Quote:
Originally Posted by The_General
I gotta ask what are people looking for when they visit cities? Are they seeing the sites? The hotel bar sucks? Or just going to a city to go bar hopping?
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For me, not necessarily in any particular order:
1) An active pedestrian environment beyond downtown and beyond business hours. Active streets.
2) Visually stimulating. Mostly this refers to architecture, but also topography (e.g. San Francisco Bay and hills).
3) Good/varied dining options. I don't want to feel forced to eat in the hotel or at a national chain.
4) Good bar scene. Preferably a variety of options clustered together. Doesn't necessarily have to be a bar/club district- a nice neighborhood center with a few different places is fine. I don't need a 4am last call, but I like to be able to easily find a place to get a drink (and maybe some light food) after 9/10pm.
5) Interesting cultural institutions. Specifically, museums and galleries.
6) Neat, active public spaces (parks, plazas, harbor/river walks, etc) with good programming (well designed- bonus for live music, beer gardens, art displays, etc).
7) Landmarks or major points of interest. I don't need a major tourist attraction, but it's nice to have a unique landmark or point of interest that says, "you are here!" This isn't as important as the others on this list.
8) A major festival or series of public events is always a plus (but not necessary as timing also plays a big role in this)
9) Something culturally unique about the city. This could be combined with almost any other part of the list. Live music, a festival, or great restaurants of a certain type of cuisine, etc. But definitely something that's unique to the city.
10) Interesting local people. This is definitely wide open. I like visiting places where the people, or at least aspects of their lifestyle, are unlike anywhere else.
That's what I look for when I travel. I left off "diversity" on purpose. Yes, it's great to walk through the Boston Common, Millenium Park, Times Square or Fisherman's Wharf and hear dozens of languages and seeing all types of different people. However, some cities that aren't as diverse do still have a unique local (albeit homogeneous) culture. Tokyo is an excellent example of this for a major city.
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