Tops: Houston. I had expectations entering without much preconceived notions and did not like anything about it. 90F at 9am, 90% humidity. Couldn't breathe, traffic was horrible at 11am on a tuesday... no wonder why the I-10 is going to 30 lanes. Traffic doesn't move otherwise..

Reno. Well, it's really not TOO bad. it's below the snow line (in most cases) which makes it fairly decent. Windy a lot, and downtown is tacky.

Atlanta: I had high hopes.. all the rappers talk about it. I even stayed in Buckhead... zzzz boring.. bad traffic and seemed really run down, even on Peachtree blvd...

Baltimore. I live 80 miles away and barely know my way through the city on 95. Never been to the harbor, despite the fact i know a guy who works for the Orioles and could get me box tix for any game.

I have to defend LA. I really, really like it. In fact, I find it to be more of a city than San Diego, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Jose.. probably combined. The city has a LOT to offer. traffic does suck, the air's pretty bad and the people aren't the best this planet offers, but it's really, really got a lot of great restaurants and great neighborhoods.

For the record, I've never lived in LA.. been ~50 times... friends/family live(d) there... living there could suck.. i really don't know tho.

Orange County's a nice place to live, but a cultural wasteland like San Diego is.. San Diego is a gigant suburban sprawling city.

Re:San Diego Wasteland
 

I'm just curious about why you found San Diego to be a cultural wasteland, or anyone else that may chime in that has disdain for SD? The reason I ask that I might be moving there in the next few months from LA.

I grew up in the Philly/NJ area, lived in San Francisco for 14yrs and now LA for 2yrs for the second time. I will agree on the various sentiments about LA, it is not for everyone. It is sprawl without a core center, downtown LA doesn't count in my opinion. Yes, it is a mix of all from people, food,arts,lifestyles, attitudes, etc, however the sprawl and the constant congestion of traffic everywhere including surface streets takes its toll. Overall quality of life here is just not that great, of course if you live in Malibu, Beverly Hills, and live a celebrity lifestyle that's another story.

I've been going to SD for the past 7yrs to visit monthy with friends etc, to me SD offers so much better quality of life. Big city with small town feel.
It has it all, cool neighborhoods, Gaslight District, Hillcrest, Coronado,University Heights, etc, great eats, Symphony,Opera,Globe Theatre,sports a real football team, great outdoor activities, highly educated population. Yes the freeways get congested like any city, but alas, the surface streets you can buzz all over the place.

LA is great to visit, and I do like many things about this town, but overall
just way too congested.

One that tops my list and I won't be going back to unless forced is.... (drum roll) Seattle! There was nothing imparticular about the experience, it was just not what I was expecting.

I have to totally disagree with San Diego though. It is one of my favorite cities. And I also disagree with Chicago... I love both cities! I did not expect to fall in love with Chicago and did... so that would be my favorite surprise city.

Friendly Flyer... I have been to San Diego more times than I can count. My cousin went to college there and LOVED it... a lot of my family still lives there so I have been there many times and have actually lived like a local while there.... my husband and I travel there often and rent sail boats.... the food is the best there of any city that I love to visit... foreign and domestic... HANDS down, they have the best food!!! I envy that you are the one moving there! Of course being from LA... where you have great food also, that won't be the biggest selling point for you... but it is my favorite west coast city!

European disappointment.... Barcelona.... It's a 24 hour freak show

Hylasgirl...thanks for your insight. You brought up something interesting that I have discovered about San Diego, "food"! I've traveled to over 50 countires around the globe and after being a 14yr former resident of SF know good food. I found in SD, so many wonderful places to eat and so many types of food. Best is most places are reasonalbe in price and top notch in quality. Granted it might not get the attention of the SF or NYC food critics, but that's ok by me. As a friend of mine who has lived in SD for 15yrs said, "SD has really grown up in the last 10yrs."

For me, it has to be the following:

Philadelphia - Someone here has called the city a pie with an excellent filling covered by a layer of dirt. I'll grant the layer of dirt, but the excellent filling has been replaced by acid. I usually refer to the city as Filthadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love My Arse. I have never seen such unfriendly people as I have in Philly and I grew up going to NYC in the 70s.

Dallas - For all I care, they could cover the city in concrete and it wouldn't look any different.

Memphis - I thought this would be a much more interesting place than it actually turned out being. I lived in the area for two years and still find no redeeming qualities.

As for those who question the left hand exits in Hartford, I might be able to explain a little. Ever notice that when you have jug handle entrance and exit ramps where two highways come together that there is very little room for merging. That's not the case in Hartford. With the left hand exit ramps and the right hand entrances, you don't get the crossing traffic. We always got a chuckle out of the people backing up on I-91 when the realized that they were getting off the highway and didn't want to.

In the "bland" category: Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Charlotte. And lots of smaller places, but I'm harder on the big cities because they're less restricted by size on what they can do.

Atlantic City. Should have benefited a lot more from the development. Trickle-down didn't work.

Phoenix. IMO the worst sprawl city among several (ATL included). If you live in a sprawl city you may spend way too much time/money in traffic, and you can't draw from the resources of the area as a whole because getting out of your enclave and going to another section will seem like a big hassle due to all the potential traffic in between. Many people get the disadvantages of a big area (pollution, higher costs, crowding, taxes) but the advantages of a much smaller one (the suburb they're "traffic-locked" into), and that's backwards from the ideal.

And finally, San Francisco. Undeniably beautiful setting, but prices are sky-high and the people seem to get jaded from all the visitors.

There are a bunch of cities in the US whose positive sides I've missed: Cleveland, Hartford, Springfield (MA), Houston, St. Louis. Others are supposed to have lots going for them like Atlanta, maybe Philadelphia, that I have also missed. Like others, I was wildly disappointed by the pre-Katrina New Orleans.

Pittsburgh surprised me on the positive side (low expectations perhaps). I agree with the folks that LA has a lot going for it (food, art, beach towns, pretty women on the beach, beach volleyball ...). At the core, what makes it fascinating to me is that it is the center of much of the world's popular culture. Low brow, yes, but whatever you see in LA will be in most of America and indeed much of the world in a few years.

At the top of the list, San Francisco and Boston have a lot going for them. Other than the weather, the infrastructure, the politics and a surprising fraction of the original natives who who were racist and/or rude when I first moved here, I think the Boston area is a great place to live. I enjoyed living in NY, was happy to leave and enjoy visiting (I know where to go for various things and can sample the great restaurants, theater, art, etc.).

Haven't been to every US city, but most of the big ones.

Lived in LA for a while - easy to dislike it. I have a special place in my heart for my old hometown, but it's a love/hate thing. Although I still feel I may end up back there some day.

Have to say Indianapolis, Cleveland and Detroit were major letdowns, although thinking back I guess I didn't expect anything from Cleveland and I wasn't disappointed :) Baltimore falls in the same category. I was mildly disappointed by Houston too, although it was after Katrina so who knows how many imports helped with the impression (a big part of it was the crime/homeless/druggies, etc).

Just to get an idea of my taste, I love Boston, New York, San Francisco, Vegas and Chicago. Less on the list but still positives were St. Louis, Nashville, and I liked Dallas too.

Sacramento. Eeeewwww..........!

Columbus, OH - quick little story. So, my friend and I were stopping by the Easton Town Center to return some items - he stopped into Borders and I went into JCrew. Well, we met up after and were walking back to my car when this little kid, no older than 5, who was sitting by himself on the curb, looked up at the two of us and said, "Thank you boys for shopping with us today."

We looked at each other, and couldn't believe what we'd heard. I felt like I was in a mix of Pleasantville and the Truman Show. Ever since then, I cannot stomach Columbus. Gross.

Houston

Second that, Monterey really isn't worth a visit. But driving down HW 1 is quite impressive! (Especially in the area of Big Sur)
Also Austin, TX - only 6th Street is worth a visit.
L.A. ^ - after my first visit I didn't like it too much, but since the 2nd time I been there I'm loving it - weather, people, culture... it's different but it has something quite vibrant. By the way, there are quite some interesting things to discover in downtown! Like the Library, a mexican food stall, partying at the roof top bar of the Downtown Standard :cool:
San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities... friendly, open minded people, lots of things to do, the Bay etc.

Those cities are mere imitations. Detroit is the leading city for that stuff.

For me, Seattle was disappointing. It didn't meet my expectations at all. This includes the Boeing factory tour, which sucked big time. I'm a plane nut and that teeny little tour was a waste of money and time.

Dutch Harbor, Nome, Attu.

Attu is not a real city but still...

:eek:

...why? ;)