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Most underrated midwest cities?


ShowMeKC

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We're talking about the region which while isn't all that healthy, isn't as bad as the numbers say. Livingston County (which is in suburban Detroit) is still the fastest growing county in the state by far, and Ann Arbor's economy is growing at a steady pace. The American auto industry won't always be in this current slump and when it starts to turn around, so will the Detroit economy. (Look what happened in the 90's vs. the 70's and 80's.)

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No it's not. Growth isn't necessarily exponential. Just because Grand Rapids is growing at a greater rate now, doesn't mean that it will sustain that rate of growth forever.

For instance, if a city of 100,000 people added 100,000 new people every decade the rate of growth would decrease every decade. The first decade the growth rate would be 100%, the second decade it would be 50%, the third decade it would be 33%, the fourth decade it would be 25%, and so on.

Obviously as the population grows so does natural increase, but overall Grand Rapids couldn't begin to catch up to Detroit at its current pace.

well your refering to the unforeseen future, while i was using only the percentages of the current growth, if they were to remain the same.. oh nevermind, i know detroit is bigger and most likely always will be, i was just trying to make a point.

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Columbus is underrated.

And to a lesser extent, KC. STL always steals the show

It's actually quite ironic, given STL's decayed state

KC and Columbus remind me of sister cities and they are both underated for the same reason, STL steals the show because its older, used to be larger, has a larger metro area, and more on the national scene as far as landmarks, culture, people, hiistory, entertainment, ect. The same goes for Columbus being over shadowed by Cleveland and Cincy to a lesser extent for the same reasons.

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Finally, Clayton, MO is a city that "exists" because of its location to and dependence upon a major metropolitan area. So, should it even be part of this discussion?

suburbs don't count. I dispute clayton, and omit my home (ann arbor) out of fairness.

I am from StL and I agree that I wouldn't necessarily call it an "underrated city".

But I disagree with the people that say it only exists because it is part of StL. It is an old edge city and a unique area. It was not planned as a new downtown, it just happened that way. It is actually the county seat, so that IS why there are so many "tall" (not really) buildings in that small area; they have to be in the limits. So it is the "capital" of the greater metro area pretty much...and that is not the same thing as downtown, which is the city, not county.

Yes, some people live there, a few of those buildings are residential.

I don't think Minneapolis is underated, I think it is fairly well known, as well as Pittsburgh. Whether we consider Pittsburgh midwest is another story and I don't want to debate that. Although stating it has a lot of "old buildings" doesn't make it eastern or midwestern. I like both cities, but I don't think they are underated by most at this time.

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Clayton is the crap, nothing else to say. Go down there for lunch during a weekday and see what's its like.

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Chazarelli consider yourself warned. Find other ways to express your feelings about places you don't like or action will be taken against you. Random insults of any place is adolescent in nature, and it has no place here. If someone wants to say they consider some random place in the middle of nowhere the greatest city on the face of the earth, they are more than welcome. You are more than welcome to disagree with them, but you must express yourself in a way reflecting the values of Urbanplanet. Anything such as the above statement, lacks the level of class and professionalism modeled on this site.

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I will watch myself from now on, I guess there are better ways to say it.

My girlfriend (and 75% of my best friends) are from St. Louis and I had been all over the city for various reasons, but never to Clayton. It wasn't until last spring when a friend of mine who was working for ARCO construction at the time, told me to meet him there for lunch, did I realize the city.

It is unbeliveable, and I always ask my girlfriend why she never showed me such an awsome place.

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1. Grand Rapids - 200,000 city, 1.2 million metro, skyline growing daily, great standard of living , and HISTORY - not much of that in Clayton- the STL, yes, but Clayton?

2. Omaha - beautiful downtown, vibrant street life, colleges, and HISTORY.

3. Milwaukee - underrated and a wrongly deserved bad rap. One of my favorite cities for business that leads to great times. AND HISTORY.

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I find it ironic that someone from Massachusetts looks to Michigan as an example of "doing it right" while often people from Michigan are doing just the opposite. I guess it goes to show that it doesn't matter where you live, the grass always seems to be greener on the other side.

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Grand Rapids. It is similar to Rochester NY where I grew up. Both are metro area of over 1 million people, similar in size to Memphis or Oklahoma City, yet they have very little national recognition.

I have to throw in Springfield, MO for a mid sized city. It gets overshadowed by Madison, WI and Des Moines.

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I am SHOCKED by the lack of attention Des Moines, IA gets (heck, for that matter the whole state of Iowa doesn't get mentioned in any of the regions on UP). I live in DM for the summer and it's fabulous. Downtown life, suburban sprawl, shopping, dining, sports, government, schools (three in a 45 minute radius), and weather. Its a metro of 2.2 or so million and is only growing because of the lack of competition in the central IA area. It's a treat.

However, as a 24-year Grand Rapidian, GR takes the cake. I am SOO pleased to see it get pub and credit where credit is due.

Also: experience Minneapolis if you haven't--it's gorgeous.

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