Excellent.

delete

Detroit, is the only city I've been to, that you can drive for miles, and find that the only stores that are not boarded up, are liquor stores and check-cashing places. The houses in these areas look like they have not yet started to re-build after a war.

Ever been to the southside? I was warned not to take the Green Line to the Museum of Science and Industry, but I missed a convenient Metra train... so I decided what the heck... how bad could it be, I've ridden the Blue line in L.A.... well... that walk from the Green Line station to the museum was quite interesting. It's interesting what can happen to a neighborhood.

Ok... I'm going to post my thoughts on most/all cities that I explored (note:explored, not just visited) over the past couple of years.
Also including days to visit tourist attractions and explore other parts of the city, to get the feel of it.

1. San Francisco - can't comment, I live here :).
2. San Jose - Live too close to comment, but it's almost like a piece of L.A.
3. Sacramento - Not too many expectations. Downtown/historical district pretty nice. A one-day trip is sufficient.
4. L.A. - Some nice places: Wilshire, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Downtown, Pasadena, Long Beach, but I am STILL put off by the sprawl. I HATE sprawl. You can spend weeks and weeks here, sightseeing/visiting.
5. San Diego - Nice downtown. It's somewhere in-between SF and LA in terms of "city-ness." Hopefully with a couple more light rail extensions, it'll become a real city. 3-5 days, maybe a week to see everything you want.
6. Portland, OR - Nice city, nice rose garden, nice downtown. Not too much to see/do. 1-2 days max. Feels like a small town... ech......
7. Seattle - Like it a lot. Some extremely nice neighborhoods. Best time to go is probably in July-August, so you don't see all the rain. With visits to Everett and the air museum, and other museums, 3-6 days will be sufficient. Probably one of the few major cities in the U.S. that doesn't have "bad neighborhoods." At least I couldn't find any.
8. Vancouver - Love it :). Many things to see/do. Good time to go: same as Seattle, or in winter. Skiing is only an hour or two away. Enough sightseeing for maybe 3-6 days.
9. Chicago - see previous posts. Probably a long weekend is all that's needed here. It's a real city, but it just feels empty.
10. Boston - lots to see, lots to do.... a week is minimum. It's a real city :)
11. NYC - some love it, some hate it. I love it for what it is. Although it does seem to be dirty. Minimum: a week, maximum: no maximum :D. It's "the city" :).
12. Philly - Four days max. As I said before: It's a cake with very good filling, good icing, sprinkled with dirt.
13. Wash DC - If you've never been here before, a week+ is a must for all the museums. Other parts of the city should be explored too. A hike from Georgetown up to the Nat'l Cathedral is a good hike.
14. Minneapolis/St. Paul - "Typical" American city. The lakes are nice, but again, not much to do. Weather's crap in the winter, but can be quite good in late May, early June. St. Paul has some interesting architecture. A good place for art-lovers.

This is a great call. I've never actually been in town, but I hated driving through CT (4 years of it to and from school in NH). It wouldn't be fair to say that I hate CT though since I've only seen the sections that comprise of I-95, I-91 and Greenwich (lovely and of course filthy rich place)...

Too much traffic with cities that were too small and those terrible left exit off ramps. What were they thinking?

If that sort of thing interests you, I also recommend you try to visit St. Louis, Oakland, and Baltimore.

LA was the only place I've ever been to where a girl I was talking to in a bar asked me what kind of car I drove. That was the last I hope to see of LA.

For me, Chicago is on my list of most disappointing cities. And I don't say that lightly because I used to live there and I did like it a little. But after living here in MSP for a while, I realized that Chicago is so massive that all these things that make a city what it is - culture, people, etc. - seem to be peripheral in Chicago and not part of the city's true personality. Chicago comes off as a very blue collar town with a lot of guys in suits running around aimlessly. It's very odd.

Anyhoo. Just my $.02. I count myself lucky because I live exactly where I want to.

I think you just met the wrong kind of people in L.A. My parents have been living there for almost thirty years. He was an engineer before he retired. I doubt you'd have the same type of conversation with him.

Ed

For me Key West was tacky, but i enjoyed the drive to get there.

L.A, just been back and i'm still underwhelmed

Gotta say i love Phoenix and its surrounding cities.

also underwhelmed by Seattle, Monterey, CA, and PHX
 

I found Seattle "uninspiring" , as well. (good choice of words)
Not enough energy downtown, and bad ratio of panhandlers : nonpanhandlers.
(they blend in a lot more in NYC, for instance!).

And I remember way too many touristly T-shirt/souvenir shops in Monterey.
That should'nt be the first memory that comes to mind about a place.


Phoenix was boring too me. ("white bread") If I'm going to be in 100 degree weather in the desert, I'd rather at least have the glitter of Vegas.. (although I thought Scottsdale and Fountain Hills are pretty).
Was not that impressed with the Metrocenter Mall, which was considered about the nicest in Phoenix at the time. Did it ever get any prettier?

Texas
 

Texas.

Too much cement.

Houston... I had to live there for 4 years. I've never wanted to live somewhere else so badly in my life.

Outer Banks, North Carolina. I know, it's not a city, but go stand on the third floor of any of the similarly designed rental houses, and you'd swear there are more homes there then most major cities. Not many dunes left to build on, so they can't add too many more.

The locals told us that what they really need is a good hurricane. Kind of sad how the locals feel about the out-of-towners who own most of the rental units.

It was great to go once, but I won't recommend it, nor would I go back.

People, people, people......

Iowa City, Iowa: bills itself as the "Athens of the Midwest," but instead is a collection of of Big-10 puke bars; sketchy grad students; second- and third-tier suburban Chicagoans unable to get into U Chicago, Northwestern, or UIUC; inbred local politicans and judges; weekend liberals; hideous downtown urban redevelopment projects; ultra-prententious bookshops; and that great agricultural waste flow otherwise known as the Iowa River. In other words, another Big-10 town with a maybe a few more self-referential ornaments than others