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I live in Davison, MI. It has a population of about 5000. It has a fairly nice downtown with a low vacancy rate. In the past few decades it has kind of became a suburb of Flint, MI and there has been many new subdivisons and such going up(the only part i dont like about this town.)

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Atlanta...

Sprawl, a city full of people who can't wait to 'get back home', a city willing to sell it's soul to the highest bidder, backstabbing 'Christians'...

There are many great things about Atlanta, and many beautiful areas surrounding the city, unfortunately you can count on them not being there within the next three years and being replaced by either a nice big beautiful Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Sadly this city has sold it's soul in exchange for rampant, out of control growth. If Monticello was here, Atlanta would sell it to the highest bidding developer and their idea of perservation would be to name the condos that replaced it Jefferson Condos.

It's truely the land of ultra-conservative, christian America...They'll fight to the death to not allow alcohol sales on Sunday, but the next day allow some corporation to swallow some neighborhood that has been there for 50yrs and build a big box that they are going to hire mostly illegals to work at for sub-poverty wages.

Buying beer on Sunday=WRONG

Hiring and paying illegals dirt wages and allowing 3 families to live in a 2bd apt=JUST FINE

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Zachariah,

I wasn't going to say it originally, but y'all seem pretty nice here. I live in Tyler, TX.

USA11B: if you want ultra-conservative christian, live here. We still have a dry county! I have to go 12 miles over the lake and over the county line to get beer. It's a freakin sham.

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Atlanta...

Sprawl, a city full of people who can't wait to 'get back home', a city willing to sell it's soul to the highest bidder, backstabbing 'Christians'...

There are many great things about Atlanta, and many beautiful areas surrounding the city, unfortunately you can count on them not being there within the next three years and being replaced by either a nice big beautiful Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Sadly this city has sold it's soul in exchange for rampant, out of control growth. If Monticello was here, Atlanta would sell it to the highest bidding developer and their idea of perservation would be to name the condos that replaced it Jefferson Condos.

It's truely the land of ultra-conservative, christian America...They'll fight to the death to not allow alcohol sales on Sunday, but the next day allow some corporation to swallow some neighborhood that has been there for 50yrs and build a big box that they are going to hire mostly illegals to work at for sub-poverty wages.

Buying beer on Sunday=WRONG

Hiring and paying illegals dirt wages and allowing 3 families to live in a 2bd apt=JUST FINE

I must agree. Atlanta is an amusing, paradocial place.

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The city I live in is very chaotic. It's slow paced, but moves very fast if you are behind the wheel of an automobile. You can call the police here and they won't come help you unless you can convince them you are dying.

Regardless of its economic freefall over the past 40 years, there is heavy reinvestment in the downtown core..and even in some neighborhoods. Social attitudes are changing, and this just might be my cities greatest obsticle to overcome since the region is so polarized against the city both socially/economically and racially.

The people that live here find interest in almost every aspect of the city. There are many that have had enough and who contribute to the mass exodus from the city. It's definately a nightmare on many levels, but if you like a different twist to urban planning initiatives, you'd love...DETROIT! :)

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Mesa Arizona:

Is easily Americas largest suburb. With a population of over 460,000. Mesa was founded in the late 1890's by Mormons. Over the years has remained an LDS stronghold, with all forms of government being controlled by its factions. When it was settled, Neither Mesa nor Phoenix had any cultural or economic significance. But only after Arizonas explosive growth over the past thirty five years or so have the two cities come together to form a kind of mega city.

Some would call Mesa the worlds largest bedroom community. But the truth is at 128 sq mi, and 460k people, it has more people and a greater density than world class core cities like Atlanta. Alot of that has to do with the responsible Urban Planning in metro phoenix. While the whole metro area really is one mega suburb. They control the growth very well. It was actually pleasantly suprising to see. Mesa has a very nice downtown business district. But no distinctive high rises and only a couple of low rises. It would be nice to see that part of the city grow. I'm actually on my way to take a few pictures of downtown Mesa, if anyone is interested you can see them in the Arizona Forum.

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Detroit: Big, Bad, and Bold; This is a city like no other in the world. Manholes with the steam oozing out, and rampant street life are not for the faint of heart. A place where the car makes the man, not the other way around. Detroit is truly backwards in every sense of the word. Voters are reluctant to vote for the fast talking democrats for their unability to get anything done; they are also reluctant to vote republican 'white folk' because of the long going issue of race that continues to simmer long after the riots. One of the only major cities that does not have any noteworthy mass transit, due to economic and social issues that plague Michigan. The snooty people who want nothing to do with the city of Detroit make the people who are trying their hardest to make SE Michigan a unified region's lives tough. We take immense pride in our sports teams (like most blue collar cities) and embrace the Detroit culture, whether it be through music, food, or our innovations (cars).

Detroiters are indeed tougher than a lot of americans, at least when it comes to tolerance level. We put up with a corrupt government, potholes, monstrous insurance rates through red lining, and the extreme weather on both solstices. Murders are everyday occurances, arsons too. Detroiters cannot rely on the police because they are simply not enough of them to go around. We all eat Coney Dogs, and they make us fat.

And our suburbs are exremely affluent. A lot of them anyway.

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Louisville is the 16th largest city in the country with about 700,000 people in the city and 1.3 million in the metro. Its has both a big city and relaxed feeling. I love Louisville and there are few other cities I would live in. They are building a 22,000 seat arena and a 61-story tower downtown which will awesome.

Louisville-Skyline.jpg

Skyline-Dan-Dry.jpg

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Winnipeg,

canada's 6th largest city

700,000 people in the hart of canada.

winnipeg means mudy waters in a local native languadge refering to the 3 rivers we have flowing threw are city

2278zv.jpg

http://www.hbc.com/hbcheritage/images/cont...g-FortGarry.jpg

winnipeg started out as uper fort gary witch was a furtrading out post for the Hudsons Bay Company or HBC

witch was used untill the formation of the province of manitoba witch is was demolished except for the north gate witch still stands in a narow park between a gas station and a 3 story building.

Winnipeg1907.jpg

when the CP rail line came threw the city boomed with money coming from england and being a major shiping coridoor across north amarica up untill the opening of the panima canal witch led to a slump in the econimy along with england pulling out due to war in europe

General Strike, June 21, 1919

WinnipegGeneralStrike.jpg

Another major event that effected Winnipeg both economically, socially and politically was the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919. Appalling labour conditions following World War I led to calls for reform. Around 35,000 Winnipeggers walked off the job in May 1919.

The Manitoba Provincial Legislature Building reflects the optimism of the boom years. Built of Tyndall Stone in 1920, it is topped by the "Golden Boy".

1073fi.jpg

for more info on winnipeg check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg

and for a photo graphic tour of downtown

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...77entry465977

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Tucson:

Tucson has a population of near 500,000. The city itself generally sits in the Tucson Basin. It is surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges (with a fourth bounding the southern suburbs) and features a normally-dry river running through the center. It is the oldest and second largest city in Arizona. On a larger scale, it sits at the western edge of the Sonoran Desert in a region called the "Sonoran Uplands" and generally receives more annual rain than the rest of the Sonoran Desert, which itself is considered the wettest desert in the world.

Economically, Tucson heavily relies on tourism, and features many world-class resorts. The University of Arizona is the largest single employer though, and dictates much in the city. The military is also a large employer, with Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in town. It is also considered a hiker's paradise because of its easy access to wilderness areas, national forests and Saguaro National Park.

The City proper can be divided into seven regions: Central, West, South, North, Midtown, East and Southeast.

Central includes Downtown and the University of Arizona campus, and is generally bounded by I-10 (west), Grant Road (north), 22nd Street (south) and Country Club Road (east).

The Central area is the oldest and most developed area, containing many shops, bars and restaurants, but very few of them chains. Mainly because of the university and a large artist population living and working near the Fourth Avenue retail district, the Central area is generally the most progressive, and is thus represented by mostly liberal candidates in the state and federal legislatures. Fourth Avenue is also the center of the city's LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community. The Central area is the site of the majority of Tucson's in-fill projects, namely several lofts. The Rio Nuevo effort from the City is also seeking to revitalize the Downtown area through the re-creation of the original Tucson mission, a UA science center, arena, and several other residential and commercial projects.

West is generally bounded by I-10 (east), Broadway (south), with the city limits filling in the rest. The West side is more of a hodge-podge, with old neighborhoods in the basin, including Barrio Hollywood and Menlo Park, and newer, much less dense neighborhoods in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains. The older neighborhoods in the basin are predominately Hispanic. There is also a large college student population living mostly in apartments just outside of the basin. There is little development here in the way of high-density residential or commercial.

South is generally anything south of 22nd Street or the main Union Pacific rail line. It is much more industrial-oriented and includes the airport. It is predominately Hispanic, but also features a small African-American community. The City of South Tucson is a municipal island in this area, but is more or less visibly unrecognizable as a separate community. The Southside is regarded as poorer and crime-ridden by many residents. Although often exaggerated, the area is statistically one of the worst parts of town.

North is generally anything north of Grant Road and west of Country Club Road. It includes the Tucson Mall. The Northside is a mix of light to heavy industrial near the railroad track, high-density mobile home parks to the northwest, apartments and townhomes, and mid-century ranch houses in between everything else. Economically, the area is very mixed. There are some good neighborhoods, and some bad. Some portions are known for prostitution (along Miracle Mile) and others for drugs, particularly crystal meth.

Midtown is generally bounded by Country Club Road (west), Wilmot or Kolb Road (east), and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (south). Midtown includes both Park Place and El Con Malls. Midtown has the most retail development, and easily has the most office development outside of Downtown, including Williams Center. It is also one of the more densely populated areas, with a large number of apartment and townhome communities. Ethnically it is very integrated. There is a sizeable Hispanic population, but in no particular neighborhood. The area near Fifth and Columbus is also the center of the surprisingly-large Jewish community in Tucson, although this is only a retail and social center because of synagogues, and the people are scattered throughout the city. Most of Midtown has already been built-out, and is not currently seeing much in the way of new development.

The East Side is generally anything east of Wilmot or Kolb Road and north of Golf Links Road. The East Side is mostly single-family houses, but is dotted with (usually large) apartment complexes. Retail development has expanded dramatically in the past few years, particularly on the 22nd Street and Broadway corridors. Economically, the northern section, closer to the foothills tends to be more wealthy, although there are some very nice, older homes along Old Spanish Trail as it winds through the area. There are also many new developments on the fringes of the city limits near Houghton Road as this area continues to push eastward toward the Rincon Mountains.

The Southeast is much more suburban, and includes the Rita Ranch development and portions of the area considered Vail. The Southeast has the seen the most in recent growth, but mostly from cookie-cutter housing developments. The City recently put together the Houghton Area Master Plan (HAMP) to effectively create a massive planned community on state land which will soon be developed along Houghton Road north of I-10. HAMP infuses green belts, parkways, town centers and school sites. The only truly New Urbanist community in the Tucson Area, Civano, also sits on the Southeast side.

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It's a decent sized city of 83.000 according to the city limits signs, but estimates place it closer to 100k.

Once I found out you live in Tyler I realized... it's got more than 83,000. They really need to change their signs, because last time I checked the city most certainly was near 100,000 people. As a matter of fact, it's been near 100,000 for quite some time now... those signs are severely outdated.

Tyler, in my opinion, is a nice city. For a while, it was growing by leaps and bounds but that all slowed down some 3-5 years ago. I also loved their zoo while it was free... they only recently began charging. It's still only what... $3 or something along those lines? Cheap! And if you're just wanting a decent zoo, Tyler will keep you from having to drive all the way to Dallas or Fort Worth. Shreveport has always lacked a decent zoo, and now lacks one altogether. Tyler has always worked out well for me, because like I said it was always free, and it's only some 90 miles down the road.

One of my good friends from high school has been working in Tyler as an architect since graduating from La. Tech back about 4 or 5 years ago.

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Willacoochee....... A very small town of about 1,500 people in extreme southern Georgia. (We are very southern here.) There isn't to much to do here, we have two places to eat, a grocery store, and two gas stations. (We also have two bars). And we have a Dollar General! Other than that, people here go to Douglas, GA for entertainment and shopping. The biggest highway running through 'Coochee (the town nickname) is US Hwy 82 (a four lane) To be so small, we do have a small amount of big industries. Everyone knows everyone, by first, last, and pretty much middle name. The crime rate is farely low (we only have one police on duty at a time, having a total of four police officers). 'Coochee is the oldest city in the county and the county before, being a little over 110 years old. Its a very clean and kept up community. Overall it's a nice place to live.

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One of the only major cities that does not have any noteworthy mass transit, due to economic and social issues that plague Michigan.

More power to you for sticking it out in Detroit. I admire anyone that has the guts to be in on the early stages of one of the most daunting urban renewal projects in North America.

I would also like to clarify that the economic and social problems you speak of do not plague Michigan in general, but are specific to Metro Detroit. Being from West Michigan, it touches a nerve with me when people equate the entirety of Michigan's economy and society with the Motor City.

Case in point: plans for light rail in Grand Rapids are moving forward.

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Blue Springs, Missouri

Blue Springs, MO is the far eastern suburb of Kansas City, about 15 minutes away from the stadiums. It straddles I-70 and is home to about 55,000. Its rapidly growing southward toward Lees Summit. Two big highways other than I-70 are routes 40 and 7. Nearly all of the business is on Route 7, which stretches from the north end of town all the way through town to the south. Most of the city is relatively nice with some of the old parts near downtown kind of decaying. The majority of the neigbourhoods are your typical 70's homes, and then as you branch out in either direction, the houses get newer. Right now the city is building about 10 different subdivisions south of town and a couple to the north. Blue Springs has the countries 2nd biggest Wal Mart, which i think is kind of cool. If you ever pass through KC on I-70 look for the gigantic baby blue water tower on the eastern side of town, and that is Blue Springs, my home.

More skyscrapers in KC, Less in London please

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Tempe AZ, A total college town dominated by the ASU campus and it's 50000+ student body. Good nightlife and bar scene and is home to Mill Ave, one of the few remotely walkable areas in the PHX metro area. Being landlocked has also caused Tempe to be one of the densest communities in the area. The demographic here is the most diverse you can find in the area, mostly due to the university, but is still doiminated by Whites and Hispanics.

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Tallahassee, FL

The capital city of Florida, with a pop of about 157,000 and a metro pop of about 256,000. There are four seasons here: Winter, Legislative Session, Summer, and College Football! Tally is a decent-sized place with all kinds of people residing here. You will mostly notice two types of people: Important government officials decked out in suit and tie, or the young college students wearing flip flops and polos. Tally is bigger than what alot of people notice at first glance. That is because all the action is in one concentrated area. We've got our downtown with the state capital, and two well-known universities (FSU and FAMU) all within a few minutes of each other.

Tallahassee has incredible school spirit for its Seminoles as well as love for FAMU's amazing marching band. The scenery in Tallahassee is gorgeous and will have you forgetting you're in Florida. Florida is not necessarily known for its rolling hills or its canopy roads but Tallahassee has plenty of both. The summers are really hot and the winters are really cold.

As far as entertainment goes, I think Tallahassee is lacking. Sure we've got plenty of historic sites around the city and the downtown district is nice for an afternoon stroll but nightlife here is definitely not the best. The bar scene tends to get rodundant and being in a crowded pub filled with drunken and stumbling college students gets old real fast. There are some clubs around the area for dancing and karaoke and we have one family fun center but it needs big improvement. Shopping here is decent but you will find plenty of options for eating out.

For a weekend getaway, there are plenty of nice options outside of Tallahassee. We are not too far away from some beautiful beaches. White sand and blue water is what it's all about. Drive a little over a couple of hours and you will find yourself at Destin, one of the nation's top beach destinations. We are also closer to Atlanta (the largest city in the Southeast USA) than we are to Miami.

Overall, Tallahassee is a decent place to live. If you love nice people, good food, college football, politics, and not have to deal with snow or too much traffic problems, this is probably the place for you.

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Atlanta...

Sprawl, a city full of people who can't wait to 'get back home', a city willing to sell it's soul to the highest bidder, backstabbing 'Christians'...

There are many great things about Atlanta, and many beautiful areas surrounding the city, unfortunately you can count on them not being there within the next three years and being replaced by either a nice big beautiful Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Sadly this city has sold it's soul in exchange for rampant, out of control growth. If Monticello was here, Atlanta would sell it to the highest bidding developer and their idea of perservation would be to name the condos that replaced it Jefferson Condos.

It's truely the land of ultra-conservative, christian America...They'll fight to the death to not allow alcohol sales on Sunday, but the next day allow some corporation to swallow some neighborhood that has been there for 50yrs and build a big box that they are going to hire mostly illegals to work at for sub-poverty wages.

Buying beer on Sunday=WRONG

Hiring and paying illegals dirt wages and allowing 3 families to live in a 2bd apt=JUST FINE

Come on now

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Winston-Salem, currently a city of around 200,000 in a metro area of close to 1,500,000.

One of the older cities in NC, Salem was founded by a Protestant group called the Moravians in 1766. They brought with them great skilled craftsman to the region which immediately made the town a center of commerce for the region which lasts until today. Winston was founded when a new county was created by the state in 1849. Soon after the railroad came thru and R.J. Reynolds decided the area would be a good place for a tobacco factory. The boom had officially started. In 1913, the two cities decided that the best path for future development was to merge into one entity, Winston-Salem was officially born. For many years the city would be the largest in the state and one of the most influential.

Today, industry has drastically changed in Winston-Salem. While tobacco/cigarettes still plays a significant role, it is by no means the largest industry in the city and the city has done well to diversify to minimize impact of this fading segment of our economy. We are a large medical center for the Western/Central part of the state with 2 of the 5 largest hospitals in the state who both employ more than 10,000 people in numerous metro locations. Thanks to the hospitals, we have large areas of physicans and specialist offices. Banking and finance are big here as well, we have 2 regional banks headquartered here (we're still a little sour that First Union merged and took the Wachovia headquarters away to Charlotte, but they are still a major employer here.) We are also a commercial hub for the NW part of the state, so we have a large concentration of National retailers and several successful regional/local retailers. We also have one of the largest malls between Atlanta and DC.

Traffic for the most part flows well in our city as unfortunately, the car has been king as development has occured throughout the city over the past few decades. Only now is public transit being "forced" into new developments. Even though mass transit was not included in plans of the past, our bus system is the envy of most similar sized municipalities as WSTA has good ridership and is almost always in the black.

The city is divided by the 2 old highways (US52 and Business 40) into 4 sections. The NW and SW sections contain most of the commercial development in the city and is also the focus of new residential development. The NW section also contains our oldest and nicest neighborhoods such as Ardmore, Buena Vista, and Reynolda. Even though the SW has some nice as well, Washington Park and British Woods come to mind. The Eastern sections of the city have lagged behind in development and have been a "challenging" area for our city. Now, however the SE section is seeing development with a new Dell facility and a boom in the area around it. In the center of it all (at the crossing of the highways) is our downtown, one of the most impressive in NC. It is currently going thru redevelopment with old buildings going condo and new residential being developed. Not to mention the development of the downtown biotech park which (if the speak holds) should employ and additional 30K people downtown on top of the 30K we already have.

We are proud of the arts in our city, as we are the first city in the US to have an Arts Council and the first public Arts school in the country. We are proud of our other education establishments as well, Wake Forest (part of the ACC), Salem College, WSSU, Piedmont Bible College, and Forsyth Tech. Forsyth Tech recently was awarded a grant from the government to oversee Biotech training programs at several different community colleges across the country by having the "National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce" place here.

The quality of life here is great, we are only a few hours for the coast, just a couple from the mountains. We have been rated on of "30 most livable communities in America" among several other honors. We are also fairly progressive as we are constantly rated one of the most "digital" cities of our size in the country and there are plans to even have the entire county wired for WiFi.

Overall, things here are good and are looking even better! Come check us out! :thumbsup:

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Miami: One of the larger metropolitan areas in the Southeast, and home to about 2.4 million souls in the broader Miami-Dade metro region.

It's a relatively young city, really making the transition from frontier military outpost to urbanizing area in the early 20th Century. Bounded by the Atlantic on the east and the Everglades on the west, the urban area has just about expanded to fill the available land area. Dense, urban development along the water and barrier islands (such as Miami Beach), surrounded by ring cities and a wide swath of suburban development as you head west.

Even as late as the 1970's, Miami was largely a smallish tourist city - since then the city has grown tremendously. The area has undergone significant demographic shocks with sizable inflows of immigrant populations, most notably the Mariel influx of Cuban refugees in 1980. Miami's plurality hispanic population has led to increased importance of international trade and banking as regional job creators, though tourism and construction are still very significant.

Miami faces some interesting long-term planning challenges. Without either a dense population base or a single job center (the downtown area leads the way, but only houses about 100K jobs), planning for a transit grid is difficult. Our high water table requires all heavy rail to be elevated. A very large number of multi-family condominium projects are under construction near the downtown area, but it remains to be seen how many of those units will be occupied.

Miami is also a classic example of how long-term urban planning can get knocked off course by an unforeseen event. In the 1980's, Miami was seen as developing along a north-south axis, anchored by the existing Downtown Miami in the north with future development heading down towards Homestead/Florida City in the south. However, Hurricane Andrew demolished the southern end of the county....and all of the employment and housing demand shifted west. Unfortunately, the mass transit and road grids had been designed to move people north-south, not west-east.

I think Miami is in many ways a harbinger of development trends in other parts of the country. We've already undergone a strong demographic shift to a mixed hispanic population, and are rapidly experiencing densification of our urban core as we approach our urban service boundaries. It's an interesting time to be involved in these issues.

Albaby

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Tempe AZ, A total college town dominated by the ASU campus and it's 50000+ student body. Good nightlife and bar scene and is home to Mill Ave, one of the few remotely walkable areas in the PHX metro area. Being landlocked has also caused Tempe to be one of the densest communities in the area. The demographic here is the most diverse you can find in the area, mostly due to the university, but is still doiminated by Whites and Hispanics.

How's the dating scene in Tempe? Is there alot of interracial dating there?

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I'm sure everybody knows about New Orleans. You may have traveled to N.O. on vacation, business or decided to come down here for Mardi Gras. New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in America, founded in 1718 so New Orleans would be 288 years old (we're older than the US :thumbsup:) Lies directly on the MS River & Lake Ponchartrain. Known as the Big Easy because of our carefree nature. Home to some of the first housing projects in the country & some of the greatest food you'll ever taste.

Don't get me started on the entertainment here. New Orleans is a great city for young professionals & college students alike. If you want to get drunk (I don't drink btw) or are in a clubbing mood, French Quarter has it all.

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New Orleans is my home and it will always be. I like how New Orleans has done a great job with stopping growth if it's gonna take away the uniqueness, history & culture that we're known for. You know how most cities have a Eastside, Westside, Northside & Southside? In New Orleans we go by Uptown & Downtown. Uptown has two definitions: 1.Everything upriver from Canal. 2. The areas closer to the river up from the Central Business District. Either of these definitions are acceptable. As my screenname suggests, I reside in Uptown New Orleans. My section of Uptown is nothing like the Garden District but I take comfort in knowing that the Garden District is 3 blocks from me so if I wanna take a ride down St. Charles Ave, I can.

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Minneapolis

It's on the frigid side, but Summer is nice...it's my favorite day of the year. We have a giant sculpture of a spoon with a cherry on it, so there's an air of 'avant garde sundae toppings' to the city, which no other city can boast. We have a nice system of trails around our city lakes and rivers, which have more painted arrows, signs, lanes, rules etc. than the real roads for cars. If you wanna be stared at and despised in this city, try biking around Lake Calhoun counter-clockwise. A triathalon in Minneapolis means attemping to visit the Uptown, Loring Park and Powderhorn Art Fairs on the same day. True Love in winter is identified when your partner is considerate enough to park the car far enough away from the snowbank so you can open the passenger door. Downtown is interesting, especially the extensive skyway system. If somebody asks you how far away a building is, be prepared to give the outdoor sidewalk distance and the skyway maze distance, just to be helpful, because Minneapolitans must be helpful. It's a duty. Nicollet Mall is a wonderful strip, with glorious outdoor restaurant seating in the warmer months...if you can tolerate the city buses loudly rumbling by and vibrating your chicken kiev and beer off your table. The Farmers Market on Nicollet Mall is an impressive display of folks selling, beans, beans, potatoes, flowers, beans, flowers and potatoes. One maverick sells honey. Oh, and a heated discussion in Minneapolis involves the topic of Dayton's turning into Marshall Fields and then into a Macy's. Just talk about Target or something, we love our Target.

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Winston-Salem, currently a city of around 200,000 in a metro area of close to 1,500,000.

One of the older cities in NC, Salem was founded by a Protestant group called the Moravians in 1766. They brought with them great skilled craftsman to the region which immediately made the town a center of commerce for the region which lasts until today. Winston was founded when a new county was created by the state in 1849. Soon after the railroad came thru and R.J. Reynolds decided the area would be a good place for a tobacco factory. The boom had officially started. In 1913, the two cities decided that the best path for future development was to merge into one entity, Winston-Salem was officially born. For many years the city would be the largest in the state and one of the most influential.

Today, industry has drastically changed in Winston-Salem. While tobacco/cigarettes still plays a significant role, it is by no means the largest industry in the city and the city has done well to diversify to minimize impact of this fading segment of our economy. We are a large medical center for the Western/Central part of the state with 2 of the 5 largest hospitals in the state who both employ more than 10,000 people in numerous metro locations. Thanks to the hospitals, we have large areas of physicans and specialist offices. Banking and finance are big here as well, we have 2 regional banks headquartered here (we're still a little sour that First Union merged and took the Wachovia headquarters away to Charlotte, but they are still a major employer here.) We are also a commercial hub for the NW part of the state, so we have a large concentration of National retailers and several successful regional/local retailers. We also have one of the largest malls between Atlanta and DC.

Traffic for the most part flows well in our city as unfortunately, the car has been king as development has occured throughout the city over the past few decades. Only now is public transit being "forced" into new developments. Even though mass transit was not included in plans of the past, our bus system is the envy of most similar sized municipalities as WSTA has good ridership and is almost always in the black.

The city is divided by the 2 old highways (US52 and Business 40) into 4 sections. The NW and SW sections contain most of the commercial development in the city and is also the focus of new residential development. The NW section also contains our oldest and nicest neighborhoods such as Ardmore, Buena Vista, and Reynolda. Even though the SW has some nice as well, Washington Park and British Woods come to mind. The Eastern sections of the city have lagged behind in development and have been a "challenging" area for our city. Now, however the SE section is seeing development with a new Dell facility and a boom in the area around it. In the center of it all (at the crossing of the highways) is our downtown, one of the most impressive in NC. It is currently going thru redevelopment with old buildings going condo and new residential being developed. Not to mention the development of the downtown biotech park which (if the speak holds) should employ and additional 30K people downtown on top of the 30K we already have.

We are proud of the arts in our city, as we are the first city in the US to have an Arts Council and the first public Arts school in the country. We are proud of our other education establishments as well, Wake Forest (part of the ACC), Salem College, WSSU, Piedmont Bible College, and Forsyth Tech. Forsyth Tech recently was awarded a grant from the government to oversee Biotech training programs at several different community colleges across the country by having the "National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce" place here.

The quality of life here is great, we are only a few hours for the coast, just a couple from the mountains. We have been rated on of "30 most livable communities in America" among several other honors. We are also fairly progressive as we are constantly rated one of the most "digital" cities of our size in the country and there are plans to even have the entire county wired for WiFi.

Overall, things here are good and are looking even better! Come check us out! :thumbsup:

I agree with you about downtown Winston Salem. I love its hillyness (did I spell that right), and the skyscrapers are nice as well. Also, Winston's downtown looks similiar to downtown Atlanta at street level.

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