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I don't think they're is a lack of things to do but relative to the awesomeness of downtown it's average. Really people are really just emphasizing how awesome the core of downtown Chicago is.
Maybe I'm not understanding the point of this thread, because there is no way Chicago belongs here. Yes, central Chicago is awesome. That doesn't mean Chicago belongs on this thread anymore than NYC or San Fransisco.
If you removed Chicago, you'd still have places like Evanston, Naperville, Schaumbrg, Oak Park, and Arlington Heights.
Compare that to metro Indianapolis. If you remove Indy you have, what......Carmel and Fishers?
I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me Chicago doesn't belong in this thread at all.
It’s not downtown but it does have a Las Vegas address.
It’s not in the city limits though. The entirety of the Strip is in Paradise , NV. Also I don’t think Vegas or San Antonio count because we have a limit of 3,000,000 people. Even Houston at 3,000,000 wa s probably 60% of the MSA population. So that’s a good boundary especially when Western cities are included in the discussion.
It’s not in the city limits though. The entirety of the Strip is in Paradise , NV. Also I don’t think Vegas or San Antonio count because we have a limit of 3,000,000 people. Even Houston at 3,000,000 wa s probably 60% of the MSA population. So that’s a good boundary especially when Western cities are included in the discussion.
Can you reword this? Not sure I understand what you’re saying.
Maybe I'm not understanding the point of this thread, because there is no way Chicago belongs here. Yes, central Chicago is awesome. That doesn't mean Chicago belongs on this thread anymore than NYC or San Fransisco.
If you removed Chicago, you'd still have places like Evanston, Naperville, Schaumbrg, Oak Park, and Arlington Heights.
Compare that to metro Indianapolis. If you remove Indy you have, what......Carmel and Fishers?
I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me Chicago doesn't belong in this thread at all.
Indy has a few other communities outside it, that have nice downtowns too. Such as Zionsville, and even Westville has starting to become more substantial with it's recent year population growth. There are a few others with small downtowns near there outside Indy's city limits that aren't as well known, i.e. Beech Grove(which is surrounded by Indianapolis on a few sides), Franklin, etc.
As for suburban Chicago,other posters forgot to touch on a few other communities where IMO, they also have good downtowns. Such as La Grange, Downers Grove, Libertyville, Elmhurst, and Highland Park to name examples. I'd also say Elgin's downtown is underrated, IMO.
I'd say a good answer to this question, is Las Vegas. Since if you go outside downtown or outside of the strip, there aren't as many active areas with a lot of things going on. Sure there are a few things(i.e. a Chinese and Asian shopping center west of the strip), but there isn't as many things to do as those main 2 areas. I know the city of Las Vegas is trying to develop an arts district between downtown and the strip, so I'd say this is a neighborhood to watch to see how active it starts to get one day.
In view of the op's title "Metro areas with the least to offer outside of main city" I would hardly think to include Chicago into that category.
There are well over 6 million people in the rest of that huge metro and among that population and area, there are hardly a lack of things to do.
Suburban Chicagoland is basically a handful of working class ethnic enclaves, two kitschy streetcar suburbs (Oak Park and Evanston), and millions of people packed into dozens of miles of cut-and-paste Suburban Americana. If that really does it for you, then Chicago is fantastic. But just because the area is one of the most populous doesn't mean it's interesting or attractive--it just means that you wash, rinse, and repeat a lot of times between the lakefront and the sticks.
Naperville is definitely not “ethnically homogeneous.” Maybe back in like 1995 this was true.
It's 70% white and 20% Asian, in a country where whites and Asians together make up only 64% of the population. We aren't talking about some small farm town downstate or in Wisconsin. We are talking about one of the most prominent suburbs in one of America's most globalized cities. And 7 out of every ten people are white. If that is not homogeneous then the term has no applicability in an American context. That's homogeneous.
Detroit is not the best example, unfortunately. Several of Detroit's suburbs are upscale, and offer a lot of variety, things to do and diversity.
A lot of cool things are in the Detroit suburbs. Ann Arbor is not too far from Detroit (50 minutes or so) and is one of the most interesting, fun, cool and fascinating university cities in the country.
For this thread, my picks would be Indianapolis or Cleveland, for under 3 million. But over 3 million? Hmm, probably Dallas/Fort Worth or Minneapolis?
The Woodlands is just a generic rich suburb. Sugarland is also bland for the most part. Galveston is worthy.
New Orleans is really strong here, nothing of note really lies outside of the city except nature areas but the city is incredibly popular.
I know that, but at least the Woodlands and Sugar Land has some semblance of an identity. They make some effort at attracting jobs, they are major economic centers. Take out San Antonio and there's not even a Sugarland or Woodlands. You may think that this suburbs don't have much, but that's still more than nothing at all.
DFW is by far the metro in Texas with the most outside the main city, Houston is a distant second, Austin third. Then places like Beaumont still had Port Arthur. Even Places like El Paso, McAllen, Laredo and Brownsville have international areas connected to the city.
I know these areas are poorer than San Antonio, but most of the economics in SA is in the city itself. With Reynosa- McAllen at about 2M people and El Paso- Juarez near 3M, ii would say those along with Beaumont- Port Arthur have more to offer outside the main city.
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