Let's Discuss Cities In Terms Of "Cool." OK, I Realize This Forum

[pieceofbeth]

After living here for three years, I would not call Boston cool.

[johnstuartmill]

New York will always be the epicenter of American cool. It's got music and fashion cornered. New York is definitely doing the trendsetting for pop culture right now...
LA might be more glamorous, but New York is cooler.

LA is not all that glamorous for non-celebrities. It's not glamorous living with a million illegals in an overly humid and hot cesspool.

L.A., overly humid? Have you ever been there? And as far as the hot thing goes, L.A.'s summers are milder than anywhere on the East Coast that's south of Boston. It rarely gets above 90 here.

Let's not start this again.

Yeah, my bad for not reading the rest of the thread before posting.

I'll defend L.A. to the death, though.

[AdmiralNelson]

After living here for three years, I would not call Boston cool.

Dood, lemmy tell ya bro. Bahston is wicked cool. C'mon dood. Dat's a bit hahsh bro.

[fortissimo]

Does anybody who lives in San Francisco ever call it 'San Fran?' I can't recall ever hearing a local call it San Fran or Frisco. They always say the full name or just 'the city.'

Born in SF and used to live there (so don't know if I qualify) but no. It's the opposite. Native SF-ers often call it "Frisco." Most people don't bother saying 'San Francisco' because the name is too long. Just like we call nicknamed Sacramento Sac-town or San Jo for San Jose.

Seattle is the country's premier city

+ 1 billion

What? I grew up in the Bay Area and no one called San Francisco "Frisco." When did you live there?

birth to mid 90s (up until around 15 years ago...time flies!) ...I usually call it "San Fran" but I've heard native SF-ers call it Frisco more often than "San Francisco." (I ended up living in Oakland later on though after moving around the country a bit.)

[fortissimo]

New York will always be the epicenter of American cool. It's got music and fashion cornered. New York is definitely doing the trendsetting for pop culture right now...
LA might be more glamorous, but New York is cooler.

LA is not all that glamorous for non-celebrities. It's not glamorous living with a million illegals in an overly humid and hot cesspool.

L.A., overly humid? Have you ever been there? And as far as the hot thing goes, L.A.'s summers are milder than anywhere on the East Coast that's south of Boston. It rarely gets above 90 here.

Let's not start this again.

Agreed. There are a ton of other reasons why LA sucks besides weather. We can discuss those instead lol

[Hilger]

Does anybody who lives in San Francisco ever call it 'San Fran?' I can't recall ever hearing a local call it San Fran or Frisco. They always say the full name or just 'the city.'

Born in SF and used to live there (so don't know if I qualify) but no. It's the opposite. Native SF-ers often call it "Frisco." Most people don't bother saying 'San Francisco' because the name is too long. Just like we call nicknamed Sacramento Sac-town or San Jo for San Jose.

Seattle is the country's premier city

+ 1 billion

What? I grew up in the Bay Area and no one called San Francisco "Frisco." When did you live there?

birth to mid 90s (up until around 15 years ago...time flies!) ...I usually call it "San Fran" but I've heard native SF-ers call it Frisco more often than "San Francisco." (I ended up living in Oakland later on though after moving around the country a bit.)

Everyone I know from San Francisco just calls it SF.

[qualster]

Everyone I know from San Francisco just calls it SF.

Everyone I know from San Francisco calls it Francis, or Sanf. Just kidding.

[RadMobile]

They always say the full name or just 'the city.'

TITCR

[hellokitty]

1) San Francisco (no competition really)
2) New York City
3) Los Angeles

[exitlane]

I have lived in Los Angeles county for most of my life; unless you have serious money it is a horrific place to live (housing is so expensive and popular activities are pricey). The terrible traffic goes without saying ( in some areas of downtown, you move less than four miles in a one hour stretch of time) yet the pollution is by far the most discouraging aspect of residing in this county: the beaches are so freaking polluted (syringe warnings at some beaches) and the air is so disgusting that it tastes like your breathing out of the tail pipe of a diesel truck. Plus, the people are ridiculous a**holes; if you ask someone for the time, they stare at their watch and then stare at you with disdain without uttering a word.

Don't move to Los Angeles. I hate this county so much that I actually relish the idea of moving to the midwest or south(yes I have visited these areas for several months respectively).

[hellokitty]

I have lived in Los Angeles county for most of my life; unless you have serious money it is a horrific place to live (housing is so expensive and popular activities are pricey). The terrible traffic goes without saying ( in some areas of downtown, you move less than four miles in a one hour stretch of time) yet the pollution is by far the most discouraging aspect of residing in this county: the beaches are so freaking polluted (syringe warnings at some beaches) and the air is so disgusting that it tastes like your breathing out of the tail pipe of a diesel truck. Plus, the people are ridiculous a**holes; if you ask someone for the time, they stare at their watch and then stare at you with disdain without uttering a word.

Don't move to Los Angeles. I hate this county so much that I actually relish the idea of moving to the midwest or south(yes I have visited these areas for several months respectively).

I've only been to LA a couple of times, each time for about a week and I loved it there. But granted, it's easy to like something for short periods of time.

But the south?? Seriously, I've been trying to get out of the south since I was old enough to realize how much it blows. Especially where I live, there is never anything to do and it is so boring and cultureless.

[qualster]

I have lived in Los Angeles county for most of my life; unless you have serious money it is a horrific place to live (housing is so expensive and popular activities are pricey). The terrible traffic goes without saying ( in some areas of downtown, you move less than four miles in a one hour stretch of time) yet the pollution is by far the most discouraging aspect of residing in this county: the beaches are so freaking polluted (syringe warnings at some beaches) and the air is so disgusting that it tastes like your breathing out of the tail pipe of a diesel truck. Plus, the people are ridiculous a**holes; if you ask someone for the time, they stare at their watch and then stare at you with disdain without uttering a word.

Don't move to Los Angeles. I hate this county so much that I actually relish the idea of moving to the midwest or south(yes I have visited these areas for several months respectively).

Yes, there is that aspect of the LA experience. There are many soulless people in LA. It is a sad place. One has to find a decent group of people to hang with (which can be a challenge) or LA will crush your soul. If you are a shallow, narcissistic a hole, then LA is a great place for you. If you are a compassionate, decent person, LA can work, but it is tough. Really tough.

Check out the Mountain West and the PNW, too, exitlane. Those are not bad places to be and the people are more down to earth than LA folk.

[fortissimo]

I have lived in Los Angeles county for most of my life; unless you have serious money it is a horrific place to live (housing is so expensive and popular activities are pricey). The terrible traffic goes without saying ( in some areas of downtown, you move less than four miles in a one hour stretch of time) yet the pollution is by far the most discouraging aspect of residing in this county: the beaches are so freaking polluted (syringe warnings at some beaches) and the air is so disgusting that it tastes like your breathing out of the tail pipe of a diesel truck. Plus, the people are ridiculous a**holes; if you ask someone for the time, they stare at their watch and then stare at you with disdain without uttering a word.

Don't move to Los Angeles. I hate this county so much that I actually relish the idea of moving to the midwest or south(yes I have visited these areas for several months respectively).

hahahaha This post made my day.
Midwest >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LA. Plus the Midwest has Chicago, which has fewer dicks and pricks.

But I agree with the poster above me, best regions (at least out of the ones I've lived in) are the PNW and Mountain region. Much better than the West Coast I think. (I have yet to live on the East Coast, so that's my next target.)

[Oblomov]

n?

[qualster]

Neither New York nor LA can be cool, as they're the obvious answers. They might be good cities to live in (I've rather eat my own pubic hair every morning for breakfast), but they can't be cool. Cool requires something different from what my mother would suggest is cool. I don't know how the home of biglaw could be cool. And no, I am not a hipster.

Chicago is kind of cool. Detroit is cool. New Orleans is cliche, but still cool (at least was, haven't been since Katerina). Boston is a little too geeky and bourgeois, but comes close.

I stopped reading after I read that "Detroit is cool"....that pretty much sums up your personality for me

Have you ever been?

For some reason, I believe Oblomov.

[NUMB3RFIFTY]

1. San Jose

2. San Jose

3. San Jose

[jcl2]

They always say the full name or just 'the city.'

TITCR

+1

[moandersen]

Neither New York nor LA can be cool, as they're the obvious answers. They might be good cities to live in (I've rather eat my own pubic hair every morning for breakfast), but they can't be cool. Cool requires something different from what my mother would suggest is cool. I don't know how the home of biglaw could be cool. And no, I am not a hipster.

Chicago is kind of cool. Detroit is cool. New Orleans is cliche, but still cool (at least was, haven't been since Katerina). Boston is a little too geeky and bourgeois, but comes close.

I stopped reading after I read that "Detroit is cool"....that pretty much sums up your personality for me

Have you ever been?

I have been (fiance is from there) and it does in fact suck. outside of comerica, ford field, and the mgm grand, the place is a war zone.

my top 5:

1. San Francisco
2. San Diego
3. Seattle
4. Chicago (current residence)
5. Santa Barbara

I love the west coast......except for LA, which is just blows compared to other CA cities. If you are talking surrounding cities of LA (santa monica, pasadena, etc - thats different)

[qualster]

bump

[Sogui]

Austin is not cool. this is coming from someone who has lived there 10+ years.

1)Chicago
2)Seattle
3)Portland
4)everythign else

Agreed, Austin... while a liberal bastion in the heart of Texas... is still very southern and has its "weird" culture that both fly in the face of "cool".

[Oblomov]

.

[Borhas]

Thunderbolt, who stopped using his real name years ago, is a striking sight. He's 6 foot 5, has longish hair combed back, and he wears a black suit with a bulletproof vest underneath and a gun on his waist. His face droops on one side, the aftereffects of getting shot in the head, in a Detroit alley, when he was 11 years old.

that guy fits every definition of cool

[NDPhil]

1. Barstow

[clintonius]

Proof that Detroit is cool:

http://www.metrotimes.com/culture/story.asp?id=14918

I want nothing more than to live in a city full of strip clubs hosted in the living rooms of people who were shot in the head.

[gdh]

1) DC
2) New York
3) Baltimore
4) Chicago
5) Raleigh