There's just no accounting for taste
 

We just all have our preferences I guess. I was sort of grossed out by New Orleans, long before the hurricanes and I love Houston. Love Chicago and Vegas, live in San Francisco, love it too. I'm from Dallas, love it too. All a matter of personal preference, but then when one city comes up over and over again, it makes you wonder...

Funny, I was disappointed by Denver on my first visit. I was used to bigger cities with sprawling urban areas and thought it was too small and isolated. But on later re-evaluation, I decided that it had some of everything I really wanted and I wound up moving here a few years later. Now, I think it has had too much sprawl recently!

San Antonio was disappointing because the humidity just made me want to stay inside. And the glorification of the Alamo just brought out the cynic in me. I wanted to stand in the center and yell, "Yeah, fighters for independence - except for African slaves!"

I went to Boston for my education. The drawbacks mentioned in an earlier post were exactly what disappointed me about the city. Same experience for my brother. I finished but he transferred after 2 years.

awww
 

That sounds cute as hell. I can think of a lot worse places than Pleasantville. Kenner, Louisiana springs to mind.

Orlando. I don't know what I was expecting, but the city was pretty boring.

Charlotte

Memphis - This is a one time weekend destination only. Dirty, crime ridden, generally nasty place. Lived there for a year.

Go to Tunica, MS if you like casinos, or Nashville (wonderful place).

Actually Nash-Vegas is a city that I've been disappointed by. Not a big fan of country music, so I found myself with very little to do. And, the 9% sales tax in the state of TN is a big fat :td: to visitors (the no income tax for residents aside).

Shreveport, LA - nothing redeeming about it except watching it get smaller in the plane window

Houston, TX - sweaty, dirty, ugly

Orlando - outside of the theme parks there is nothing of interest there

and finally...

Lubbock, TX - YUCK!:td:

Odessa / Midland, TX: If you watch "Friday Night Lights" you are seeing an artist's rendering of what the town would be like of it were dry cleaned, then burned to the ground, rebuilt from the ground up with stuff that doesn't smell and everyone got another 30 or 40 IQ points. Try living there, it will make you appreciate how good they have it in Sadr City and Beirut.

Fort Wayne, IN: Frank Burns and Fawn Lebowitz were both lucky: Neither one had to go back there. Parochial, f***ed-up little town that is desperately trying to prove it's Indianapolis.

Atlanta: Any place that comes that close to a riot over whether or not to put the word "Jackson" into "Hartsfield hyphen Jackson Airport" and can't seem to name anything without the word "peachtree" in the name needs to be started over again.

Detroit: They don't call it "De Toilet" for nothing.

Portland, OR: Earthy-crunchy with an attitide.

Sea-Tac, WA: Not SEATTLE, just Sea-Tac. That place is a dump that they keep rebuilding into a bigger dump. For the construction that seems to have been going on since Ford was in office, you'd think they'd either finish or give up. First time I'd ever seen visqueen growing from the ceiling.

Phoenix: If it were that cool to be in a place that hot, Idi Amin would have been more successful in inviting dinner guests over. If someone were to drop a bomb on Maricopa County, we'd lose 93% of our professional athletes because they ALL seem to live there. And Glenn Campbell's body would burn for several days.

St. Louis: That has got to be the DIRTIEST city I have ever been to, and I've been to Pittsburgh. Note to locals: King's Highway has a space and an apostrophe somewhere and is NOT one word. Have you ever seen a place with more rotting, crumbling concrete with rebar rusting through it than at Lambert? East Alton is starting to look like a high cass suburb.

Newark, NJ: Youze guys gotta get heeyah, we're havin' a party on accounta unca Vinny just got sprung, ya know?

El Paso, TX: Do us a favor, secede to Meh-hee-ko so we can let it be THEIR problem. Trust me, we won't miss it. Airport looks like a Chi-chi's restaurant that hasn't been remodeled since Clara Peller was hawking Wendy's doubles with cheese. They don't have a baggage carousel, just a burro walking around in a circle.

Globe, AZ: There are billboards that way "Shhh...the neighborhood is watching...report crystal meth labs" REPORT them? They ought to be handing out crystal meth with the water bills for anyone who has to live there!

Topeka, KS: Wanamaker Road is where fast food restaurants reproduce. The Indian brave with the bow and arrow on top of the statehouse is aiming at someone who can't stand it anymore.

MCI: Kansas City is cool, but the airport is the worst thought out design since the Ford Pinto. Fly into Lambert then drive. You'll thank me later.

Peoria, IL: You literally smell it before you see it.

--PP

St. Louis
 

The sports venues are the cleanest and most family friendly in the country, and even better, the stadiums are always full, and everyone wears the team colors. You gotta love it. The resturants in STL are great especially on "the Hill," and the burbs are very nice. Lots of big homes, lots of new and old mixed together, and beautiful tree lined avenues and streets. I love the Lou.

One More Thing about STL
 

I was there for the world series. When the home-team Cardinals won, there were hundreds of thousands of people that came downtown for the celebration; including thousands of families, young and old, all races, and folks from every part of the metro. What DIDN'T happen? There were no fires, no shootings, no overturned police cars, no riots, and, no one got hurt. Like I said, St. Louis won; not Detroit.

If we're talking about the city proper (ie. downtown area), I would say - Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland.

10 Worst & Best to travel to on business
 

WORST!

1 - New Orleans before Katrina (Humid, stinky, crime-ridden, old, filthy.)
2 - New Orleans after Katrina (Humid, stinky, crime-ridden, unhealthy.)
3 - Detroit (Rainey, icy, stinky, crime-ridden, scary.)
4 - Newark (just plain horrible.)
5 - Kansas City (downtown is no better than Cairo, IL.)
6 - New York (inconvenient, expensive, dangerous & dirty transportation.)
7 - Charlotte NC (seems like only regional jets go to there from most places.)
8 - Philadelphia (everything)
9 - Jacksonville (you can't "get there;" When you do, you wish you hadn't!)
10- Boston (I love the city but I hate the traffic, airport, and tunnels.)

BEST and UNDER-RATED!

1 - Chicago (considering the size, it's easy, lots to do. But I hate Cub fans.)
2 - San Diego (easy to get there, perfect weather, wonderful atmosphere.)
3 - Las Vegas (great hotels, food, easy airport except on Mondays.)
4 - Minneapolis (doesn't feel dangerous, easy to get around, progressive.)
5 - St. Louis (best sports city, good restaurants, lots of rejunivation.)
6 - Orlando (great hotels, nice weather, easy airport, kind of fun.)
7 - Indianapolis (don't laugh, I really like this city, clean & lots of new stuff.)
8 - Salt Lake City (clean, beautiful, fresh, some very cool restaurants.)
9 - San Antonio (nice size, servicable airport, good food, friendly atmosphere)
10- Tulsa, OK (you are laughing? Nice little city, good airport, good food!)

I thought I would hate LA and avoided it as much as possible--until a nice cheap airfare and a desire for a family vacation took us there in August. WOW. I loved LA. Awesome place. I think if it weren't for the cost of living and distance from my family (my parents would have a fit if we moved their grandkids cross-country from them), husband and I would definitely uproot and move out there!!! http://flyertalk.com/thumbsup.gif

I thought Houston was tremendously disappointing. Hot, hot, and humid, humid. The city of the 10 downtowns. I've heard people say it isn't a bad place to live. Maybe they're right, but visiting is another situation entirely.

Atlanta was nothing special, either.

Orlando? Yuck. Same for almost every other place I've been to in Florida (except Tampa-St. Pete).

Fort Wayne, Ind., is awful. Detroit is meh.

But -- Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh were pleasant surprises. Like 'em all.

And since VideoPaul besmirched my hometown, I feel I have to defend it a bit. Peoria isn't a tourist attraction, but it's a pleasant city, larger than it seems, with a topography not typical to central Illinois (think bluffs, not cornfields). It has a lively downtown, plenty of good places to eat, a decent cultural scene and a very good sports scene. If you want to get away, Chicago, St. Louis and Indy are within 3 hours.

And did I say it's one of the most AFFORDABLE metro areas in the United States?