STL has the worst case of fair weather fans) out there. If their teams (especially the Cards) are doing well so are sales. If they're even mediocre attendance drops like a rock. Far from "always full".

I think most cities I have visited in the US were in line with my expectations. Only 2 exceptions.

Miami: The traffic was so much worse than I remembered from 10 years earlier when I lived in So. Florida. It has reached an intolerable level.

San Diego: I just couldn't find my way around and gave up. Also I left sunny 70's in AL for rainy 50's and fog in SD (December).

I can't remember the last time the Cards had less than 3million attendance in a season.

The Rams had their first non-sellout game (Christmas eve) since the franchise moved here eleven years ago.

Now the Blues on the otherhand!

Lovetotravel06 -- You couldn't be more inaccurate and wrong. "If their teams (especially the Cards) are doing well so are sales. If they're even mediocre attendance drops like a rock." The old Busch Stadium and now the new Busch Stadium has drawn over 2-million fans each and every year for decades, now., and more than 3 million fans in nearly all of the past 10 years or so. You don't know what you are talking about. You must be from Kansas City?

Yeah, I'm guessing that lovetotravel06 isn't paying attention or else he has some axe to grind with St. Louis. Truth is, the fans in that city are incredible and even though I like the old Busch better than the new Busch, the atmosphere is still amazing with all the fans dressed in red, night after night. What's very cool is that the venues are clean and fan-friendly. You feel so safe there compared with some sports venues in the East. I was in STL after the world series, and I was so impressed with how remarkably fun the atmoshere there was for everyone, with NO fires, bricks, and not even lots of drinks on the street, as was the case in Detroit and some other cities when teams win championships.

Worst
Cincy - No Nightlife, Dangerous (Thought i was going to get car jacked in the daylight)
Chicago - Overrated like their sports teams (Check Out Milwaukee if you want to handle less stress an hour and half up the road)
Atlanta - There is nothing to do, hot as hell
Any City in Florida

Best
Anchorage - Nice Nightlife, Safe, Good Food and the Best Scenery
Twin Cities - All Around great place
Madison Wisconsin
New York

If you can't get onto one of the three freeways that head north past Mission "the 100 year flood happened in 1983 so we're creating a new flood of housing" valley.. you're in trouble.

Otherwise, it's easy to get around :)

I don't dislike SD. I do think it's a cultural wasteland however. It's got two communities.. white and mexican. Both live in peaceful coexistance but other than occasional forays into some of the mexican restaurants of G st in Chula Vista, I had basically no interaction with any hispanics outside of work. SD city is about 30% mexican... the southern suburbs boost the number higher.

it's a cultural wasteland since it's got bars, bars and more bars. Sure.. they're fun. The restaurant scene was overrated at best. Best restaurant in the city was a brazilian bbq on 4th st (which it does deserve... it's really good) but aside from that.. it was mediocre entree to mediocre entree. Asian food was by and large a bore (best Japanese restaurant was called Tajima, I think, on Convoy). Mexican food is generally good there as well, but what keeps most of them in business is the drunk and late night service crowd going to the 24hr ones.

La Jolla had some of the most overpriced and mediocre restaurants preying on tourists.... Some were good...but that was an exception rather than the rule. My friend wanted to open a thai-fusion place in LJ... we were tellin him to do it... he's an excellent cook.

He went to PF Changs in SD (after a 3 hr wait) and decided that if people pay for that, he'd make money hand over fist.

I do miss Pizza Port in Solana Beach... the pizza there was REALLY good.

I've been to just about all the cities mentioned. Some were nice enough that I wouldn't mind going to again, such as Seattle, Phoenix(Scottsdale), Portland OR. Others are some of my favorites like San Francisco/Northern CA, NYC (I'm biased), Vancouver and go back intentionally.

Others are just downright horrible. Unfortunately, I find I have to travel to these frequently. Pittsburgh is always grey, and I feel unsafe at night. Omaha NE is always brown and there is no where to go at night. Columbus GA is just plain unsafe any time and there is nowhere to go at night.

When traveling, I usually like to walk around the city to get a feel for it and take it all in. I enjoy visiting new cities at least once, and welcome the opportunities that allow me to back to the good ones again.

Chicago: gloomy, bitterly cold and I didnt like the pizza :(

I agree with AsianRick, Atlantic City is not a city but a village with 13 or so Casinos on the Baordwalk & 2 more at on the Marina. Baltimore is larger more of a town, with a small downtown, but walk 4 blocks in any direction and youend up in a third world counrty.. Much worse then the south Bronx of the 70's

We all like to defend our home towns, so...
 

You have to be smart and realistic when you go places. Do not go to Houston or Dallas in the summer. It's too hot. Go in October. Fantastic.

Chicago pointer: don't go in the Winter if you don't like the cold. ;)

Maybe, you should have tried a blues club. :)

It's all yours, Baby!

Also Don't Want to Trash on the Smaller Cities ...
 

... there, Laurel, MS and Hickory, NC pop to mind easily ... but with a bit larger cities:
Akron, OH (the worst ever in the US or I haven't seen it yet)
Youngstown, OH (would be the worst, but understand its starting to turn around)
Montgomery, AL
Sacramento, CA
Ft. Smith, AR
Syracuse, NY
San Juan, PR
Greeley, CO

Surprisingly nice/fun cities that I never would have expected before spending time there:
Pittsburgh, PA (maybe I hit good days, but spectacular looking people downtown)
Dayton, OH (great riverfront)
Honolulu, HI (most people just envision Waikiki ... SO much more)
Little Rock, AR
Mobile, AL
Clearwater, FL (and I live there now ... after I visited)
Keene, NH

With big cities, hate Atlanta and Charlotte (lived in both), neutral to Boston and NYC (lived in both), and love Washington DC (yep, bad places, but you'll never run out of things to do or interesting people to meet). I'm giving Tampa Bay a shot right now (and, for the most part, liking the direction its moving in)

I'm sorry, but I'm a little sick and tired of hearing Cardinals fans slapping themselves on the backs. The self-proclaimed "best fans in baseball" are no better than fans in Chicago, New York, Boston and LA, just to name four places. St. Louis has no monopoly on this sort of thing.

That said, I've had a lot of good times in STL, and even a few good times at Busch Stadium (the old one -- haven't been to the new one yet). I like STL as a city very much. But enough is enough.