Underrated US Cities

[Northbound]

Very underrated. KC has just about everything you could want. They don’t have NHL or NBA.

The only problem with KC is it's stuck in the center of the country - it's a great city though, lived there for 5 years.

 

[The Funster]

I love Pittsburgh. Been there a couple of times.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

If you're going to pitch Buffalo, I'll add Rochester. Both get a bad rap because of snow without skiing, but, yes, there's lots to like for those who live there or visit.

Queens, in particular, is underrated. If the path along (or beneath) the 7 train out to Flushing isn't the most ethnically diverse place on the planet any longer, it's still in the top 5.

@karstenkibbe, you might as well add Douglaston to Jamaica Estates and Forest Hills Gardens, and then properly consider them a component of the borough's staggering variety of cultures, from the north to south shore.

North Stamford, in parts, is indistinguishable from back country Greenwich and New Canaan.

One thing that has genuinely distinguished Stamford from other CT cities is that it united what we're once separate places into a unified city even before the redeveloped downtown that has been mentioned. As pointed out elsewhere, many US cities have done similarly, annexing adjacent towns and even entire counties (like done or all of Louisville, Columbus, San Antonio, and Indianapolis have), and become healthier for it.

Someone similarly noted that West Hartford, Glastonbury would be interesting, wealthy, tax-revenue contributing neighborhoods in such metropolitanized cities, but Conbecticut's cities suffer in part because only in Stamford do the wealthy and poor have to share resources & responsibilities. Stamford also hugely benefitted from CT's more attractive tax structure when major corporations departed from NYC a half century ago.

'As pointed out elsewhere, many US cities have done similarly, annexing adjacent towns and even entire counties (like done or all of Louisville, Columbus, San Antonio, and Indianapolis have), and become healthier for it.'
u forgot the other side of this point, ie, the complete opposite.
people just don't like crime, particularly when they feel their government isn't doing a darn thing to fix the problem. imagine that.
'Atlanta is now partly surrounded by breakaway cities, from South Fulton on its southwestern edge, Sandy Springs to the north and Brookhaven just east of Buckhead.'
'Arguments for creating an independent Buckhead have leaned heavily on what some say is uncontrolled crime throughout Atlanta.'
City of Buckhead: Data shows what proposed Buckhead City would look like (ajc.com)
and not an uncommon trend nowadays. i very much like Atlanta the way it is, but i don't count, cuz i don't actually live there.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

The pirates stadium has one of the nicest views in baseball.

 

[8893]

The pirates stadium has one of the nicest views in baseball.

I was there for a game on fireworks night a couple years ago and it was awesome. Walking out over Roberto Clemente Bridge to a seemingly never-ending grand finale that sent beautiful bursts over the river while a guy wailed Katy Perry's "Firework" in the middle of the bridge was an amazing, indelible memory in a 36-hour trip that packed a lot of punch on a number of levels. The Warhol Museum is great and there is a lot of good food and drink. Morning run along the river and the ballparks gives a nice perspective on the city, and there is a ton of building going on.

The only problem is that it has a bit of a "Can't get there from here" problem if you can't get a direct flight from Hartford. When I went there was some small carrier making one flight in each direction once each weekday, but none on weekends. The direct flight down was easy peasy; connecting to come home makes it a much longer trip than it should be. I don't think that airline is even operating any more, which means that there really is no easy way to get to Pittsburgh from here.

My daughter was looking seriously at both Pitt and Duquesne (both accepted her and the latter offered a ton of merit aid) and ultimately the logistics of getting there essentially knocked both off her list.

Baltimore, by comparison, is easy by train or plane, and the drive isn't even that bad.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Obviously not enough to include the 'h'. That kind of carelessness will get you ostracized here in a hurry ;-)

Been reading Foote's Shiloh. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[storrsroars]

The only problem is that it has a bit of a "Can't get there from here" problem if you can't get a direct flight from Hartford. When I went there was some small carrier making one flight in each direction once each weekday, but none on weekends. The direct flight down was easy peasy; connecting to come home makes it a much longer trip than it should be. I don't think that airline is even operating any more, which means that there really is no easy way to get to Pittsburgh from here.

It definitely sucks. Back when I started coming here regularly in the late 90s, this was one of the three USAirways hubs and you could literally get a direct flight from all three NYC airports, plus HPN, BDL, PVD, BOS and MHT, and prices were reasonable. When I moved here in 2002, we could get most anywhere on a direct flight from here through 2004, and we did. It was fantastic. Then USAir abandoned PGH as a hub (after we built them a new billion dollar terminal) and it's sucked since.

I have no idea what prices will be, but supposedly direct flights to LGA, JFK, EWR and BOS will resume on May 5, in most cases 3 flights/day.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I noticed that Nashville hasn't appeared on this list. I expected it might, but maybe it isn't underrated but properly highly rated. I have not been, but just booked flights last Friday to go down in late September with another couple. Kicking off our quasi empty-nest life.

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

I was there for a game on fireworks night a couple years ago and it was awesome. Walking out over Roberto Clemente Bridge to a seemingly never-ending grand finale that sent beautiful bursts over the river while a guy wailed Katy Perry's "Firework" in the middle of the bridge was an amazing, indelible memory in a 36-hour trip that packed a lot of punch on a number of levels. The Warhol Museum is great and there is a lot of good food and drink. Morning run along the river and the ballparks gives a nice perspective on the city, and there is a ton of building going on.

The only problem is that it has a bit of a "Can't get there from here" problem if you can't get a direct flight from Hartford. When I went there was some small carrier making one flight in each direction once each weekday, but none on weekends. The direct flight down was easy peasy; connecting to come home makes it a much longer trip than it should be. I don't think that airline is even operating any more, which means that there really is no easy way to get to Pittsburgh from here.

My daughter was looking seriously at both Pitt and Duquesne (both accepted her and the latter offered a ton of merit aid) and ultimately the logistics of getting there essentially knocked both off her list.

Baltimore, by comparison, is easy by train or plane, and the drive isn't even that bad.

When I was at UConn I believe there were one or two direct flights to Pittsburgh a day through Southwest, but I usually opted for Independence Air which connected thru Dulles or Philly and was much cheaper. It’s definitely not an easy trip anymore.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I loved the hikes and the red rocks in the area. I had already been to Arches, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, and Capital Reef at that point, so I may just have been "red rocked out." There was a great swimming hole I went to though I'm forgetting where or what it's called. The town itself is super lame.

Slide Rock right off of 89a in Oak Creek is popular. Its just north of Sedona. It’s a natural water slide.
Bryce and Zion are suppose to beautiful.
i’ave never gotten to either place .

 

[storrsroars]

I noticed that Nashville hasn't appeared on this list. I expected it might, but maybe it isn't underrated but properly highly rated. I have not been, but just booked flights last Friday to go down in late September with another couple. Kicking off our quasi empty-nest life.

Don't stay at Opryland. It's a trap. It's like staying in Lowell to visit Boston. I used to have to go to Opryland on occasion back when I was in the convention business. It was a PITA and $$$ to get to downtown Nashville if you didn't have a rental car.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Don't stay at Opryland. It's a trap. It's like staying in Lowell to visit Boston. I used to have to go to Opryland on occasion back when I was in the convention business. It was a PITA and $$$ to get to downtown Nashville if you didn't have a rental car.

We will probably have a car, but definitely didn't plan to stay there. We will want bar hopping and live music type environment. Kind of an alternative to New Orleans. Where to Stay in Nashville | Nashville Guru

 

[Pawsox]

Between my two careers (baseball and chemical sales) I have lived in 12 different states and 18 different cities. My favorite smaller cities were Sarasota, Colorado Springs, Richmond, Mt Pleasant, SC, Wilmington, NC, and Boone, NC. My second home is in Mt Pleasant, which is great because it is so close to Charleston. Love the restaurants and the golf in the area.

First time I went to Boone, I kept seeing ASU stickers on the cars and couldn't believe so many people in the area went to Arizona State. Sometimes, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer! Great fishing, hiking, etc in Boone, plus it is a college town, just not the ASU I thought. Most of these same things attracted me to Colorado Springs.

Love the beaches, fishing, restaurants in Sarasota and Wilmington. Richmond is my hometown and like the way they have upgraded a lot of things. Great craft brewery scene and restaurants in the city, but I would live in the burbs vs downtown.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I noticed that Nashville hasn't appeared on this list. I expected it might, but maybe it isn't underrated but properly highly rated. I have not been, but just booked flights last Friday to go down in late September with another couple. Kicking off our quasi empty-nest life.

I was waiting for the most over-rated city thread to drop Nashville in.

 

[Guapo]

Between my two careers (baseball and chemical sales) I have lived in 12 different states and 18 different cities. My favorite smaller cities were Sarasota, Colorado Springs, Richmond, Mt Pleasant, SC, Wilmington, NC, and Boone, NC. My second home is in Mt Pleasant, which is great because it is so close to Charleston. Love the restaurants and the golf in the area.

First time I went to Boone, I kept seeing ASU stickers on the cars and couldn't believe so many people in the area went to Arizona State. Sometimes, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer! Great fishing, hiking, etc in Boone, plus it is a college town, just not the ASU I thought. Most of these same things attracted me to Colorado Springs.

Love the beaches, fishing, restaurants in Sarasota and Wilmington. Richmond is my hometown and like the way they have upgraded a lot of things. Great craft brewery scene and restaurants in the city, but I would live in the burbs vs downtown.

i haven’t spent any time there, but I know a few people that absolutely love Richmond.

 

[Mr. French]

If you're going to pitch Buffalo, I'll add Rochester. Both get a bad rap because of snow without skiing, but, yes, there's lots to like for those who live there or visit.

Amazingly, I've never really spent much time hanging out in Rochester. Tons of my friends went to school there, I've traveled there for basketball a bunch and to Bills training camp at St. John Fisher, but as for hanging out in the city of Rochester it's probably been 20 years and very infrequent. It's strange. But both having a similar feel for sure and with aspects of the city right on a great lake, the summers are solid in both cities.

Buffalo's surrounding areas are awesome as well - I know most people think of a city but Buffalo does truly encompass much of their surrounding areas as well and there's tons of excellent breweries, skiing, amazing food and the people are generally super nice.

As for our actual city, as I said it's not perfect and still tons of things holding it back, but we've made some real progress in recent years and certain parts of the city are downright charming and booming.

I haven't traveled to as many cool places as I wish, but I did love my week or so in Boulder, though it's been roughly 10 years. Boulder/Denver area is definitely a trip I'm looking forward to soon.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Dunedin Florida makes my list:

Pre season baseball, bike trail 30 min south to Clearwater, 50 min north to tarpon, 20 min over the bridge to honeymoon island. Plenty of breweries on the trail in between. More local vibe than Clearwater which has outgrown its britches.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

'As pointed out elsewhere, many US cities have done similarly, annexing adjacent towns and even entire counties (like done or all of Louisville, Columbus, San Antonio, and Indianapolis have), and become healthier for it.'
u forgot the other side of this point, ie, the complete opposite.
people just don't like crime, particularly when they feel their government isn't doing a darn thing to fix the problem. imagine that.
'Atlanta is now partly surrounded by breakaway cities, from South Fulton on its southwestern edge, Sandy Springs to the north and Brookhaven just east of Buckhead.'
'Arguments for creating an independent Buckhead have leaned heavily on what some say is uncontrolled crime throughout Atlanta.'
City of Buckhead: Data shows what proposed Buckhead City would look like (ajc.com)
and not an uncommon trend nowadays. i very much like Atlanta the way it is, but i don't count, cuz i don't actually live there.

There is an understandable appeal for the point of view you advance, but that moves things beyond the nature of the thread. I sought only to offer that consolidated Stamford runs 40-50 square miles and incorporates multi-acreage, higher income back-country residents, whereas Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven are all smaller than 20 square miles, and, in effect, 'prove out' this later argument of yours by 'allowing,' for example, West Hartford, Fairfield to have vibrant downtowns as separate municipalities that were formed in the 19th and 17th Centuries respectively, and simply have to maintain a 'no encroachment' posture to, 'functionally' strand Hartford and Bridgeport with the common urban ills that beset most post-industrial American cities that thrived before automobiles, highways, single-family home ownership, computers, an information-service economy, and such...not to mention the collosal irony that air conditioning that originated from Syracuse's Carrier Corporation further transformed the South's livability and growth.

I'm only suggesting that in most of the US, Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport would present as 300,000 person cities in 800,000 person metropolitan areas, and their wealth & economic vitality, natural beauty, history, culture, and ethnic-racial diversity would all compare attractively throughout the country.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

It definitely sucks. Back when I started coming here regularly in the late 90s, this was one of the three USAirways hubs and you could literally get a direct flight from all three NYC airports, plus HPN, BDL, PVD, BOS and MHT, and prices were reasonable. When I moved here in 2002, we could get most anywhere on a direct flight from here through 2004, and we did. It was fantastic. Then USAir abandoned PGH as a hub (after we built them a new billion dollar terminal) and it's sucked since.

I have no idea what prices will be, but supposedly direct flights to LGA, JFK, EWR and BOS will resume on May 5, in most cases 3 flights/day.

What a drag. I hadn't known of this change. That would be major.

I still anticipate that my next visit to Pittsburgh, where I was born, will be a road trip half-way stop that continues to Louisville. The last time I did that was 20 years ago, and I got to witness the implosion of Three Rivers Stadium.

 

[ZooCougar]

The only problem with KC is it's stuck in the center of the country - it's a great city though, lived there for 5 years.

That’s a feature.

Biggest negative is the weather.

 

[ZenConn]

Traverse City, Mi has a good vibe in the summer. Matter of opinion but the west-northwest coast of Michigan's mitten is rather fun.

I second that. Was there 4 years ago and it was nice. Great number of golf courses as well!

 

[storrsroars]

I got to witness the implosion of Three Rivers Stadium.

Watched it from the 53rd floor of PNC 1. I gave it a B+.

 

[storrsroars]

Between my two careers (baseball and chemical sales) I have lived in 12 different states and 18 different cities.

So did you sell the "cream" or the "clear"?

 

[Pawsox]

So did you sell the "cream" or the "clear"?

Whichever one had the highest gross margin!

 

[superjohn]

Not sure if any of them would be considered underrated, probably not but some of the Canadian cities seem great. I love Vancouver and Montreal. Haven't been to Toronto yet but hear really good things about it and skyscrapers are going up like crazy. One of my next trips has to be to Quebec City, never been but know I would love it. Looks great for summer or winter but around Christmas looks magical.

 

[Guapo]

Not sure if any of them would be considered underrated, probably not but some of the Canadian cities seem great. I love Vancouver and Montreal. Haven't been to Toronto yet but hear really good things about it and skyscrapers are going up like crazy. One of my next trips has to be to Quebec City, never been but know I would love it. Looks great for summer or winter but around Christmas looks magical.

We’re definitely getting out of the “underrated” range but Quebec City>>>Montreal

 

[husky429]

Not sure if any of them would be considered underrated, probably not but some of the Canadian cities seem great. I love Vancouver and Montreal. Haven't been to Toronto yet but hear really good things about it and skyscrapers are going up like crazy. One of my next trips has to be to Quebec City, never been but know I would love it. Looks great for summer or winter but around Christmas looks magical.

Quebec city is the bomb. It's the only place in North America you feel like you're in an old European city. Great food (poutine!), super fun around Christmas time with the market.

 

[MexicoHusky]

In spirit and celebration to people returning to travel again, which US cities did you enjoy when visiting/living in but aren't "well-known" popular or trendy spots?

Salt Lake City: Granted, I was here during March Madness, but it's surrounded by the Rockies, a walkable downtown and despite an inability to drink super well, enjoyable restaurants/bars/breweries. I was there for basketball, but enjoyed the city much more than I expected I would.

Fargo, ND: My in-laws grew up in hour outside of the city and I was there for a North Dakota State game, which was fun. However, I really liked the downtown, the Donaldson is an incredible hotel and overall had a nice vibe.

Rapid City, SD: Smack in the middle of touristy areas, Grand Rapids is a surprisingly "cool" city, despite being very family/touristy friendly. Street art, good food, fun city!

Flagstaff, AZ: I hated Sedona, but loved Flagstaff. Incredible weather, beautiful scenery, excellent food. Still has the new age-y stuff of Sedona, just in a much more approachable and "tasteful" way.

Rapid City is just nice climate. It's right outside where the jet stream carries artic temperatures south. Thus it's considerably warmer than anything a couple hours east.

 

[Rocktheworld]

People thought the small brewery/craft beer bubble would pop over a decade ago, it ain't going anywhere and will most likely only be stronger as people have largely been in their homes for over a year with limited socializing. People will be hitting breweries, restaurants, and traveling like crazy for the next couple of years. Craft beer is one of the best stories of America's economy, IMO. In a country that's run by Walmart and Amazon it feels like the one little guy business which has been kicking butt for years.

And then you learn how many of the truly successful ones rely on a buyout by InBev...

I have limited to contribute to this thread because I’ve only lived in and travel to major cities. Will be in SLC late summer and expecting good things though.

 

[storrsroars]

Not sure if any of them would be considered underrated, probably not but some of the Canadian cities seem great. I love Vancouver and Montreal. Haven't been to Toronto yet but hear really good things about it and skyscrapers are going up like crazy. One of my next trips has to be to Quebec City, never been but know I would love it. Looks great for summer or winter but around Christmas looks magical.

I used to love going to Toronto at first, but I've been there more than a dozen times now, got to know some of the neighborhoods, and I realized there's nothing about Toronto that screams, "warm and welcoming" anywhere in the city. While there's plenty to do, I never got the sense that there was a particular "character" about the city, its neighborhoods, or its residents, like say Chicago, NYC, Boston or even Montreal. Plus, it's become this giant megaopolis that seems to stretch from Hamilton to Oshawa. Mississagua might be the world's largest city where "there's no 'there' there".