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What makes your city unique?


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For those who know, I live in Durham, NC

Home to Duke University and its medical center, RTP sister city to the capitol Raleigh.

Skyline is very scattered. There are only three tall buildings in DT Durham. Most famous is the CCB Tower , which is the younger sister to the RJ Reynolds Tower in Winston-Salem. Both are small replicas of the Empire State Building.

.................................OK NEXT!

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Elm Street in downtown makes Greensboro unique. (The Old Greensborough section) no other major city in North Carolina has a street like that. It looks like your "main street USA" that you find in many smaller towns. Greensboro is a city that has both a small town feel and an urban large city feel. Downtown seems to be divided up like that as well.

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Raleigh is unique in that it is surrounded by reknowned colleges and a large research park. Raleigh has a rather old loop freeway (the oldest parts date back to the 60s), which was uncommon back when it was first built, especially considering the actual size of Raleigh during the time. Raleigh is home to many fine museums as well. Raleigh was designed to be the state capitol--that has always been its purpose. Raleigh is situated in the state's largest county, which I think was also engineered as such. It is said to be in the geographic center of the state, where the piedmont meets the sandhills.

Charlotte is unique in its prowess in the banking sector, especially considering its size when compared to other cities with comparable assets. The countryside around Charlotte is allegedly littered with gold, and the first big gold rush occured in what is now Cabarrus County (an MSA county). In my lifetime and perhaps some time before, Charlotte has led other cities in the state regarding matters of skyline, neo-urban projects, professional sports, traffic innovations, mass transit, etc. Charlotte's traffic woes and roadway goofups seem pretty unique too, unfortunately.

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Great topic, Pompey!

A few unique things about Richmond:

Monument Avenue, often described as one of the most beautiful streets in the United States. This broad tree-lined residential avenue is known for its distinctive turn-of-the-20th-century mansions, townhouses, apartment blocks, churches, and public sculpture. Monument Avenue is the only street in the United States that is a National Historic Landmark.

The Fan District, named because of the way the streets "fan" out from downtown to the West End. This is the largest intact Victorian neighborhood in the nation. Mansions and rowhouses mix with neighborhood parks, shops, and restaurants. True urban living.

Carytown, Richmond's favorite shopping area. This stretch of Cary Street has hundreds of quirky, eclectic locally-owned shops and restaurants, and the carefully preserved Byrd Theater movie palace (1928), a national historic landmark. Truly something for everyone in Carytown. This is the real thing, the bustling urban retail environment that other cities aspire to create.

Agecroft Hall, a true Tudor home built in the late 15th century in Lancashire England, and carefully dismantled, shipped across the Atlantic, and reassembled in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood in the 1920's. The mansion and extensive English gardens are open to the public. Agecroft Hall

Virginia House, constructed from materials from a 16th century English manor house, is located just down the street from Agecroft Hall in Windsor Farms. Originally the Priory of Warwick, parts of which date to 1119, the building was dismantled in 1925, shipped to Richmond, and parts were rebuilt. Today it is owned by the Virginia Historical Society and is open as a museum. Virginia House

Hollywood Cemetery, named after the hollywood trees that grow there, is the final resting place of many notable Richmonders and Virginians, including Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler. Confederate president Jefferson Davis is also buried at Hollywood Cemetery.

The State Capitol, a Neoclassical masterpiece, was designed by Thomas Jefferson based on the Maison Carr

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What makes Asheville, North Carolina unique? Why does the city attract more than 6,500,000 tourist a year? Here's a list. It would take too long to scrounge up pictures of each attraction, plus posting pictures of everything would swamp the post. If you'd like some pictures let me know and I can find some, I'm sure. In the meantime...

Biltmore Estate -- largest private home in America; a 255-room palace filled with priceless art and antiques, on 8,000 acres of parkland and gardens laid out by Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed New York's Central Park.

Biltmore Village -- a small Tudor-style district of shops and retaurants at the gates of Biltmore Estate, built to house the laborers and artisans who worked at the estate. Centered around the Cathedral of All Souls, which is built in the shape of a celtic cross and featuring stained glass windows crafted using the archaic techniques of the oldest cathedrals of Europe.

Blue Ridge Parkway -- America's "most scenic drive," winds through town with a stop at the Folk Art Center, where museum-quality handicrafts such as quilts, furniture, jewelry and more are displayed in a small permanent collection, with much for sale as well. Further along to the east are Craggy Gardens, a spectacular natural rhododendron garden, and Mt. Mitchell, highest mountain in the eastern US.

City of Black Mountain -- a town of artists east of Asheville.

Asheville Botanical Gardens -- features various themed gardens, including a sensory garden for the blind and a garden of plants that attract birds.

Connemara -- home of prolific poet and writer Carl Sandburg, where he wrote and raised goats before his death in the 1960's, in nearby Flat Rock.

Cherokee Indian Reservation -- west of Asheville and accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Beyond the tacky kitsch of the town of Cherokee is the outstanding Museum of the Cherokee Indian as well as, for those interested, a casino.

Chimney Rock Park -- a privately-owned nature park of more than a thousand acres where unusual rock formations, hiking trails, caves, springs, and a 402-ft tall waterfall are preserved.

Cradle of Forestry -- not only did George Vanderbilt decide to build his palatial Biltmore in Asheville, he also helped establish modern forestry in America. That legacy is preserved here, in Pisgah National Forest.

Downtown Asheville -- a more-than-60-block district where most of the architecture from Asheville's largest boom period (1890-1930) still stands, including a Neo-Gothic shopping arcade that fills an entire block, an Art Deco Baptist church modelled on the Florentine Duomo, two of the most significant Art Deco buildings -- the Asheville City Building (city hall), and the S&W Cafeteria -- in America, and other gorgeous buildings of all types and eras. Downtown Asheville boasts the second largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the Southeastern US, surpassed only by Miami Beach, FL.

Estes-Winn Memorial Automobile Museum -- antique cars, including a fire engine from the 1920's are displayed here, next door the North Carolina Homespun Museum, where you can learn about the region's textile industry heritage.

Village of Flat Rock -- a "sattelite Charleston" where wealthy residents of Charleston, SC fled to escape the brutal summer heat of Low Country South Carolina, beginning in 1807. A forested village of jaw-dropping historic mansions, also home to the state theatre of North Carolina, the Flat Rock Playhouse.

Grandfather Mountain -- a privately-owned nature park in the vein of Chimney Rock, where visitors can experience the "Mile-High Swinging Bridge," and strange rock formations, including a ridgetop resembling an old man's profile, from which the park takes its name.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- just beyond the Cherokee Indian Reservation, the most-visited national park in the US.

Grove Park Inn -- another example of Asheville's amazing architecture, built from boulders, with sparkling geodes set into the lobby walls, with a red tile roof that looks as though it was "poured on." A favorite of visitors during Asheville's years as one of the country's most fashionable resorts in the 1920's. F. Scott Fitzgerald liked to stay here. In recent years, the inn has built a world-class spa.

Linville Caverns -- visitors here can explore a beautiful subterranean network of caves.

Montford -- one of many significant historic neighborhoods in Asheville, northwest of downtown. Home to Riverside Cemetery, a beautiful Victorian cemetery where famous Ashevillians such as Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry rest.

Mt. Mitchell State Park -- accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway, it's also a UN-designated heritage site, in recognition of Western North Carolina's imprtance to the world biosphere. The Amazonian rainforest is the only place in the world with more biodiversity of plants and animals than WNC.

North Carolina Arboretum -- originally planned by Frederick Law Olmstead, but only recently built and completed. It's especially proud of its Quilt Garden, where plants and flowers are arranged to form traditional Appalachian quilt patters, and of its exemplary bonsai garden.

Pack Place -- a museum complex in downtown Asheville, home to the Asheville Art Museum, the Colburn Gem and Mineral Museum, the YMI Cultural Center, and the Health Adventure. A painting by Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott, hangs in the art museum, while the Colburn has been described as a "mini-Smithsonian" or gems. The YMI center is a museum of African-American art and history, while the Health Adventure is a children's health museum that includes among its collections a pair of Shaquille O'Neal's shoes.

Pisgah National Forest -- one of many national forests in the area, where visitors can hike or go whitewater rafting. In the Asheville area there are over a million acres of protected land, including national forests such as Pisgah and Nantahala.

Smith-McDowell House Museum -- the oldest structure still standing in Asheville was the home of a wealthy antebellum family, where the history of the area from the 1840's through the time of the American Civil War and beyond is now on display.

Thomas Wolfe Memorial -- the home that served as inspiration for this early 20th Century American writer is preserved a museum. His mother ran a boarding house here, which he wrote about in 'Look Homeward Angel.'

WNC Farmers Market -- a fun place to buy organic produce and other local delights.

WNC Nature Center -- a nature park home to a zoo of animals native to the WNC mountains, including panthers and cougars, bears, otters, and eagles, among many others.

Zebulon Vance Birthplace State Historic Site -- the homestead of the governor who led North Carolina through the devastating, tumultuous years of the Civil War.

Asheville Urban Trail -- Asheville's fascinating history told in statuary and mosaics. There are more than thirty artworks spaced along a 1.7 mile-long trail winding through downtown. One station honors Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, who taught music in a downtown Asheville school before leaving to earn her medical degree. Another resembles an unfinished gravestone, with bronze sculptors tools on a pedestal nearby, to mark the location of the monument and gravestone shop once run by the father of Thomas Wolfe.

Dupont State Forest -- featuring lakes, hiking paths, historic cemeteries from long-forgotten farmsteads, and three of the most beautiful waterfalls in the eastern US.

And that, dear friends, is not all of what makes my city unique and worth a visit, but I'm sick of typing

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Here's a few for UofAlabama :

UA debate team claims 14 national championships 1949-present

From 1988-present, the UA women's gymnastics team has finished either first or second 8 times, and is the defending national champion.

UA football - most bowl appearances and TV appearances in the country

Most USA Today Academic All-Americans of any school in one year (5 in 2003)

Also for Tusc. County :

Only official Mercedes museum outside of Germany, includes replicas of the world's first motorcycle and first automobile.

Tuscaloosa is also a part of the Tenn-Tom Waterway system, which when built was the largest U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project. The Tenn-Tom "boondoggle" allows river navigation from Alabama's major cities to such far flung places as the Great Lakes.

Three of the dams are located along the Black Warrior River in Tusc. County, and barges can be seen most any day. I went on a cruise through the Oliver Lock a couple of weeks ago.

A few for Birmingham :

Largest motorcycle collection in the world (Barber Motorsports)

Largest Wedgwood collection outside of the UK (Birmingham Museum of Art)

Nation's oldest and largest Veterans Day festivities

One for Birmingham's suburb, Hoover:

Longest continuous skylight in western hemisphere (at Riverchase Galleria)

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  • 3 months later...

Manchester has the longest dead-end main st in the US. Elm st.

Central High School is the oldest High School in the state.

At one time the Manchester Mills were the largest textile mills in the world.

I think St Mary's Bank is the oldest and first credit union in the US

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Providence is known for corruption. It was the home of the New England mafia, and in 2000, our mayor was the first public official convicted on a RICO charge, Racketeering Conspiracy.

Vice and Virtue a Providence Journal special on the rise and fall of Buddy Cianci.

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here are a couple of things. both positive & negative that make Jacksonville unique.

*Its Great fire of 1901 was the largest city wide fire in the south

*Its home to the greatest amount of Praire School styled architecture outside of the Midwest, an architectural movement led by Frank Llyod Wright and Louis Sullivan.

*Its Riverside/Avondale neighborhood is the largest historic district in Florida.

*Its the only major city in Florida, whose economy isn't largely based on tourism.

*It's St. Johns River, is the only northflowing river in the US

*It was a bigger "Savannah" until several expressways, urban renewal projects, and the shortsightedness of local officials took hold in the 1950's by demolishing several beautiful architectural significant buildings.

*Its LaVilla neighborhood was considered the Harlem of the South. Several Jazz and Blues greats, like Ray Charles, grew up playing in several african american clubs along Ashely Street. Unfortunately, in a so-called effort the revitalize the neighborhood, it was mostly demolished in 1990's.

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Alot of things for Kansas City

Nice people who would stop on the highway (during rush hour even) to help you

2nd capitol for country music

central location

not having a single building dominate the skyline

not having a single large attraction for tourists

the plaza, modeled after Sevilla Spain.

skyline is a mix of old and new, not dominated by any era

no large gang wars

tornadoes, floods, blizzards, ice storms, etc...

home of Harry Truman (Independence)

home of RLDS (Independence)

starting point for the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail (Independence)

IMO your not a Kansas Citian until you've been through a tornado. It can be scary especially if you can see it.

I've been through 2 tornado storms and once my city had two tornados on the east and west side. Anyhow...

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What Makes Salt Lake Unique

  • Home to the LDS Church

  • Has had a Democrat as their mayor for over 30 years.

  • Sits in a valley

  • Hosted the Olympics

  • Home to the first department store ever

  • Was once said to become the nations most powerful city.

  • Home to America's first true socialist movement

  • Of course, I live here! ;-)

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Detroit Facts

[*]Detroit-Windsor Vehicular Tunnel opened to the public in 1930. Until recently it was the world's only underwater, transnational vehicular tunnel. An average of 24,000 vehicles pass through the tunnel daily.

[*]The world's first electric traffic light was installed at Woodward and Michigan Avenues in 1920.

[*]The Home of Henry and Clara Ford at 140 Edison Avenue from 1908 until 1915 when Henry Ford revolutionized American life and the national economy by introducing the Model T, applying the moving assembly line concept of automobile production.

[*]The Detroit Zoo, the first zoo in the U.S. where exhibits were entirely bar less and whose plan allowed panoramic views.

[*]The Michigan State Fair on Woodward Avenue is the oldest state fair in the nation, first held in 1849.

[*]The American "birthplace" of the Shrine Circus.

[*]First Labor Day Parade - held July 4, 1865, predates the official declaration of a Labor Day holiday by almost 30 years.

[*]The world's first mile of paved concrete road on Woodward Avenue between Six and Seven Mile Roads in 1909.

[*]Home to the Motown sound founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1957

[*]Built the nation

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  • 2 weeks later...

Houston

Home of the 1st Dome stadiume: Astro Dome

Has no zoning laws which makes it have 6 differnt areas that have 90m and taller buildings.

Home of the Johnson Space Center along with replica of the rocket that landed on the moon.

Energy capital of the World.

Famous River Oaks section which is rich and winds through the City near Uptown Houston.

Texas Medical Center, which houses more Hospitals, medical universities and professions than any conglomeration it the world.

1st city said on the moon as in "Houston the Eagle has Landed"

The tallest Skyscraper outside the CBD: Williams Tower, I'll always remember it as Transco Tower)

Has over 20 buyous going through the City

Negative

Enron Scandal and now the Haliburton issue

Flood of 2001 that flooded all the major freeways and left downtown looking like buildings on water.

Our sister city Galveston had the Storm of the Century back in 1900 killed more than half it's residence but still has it's 1800 victorian style houses and streets

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Houston along with the Originator, Galveston celebrate Juneteenth and parade

Home of the Livestock Show and Rodeo

2nd most theater Seats in the Nation

largest City in the south and 4th overall in the U.S

One of 4 cities with over 2 million in City proper population.

Behind only New York and Chicago in Buildings over 90m

Has the largest Port in Tonage and 2nd only to boston in Volume.

No zoning laws which makes Houston the only city with six different areas of town that has buildings taller than 90m

Home of the Papas chain or Restraunts (Pappas, Pappacitios and Pappeaudeaux) think it's spelt right.

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Sorry Allan, Houston holds that distinction of the most theater seats outside of New York City :D

"Has more theater seats than any other city, east of the Mississippi River, outside New York City"

Unless somehow Houston is east of the Mississippi River now.

Detroit used to have the second largest theater district in the US, but unfortunately almost all of the theaters have closed. There still are a few left though. :)

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Boston is an organic city in that there is very little grid and was layed out not as a city but a defendable fortress and seaport on the edge of a vast unexplored (to them) continent.

The area has an extremely wealthy, highly educated population with the highest per capita with masters degrees. Rt 128's technology belt is second in size only to Silicone Valley and Cambridge is a world leader in bio-tech.

Boston is one of Americas oldest major cities and was the largest and most important city in North America from its founding until the American Revolution, which started here with the battles at Lexington and Concord. You know more towns around here than you would think. How about Plymouth, Salem etc.? George Washington was from Virginia but when he crossed the Delaware the guys rowing the boats were from Marblehead, MA. Washington also was present in Boston when Henry Knox brought the captured cannons from Ticonderoga NY and placed them on Dorchester Heights and forced the British to evacuate Boston and move the revolution south.

Boston is home to Massachusetts General Hospital, top 5 in the world and the Longwood Medical area with Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and a slew of new laboratory projects including the new Merck building. 16 million sq ft of space and employs 30,000 people.

Boston has two of the top 5 Universities in the world in Harvard and MIT and a city-wide college student population of 250,000.

The city is home to the Big Dig, an amazing feeet of engineering. 2/3 of central Boston is built on landfill as is 99% of Logan Airport. The city has the first subway in the US and has an extensive public transit system when most major cities have little more than buses. There are more tunnels and bridges in this town....

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Sorry bout that Alan. Hey did that referendum go through for that casino. I know the brotha from Detroit, Darden I believe, was trying to build one and the city was opposing it or something another.

Casinos? Haha. City Council is holding things up as usual. City Council voted in February to withdraw its objection to a federal lawsuit settlement between the MotorCity and Greektown casinos and the indian tribe. However, CC has not done the proper rezoning that is required. On an article in February 27ths paper, there was a quote that said that we'd have cranes in the air in 30 days. It's been 30 days, and surprise...NO CRANES!! (Keep in mind that this is Detroit, so everything takes 10 times longer than it actually should, and none of the developments are guaranteed until they actually open.)

There is preliminary site work being done at the Greektown Casino site. MGM & Motor City Casino sites are still paved surface lots. Honestly, I don't think anyone even knows what these things are going to look like! There have been so many different renderings floating around for so long now, so nothing would surprise me.

Motor City Casino

I heard that MC may just expand at its current site. So I have no idea what's going to happen.

Current Temporary Casino

MotCitTempCas.jpg

Early Proposal

Atwater.gif

May 2002 Expansion Plan

b01motordraw.jpg

b01casinomapbig.jpg

December 05, 2002 Plan

b01casino1.jpg

Greektown Casino

Temporary Location

GreekTempCas.jpg

December 2002

This will not be as tall as shown. NIMBYs got it shortened from like 40 stories to about 25. I guess they forgot this is a major downtown, not suburbia. :rolleyes:

b01greek.jpg

MGM Grand Casino

Temporary Casino

mgm-temp.jpg

Early Proposal

MGM.gif

Rumored Final Rendering

21162.jpg

I'll be posting more in the Detroit section as I find out about the casinos.

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