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I have opinions and there is nothing you can do to stop me from saying them.... now go hate Atlanta some more since that is the only thing you do on here
So does other people my little friend. You wanna be able to rant on freely about cities you hate but then you go argue with others when they compliment or defend them.
Lol so because I said Atlanta isn't racially diverse means I'm hating on it? Whatever you say.
As a former Chicagoan myself, I can wholeheartedly say I AGREE with Chicago being overrated.
Yes, there's awesome shopping, eating, and a diversity of things to do in the north side of downtown. But on the south side of downtown, there's the business district and when people aren't being all stressed out, when all the people have gone home, it's a ghost town, except for the Loop. I see tourists passing through the Loop after dark and they're frightened, yes frightened, because the streets around the loop are either deserted or sketchy.
Don't get me wrong, there's still lots of fun to be had in Chicago, but to me it had tons more character, culture, and things going for it in the 90s. The Bulls basically put all other sports teams in any sport to shame for most of the decade. Pop culture was being absorbed and translated, and the area was being revitalized.
But somewhere along the way, everything became too touristy, too same, too big. There's still hope, but I only go back there when I want to see family.
I also agree with San Francisco. The mass transit system is showing its age, BADLY. And I don't mean the kitschy cable cars or street cars. The buses are woefully antiquated. I don't think there's a single bus I saw there that was newer than vintage late 80s. Where did my bus fare go? Probably the over-inflated ego and salary of the bus driver or his bosses. The BART upholstered seats probably is infested with 40 years of sweat, farts, and other bodily fluids I didn't want to think about as I squished into my seat. Market street is just a mess with busybodies, tourists, and violent homeless people. The Embarcadero and the market is mildly interesting, but mostly it is a tourist trap. Everything in San Fran is a tourist trap now.
Wholly agree with avoiding San Fran and seeing the other parts of the area first. With wine country closeby, and the infinitely more authentic east bay side, you won't be sorry you left San Fran itself. Do visit Chinatown, but the rest of the town you can skip.
Also wholly agree with Vancouver being overrated. HIGHLY overrated. The biggest thing it has going for it is the 19 year old legal to drink age limit and the hot girls at the dance clubs, which put Seattle to shame. The rest of it though is confusing. I will say it probably has, bar none, the best beach scenery (not the female variety) with mountains in plain view most days, and Whistler is close by. Other than that though, Seattle or Portland would do you just as well, and you don't have to suffer US Customs on the return trip. Oh, which is overrun by Canadians going INTO America for cheap shopping now that the USD is par with the CAD. Totally agree to SKIP Vancouver and go see some of the most beautiful scenery in the world in the Pacific NW. For coffee or music go to Portland or Seattle.
I would say Seattle is also overrated. For residents it's a great city. Relatively safe, lots of things to do, not totally overrun by tourists, and not full of itself either like Chicago or Vancouver. But in the grand scheme of things, the Seattle Center is nothing but the Space Needle, a weird museum to music, and Dave Chuhily's huge ego (rightfully deserved, the man's a genius, but he makes no bones about the fact we're paying him to not leave the dreary rain-soaked PNW for warmer, sunnier pastures); the rest of the city is best enjoyed by the residents. I'd argue the same for Portland.
Asheville's a fine town for a stop. I just sort of reminds me of a nice medium sized college town--I last visited in the early fall and it still seemed fairly sleepy(though this was few years back). It's got a decent little downtown for it's size and all the bars and restaurants you'd expect in a fairly gentrified college town(though outside the main areas or the tourist sights like the Biltmore it was pretty average). Of all the places though I've been to in the South, it was the one place that felt closer to what I'm used to out west in some ways. The thing is though if you go along the Blue Ridge Parkway you're going to go right through the edge of Asheville anyhow--so I'd think that everyone would just stop there anyways. The Biltmore is of course touristy, but all the same--it's pretty impressive, reminded me of chateaus I saw in France. The surrounding mountains are great, and there's interesting little viewpoints or hikes along the way--along with some real, old school Appalachian towns if you get further out.
Thanks! Asheville really does sound like a great little city and I'm excited to see the scenery and in-between spots and towns.
"West Coast in the South" sounds like something I'd be interested in.
I also agree with San Francisco. The mass transit system is showing its age, BADLY. And I don't mean the kitschy cable cars or street cars. The buses are woefully antiquated. I don't think there's a single bus I saw there that was newer than vintage late 80s. Where did my bus fare go? Probably the over-inflated ego and salary of the bus driver or his bosses. The BART upholstered seats probably is infested with 40 years of sweat, farts, and other bodily fluids I didn't want to think about as I squished into my seat. Market street is just a mess with busybodies, tourists, and violent homeless people. The Embarcadero and the market is mildly interesting, but mostly it is a tourist trap. Everything in San Fran is a tourist trap now.
Wholly agree with avoiding San Fran and seeing the other parts of the area first. With wine country closeby, and the infinitely more authentic east bay side, you won't be sorry you left San Fran itself. Do visit Chinatown, but the rest of the town you can skip.
I like how you complain about San Francisco being "too touristy" when you spent 100% of your time in tourist areas rofl. Do you vacation in Times Square and then complain about New York being "too touristy" too?
I also agree with San Francisco. The mass transit system is showing its age, BADLY. And I don't mean the kitschy cable cars or street cars. The buses are woefully antiquated. I don't think there's a single bus I saw there that was newer than vintage late 80s. Where did my bus fare go? Probably the over-inflated ego and salary of the bus driver or his bosses. The BART upholstered seats probably is infested with 40 years of sweat, farts, and other bodily fluids I didn't want to think about as I squished into my seat. Market street is just a mess with busybodies, tourists, and violent homeless people. The Embarcadero and the market is mildly interesting, but mostly it is a tourist trap. Everything in San Fran is a tourist trap now.
Wholly agree with avoiding San Fran and seeing the other parts of the area first. With wine country closeby, and the infinitely more authentic east bay side, you won't be sorry you left San Fran itself. Do visit Chinatown, but the rest of the town you can skip.
I can't imagine coming to the San Francisco Bay Area as a tourist and not seeing San Francisco however(unless you've already been to SF before). I mean, there's a lot in San Francisco worth seeing besides the tourist trap stuff like Fisherman's Wharf. They've redone the three major museums in the last decade and the Asian Art Museum, Academy of Sciences(amazing aquarium/rainforest exhibit), and DeYoung Museum are all world-class, along with the MOMA, the Palace of Legion of Honor, the Exploritorium and so on. There's a variety of interesting neighborhoods to walk around besides just Chinatown(or North Beach or Union Square)--there's stuff around the Mission or Japantown or all the good restaurants in the Richmond District. Even Haight-Ashbury is sort of overrun by hippy nostalgia tourism in parts, but it's still a beautiful neighborhood to walk around with the old Victorians on adjacent streets. There's the old ruins of the Sutro Baths and Land's End park, which is a completely different feel than the other side of town. It's a good city to just walk and explore random neighborhoods. I've been going to SF my wholel life and briefly lived in San Francisco and occasionally I'll find a little neighborhood area that I've never been to or forgot about...
Even Chinatown and North Beach and Nob Hill might be pretty touristy for the most part--but to walk through all three on a short stroll is still one of the most interesting urban collections of neighborhoods in a US downtown area...
I mean, I'd reccommend tourists to the Bay Area check out Oakland and Berkeley as well--take some time to see the Highway 1 coast down to Santa Cruz, go to one of the many wine areas(Sonoma and Russian River are more enjoyable than Napa for me) or go up to Marin and Point Reyes or Muir Woods and so on, but to go and not see San Francisco seems like a waste of a trip. In just the Bay Area itself--San Francisco is still the urban highlight and cultural center--I mean while the East Bay has interesting places in Oakland/Berkeley, there's really not that much for a vistor to really get that excited about in the rest of the Bay Area--everything else is on the outskirts further to the north or south like Santa Cruz/Monterrey or stuff around Marin or Sonoma or Napa. Unless you're really interested in Asian food and tech stuff or seeing the Stanford campus the Peninsula or the Valley aren't really destinations--though San Jose has a few diversions. The East Bay past the Oakland Hills is just standard suburban sprwal.
So, I mean going to the Bay Area and avoiding San Francisco is sort of a strange suggestion...That's sort of like going to central Italy and spending time in the Lazio region and not seeing Rome because it's got a lot of tourists...
Admittedly, there’s a lot to love about San Francisco. It’s a very good looking city, and there’s plenty to do. However, it makes this list because it’s definitely fit for certain types of people – those who really love to protest and those who have long been referred to as hipsters. That’s not a bad thing, but it does make for a city that has an air of pretentiousness. Couple that with some of the highest rents in the country, you have a city that will definitely make many overrated lists.
Most Overrated Feature: Castro Street
Most Overrated Person: Mark Zuckerberg
Most Overrated Moment: Facebook going public
Though San Fran is often described as being comprised entirely of "hipsters and hippies," the city also has one of the highest rents in the country. Whether you identify as a treehugger or fixie rider, if you can afford these rents, you are also likely a poser.
There are some wonderful hobbies that San Franciscans engage in. One of these beloved pastimes is protesting. As Adam Todd Brown wrote, "San Francisco loves to protest. I was never able to locate it, but I'm pretty sure there's a storefront somewhere in that city where you can just walk in and rent an ethnically diverse group of people to chant in the streets on your behalf for a few hours."
Despite their love of taking to the streets, the city's well-known counter-cultural edge has been dulled in recent years. Bay Area blogger Jonathan Harris said, "Jerry Garcia and Harvey Milk are long gone, Dianne Feinstein supported the invasion of Iraq, and mom loves the classy boutiques run by the clean-cut gentlemen on Castro Street. What happened?"
If you decide to seek out one of these "classy boutiques," you'll likely engage in another favorite activity of San Franciscans—wading through the maze of homeless and naked people who populate the streets. The natural beauty of area is intensified when a naked man screams at you. If you have had enough of the great outdoors, pop into a neighborhood bar for a microbrew, where you can hear the local gossip. If you think the idle chatter where you grew up was boring, look forward to the mind-numbing tech gossip and prepare to experience new depths of dullness.
But, hey, look on the bright side—at least inside the bar they're wearing clothes.
They seem riddled with stereotypes and feature many great cities on the lists as well (NYC is like #4 on one and #1 on the other for instance). Gotta love paid by page clicks blog journalism.
Last edited by RadicalAtheist; 08-05-2013 at 12:53 AM..
Reason: When can I properly post links???
If people would stop talking about San Francisco in the same breath as Paris, I would not say that it was overrated. But some people on the board do.
For future reference: San Francisco is a really cool city but it ain't 1/10th the city Paris is and I'm not talking land area.
I think these are my thoughts, too. I actually really like SF, and think it's one of the greatest U.S. cities (possibly top 3), but sometimes you hear a bit too much of boosterism. SF is a great, great town, but not remotely in the league of megacities like NYC, London, Paris and Tokyo. And LA is the dominant West Coast city, no question.
I think people in other cities are just jealous of Austin. Coolest town in America and there's no beach. They've figured a way to make the best of being an inland city. It's safe, friendly people, lots of stuff to do, good places to eat, lots of fun events every year, something is always going on in Austin, good vibe all over the town, good weather, the only thing Austin lacks is an ocean front beach. The only downside is rent is high here compared to Midwest and Southern states, but rent is cheap when compared to east and west coast states. Groceries are about the same as other Southern and Midwest states. Austin's a good bargain for people who like to have a good time. I'd put any town against Austin and Austin would be hard to beat.
All these cities are overrated on city data also, so there is no surprise...
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