What cities would you not excuse someone of not hearing of before (at least in the United States)? (best, compared)

[LordHomunculus]

Originally Posted by santafe400

Baltimore is an interesting one as well. It's not a very important city anymore, but most people around the world seem to be familiar with it.

People in Japan and Russia love The Wire.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by speagles84

San Antonio over Atlanta and Boston? Really? Pittsburgh Cleveland and New Orleans not even on the list and Memphis is on there?

Nor was Nashville or Charlotte...but Memphis? SMDH

[ThreeSides]

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

Nor was Nashville or Charlotte...but Memphis? SMDH

Memphis is associated with Elvis.

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by Seahawksfan33

The twenty most famous cities in the United States that I wouldn't excuse people for not knowing (lol, I wouldn't bother them over it, but I may make a joke as long as they don't get offended):

1. New York City (it's by far the most famous one)
2. Washington D.C. (it's a close second)
3. Los Angeles (I believe that it's easily the most famous city in California and on the entire West Coast, even though a couple of cities are close competition for that title)
4. San Francisco
5. Chicago
6. Seattle
7. Miami
8. Detroit
9. Phoenix
10. Dallas or Fort Worth
11. Philadelphia
12. Houston
13. San Antonio
14. Atlanta
15. Boston
16. St. Louis
17. Baltimore
18. Las Vegas
19. Memphis
20. Denver

I will increase that list by five more cities for a total of 25 they should have heard of:

21. Minneapolis or St. Paul (has US largest Mall and being first major metro Mississippi River flows through)
22. Sacramento (it is the capital of CA; our largest state after all).
23. Nashville (if you include Memphis, you must include Nashville...equally famous and metro a little larger)
24. Austin (same logic as with 23...it should be there if San Antonio is)
25. New Orleans (everyone has heard of New Orleans, right?...unintentional omission I would guess...last major metro Mississippi River flows through).

[chessgeek]

There are just so many cities in our large country. Here are five more that I would not "scold" anyone for not knowing, but would be nice if they had heard of them:

26. San Diego
27. Portland
28. Pittsburgh
29. this is a cop out I admit but at least one major Ohio city (Cleveland, Cincinnati or Columbus).
30. Kansas City

[Deezus]

Pretty much every city with a pro-sports franchise(NFL, MLB, NBA, and then NHL) has a higher level of name recogntion. As a young kid on the West Coast I had never thought of Charlotte until they got the Hornets. How many people would recognize Green Bay, Wisconsin if they didn't have the Packers.

And yes, not everyone follows or cares about sports, but the increase in notoriety sort of carries over into popular recognition overall. Sometimes I even meet foreigners who are suprisingly fans of North American sports leagues. I once had a conversation with a Morrocan cab driver who knew of Portland basically from the fact that he remembered the Trailblazers playing against the Bulls in the finals in 1992.

[chessgeek]

For some smaller/medium cities and towns, it might depend on certain interests/hobbies/ethnicities, etc. Again, it would not surprise me if some people from other countries had heard of these, but would not expect it. Knowing at least three or four would be helpful.

Hershey, PA (chocolate lovers/theme park)
Branson, MO (country music show fans)
Solvang, CA (Danish ethnicity/theme prevalent)
New Ulm, MN (German ethnicity/theme prevalent)
Holland, MI (Dutch ethnicity/theme prevalent)
Canton, OH (NFL football fans/Hall of Fame)
Green Bay, WI (NFL football fans/smallest city with pro team)
Cooperstown, NY (MLB baseball fans/Hall of Fame)
Springfield, IL (Civil War era/Abe Lincoln history buffs)
Gettysburg, PA (Civil War era buffs)
Vicksburg, MS (Civil War era buffs)
Golden, CO (beer lovers/Coors brewery tour)

Military towns:

Annapolis, MD (Navy)
West Point, NY (Army)
Colorado Springs, CO (Air Force)
Camp Pendleton, CA (Marines)

Towns near beautiful natural areas/popular vacation destinations. Would be surprised if at least a few of these were not known:

Aspen and Vail, CO
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Monterey and Carmel, CA
Napa and Sonoma, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Niagara Falls, NY
Park City, UT
Santa Fe and Taos, NM
Williamsburg, VA
Asheville, NC
Ashland, OR
Cape Cod, MA
Atlantic City, NJ
Savannah, GA
Charleston and Myrtle Beach, SC
Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach, FL
Rehoboth Beach, DE

[jsimms3]

^^^The only towns I had never heard of on this list or have absolutely no familiarity with are

New Ulm, MN
Holland, MI
Canton, OH
Ashland, OR

[LordHomunculus]

Originally Posted by Deezus

Pretty much every city with a pro-sports franchise(NFL, MLB, NBA, and then NHL) has a higher level of name recogntion.

This.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

Anywhere with Historic Signifigant
Boston
New York
Los Angeles
New Orleans
Washington
San Francisco
Philly
St. Louis
Detriot
Chicago

Then people should know Small places with Important events like
Harpers Ferry
Lexington &Concord
Appomattox
Lowell
Trenton
Gettysburg
Honolulu (pearl Harbor)
Waco
Littleton, CO (Columbine
Newtown
Shanksville,
the person is an American
Anyone else I would excuse ignorance because it's not their country.

Outside of Chicago, LA, SF, DC, and NYC, I REALLY wouldn't expect someone from another country to know much of anything about the cities on your historical cities list, even a historical city as powerful as Boston.