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I would say Las Vegas absolutely. Every other city has some sort of organic growth. Vegas sprang forth suddenly from the idea of a gambling/casino oasis in the middle of the Nevada desert. It's just conceptually mindboggling.
San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, and Memphis are my picks.
There is not a city SO unique that you can't find what it has to offer in at least a dozen other cities - if not more. Every city has its own unique flavor and atmosphere, but when it comes down to it...something similar can be found in other cities around the country. I'm not saying that American cities aren't great - there are lots of great American cities. But they are more alike than they are unique.
New Orleans is probably one city that people see as very unique. But, every Gulf Coast city has a Mardi Gras celebration; the first one was in Mobile, but now there are celebrations and parades in Biloxi, Pensacola, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Galveston...and even in cities like Philadelphia and Miami. New Orleans is the most famous and draws the most visitors, but it's not unique, and neither is the culture. Very similar food, music, language, customs, etc. are found all along the Gulf - and in cities like St. Louis and Memphis there are similarities as well.
Las Vegas was very unique at one time...but there are SO many cities and areas where gambling is legal now. They aren't as large as Vegas, but when you're in a Harrah's Casino and caught up in the atmosphere, it doesn't really matter if you're in Vegas or Biloxi or Atlantic City or Tunica.
Cities like NYC, L.A. and Chicago are great and exciting...and each one has a lot to offer. But they are just larger versions of many other U.S. cities. Unique yet similar at the same time.
I take back my initial statement...there is one truly unique American city - Washington D.C. I think it was designed to stand out in many ways, and it definitely succeeds.
There is not a city SO unique that you can't find what it has to offer in at least a dozen other cities - if not more. Every city has its own unique flavor and atmosphere, but when it comes down to it...something similar can be found in other cities around the country. I'm not saying that American cities aren't great - there are lots of great American cities. But they are more alike than they are unique.
New Orleans is probably one city that people see as very unique. But, every Gulf Coast city has a Mardi Gras celebration; the first one was in Mobile, but now there are celebrations and parades in Biloxi, Pensacola, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Galveston...and even in cities like Philadelphia and Miami. New Orleans is the most famous and draws the most visitors, but it's not unique, and neither is the culture. Very similar food, music, language, customs, etc. are found all along the Gulf - and in cities like St. Louis and Memphis there are similarities as well.
Las Vegas was very unique at one time...but there are SO many cities and areas where gambling is legal now. They aren't as large as Vegas, but when you're in a Harrah's Casino and caught up in the atmosphere, it doesn't really matter if you're in Vegas or Biloxi or Atlantic City or Tunica.
Cities like NYC, L.A. and Chicago are great and exciting...and each one has a lot to offer. But they are just larger versions of many other U.S. cities. Unique yet similar at the same time.
I take back my initial statement...there is one truly unique American city - Washington D.C. I think it was designed to stand out in many ways, and it definitely succeeds.
Mardi Gras isn's what makes N.O. unique, it's the history. The city changed hands from France to Spain, back to France, and then finally to the U.S. Many Haitians immigrated there in the 19th Century, this is where the Creole-French and the Voodoo religion comes from. The city is also the birthplace of Jazz music. So to say N.O. isn't unique is just Moderator cut: 1 word - substitute "incorrect", and to say Memphis and St. Louis are similar is even Moderator cut: 1 word - substitute "more incorrect".
Last edited by Bo; 03-12-2009 at 10:03 PM..
Reason: See my Direct Message
Mardi Gras isn's what makes N.O. unique, it's the history. The city changed hands from France to Spain, back to France, and then finally to the U.S. Many Haitians immigrated there in the 19th Century, this is where the Creole-French and the Voodoo religion comes from. The city is also the birthplace of Jazz music. So to say N.O. isn't unique is just dumb, and to say Memphis and St. Louis are similar is even dumber.
1. So did Mobile...which was the first capital of Colonial French Louisiana, founded in 1702. The capital of the territory was moved to Biloxi in 1720; Biloxi was founded in 1699, along with Baton Rouge. All of the cities that were part of the territory changed hands - just like New Orleans.
2. Examples of the "unique" New Orleans culture in other cities:
3. Memphis and St. Louis, along with areas of Mississippi, have as much a claim to the origins of Jazz as does New Orleans.
Quote:
Even the geographic location of the earliest Jazz experiments and the parties involved have been the subject much controversy. Many Jazz writers have pointed out that the non-Jazz elements from which Jazz was formed - the Blues, Ragtime, Brass Band Music, Hymns and Spirituals, Minstrel music and work songs - were ubiquitous in the United States and known in dozens of cities. Why then, they reason, should New Orleans be singled out as the sole birthplace of Jazz?
4. I'm not trying to take anything away from New Orleans...but to say the culture is unique is to say that it's the only one - it doesn't exist anywhere else. I'm afraid it does.
Firstly, it doesn't seem to me like this is necessarily a versus thread, as people seem to be making it out to be. Lots of cities are one of a kind. And I wouldn't discount New York or LA simply because their popular choices. In the case of NYC, being big does in fact equal one of a kind, by virtue of the fact that it is the biggest and arguably most influential city in the country. Similarly the fact that LA is the center of the entertainment industry makes it one of a kind.
I take one of a kind to mean like no other in the country. The city should be instantly recognizable and unique from other cities.
Others I would include:
San Francisco
New Orleans
Miami
Chicago
DC
Honolulu
Las Vegas
Savannah
Seattle
And I'm sure there are plenty of others.
Not sure I agree with your last 2: Savannah = Charleston, SC, Seattle = Portland, OR
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
4,084 posts, read 12,683,905 times
Reputation: 1974
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeaconJ
There is not a city SO unique that you can't find what it has to offer in at least a dozen other cities - if not more. Every city has its own unique flavor and atmosphere, but when it comes down to it...something similar can be found in other cities around the country. I'm not saying that American cities aren't great - there are lots of great American cities. But they are more alike than they are unique.
New Orleans is probably one city that people see as very unique. But, every Gulf Coast city has a Mardi Gras celebration; the first one was in Mobile, but now there are celebrations and parades in Biloxi, Pensacola, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Galveston...and even in cities like Philadelphia and Miami. New Orleans is the most famous and draws the most visitors, but it's not unique, and neither is the culture. Very similar food, music, language, customs, etc. are found all along the Gulf - and in cities like St. Louis and Memphis there are similarities as well.
Thank you! I was too lazy to point this out and was glad to see someone else did.
Miami is like no other city in the US, and it really is not even a city in the US. Its Latin American influence can not compare to any other city international influence in the country and maybe the world.
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I really thought I would get blasted for saying it, but a lot of folks seem to agree...
