people, the smashed in car windows, the tent cities, the human defecation on the streets?
Yes, of course we mind all of these things and hope (but doubt) they will change. You can see me complaining about these issues in other threads. But, overall we like it here. There are many benefits that we feel outweigh those issues at least at this point in our lives.
Thanks for your recommendations. We will add them to our growing list.
A whole lot of nothing. I used to drive between Austin and Albuquerque to go back home for holidays and such. The most interminable, boring drives in my life.
Forming an opinion about a huge state after driving one highway is not very intelligent.
That's kinda like somebody driving from Indio to Phoenix and concluding that CA is a whole lot of nothing.
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