I've lived in Boston for over a decade. I enjoy living here. For it's name it punches way below it's weight in terms of nightlife, etc. It's fine and good and whatever, but there are more fun destinations.
I disagree, to an extent, having lived there for 3 or 3.5 years or so. Once you get past the business card peddlers, career hacks, and social climbers, there is a lot to like about DC. There is a ton jam-packed into such a small city (700K). The National Mall gets a lot of press but there are a lot of (hidden) museums, art galleries, parks (including the huge Rock Creek Park), old mansions that are open to the public (The Mansion on O street, if still open, is a blast to explore around, for example), and other cultural places. Plus just walking around some of the streets around the zoo, like Cathedral ave. The metro, about 91 stops now, makes the city and nearby cities (Arlington, Alexandria, Silver Spring, Rockville, Friendship Heights/Bethesda, etc.) very accessible + the food scene made great strides even in the three years I was there and there are some excellent/authentic Asian (Chinese especially) restaurants in Wheaton and Silver Spring, for example. Once you find your niche and a good group of friends, it is a fun city to live in, very walkable during warmer times of the year, and only getting safer (felt fine going around Anacostia and Capitol Heights, Deanwood, etc. even).
LOL oh leave that 10 building town alone. Been there twice when I drove tour bus. The badlands right down the road is very expensive to go in. They wanted to charge $300 for the bus to go in. the tour leader said "nope".
I agree. I moved here 18 months ago and love it. I don't even notice the bugs since we have screened enclosure. I can get in my car and travel without too much traffic unless I go to Miami. More leisurely drive than driving in the Northeast even though there are plenty of maniacs on the road.
San Fran and New Orleans are also on my favorite lists too, however both cities I’ve visited friends and having a guide who avoids certain areas has enhanced my stay.
And yet you didn't get Detroit pizza?Yeah, but who exactly is rating Detroit highly?
That said, 10 years ago, on a whim, I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer myself off an overbooked flight, because I'd just spent 4 nights at conference marooned at an airport hotel in Romulus, and I'd gotten zero Detroit, and otherwise only a single, large party at a single table Middle Eastern meal in Dearborn.
My game pieces were a hotel room a $100 gift card, a voucher for a future flight sometime in thnext year, and anel early-enough next morning flight. I was a man on a mission.
I instantly rented a sporty Fiat 500 that, by size comparison, was categorized the same as a low end Chevy with roll-up windows, whereupon I hit the highways with not much more than intuition and adrenaline.
For my efforts, I emerged with a solid photo album of 1.3 megapixel flip phone snapshots that I know included Eero Saarinen's Cranbrook Schools campus in Bloomfield Hills, some late vestiges of the annual Woodward Dream Cruise of classic cars, Comerica Park and Ford Field, several of the various Grosse Pointes, a circumnavigation of Belle Isle Parl, GM's new & old headquarters buildings along with the downtown elevated Detroit People Mover, a bit of Eight Mile in homage to Slim Shady, an iconic roadside giant tire, vast tracts of vanished buildings punctuated by clusters of 20-story empty & windowless brick shells with twenty-foot tall trees sprung like overgrown weeds on mid-level roofs, large & solid city mansions on blocks that were otherwise 75% leveled to the ground with empty adjacent streets beyond the empty lots, enormous decommissioned buildings for rent or sale that once housed great manufacturing & warehousing concerns, the Eastern Market (though closed on Sunday), Detroit Institute of Arts and other civic glories, and even a bunch of photos from on-foot wanderings around the Heidelberg Project, explored for the change of pace.
The Heidelberg Project
The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art environment in the heart of an urban area and a Detroit based community organization with a mission to improve the lives of people and neighborhoods through art.www.heidelberg.org
And, keep in mind, that's just what I can remember. Everything was finished before darkness, whereupon I drove back to my hotel, got a good night's sleep, and then flew back to NYC the next morning. It probably added up to 6-7 hours, and I totally loved it.
NOW you can say it was overrated.
Haven't been to Philly in years, but I like DC. First off, it has National Park attractions that no other city has. That alone keeps it interesting. Second, there are cool places in DC where residents hang and tourists typically don't, such as the area where Eastern Market is behind the Capitol. Lots of great small indie ethnic restaurants with a far more relaxed vibe than Adams Morgan (which I also still love for the food and the zoo). I commuted from Pgh to Alexandria on a consulting gig for more than a year and kept a studio apt down there, so I got to know DC pretty well. I still enjoy going there, and let's face it, it's by far the best city to visit that's within a 4 hour drive from Pittsburgh (sorry, Cleveland and Columbus).
For a city of 700K, it’s got a great culinary scene. Of course it’s isnt NYC or Chicago, but comparative in size to those cities we hold our own. What are you looking for here that you can’t find?
I actually doubly hate Orlando if I account for the parks.
Hadn't even heard of it, and this was pre-smart phone: no Google, Maps, Yelp, etc. Plus, no idea I'd even be around to do this, until they said the flight was oversold, so no prior research.
Have you not read the love for Buffalo in the other thread?
Why?
Bland, superficial, manipulative, and anti-septic - not a place but an illusion. Applies to both the parks and the city.
My most recent trip there was in late December. I might be jaded but I've been to Chicago ~10 times. Wrigley is also a dump and underwhelming. United Center is nice though.
I'm not hating on the parks. For years I'd spend between 10-15 days in Orlando working on setting up and managing conventions. It was BY FAR (except Tulsa) my least favorite area for downtime (bars/restaurants/fun). Even the golf wasn't that interesting. Many people like that kind of environment, I'm not one of them.
Don’t remember. I do know that people that usually post primarily on the men’s board will come over the women’s board after a loss and let us know how sucky the team is and how stupid we are for liking the players as people. It’s like being jerks to your grandparents.
Thanks for the un-ban. I never criticized players, perhaps plays. I honestly don't recall why I was banned, but it wouldn't have been beyond me to go after a poster. Not like Tom hasn't banned me a dozen times ;-)
Yeah. I haven't spent a ton of time there, but I do know that I don't care for Buffalo pizza and I truly do not understand the love for beef on weck, which is one of the most boring regional sandwiches I've ever encountered.