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Out of:
-Seattle
-Vancouver
-Mexico City
-San Jose
-San Juan
Consider:
-Immediate setting -can- have priority, but anywhere within 60 miles should be considered overall.
-Urban Parks/Green Spaces
-Coastline/Beaches
-Mountains
-Unique Geological Features/Geothermal Activity
-Varied Landscapes
-Forests/Overall Greenery
Honolulu wasn't included for the fact that it is below 1M at the Metropolitan level, and more importantly, it isn't necessarily a part of the NA continent.
San Francisco, hands down in NA. Why did you include San Jose and not SF?
Lol, you have to consider all seasons. Vancouver is cloudy most of the time with cloud cover that precludes seeing the local mountaintops.
Why San Francisco? I understand there are certain aspects that are great, but to me it's not all that impressive, maybe it's because I live near, but still...
It has some decent beaches nearby I suppose in Pacifica, as well as the redwoods in John Muir across the GG bridge, But mountains are a good few hours away. The grass is brown & dead 8-10 months of the year as well. And I'm talking, legitimate mountains, not Mt Tamalpais or Mt Diablo.
Vancouver, Rio, Seattle, Cape Town, SF and Sydney; Honorable Mention: Auckland, NZ Around the world; North America: Vancouver, Seattle, SF and Charleston; Honorable Mention: Portland
Thanks for your thoughts all. Looks like Vancouver is dominating at least in popular opinion. I didn't include SF because, while it is all subjective of course, when Seattle and SF were matched up on this category earlier, Seattle won in a landslide. I found it unlikely that this time would be any different, however, I was curious what people would think between Seattle and Vancouver, and already have an answer (which makes sense, while Seattle is great, it is further removed from outstanding mountain scenery than Vancouver, and Vancouver has done a much better job (IMO) of incorporating park spaces and natural setting into it's presence (again largely because it's much close). Definitely deserving of most beautiful major city in N.A..
I included Mexico City because it seems to have the tallest peaks surrounding it of any of these (for example, Popocatepetl at 17,802, also a relatively active volcano of late, is within 60 miles). It also has desert-ish scenery, unique geology and biodiversity within the area. I included San Juan because it seemed like the most major city in the Caribbean (that also had it's stuff to some degree together) to also have a beautiful natural setting (coastline, incredibly biodiversity and rainforest, 4K peaks) within way less than 60 miles. I included San Jose because within 60 miles I believe it has tall peaks, rainforest, volcanos (I also think at least one active one) and can reach both the Pacific and Caribbean in around that many miles (at least by the way the bird travels). I think San Jose, if more knew about it, wouldn't necessarily be better than Vancouver, but would likely be it's stiffest competition overall in N.A.
I see two mentions of Charleston! Not saying you're wrong, but just curious, in your mind, what about it's setting is so outstanding that it beats out so many other areas on the Eastern Seaboard?
Guess what, the Seattle fan that I am, I voted for Vancouver BC. Because it is true. They do lack a major mountain as a backdrop, but their proximity to the mountains is much closer than Seattle, and that closes the deal.
As a sidebar, Vancouver subs for Seattle in hundreds of tv and theatrical movies. So Seattle gets the credit? Perhaps.
Of these I've only been to San Juan and Seattle so I can't give a complete ranking, but I do want to say that Vancouver is probably in my top 5 cities in North America on my list to travel to. It really does look stunningly beautiful. I think I would love Vancouver a lot.
On a separate note though I have a feeling people are probably overlooking San Juan a lot here. San Juan is gorgeous and I think I'm inclined to give it my vote just because it's sitting at 0 points right now and I definitely think it deserves more.
When I visited in cloudless summer conditions I was totally in awe.
No NA city imo comes close.
Even Seattle....the mountains are farther away.
However besides the summertime, Vancouver is miserable, as are Seattle and Portland.
My #1 would be Colorado Springs, especially if we include 60 miles as you say which takes you into the Rocky Mountains with its pine forests and clear blue alpine lakes, and snow capped peaks. Colorado Springs itself is a very pleasant looking city without large areas of slums and ghettos and feels very well maintained. I really like New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Charleston WV where I've all lived but admittedly the Springs is more pleasant. For example large swaths of the Baton Rouge city limits feel very gritty and run down and poorly maintained. CS does not include anything comparable to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans or even North Baton Rouge.
Runners Up
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - beautiful coastline and mountains in the background
- Cancun, Mexico - tropical beaches, clear turquoise water on both sides of the Hotel Zone, truly paradise
- Tampa Bay area
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Charleston, West Virginia
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
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