Seattle number 3 coolest city according to forbes (Tacoma, Bellevue: neighborhoods, college)

[Beat02]

Oakland #5?! Over San Francisco who isn't even on the list?

BS list.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Beat02

Oakland #5?! Over San Francisco who isn't even on the list?

BS list.

On this list, Oakland is SF. The picture they have is of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from SF, not Oakland. Also, they referred to it as the "Oakland Metro". Oakland is part of the SF metro.

[gotigers123]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

On this list, Oakland is SF. The picture they have is of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from SF, not Oakland. Also, they referred to it as the "Oakland Metro". Oakland is part of the SF metro.

Yet another reason why Forbes (and this list) is a complete train-wreck.

[Steelers10]

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

August or September '09, the last time I rode the Metro. It was at the station where you must change to go from the Green Line to Nationals Park.

It must not be everywhere. Are you sure they were military police? DC Police has quite a presence and there is also a large Park Police presence on the mall. All is well; just because I haven't noticed it doesn't mean they are not there. When I ride the metro I am always on the Red Line so maybe they have different security tactics.

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

It is very walkable. However, that alone dosen't make it cool (see my list of "cool" cities for my personal critereon). And I also agree about the pesky Fairfaxers. However, the people who are left to pay the astronomical DC rents are not exactly "down to earth." When I'm on a night out in DC I feel like everyone is just networking and trying to move up the totem pole and not enjoying whatever the activity is.

In terms of astronomical rent, I think there are a lot more affordable places than in New York, Boston, and DEFINITELY San Francisco. Where do u hang out in DC? I don't know if you are into the more "urban" scene but there are definitely multiple cultural venues in DC. I definitely feel bad that you have been only stuck in trendy bars with d-bags on cellphones.

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

These cities were not on my personal list.

I did quote you but my post was also my own personal observations about the list.

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

The mall isn't that interesting to me. I've walked and biked there. I like some of the museums, especially the Corocran art gallery and the National Craft Museum.

Of the three Washington Monuments, D.C.'s is the ugliest. The neatest one is in Boonsboro, Washington County, MD, since it was built with stone hauled up the side of the mountain by ordinary people, and the prettiest is in Baltimore. DC's is just big and expensivive.

Although DC is planned, you must admit that the mall is a unique cultural venue in America. I have yet to run out of things to see down there. Even if you manage to see every exhibit and monument, many different organizations hold events down on the mall. Washington County is an untapped gem. But if we are talking about all of metro DC and contiguous parts of Maryland then that would actually vault Washington up the cool list. Certainly DC is expensive but anymore so than NYC, San Fran, Seattle, etc.?

Originally Posted by HandsUpThumbsDown

I'm surprised that depopulation and economy enters in your cool rankings. New Orleans has live music all day and night in the streets, an amazing collection of cultures, completely unique traditions in music and cuisine. What could be more cool than that? Baltimore's DIY music scene and Club music scene of the past decade can be heard influencing popular music today. That's pretty cool, too me.

My friends and relatives who actually live in Baltimore city say a major issue is safety. One history professor said the key to safety is not police but well-lit areas and lots of people out on the street. There are a lot of areas in Baltimore where you park for clubs and ballgames where the entire block is abandoned and it has an ominous feel. I don't know, just my personal opinion but if you have to overlook other people's day-to-day misery so you can have a good time on the weekend then that is just not cool. Because I live in Maryland I'm sure I have a very different perspective about DC and Baltimore. When I went to Seattle I thought it was one of the coolest places ever but my friends kind of had a "It's ok but I'm thinking about moving to Vegas for awhile" attitude.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by Steelers10

My friends and relatives who actually live in Baltimore city say a major issue is safety. One history professor said the key to safety is not police but well-lit areas and lots of people out on the street. There are a lot of areas in Baltimore where you park for clubs and ballgames where the entire block is abandoned and it has an ominous feel. I don't know, just my personal opinion but if you have to overlook other people's day-to-day misery so you can have a good time on the weekend then that is just not cool. Because I live in Maryland I'm sure I have a very different perspective about DC and Baltimore. When I went to Seattle I thought it was one of the coolest places ever but my friends kind of had a "It's ok but I'm thinking about moving to Vegas for awhile" attitude.

I live in Baltimore City now. It's where my dad grew up, and his dad, and etc. etc going back hundereds of years. So if I'm just being a homer, at least there's a reason for my pride. I surf the Seattle forum a lot because I used to live there too and the heat and humidity of summer makes me want to move back - I'm sure you can agree that there's nothing cool about Baltimore or DC in August!

Anyway, I've been in Baltimore for almost 3 years now. I've lived in three different neighborhoods (and none of them were "the safe ones" of Federal Hill or Canton) and haven't had a single problem. I walk, I ride my bike. I take precautions. But overall, I've found outsiders' fear of the city to be mostly unwarranted. If you're offended at merely the appearance of blight, then this isn't the place for you.

It's obviously a dangerous place, but if you don't go looking for it, it probably won't find you. The fear keeps the rent low for musicians so they can scrape by and hold all-night concerts and dancing in old warehouses and sell cans of Natty Boh out of a cooler for $1. That, to me, is cool. Just like brass bands that set up on street corners on Frenchman St in New Orleans and pass the hat. I wonder if that is even legal in DC without some sort of bureaucratic nightmare process.

By the way, I've seen you on the Baltimore forum and I think you're a good poster. Especially when you went toe to toe with that person who seemed to think that she was racially profiled when she was yelled at on Greenmount Ave.

And at least we agree about Seattle!

[Beat02]

Originally Posted by gotigers123

Yet another reason why Forbes (and this list) is a complete train-wreck.

Exactly.

They must be retarded...

[W & C]

This list is so random. I don't know what criteria Forbes uses to measure "coolness"; I suspect it's a highly scientific process involving drawing punch cards out of a hat, or some place where the sun shines even less...

I love Seattle and Bay Area, but for my money, the coolest cities are the ones that don't have an early last-call curfew, which pretty much excludes all of the West Coast. Miami, New Orleans, Vegas, NY, Chicago, Memphis first - then cities like Seattle and San Francisco.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

On this list, Oakland is SF. The picture they have is of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from SF, not Oakland. Also, they referred to it as the "Oakland Metro". Oakland is part of the SF metro.

This is the first time in my life I have ever heard of the "Oakland Metro." Oakland has slightly more landmass than SF but half the population, is therefore much less dense, and its culture is much less far-reaching than San Francisco.

I guess I could see where the "Oakland Metro" area would be towns like San Leandro, Castro Valley, Albany, El Cerrito, and it could be argued Berkeley though it has its own cultural pull, and all these cities are part of the "East Bay," which in turn is part of the "SF Metro" area... what a dumb list.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by 415_s2k

This is the first time in my life I have ever heard of the "Oakland Metro." Oakland has slightly more landmass than SF but half the population, is therefore much less dense, and its culture is much less far-reaching than San Francisco.

I guess I could see where the "Oakland Metro" area would be towns like San Leandro, Castro Valley, Albany, El Cerrito, and it could be argued Berkeley though it has its own cultural pull, and all these cities are part of the "East Bay," which in turn is part of the "SF Metro" area... what a dumb list.

I agree mostly. Oakland and Berkeley are sort of twin cities that drag Piedmont, Albany, Emeryville and Alameda with them. Those other areas to the north and south are somewhat separate still.

I would imagine it would be like the Seattle-Tacoma area. My guess is that when broken down, Tacoma sort of forms it's own mini area. I could be wrong but it seems that way to me kind of.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I agree mostly. Oakland and Berkeley are sort of twin cities that drag Piedmont, Albany, Emeryville and Alameda with them. Those other areas to the north and south are somewhat separate still.

I would imagine it would be like the Seattle-Tacoma area. My guess is that when broken down, Tacoma sort of forms it's own mini area. I could be wrong but it seems that way to me kind of.

No, it's definitely true. Although people will refer to the "Seatac" region and indeed, the are between the two cities for their own lengthy sprawl (which is somewhat sparse in some areas), the fact of the matter is that cities like Kent, Auburn, Poulsbo, etc. between the two cities, IMHO, have more of a Tacoma feeling than a Seattle feeling (I'm sure that someone here will jump on my back and tear out my throat for saying that). These areas are more socially-conservative, and more traditionally "working class" or "working middle class" than what you generally find in Seattle proper or its closer suburbs (Bellevue, Redmond, etc), so you get a substantially-different vibe off them than in Seattle.