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

[OneKnight]

You should also try Salvadorean "pupusas" and fried yucca root.

yuca frita es deliciosa

[autarkh]

You should also try Salvadorean "pupusas" and fried yucca root.

yuca frita es deliciosa

Yep. No entiendo cómo yuca frita no ha sido comercializada en el resto de los EE.UU.

[lawschooliseasy]

isn't of the utmost importance when it comes to making a decision on where to attend, but it does matter. Now, I'm not saying I'm cool (I'm not), but I do like to be around cool people and events, etc.

New York
[strike]LA[/strike]
Chicago
Philly
Miami
Seattle
Indianapolis
Atlanta
San Fran
Phoenix
Dallas
Houson
Minneapolis
Kansas City
Detroit
Denver
Cincinnati
Portland
Austin
etc.

What cities are the "coolest?" Rank a top 5-10 if you feel like it.

(I'm fully aware that this thread is lame and the antithesis of cool. And this thread probably = fail)

EDIT: So, which US cities have you spent time in? How did you feel about those cities in comparison to others?

FTFY

[autarkh]

All this LA hate is classic. I'll think back to it when I'm not shoveling snow and "preheating" my car for 15 minutes. I have plenty of time to ponder these things while stuck in traffic on the 405.

[qualster]

All this LA hate is classic. I'll think back to it when I'm not shoveling snow and "preheating" my car for 15 minutes. I have plenty of time to ponder these things while stuck in traffic on the 405.

Yes! The traffic did me in. I could not get the hang of it. There are great aspects of that city though.

It is just too overpopulated to be the laid back city that it maybe used to be.

[autarkh]

All this LA hate is classic. I'll think back to it when I'm not shoveling snow and "preheating" my car for 15 minutes. I have plenty of time to ponder these things while stuck in traffic on the 405.

Yes! The traffic did me in. I could not get the hang of it. There are great aspects of that city though.

It is just too overpopulated to be the laid back city that it maybe used to be.

Public transportation here sucks.

It's a hard problem to tackle because everything is so far apart. You can't live here without a car.

If they'd invest in some high speed regional rail and made it affordable, people would flock to it. And it would take pressure off the freeways, making them more useful. If an LA mayor managed to solve our traffic woes, that person would be immortalized, like La Guardia.

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

1. Orlando

[qualster]

All this LA hate is classic. I'll think back to it when I'm not shoveling snow and "preheating" my car for 15 minutes. I have plenty of time to ponder these things while stuck in traffic on the 405.

Yes! The traffic did me in. I could not get the hang of it. There are great aspects of that city though.

It is just too overpopulated to be the laid back city that it maybe used to be.

Public transportation here sucks.

It's a hard problem to solve because everything is so far apart. You can't live here without a car.

If they'd invest in some high speed regional rail and made it affordable, people would flock to it. And it would take pressure off the freeways, making them more useful. If an LA mayor managed to solve our traffic woes, that person would be immortalized, like La Guardia.

You're right. But if the traffic woes were solved, then your population would increase by millions because clowns like me would move back down. Seriously.

[Ranita]

Not sure how New Orleans hasn’t been mentioned yet. Apart from two admittedly important factors (horrific crime rate and nasty summer weather), the city has a lot going for it. Living is cheap, food is delicious, people are friendly, architecture is beautiful ,etc. And there is so much to it than just the French Quarter: consider Marigny, Bywater, LGD, Garden District, Uptown, University…the city has a vibe that is eccentric, fun-loving, and all-around cool.

[kswiss]

From my limited experience:

Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
NYC
Boston
San Diego
LA (sticking to Santa Monica/Venice area)

[im_blue]

All this LA hate is classic. I'll think back to it when I'm not shoveling snow and "preheating" my car for 15 minutes. I have plenty of time to ponder these things while stuck in traffic on the 405.

Yes! The traffic did me in. I could not get the hang of it. There are great aspects of that city though.

It is just too overpopulated to be the laid back city that it maybe used to be.

Public transportation here sucks.

It's a hard problem to tackle because everything is so far apart. You can't live here without a car.

If they'd invest in some high speed regional rail and made it affordable, people would flock to it. And it would take pressure off the freeways, making them more useful. If an LA mayor managed to solve our traffic woes, that person would be immortalized, like La Guardia.

The problem is that LA is too spread apart to make high-speed regional rail profitable. Traffic is going to have to get a lot worse before it gets to the point where they have to do something about it.

[thecubiclelife]

Not sure how New Orleans hasn’t been mentioned yet. Apart from two admittedly important factors (horrific crime rate and nasty summer weather), the city has a lot going for it. Living is cheap, food is delicious, people are friendly, architecture is beautiful ,etc. And there is so much to it than just the French Quarter: consider Marigny, Bywater, LGD, Garden District, Uptown, University…the city has a vibe that is eccentric, fun-loving, and all-around cool.

TITCR. Actually, I love the weather there during the summer, so the city is even more wonderful in my eyes. I miss Southern hospitality and good Southern cooking. And let's not even talk about Southern-style restaurants in New England...just...no.

Also, for all of the people that put Philly in their lists...really? Philly?! I've been in Philly for several years now and, while I love the city, it is annoying to go to a separate Wine & Spirits just to buy wine. The uptight nature concerning wine and liquor is annoying enough for the city to be pushed off of the list. Philly really needs to learn from the South, where you can buy wine from the grocery store.

[Kobe_Teeth]

Chicago continuing to be left off these lists only lends creedence to its "cool" factor.

[im_blue]

Not sure how New Orleans hasn’t been mentioned yet. Apart from two admittedly important factors (horrific crime rate and nasty summer weather), the city has a lot going for it. Living is cheap, food is delicious, people are friendly, architecture is beautiful ,etc. And there is so much to it than just the French Quarter: consider Marigny, Bywater, LGD, Garden District, Uptown, University…the city has a vibe that is eccentric, fun-loving, and all-around cool.

TITCR. Actually, I love the weather there during the summer, so the city is even more wonderful in my eyes. I miss Southern hospitality and good Southern cooking. And let's not even talk about Southern-style restaurants in New England...just...no.

Also, for all of the people that put Philly in their lists...really? Philly?! I've been in Philly for several years now and, while I love the city, it is annoying to go to a separate Wine & Spirits just to buy wine. The uptight nature concerning wine and liquor is annoying enough for the city to be pushed off of the list. Philly really needs to learn from the South, where you can buy wine from the grocery store.

You can also buy wine from the grocery store in California and the Midwest, so it's not just the South.

[ccs224]

Their should be some differentiation on city size and neighborhoods on here. For example, when people say that NYC is cool, they're usually only talking about parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn (maybe some of Queens). Brooklyn is a center of cool production, where kids struggling to make art, music, cuisine, etc live, while Manhattan is the center of cool consumption, where museums, venues and fancy restaurants eat up what Brooklyn has made. (--LinkRemoved--) Portland and Seattle are cool places, but being more mid-sized cities, can't really stand up to San Francisco either.

[ausoccer19]

Big fan of Boston. My fiance goes to BU undergrad while I go to a rural/suburban Ohio school. Needless to say, I head to the northeast anytime I have a chance (or the $$ to do so). Tons to do, great history, only downside being the weather (extremes in both summer and winter with near constant wind) and possibly traffic (don't need a car though). We would both greatly like to end up there sometime in the future once we're both done with all our schooling.

Also, from my somewhat limited experience, I really enjoy Chicago, and while NYC is a great city, I preferred Chi-town. They actually seemed to me like very similar cities, at least Manhattan and Chicago, other burroughs not as much, but Chicago was smaller and seemed to have just as much to do. Just my .02

[slider]

isn't of the utmost importance when it comes to making a decision on where to attend, but it does matter. Now, I'm not saying I'm cool (I'm not), but I do like to be around cool people and events, etc.

New York
[strike]LA[/strike]
Chicago
Philly
[strike]Miami[/strike]
Seattle
Indianapolis
Atlanta
San Fran
Phoenix
Dallas
Houson
Minneapolis
Kansas City
Detroit
Denver
Cincinnati
Portland
Austin
etc.

What cities are the "coolest?" Rank a top 5-10 if you feel like it.

(I'm fully aware that this thread is lame and the antithesis of cool. And this thread probably = fail)

EDIT: So, which US cities have you spent time in? How did you feel about those cities in comparison to others?

FTFY

FTFY too

Though Miami does make the list for rudest people on the planet!

[KimmyGibbler]

Not sure how New Orleans hasn’t been mentioned yet. Apart from two admittedly important factors (horrific crime rate and nasty summer weather), the city has a lot going for it. Living is cheap, food is delicious, people are friendly, architecture is beautiful ,etc. And there is so much to it than just the French Quarter: consider Marigny, Bywater, LGD, Garden District, Uptown, University…the city has a vibe that is eccentric, fun-loving, and all-around cool.

TITCR. Actually, I love the weather there during the summer, so the city is even more wonderful in my eyes. I miss Southern hospitality and good Southern cooking. And let's not even talk about Southern-style restaurants in New England...just...no.

Also, for all of the people that put Philly in their lists...really? Philly?! I've been in Philly for several years now and, while I love the city, it is annoying to go to a separate Wine & Spirits just to buy wine. The uptight nature concerning wine and liquor is annoying enough for the city to be pushed off of the list. Philly really needs to learn from the South, where you can buy wine from the grocery store.

I would argue that the number of BYOBs in the city as a result of the strict liquer laws makes up for the hassle of having to go to (gasp!) a liquer store to get booze. Philly needs to learn nothing from the South

[beef wellington]

1 Auckland
2 NYC
3 Europe
4 San Diego (never actually been here)
5 Nawlins
6 Portland
7 SF
8 Chicago

Cities that suck: Phoenix, Seattle, Vancouver, KC, St. Louis, Florida, Vegas

Yes I know there's a continent and a state in there.

[Drew2010]

isn't of the utmost importance when it comes to making a decision on where to attend, but it does matter. Now, I'm not saying I'm cool (I'm not), but I do like to be around cool people and events, etc.

New York
[strike]LA[/strike]
Chicago
Philly
[strike]Miami[/strike]
Seattle
Indianapolis
Atlanta
San Fran
Phoenix
Dallas
Houson
Minneapolis
Kansas City
Detroit
Denver
Cincinnati
Portland
Austin
etc.

What cities are the "coolest?" Rank a top 5-10 if you feel like it.

(I'm fully aware that this thread is lame and the antithesis of cool. And this thread probably = fail)

EDIT: So, which US cities have you spent time in? How did you feel about those cities in comparison to others?

FTFY

FTFY too

Though Miami does make the list for rudest people on the planet!

BOOOO

[badfish]

I get the feeling that the people who say LA is "cool" haven't actually lived there.

IMO

NYC and SF are the coolest cities in America, depending on your tastes.

[Borhas]

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.
Seattle is pretty well dead as far as music centers go. Artistically it's had it's heyday (early nineties with grunge, post punk and Gus Van Sant). This is coming from a Washingtonian too.
Portland is probably number one as far as underground music per capita goes right now, but it's not total package cool like New York is.

Montreal takes it for Canada without much competition.

trendsetting for pop culture is not a positive aspect

for those reasons NYC and LA are rejected (my tastes anyway)

SF, San Diego, Charlottesville, Boston, and New Orleans are places I would guess are really cool

[bloodonthetracks]

NYC, SF, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis

That said, every metropolis has cool neighborhoods in it. If you spend more than a few days in any big American city and actually do some exploring, you will find cool shit.

[yellowfin]

Hanoi has to be top 5 no matter what.

[lawschooliseasy]

All this LA hate is classic. I'll think back to it when I'm not shoveling snow and "preheating" my car for 15 minutes. I have plenty of time to ponder these things while stuck in traffic on the 405.

Yes! The traffic did me in. I could not get the hang of it. There are great aspects of that city though.

It is just too overpopulated to be the laid back city that it maybe used to be.

In big cities in the north you don't have to shovel snow and preheat your car, because they actually have mass transit.