Cities you Expected to Either Dislike or have no Opinion that you ended up Loving (how much, houses)
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For me there is no city that Ive been to expecting to hate or dislike it. I try to give every city a fair shot. But there are many cities Ive been to expecting to have no opinion on it but ended up coming away with a favorable impression. Here are some of mine:
Salt Lake City - I went up for a cousins wedding once expecting it to be naturally beautiful but for the city to just be average. I was really blown away by how nice the city was, how much there was to do and how friendly everyone was.
Cincinnati - I didnt have any clue what to expect either way when I went here for the week for work once, but I really liked it! Really enjoyed the OTR especially.
Amarillo, TX - I was genuinely surprised by the quality of Thai food and the diversity given its location.
Ocean Springs, MS - There is a much bigger intellectual and hipster crowd than I was expecting. In talking with them, they were very proud of their city and what it has to offer. Very friendly people!
Grand Rapids, MI - One of the best craft beer scenes anywhere!
Montpelier, VT - They had a very charming downtown and the people were really welcoming.
Reno, NV. Surprisingly dense and walkable in the core --- definitely moreso than Las Vegas, some of the census tracts are at or above 10,000 ppsm. The leafy, affluent Old Southwest neighborhood could be straight out of a Midwestern city. The weather doesn't get as hot as I was expecting; it's unusual to get over 90 in the summer.
Helena, MT. Went out to Montana on a much-needed mental health trip over the summer, and this was where I decided to turn back. The downtown core is surprisingly vibrant and makes me think of small towns in the Northeast.
Stockton, CA. Has some really nice residential neighborhoods.
Albuquerque, NM. I don't think I realized before visiting how much the Southwest tribes have influenced the city's culture and visual aesthetic --- it's not just the houses, even the street signs downtown have tribal-influenced designs. Only time I've ever been to a Native American restaurant was the one in the Pueblo Cultural Center.
I go to almost every city expecting to like it so it's more disappointment when something doesn't live up to my expectations. But cities that I liked more than I expected would include:
Syracuse. I like college towns and it has a decent amount to do. I arrived in early January and there was snow everywhere but temps in the upper 50's and mid-60's. People were wearing shorts. Lol. By the time I left two weeks later it had snowed every day for a week and there was about 2-3 feet of snow everywhere and temps hadn't exceeded freezing. It was a crazy swing!
Minneapolis. Nice city, nice people (aggressive drivers), with lots to do. Tough to thaw out in the winter. Probably too cold for me.
Houston. Decent city with lots to do. Pretty good weather from mid-September to May.
My first business trip to Minneapolis years ago, I was expecting backwards flyover country. I wasn’t expecting the vibrant progressive culture. That tops my list.
I don’t want to sound Pollyanna but I honestly haven’t yet gone to any city of consequence that I didn’t either really love or at least found some areas in it that I was impressed with even despite widely held reputations otherwise. From Youngstown OH, to St. Louis and Baltimore I have always discovered districts, architecture, cultural institutions and friendly, interesting residents that gave a shine to each.
Which just makes me always look forward to discover those handful of cities that I haven’t yet been to that even I might not have a good impression of that I nonetheless am almost sure that I’ll discover interesting gems within.
Montpelier, VT - They had a very charming downtown and the people were really welcoming.
Montpelier would definitely make my list. It suffers from being under an hour from the larger and better known Burlington as well as the tourist hot spots of Stowe/Waterbury and the Mad River Valley. But it's a very neat and vibrant town in its own right.
I'd also add:
Norfolk, VA: I have family in the Hampton Roads area, but mostly in VA beach and we never spent much time in downtown Norfolk. No, it's not the biggest or most impressive city, but it's got a good waterfront area and a decent urban downtown with some very attractive nearby residential areas. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Orlando: I went a bunch as a kid/teen to visit family outside of the city or head to the parks, but I was pleasantly surprised the first time I visited as an adult and explored downtown a bit. It's a pretty active city center and there's a lot more to Orlando than just the parks.
Buffalo:I went to college with a few people from Buffalo and they're still good friends of mine. They used to hype Buffalo ad naseum and it got downright annoying at times. That, combined with my other experiences in "rust belt" cities, set the bar pretty low for my expectations. But when I actually got to Buffalo, I was surprised. Sure, it's got many of the marks of a rust belt town - lots of urban decay and some serious blight. But it also has a ton of architectural character and it's a pretty lively place with a great, active waterfront. My favorite thing was the people. They love their city and they're incredibly enthusiastic about sharing it with outsiders.
Sacramento: This one wasn't so much about low expectations as it was really knowing nothing at all about the city. But what I found was a pretty healthy, livable (at least it appeared that way), and active city with a cool downtown historic district. I was definitely pleasantly surprised.
Southeastern CT! Thought it was a bit dumpy on my first time visiting, but after living there for a few months, I found it had a lot of great restaurants, good diversity, charming towns and cities, great people, great weather, pretty scenery, etc.
I had visited Orlando from the time I was a teenager in the 1970's until the 2000's. I moved there for a year 2006-2007. I wasn't sure if my family and I would like that much tourism in a area where we lived. In reality, it was great! The overwhelming majority of the tourist areas are south of the FL Tnpk. The rest of the metro was awesome. Lots of parks, lakes, greenways, shopping, great restaurants, affordable. We loved it there. We also LOVE the area theme parks as well. But Orlando on its own made us happy too.
I don’t want to sound Pollyanna but I honestly haven’t yet gone to any city of consequence that I didn’t either really love or at least found some areas in it that I was impressed with even despite widely held reputations otherwise. From Youngstown OH, to St. Louis and Baltimore I have always discovered districts, architecture, cultural institutions and friendly, interesting residents that gave a shine to each.
Which just makes me always look forward to discover those handful of cities that I haven’t yet been to that even I might not have a good impression of that I nonetheless am almost sure that I’ll discover interesting gems within.
I like that attitude. I've traveled extensively throughout the U.S. my whole life and have rarely gone anywhere that I straight-up hated. There are definitely places I like more than others. But there are always things I like about every place I go. I think if people had reasonable expectations, not unfairly compare them to other areas, and not apply untrue stereotypes, they would enjoy themselves more.
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