Do Touristy Areas Exist that Locals Actually Frequent? (cost, bigger, Chicago)
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Beale Street .... absolutely locals visit, in Memphis everybody and their Momma been to Beale Street
Graceland is the opposite, You find more Tourists at Graceland, but everybody in Memphis has drivin past it
Pike Place yes for the produce and spice vendors only if I need to get something that’s hard to find elsewhere, sometimes I’ll stop at the French patisserie. I’m normally in and out, and I’ll go during the week or right when they open on the weekends. Saturday and Sunday afternoons I avoid that area like the plague.
Space Needle I never visit unless I’m hosting a guest who wants to go.
Whhhat how can you live in Seattle and not visit the space needle
Atlanta... downtown has a good share of tourist attractions between museums and centennial park. A lot of hotels are located there. I wouldn’t say a lot of locals hang out downtown. More people hang out in Midtown which also has some tourist attractions (art museum and Piedmont park). Locals routinely hang out at Piedmont park, ponce city market and on the beltline.
I was going to say when you mentioned that Angelenos don’t go to the Walk of Fame, pre-COVID Hollywood Blvd was a huge nightlife and theater district. The Pantages, the El Capitan, the Egyptian, the Chinese Theater, and several others all sit on the walk of fame. Even the Dolby theater is inside the Hollywood/Highland Complex. I certainly didn’t go weekly like the OP asked (Other than work, and maybe the grocery store, there aren’t many places I go weekly). But probably 6-10 times a year we went to a show at a theater on the walk of fame, but I rarely look down at the sidewalk other than to make sure that I’m not go into step on a vagrant.
The other place that came to mind was Griffith Park. Pre-COVID, we’d probably make it to some part of the park weekly, but most of the tourists just go to the Observatory, and really only for the views of the city and the Hollywood sign. My kids like the Observatory, and it’s free, pre-COVID we'd go up there monthly, but if possible, we would avoid the weekends.
I grew up at the LA/Orange County border and we went to Griffith Park/the LA Zoo, several museums, and the tar pits quite regularly. I only remember seeing a film in Hollywood once, and that was Star Wars at the Chinese Theater when I was eight.
At this point, you would have to pay me handsomely to go to Hollywood; I have absolutely no desire and when visitors show interest, I first try to talk them out of it, then tell them to go on and have a nice time without me.
I now live farther south in OC and all the most popular beaches are full of locals. Huntington, Newport, Laguna, San Clemente...all of them. We go frequently.
Maybe Georgetown? Maybe depending where you live in the city.
Idk if DC locals visit the National Mall very often unless they actually have visiting family/friends who want to do the tourist stuff. There's not a ton of reasons to go there for locals (obviously locals visit the museums, but probably more of a once or twice and "been there done that" unless they themselves have visitors).
When I lived in DC I actually found it surprising how little I ended up visiting the National Mall. It seemed like most locals would go to places like NoMa, U Street, Dupont Circle, Admo, Meridian Hill Park, and more recently the Wharf and Navy Yard waterfront area. The Mall is also a tad removed from the city itself, the museum row and a lot of federal buildings kind of leave it oddly isolated from the hustle and bustle of the "live-work-play" hoods of DC.
I think Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria, and perhaps the District Wharf are the places that come to mind for where locals and tourists overlap. The one caveat is Georgetown is kind of tricky to get to from the Metro, so I personally don't go there that often, but I imagine people who live nearby do.
Locals used to visit the Inner Harbor (the main tourist area in Baltimore), especially during the lunch hour. But between COVID and an increase in criminal activity, not so much now.
Maybe more so in the past, but unfortunately the higher vacancies and seedy neighborhood (think Downtown Crossing, but with more vacancies and empty lots nearby), the locals tend to be fewer than in the past. The opening of Harborplace in 1980 was the turning point for Lexington Market, and even then, the surrounding retail district was past its prime. I received the book "Baltimore's Bygone Department Stores" for Christmas, and its a fascinated read for the former "Market Center" district.
Except on some weekends like the running of the Preakness, school holidays, and especially summer (when most locals head toward the beaches, Deep Creek Lake, or elsewhere on vacation), Baltimore gears more towards locals than tourists. The area around the National Aquarium is probably the most tourist oriented. The most annoying of these are the Yankees/Nationals/Red Sox fans that visit Camden Yards when those visitors come to town. Unfortunately, tourism in Baltimore is down overall.
Whhhat how can you live in Seattle and not visit the space needle
I never went there in the year or so I lived here before COVID.
1. Kinda expensive
2. Long lines
3. I'd been there on a family trip to Seattle when I was a teenager
4. None of my friends would have likely wanted to go, since they'd lived here for years already so they'd probably already been --- whereas they mostly don't have cars, so I can take them to places farther away like the Olympic Peninsula or Portland or Idaho, and that's more interesting for them
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