Interesting small and medium-sized cities in the US.
 

After having visited NYC, Boston, DC, Chicago, LA, and all of the other major cities multiple times, I've taken an interest in visiting some of the small and medium-sized cities in the US. I recently spent a long weekend in St. Louis with a friend and had a grand time. The local color there made me think about all of the other cities out there that must be overlooked gems that one doesn't think to visit right away.

Just curious if there are any favorite places that you would recommend to get a taste of a different slice of the US. Medium-sized places that are on my radar (for no particular reason) include Kansas City, the Raleigh-Durham area, Minneapolis and Hartford. I haven't even begun to consider the smaller ones, although I had a great time driving up in the Berkshires a few years ago.

Consider taking a weekend trip outside of the US :) where unlike in the US, many small and medium-sized cities have much more variation and more character :).

With most mid-sized U.S. cities, a lot can be about timing. For example, you mention KC...nowhere better to be during March Madness, but as a tourism destination in January, ummm, well, your upgrade would probably clear!! @:-)

Others I'd throw on the list in no particular order (some of these push "large" and some push "small")...I've had a good time in all of them. :) Also throwing in Canadian since you're coming from Salt Lake and could get to those as easily as the American cities.

- Austin
- Madison
- San Diego
- Denver
- New Orleans
- Minneapolis
- Vancouver
- Seattle
- Toronto
- Kingston
- Montreal
- California, north of the Bay Area
- California, south of the Bay Area (I assume "in" the Bay Area you've done)
- Any number of weekend activities within 1-2 hours' drive of the DC area (wine, ocean, hiking, golf, etc.)

That's off the top of my head...if you narrow it by interest people will likely come up with even better suggestions.

middle market cities that no one goes to but can be a lot of fun - Buffalo NY.

I can give you a great weekend itinerary around food alone. It's not a bad place if you know what to do and what to see. and it's fairly cheap if you come from a big city like myself.

I made a list of small and mid-sized cities in the US I wanted to visit and they included:

Seattle
Denver
New Orleans
Austin
Nashville
Key West
Palm Springs (well more for the general area)


I will agree with pinniped, and suggest some Cdn cities like Calgary, Halifax, Quebec (though I would say Montreal and Toronto are big cities - esp with the metropolitan Toronto area being the 5th largest in NA wrt population.)

Consider Cleveland. It does, as they say, rock.

Portland over Seattle in my opinion. Could easily spend a week there on a microbrewery tour. Granted you might not remember much of it, but it'll be fun.

Tuscon
Santa Fe
San Antonio
Albequerque
Madison
to name a few more.

San Antonio and San Diego are both great cities, but hardly small or medium sized! They both rank in the top 10 by population. If we’re including cities this big I’m throwing Houston in the list, but it’s hard to enjoy without a local to show you around.

That said, come to San Antonio! Get off the Riverwalk, get some *good* Mexican food and enjoy an awesome city. Rent a bike and go up or down the brand new San Antonio River Project urban trails. PM if you want some non-touristy ideas on San Antonio.

If you're talking about mid-sized US cities, New Orleans is probably as unique as it gets.

Austin, TX

Portland, ME

Portland, OR

Seattle & Portland are definitely worth seeing

Spend a couple of days in Albuquerque, then drive the hour up to Santa Fe for a few days.

No one has mentioned San Francisco, which has a reputation as a Big City, but it's actually smaller tham most of the places suggested here.

Portland, ME
Portsmouth, NH
Burlington, VT
Madison, WI
Memphis, TN
Charleston, SC
Winnipeg, MB

I'd try to avoid:
Lansing, MI
Columbus, OH
Peoria, IL
Albany, NY
Worcester, MA

I'm looking for an excuse to go:
Boise, ID
Austin, TX
Halifax, NS
St. John's, NF


Nothing necessarily wrong with those places I'd avoid, I just don't think they're much touristy fun.

I've seen Madison, WI mentioned a couple of times. What's the interest there? Admittedly it's a city I have never really even thought about.

Nice to see a couple votes for Quebec City, it's quite possibly my favorite city in North America. :)

Quebec City, Montreal & Vancouver are all great actually.

As far as ones in the US:

Seattle
Asheville, NC