Top Ten Cities
I used to have a couple of jobs that required me to travel all over the US, and based on that, here are my top ten, in no particular order:
1. Washington DC. And surroundings. I lived there most of my life, in NoVa and on Capitol Hill. It’s where it’s happening; world events are the local news. Great cultural opportunities, many of which are free (thanks, America!). Don’t know if it would be tolerable right now to be in such proximity to the self-righteous, anti-American-way Bush-leaguers. Hated the summer there. Love the spring and fall. Both weeks. I’m an information junkie, and any information you want is there. Downtown DC is one of easiest places to get around, and with plenty of reason to want to.
2. San Francisco. Obviously.
3. Portland. Either of them. I live about two hours from OR. Great neighborhoods, food, wine. Good culture. Great recreational opportunities. I used to visit ME a lot. Wonderful downtown; walkable. Good people. By the way, someone said, regarding the question, “Portland or Boston,” Portland won the coin toss. That’s exactly how Portland OR got its name. A coin toss between someone from Boston and someone from Portland, ME. And forget Seattle. Used to be nice. Now it’s full of refugee Californians, who have totally Californicated the place.
4. Denver. And smaller cities to the north (Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins). Good energy, good planning atmosphere. Great recreation. Two brothers-in-law live there, so I’d have instant family. Ex-wife lives there, too!
5. Baltimore. Most of the benefits of DC, without the self-righteous, anti-American-way Bush-leaguers. Major league baseball, in a way. Good, thriving downtown.
6. Miami. Caliente! Summers are a bear, but winter is great. The energy level is fun.
7. New York. Anything you want is there.
8. Chicago. The lake, the architecture, the neighborhoods, the pizza.
9. Boston. But with little enthusiasm. A little too cold, traffic a little too bad.
10. Random smaller cities: Ashland, OR; Cedar Rapids, IA; San Antonio, TX; Charlottesville, VA. My absolute number one best place on earth to live as far as I know is Pacific Grove, CA. If only I had the money.
Also-rans: Kansas City, MO; Sacramento, CA; Austin, TX; Harrisburg, PA; Cleveland, OH
I haven’t traveled outside of North America too much, but when I was in Copenhagen, I thought it was the most wonderful city on earth. Of course, this was in 1985, and I had come there directly from two weeks in Breznev-era Moscow. After Moscow maybe even El Paso would seem good.
The bottom ten:
1. El Paso. An absolute hell-hole. I would live in Olongapo before I’d live there. By the way, I know a great seafood restaurant in Olongapo.
2. Atlanta. The capital of hypocrisy. Bad weather, bad environment, bad, bad, bad. And that goes double for Macon.
3. Oklahoma City. A city of parking lots. Tornados.
4. Dallas. No redeeming social value.
5. Anything in Louisiana. If Quebec ever secedes from Canada, can we make them take Lousy-ana?
6. Nashville. Spent a month there one day. Absolutely hated the town every time I went there. But maybe that was because one of the worst things that ever happened to me happened there.
7. Charleston, WV. Think of all the bad things you’ve ever heard about Newark. They’re all true about Charleston. And as for the other Charleston, the one in SC, all I can for it is that it has some pretty buildings. But if your family wasn’t there before the unpleasantness between the states, you’ll never fit in. Think, “The Citadel.” Think, “Bob Jones University” (I know, BJU is in Greenville, but the whole damn state is like that.) Makes the Idaho panhandle look like the capital of tolerance. General Sherman had the right idea.
8. Phoenix. Los Angeles without the ocean. With worse weather and water problems.
9. Los Angeles, including Las Vegas. Born there, went to college there (Bruins!). Take away the ocean, and it’s Phoenix.
10. Sioux City, IA. There’s a reason its airline code is SUX.
Also-rans: Any city in southern Wyoming. Why does any place the oil industry dominates turn out to be such armpits? Tulsa, OK, with its Jetsons-style architecture at Oral Roberts University (is that still there?) Anchorage, AK. I interviewed for a job there. My wife and I went out and celebrated when I didn’t get the offer.
