Most disappointing major US city to visit. From an international tourist's perspective? (2015, to live)

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by nei

He didn't say that. All of those have worse neighborhoods than anything in the Netherlands, which is his point of comparison.

You are mistaken.
He said several times Atlanta is like Detroit and Flint which it is nothing like that.

He never made any mention of The Netherlands.

[foadi]

Originally Posted by ryever

The fact that development never seem to end is not in contradiction with the fact that L.A feels like a massive, mostly uninteresting suburb
And I don't know why you're talking about trees, but if you put trees on every parking lot in L.A it would be I think the greenest city on Earth
So many unnecessary parking lots everywhere even in Downtown no wonder the city is so big

Unnecessary parking lots? Have you ever tried parking in LA?

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by drro

Atlanta has slums just like Detroit or Flint: example. It would be impressive if you could rid of the slums, I don't care about the number of international headquarters or millionaires living there. Detroit also has some international headquarters despite many areas resembling a war zone.
There is not nearly as much urban decay in Las Vegas.
New Orleans went through anarchy after Katrina happened. Like people defending their houses with machine guns. There is lots of urban decay and slums out there and it has horrible crime rates, even the tourist areas are getting dangerous.

There are other cities just as bad like Miami, lots of ghetto's and urban decay: example.

Did you REALLY look at the video you posted a link to?Many of these house were under construction or being renovated
This is why you have to visit a place to understand the scope of what you see in pictures.There are several things wrong with that video you posted:

1)Its NOT Vine City.That English Avenue and several different neighbhoods and streets. and English AVEworst neighborhood in Atlanta and it is adjacent to Vine City.
I know this because I lived there for 9 years and owned rental properties in Vine City.
The city has steepped up efforts to razed many of the properties and I know for a fact some of those places in that video are not there anymore.

2)Much of what you showed is snippets from more that one neighborhood.
Anyone will tell you that in Atlanta you can be in the hood and within few minuties you are in a nice area.It can change street by street.

3)There is urban renewal happening all over the city including the pooerer areas.Unlike Detroit or Flint there is very little at best.
If you have ever been to Detroit or Flint you would see just consecutive blocks of just empty burned out houses with no people around.Just vacant except crackhead,prositutues and drug dealers.
That video you showed is from different communities on one side of town.Its not "downtown".

In Detroit is not just neighborhoods decaying,its parts of the core that is pervasive.


What is hard to see from the video is that many of those boarded up house are NEW or renovated properties but because it is a high crime area,they get vandalized amd loooted.I know this becaue I bought a new house and when I moved out before selling it,I boaded it up.

So you can post videos and look at Google maps all day but unless you have been to these places you have no idea.
Your argument was that Atlanta has as much as other cities you mentioned
Ridiculous and obvious you have never been
ts so misleading and just wrong.

[nei]

Originally Posted by foadi

Unnecessary parking lots? Have you ever tried parking in LA?

No, but it seems odd to have lots of surface parking lots in or near downtown. San Francisco doesn't have many. NYC has less.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by nei

No, but it seems odd to have lots of surface parking lots in or near downtown. San Francisco doesn't have many. NYC has less.

And San Francisco is an absolute nightmare to park in! It's the main reason that BART has over 450,000 riders a day as that's how a lot of people prefer to commute into the city. They park their cars at the BART stations and ride. San Francisco also does not have the space for parking lots. There are parking garage structures though and if you don't mind blowing your kid's college funds to park there after drying up your savings on bridge tolls (another thing LA doesn't have to deal with) then have at it.

[dorado0359]

Originally Posted by ryever

Los Angeles obviously
First impression where you get there : where's the city ?
Not much to see, only a few spots here and there (hollywood, santa monica, venice beach, beverly hills)
Cool vibe but at the end of the day visiting L.A is like visiting a collection of very small villages surrounded by suburban wasteland. The city is huge but it has less to offer to the tourist than one single arrondissement of Paris

Agree 100%.

[nei]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

And San Francisco is an absolute nightmare to park in! It's the main reason that BART has over 450,000 riders a day as that's how a lot of people prefer to commute into the city. They park their cars at the BART stations and ride. San Francisco also does not have the space for parking lots. There are parking garage structures though and if you don't mind blowing your kid's college funds to park there after drying up your savings on bridge tolls (another thing LA doesn't have to deal with) then have at it.

True, but why would expect a center city to easy to park in? Makes it feel rather vacant if there's parking everywhere. I actually notice some surprisingly cheap parking in San Francisco near downtown though. From an international perspective, easy parking in the center city and having surface lots is rather unusual. San Francisco would seem much more "normal" to most visitors than Los Angeles in that respect.

[Vanessamichaels]

How on earth can New York or New Orleans dissapoint anyone? The only thing NY has going against it is that it gets absolutely frigid in the winter. Other then that what's not to like about it?

[fusion2]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I think your criteria is perhaps more personal and unique to you and perhaps a few others. Think about it for a second; who travels a distance to see a place for it's decay?

Come on Gentoo lol.... Have you enjoyed some of the city's impressive museums? Sure it has decay but it does offer some fine institutions for a visitor. The Henry Ford alone is worth a trip for some important pieces linked to some of the most infamous events in U.S history. I wouldn't fly across the atlantic or pacific to visit but its certain worth a trip combined with another few cities for a week road trip!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by fusion2

Come on Gentoo lol.... Have you enjoyed some of the city's impressive museums? Sure it has decay but it does offer some fine institutions for a visitor. The Henry Ford alone is worth a trip for some important pieces linked to some of the most infamous events in U.S history. I wouldn't fly across the atlantic or pacific to visit but its certain worth a trip combined with another few cities for a week road trip!

I give up. My brain won't let me do this.