US Best Cities

[Guest zipperzone]

>San Francisco's Mountains are four freaking hours away.

>(Nevertheless, it is America's most beautiful city.)

 

If you are referring to USA cities when you say "America" then I would agree with you.

 

But if you mean "North American" I would venture to say that Vancouver might be the winner here. (Or at least a tie)

[+ Charlie]

Umm... Tom? Since Minneapolis is so fabulous, why do you choose to live elsewhere? It must be missing something important.

[Rod Hagen]

Vancouver is beautiful. Architecturally SF is more beautiful. Setting wise, Vancouver probably wins.

 

p.s. There is no doubt that Minneapolis has fantastic culture, amazing.

 

http://www.RodHagen.com

[+ Tom Isern]

Hey Charlie. I've sung the praises of Minneapolis and I miss all those things about "the cities," as they are called in Minnesota, very much. But there are other things I don't miss, and I'll skip the obvious climate-related, freeze or fry, Siberia to Sahara, things.

 

The biggest reason I choose to live in New York and nowhere else is because I hate cars and I hate suburbs--particularly I hate owning cars, riding in them, and being stuck in traffic. I hate everything about cars--their stink, their look, paying insurance, their pollution, the image of the arrogant, gas-guzzling American who thinks someone put the Arabs on top of his oil, the miles of paved-over ground that freeways and roads steel from the environment. This is why I particularly loathe LA and avoid it like the plague.

 

The automobile and the suburbs have conspired to produce a type of strip-mall landscape (LA) that I think is hideous and inhumane--the autonomous individual riding behind his pane of steel and glass guzzling his daily gas to drive to work. That lifestyle doesn't appeal to me. When I lived in St. Paul, right in the heart of the city, if I wanted a gallon of milk I had to get in my car and pollute to world to get it. Here in New York, I dash across the street. To get to work I had to drive the same tired stretch of freeway every day. Walking. Meeting others. Greeting. Seeing. Being in the weather. These are natural and human. These are the things of the city, not the suburbs.

 

New York is a REAL city--the only one in America. You can live here and do whatever you want without having to own or step into a car. New York is a city (like Paris and London) because it has fast and efficient public transportation that will literally take you anywhere in the world. Unlike Minneapolis, Seattle, LA, Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, etc. (all those suburbs) New York is the only place in this country where one's life is not at all compromised by dumping the hideous automobile.

 

There is one other thing about Minnesota--it's a strange place--politically progressive but slightly conservative on the morals side. It's that latter part that gets to me. It produces a kind of narrow provincialism--especially among in the small gay subculture there--that drove me bonkers. I can only describe it with a story--an evening at Cafe Zev. That will be my next post.

[Epigonos]

What makes the mental concept of natural beauty interesting is that it is so completely individual. As far as I am concerned the four "INTERNATIONAL" cities with the most beautiful natural setting are in order:

 

San Francisco – The various extensions of the bay with the two major bridges and fantastic Victorian architecture strung along the hills of the city combine for a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

 

Vancouver – The various inlets with the backdrop of the snow covered mountains, in the distance, makes for a lovely natural setting. The architecture, however, is NOT good and is getting worse by the day. The downtown part of the city is beginning to look more and more like Hong Kong with apartment houses and condominiums stacked one on top of another.

 

Rio de Janeiro – The beautiful bay, gorgeous beaches, and the tropical hills rising back of the city is a lovely natural setting. Many of the favelas, however, are simply awful.

 

Sydney – This city has a beautiful natural harbor and when one adds in the Opera House it is a very special sight. This is also a city of fun loving people who patronize some of the world’s great pubs. When weather is added to the equation this city becomes, in my opinion, the most livable of the four.

[raulgmanzo]

Tom your point about how awesome and world class the public transit is in NYC is well taken.

 

Though it is funny that you say it "will literally take you anywhere in the world". Transportation to either of Chicago's main airports is much better than in NYC. While overall Chicago is a distant second to NYC in carfree living it is still WAY ahead of the other cities on your list. I have lived here in Chicago without a car for many years, several before getting into bicycling and several since. And while some might consider me hard core (I bicycle year round) I am far from clueless having spent time all over the world including cities like Paris, HongKong, Mexico City and London and fairly regularly visiting NY.

 

Many of my Chicago neighbors also do not own cars. We walk, bike or transit to the grocery store, restaurants, etc. and most of my neighbors ride the L to the Loop (downtown, named the Loop because it is looped by several rapid transit lines).

 

Only Chicago and NYC have 24 hour rapid transit. I'll point out that at it's least frequent (say 3am sunday) Chicago's red line at every 15 minutes is actually more frequent than the NYC subway which I believe slows down to every 20 minutes between like 2am and 4am. Of course the line by my house (the blue line) slows down to every 30 minutes between 2a and 4a and we have many lines that don't run at all late at night (yellow, brown, orange, pink etc.).

 

Try hailing a cab on the street in Minneapolis or Dallas outside of downtown. Now granted there are many bungalow belt neighborhoods in Chicago where cabs are scarce and cars plentiful but many many places here where cabs, buses and trains are easy to find. And no I don't live in Downtown, SouthLoop, NearNorth, GoldCoast, Oldtown, Lincoln park, Lakeview or Uptown to name a few of the more obvious places to live without a car.

 

Even getting to the suburbs I find possible without a car since we have (in addition to the 'L') 12 commuter rail lines to the suburbs, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Though honestly most of the suburbs of Chicago, and NY are about equally car-oriented in my opinion.

 

Unlike Dallas, Minneapolis or most of the other non-NY places on your list, here in Chicago we have dozens of neighborhoods where one will find dozens of restaurants and stores on each block.

 

While Midtown manhattan's Central Business district is a bit larger than Chicago's Loop (and Downtown Manhattan is smaller) there is no other U.S. downtown that comes close. In density, number of skyscrapers, cabs, transit, services etc. You might prefer Fifth avenue to North Michigan avenue but I doubt anywhere else in the country comes close to those two. NYC has the Met but Chicago's Lyric and CSO are nothing to sneeze at by any measure.

 

So while you are right in that NYC is awesome I invite you to come visit and I'll give you a carfree tour. There is still more than a bit of big city left here on the shore of Lake Michigan.

 

R

 

---Tom Writes:

>New York is a REAL city--the only one in America. You can

>live here and do whatever you want without having to own or

>step into a car. New York is a city (like Paris and London)

>because it has fast and efficient public transportation that

>will literally take you anywhere in the world. Unlike

>Minneapolis, Seattle, LA, Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, etc.

>(all those suburbs) New York is the only place in this

>country where one's life is not at all compromised by dumping

>the hideous automobile.

[foxy]

Today was a great day for walking in NYC. Cold, but bright blue cloudless skies and lots of sunshine depending on what side of the street you where on. I rate a city by it's walkability and NY is tops! It's always interesting so walking is great theater and every block has something different going on. NY is like 2 dozen cities rolled into one. Probably more. And it has great street food so you don't have to stop walking. Another reason why I love NY.

[raulgmanzo]

Walking and eating! Now your talking. That is a great way to measure a city.

Bangkok and Mexico City are great in that regard. There few products food or otherwise that I couldn't find for sale on the street in Mexico City. From Crepes to computer parts, tacos to cellophane tape, secretarial services to plumbers. Quesadillas de Huitlacoche and Flor de Calabaza, fresh squeezed (sometimes by machine other times by hand) orange juice. MMmmmm.

 

In Bangkok I could live forever just eating various Kanom but throw in some Isaan style Som Tum and a piece of Gai Yang and I'm in heaven.

 

In the U.S. NYC is probably best though still comparatively lacking. Some of my favorite NY street food is in Queens along Roosevelt avenue. A convenient stopping point for lunch before catching the Q33 bus to La Guardia.

 

Here in Chicago sadly much street food has been chased out of downtown and the various "tourist" areas. But luckily in other neighborhoods (including mine!) one still finds plenty of great tamales and champurrado. Sadly as my neighborhood gentrifies I hear the lovely horn of the elotero pushing his cart less and less. Nothing like a nice fresh corn on the cob slathered with way too much stuff. Fortunately during warmer months the lovely chimes of the guys selling paletas can be heard and while there are sadly less and less PuertoRicans in my 'hood I do occasionally find somebody still selling pinchos and more often Helado de Coco.

 

Ahh street food, truly the mark of civilization.

[+ Tom Isern]

Hey Raul,

 

Thanks for the invitation to Chicago!! I actually know it quite well...I was just there for 5 days in December. And when I lived in MSP I used to "escape" to Chicago for a taste of big city gay life on a regular basis. One of my best friends lives there--he owns a car.

 

I have to differ with you about a few things: Transportation to JFK is now much, much quicker and easier than the Loop to O'Hare route. You get on the LIRR at Penn, the VERY FIRST STOP is Jamaica Station where you get on the airport's monorail. The whole trip is 30 minutes. O'Hare is a dreadful long ride with numerous stops by comparison. Newark is also easier than O'Hare, now that New Jersey Transit trains stop right at the monorail. A few stops out of Penn Station and one is at the monorail. 35 minutes tops. LaGuardia you have to take a cab, but that's not expensive and it's quicker (at least from my location) than the other two options.

 

Now your point about frequency of service on the subway...here in NYC that totally depends on the line. As far as I know, there is no standard there. This is why the N and R line, for instance, is affectionately dubbed the "never or rarely" line. But this is only a problem for people who live in the outer boroughs. Train density in the inner city keeps us well served. I don't think I ever wait more than five minutes for a train.

 

When I decided to leave MSP I considered Chicago. But, frankly, I think Chicago is full of midwesterners, a lot of them escapees from Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Indiana, etc. It's not a very cosmopolitan town--certainly no comparison to NYC. And Chicago, while it has big cultural institutions well funded by the wealthy and by corporate sponsors, it doesn't have the vibrant and popularly supported cultural life that Minneapolis does. More money is spent per capita in the Twin Cities on the arts than any metro area in the country. Chicago has top-tier big organizations, the fabulous CSO, as you mentioned, but as a well-known musician friend of mine who lives and works in Chicago said, "Chicago is ultimately a town about money, not about the arts." The cultural gems in Chicago's crown--and they are incredible--are not buoyed up by the kind of vitality of a Minneapolis or a New York.

 

Ultimately what kept me away from Chicago was the advice of a friend who lives there. He said that as long as you limit your travel to north and south along the lake you can live without a car. It seems true of the people I know in Chicago. They all own cars. Few of my friends here keep cars in the city. Most don't even own them.

[Guest zipperzone]

I have always found the NY subway system to be very efficient but there is something a bit unsettling about waiting 20 min for a train late at night if you happen to be alone. Some of your fellow platform mates I could do without.

 

But it MUST be good if the mayor takes it to work every morning (is this really true or just his PR?) although I read he takes his BMW from his townhouse to the subway station. I wonder how long it will be until he takes a Smart car to the station. Another photo op?

 

I must confess - if I were the mayor of NYC, I'd limo it everywhere. The subway would not be my transportation of choice.

[JT Brooklyn]

These Other Cities are "Quaint and nice Imitations"..Definitely Wannabes!

 

B U T New York City Rocks! Always has..Always will! ;-)

[foxy]

NYC subways have a bad reputation to tourists that they don't deserve. Fast and mostly efficient and still relatively cheap, especially if you get a long term Metro card plus you get free transfers to the busses.

 

Yesterday the doors on my train didn't open and I had to go to the next stop to go back downtown. There was a guy on the train who I expect was homeless or at least very poor looking. When the doors to my car didn't open he told me what I had to do to get back downtown. I didn't need the advice but he gave it in such a nice, polite way I was impressed. It was also accurate. Often people on the subways look scary but often turn out to be perfectly normal.

 

I'm always pleased when guests from out of town or Europe tell me about how nice the people in NYC are. Just because everyone is rushing around doesn't make them rude, just in a hurry.

 

One hot summer day I got on the E train during rush hour. I was dripping wet and pretty disgusting. I was pressed next to a guy in a suit. It turned out to be Mayor Bloomberg with his security guys. Everyone just ignored him as they pushed on and off the train. I don't know if he rides it every day but I sure made a wet impression on his suit that day. If I was worth 9 billion I would take a limo so I give him points for riding the subway.

[+ Charlie]

Tom, you love New York (read: Manhattan) for exactly the same reasons that I have always loved it. What drove me out was the price. I found that I could live much more cheaply in Philadelphia, which has many of the same advantages: the ability to live in a vibrant Center City and walk everywhere. Things don't necessarily stay open 24 hours, but the transportation system does run (unlike London's, which shuts down at midnight). And there is lots of easy public transport to New York. What Philadelphia doesn't have is the sexual tension (in a good sense) that makes New York so exciting.

[+ Charlie]

The worst thing about Sydney is the public transport, which is nowhere near as good as Melbourne's. And I agree with you about the HongKong-ization of Vancouver.

[Guest zipperzone]

>The worst thing about Sydney is the public transport, which

>is nowhere near as good as Melbourne's. And I agree with you

>about the HongKong-ization of Vancouver.

 

And it's not just the mass of closely packed highrises that reminds you of Hong Kong. It's the proliferation of Asians that have moved into the city. They seem to have more money that Buffet and nine times out of ten, if you see a car worth over 100 grand driving around town, there will be an Asian driver - guaranteed.

 

And before someone accuses me of being racist - forget it - it's just an observation.

 

Although I do wish they would learn to speak English. They move in packs and scream away in a language I can't understand. Sunday in the Pacific Center Mall is guaranteed to give you a migraine.

 

But they spend - good for the economy.

[Traveler North]

Hey Epigonos, you generally hit it right on the spot. SF, Rio, Sidney are really great cities for the reasons you mentioned. I do somewhat disagree with you on Vancouver. I think there is some great archtecture there. I really enjoyed visiting all these cities.

[+ Tom Isern]

Yea, Charlie, I hear you about the price. You almost need to be an investment banker or independently wealthy to afford Manhattan these days. And as the price has gone up, so has the artistic and alternative/artsy side of the city diminished. What do you get for your $1,500,000.00 condo on 8th Avenue?

 

Where there was once a gay gym or gay coffee shop, or a neighborhood book store, or a guy selling pornography and philosophy on a blanket on the street corner, or a dozen guys having sex in the subway restroom, or a cool Cuban-Chinese restaurant, there are now 13 banks, 45 Starbucks, 203 Duane Reades, a half-dozen Barnes Disnobles, a baby clothing store or seven, a dozen Subway Sandwich shops, 500 cops in varieties of clothing, several MacDonalds (did I spell that evil name correctly?), Burglar Kings, and an Olive Garden (mmmm... gourmet!). Ahhh Manhattan...the NEW Stripmall of America! (But it has a great subway system!)

[Luv2play]

Zipper, my understanding is that these Asian immigrants are loathe to paying any taxes and find clever ways to avoid same. Is it any wonder they drive cars upwards of $100k?

[Guest zipperzone]

>Zipper, my understanding is that these Asian immigrants are

>loathe to paying any taxes and find clever ways to avoid same.

>Is it any wonder they drive cars upwards of $100k?

 

Interesting comment - I hadn't heard that. I wonder what their trick is. If it's legal then it's our fault for not plugging the loophole.

[Luv2play]

It was a relative of mine who is a lawyer in Vancouver and has close connections to the Liberal party who told me this. He said many of the Asian business people work completely outside the legal system so it is hardly a "loophole' they are exploiting. What they are exploiting is the government's unwillingness to address the issue, just like the rampant cigarette smuggling going on in Quebec and Ontario which the police and governments are ignoring, while hundreds of millions of dollars are going missing from the governments' coffers.

 

What governments ignore to their peril is that these types of practices, tolerated by them, make us a more corrupt society overall. If yoy look at international indices of corruption, you will see that Canada is slipping. Of course, you would never know it from the political discourse in Ottawa, where all the talk of corruption concerns the political parties themselves!! :o

[J-Man]

>But, when it comes to good clean government, a solid and

>robust economy, a thriving arts scene, progressive politics

>(MN has not voted for a Repugnicon president since, hummmm...

>can't remember. It's the ONLY state that NEVER voted for

>Reagan or for a Bush. Right there is the biggest reason to

>fucking LOVE Minnesota!!!!!

 

That would be since 1972, when Minnesota went for Nixon/Agnew. (Some of us ARE old enough to remember--and have voted in-- that election!)

[Guest zipperzone]

>just like the

>rampant cigarette smuggling going on in Quebec and Ontario

>which the police and governments are ignoring, while hundreds

>of millions of dollars are going missing from the governments'

>coffers.

 

Well considering the amout these assholes waste on a daily basis, what's a few hundred million here or there? :-)

[raulgmanzo]

--- Tom questions car-free Chicago, it's art scene and also writes:

>... Manhattan...the NEW Stripmall of America!

 

Yes Manhattan like so many places has changed. I still remember fondly the first time visiting NYC. It was 1979 and I was a teenage rube living in Hawai'i and had never been east of California. Times Square was exciting and seedy. Porn shops with Dildos in display cases on the street; People offering to sell me drugs I didn't know existed; A stickup man threatening me with a knife; Some of the fanciest, dirtiest, funniest, and strangest things I'd ever seen. I've loved NYC ever since.

 

Of course there have been improvements other than making Manhattan safe for suburban america. An influx of Mexicans is finally bring NYC one of the few things which has long been superior in Chicago. Cheap available mexican food. For there is hardly a part of Chicago where one can't walk to a decent 24 Hour Mexican restaurant. In my neighborhood alone there are a dozen Mexican restaurants with at least 3 open 24/7.

 

Speaking of Chicago, Tom, you don't really know Chicago if you think one can only live car-free along the lakefront. 7 branches of the L system don't run north or south, along with many dozens of bus routes and dozens of walkable neighborhoods that are NOT near the Lakefront.

 

To really know Chicago and to see it's art scene - which is many times larger and much more vibrant than you realize - would require you to leave the gentrified lakefront neighborhoods and venture into places populated by mixes of Polish, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Korean, Black, Vietnamese, Middle-eastern, Indians, East and West Africans, Greeks and Lithuanians and etc. Every single day I hear languages other than English or spanish and every week I come upon an art show, gallery, theatre group or sculpture space I've not seen before.

 

To think Chicago is only or even mostly it's "crown jewel" cultural institutions is to miss the most interesting parts of the city.

This is the Chicago that I fell in love with many years ago and why I am still here. Places like where I live, 4 miles and several neighborhoods inland from the Lakefront, where I along with most of my neighbors get by without benefit (or detriment) of an automobile. Shit two of the largest "arts" neighborhoods including what the national media calls the country's largest "art colony" (whatever that means) are not along the lakefront.

 

Hey if anyone ever wants a tour of Chicago let me know. No charge.

 

Raul

[rvwnsd]

Raul:

 

It occurred to me that the "lakefront" area of Chicago that Tom refers to is really about as big as, well, Manhattan. Think about it...Manhattan is, what, 2 miles wide? Last time I was there I walked from the Upper West Side to Battery Park and that was about 8-ish maybe 9 miles. So...2 miles east to west in Chicago would be from the lake to about Ashland (or Damen, depending upon how far north you are) and 9 miles starting from, say, Central Station/Printer's Row would be Peterson. I would venture to guess that many Rogers Parkers do not drive, so that would bring us to Howard at the Evanston border. Again, about the same geographic size as Manhattan, albeit less densely populated. Also, one can avoid the many, many stops on the Blue Line to O'Hare by taking the Metra Northwest to Jefferson Park and then hopping on the Blue Line for the 4 stops to O'Hare. The view from the Orange Line to Midway is stunning and totally worth the stops. It even makes up for the walk from the station to the terminal building.

 

Kudos to you for living without a car and biking everywhere, even in winter. I owned a car when I lived there, but mainly because my job was in the suburbs and my schedule didn't mesh well with the Metra reverse-commute train schedule. Generally, I did not drive after 6PM on weekdays and rarely on weekends. In winter I would take public transit because it was easier than dealing with driving in the snow. If I were to move back, I would not own a car.

[Guest ncm2169]

< Some of us ARE old enough to remember--and have voted in-- that election!

 

Ummm, yes, we are. A very embarrassing aberration in Minnesota's voting history. x(

 

I bet Kippy was a Nixon Precinct Captain! }(