The select few places that are NOT "Middle America"

[Minervah]

Methinks the OP has read every cliche travel magazine and carefully copied each stereotypical description of regional descriptions written in them. Lots of assumptions being made in the original post.

[l1995]

Originally Posted by gladhands

A weird thing happened where the big coastal cities started to become more homogenous with gentrification, while cities in the rest of the country became more diverse. 20 years ago, I would’ve agreed with your assessment, but not anymore.

NYC seems more diverse now than in the 90s

[jas75]

Originally Posted by magnoliashorty

In my opinion, the following cities/areas are the only places in America that can claim a truly unique sense of place, due to factors like their architecture/urban form, the diversity of their populations, their history, and the lifestyles they offer. Everywhere else is simply a variation of the typical idea of "Middle America" (think sprawl, car dependency, chain stores, nothing much older than the 1950s, and a largely suburban or rural character, even in places that may be large cities on paper). I guess this is an updated, extended version of that quote about how the only real cities in America are New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans while everywhere else is Cleveland.

Pretty much everywhere else is just typical America, with Midwestern, Rust Belt, and Sunbelt cities like Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix seeming particularly "Middle American." Did I miss any truly unique places?

While in a general sense this assessment of much of America being standardized has some merit, the references to Cleveland make no sense. Cleveland has a wealth of architecture from long before the 1950s and is a well-established major urban center with plenty of public transit, walkability and unique commercial establishments. It isn't a top immigrant destination these days, but Cleveland received very large influxes from eastern and southern Europe in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the surrounding area has the highest percentage of residents with Hungarian ancestry in the nation.

Cleveland has certainly experienced decline and many areas within the city limits are deeply impoverished, but it has attractive sections too, and definitely offers a unique sense of place. Within Ohio, Columbus (which is far more modern and prosperous, and with interesting features of its own) is a better example of a more typical American place. After all, businesses frequently use Columbus as a test market for seeing how their product or service would be received by a representative cross section of America.

[Minervah]

I especially don’t get the “everywhere else is Cleveland” comment. I lived in Portland, OR. The two cities couldn’t be any more unlike one another if they tried. Same goes for other city comparisons I can think of at least those with which I am familiar. I guess I am just not getting the point the OP is making here.