Most unique american city

[DHall]

Having grown up and lived in Houston for 18 years and another 4 off and on (while in college) I am very suprised you would suggest this city. To me it is ugly, lifeless (though that has been changing recently), however it has some of the best traffic on earth! The skyline is nice for postcards but when you are down there in the city I find it to be pretty lifeless and run down in most areas. Sorry for the sarcaism but I really am curious why you think houston would even come close to being the most unique city in america.

My, my. Houston has the nation's wealthiest income, the nation's highest concentration of fortune 500 companies save New York. Houston has the nation's hottest economy, according to Wikipedia. Houston is absolutely beautiful. It is a ritzy, glitsy big city, with a coastline, the world's 2nd busiest seaport, and the world's 7th largest skyline. They have the world's tallest suburban skyscraper, and the world's biggest suburban skyline, the Transco Tower and the Galleria, all which have renamed since I was there. To question Houston's existance as a unique city is unbelievable. Incredulous.

The only thing you hit was that traffic in Houston actually is horrid. It actually snowed 12 inches in Houston this year, which surprises me. I remember one summer when I was there for business and it was over a 105 degrees, and probably raining like it always is in Houston! Streets in Houston are beautiful, see that pic of Post Oak, I think it's Post Oak. Houston is absolutely beautiful, I cannot name a better big city. I can only name one medium sized city that is better, Tulsa. But even Tulsa is very, very simillar to Houston.

[sunshine]

I nominated Miami to be the most unique city weather wise.

It is the only city that can still have 80 degrees when the rest of the country freez in the 30's or lower.

[satalac]

i find nashville to be pretty unique. it's known all over the world as being "music city". not to mention it's called the athens of the south due to its diverse colleges. the business side is also one of the best in the country. pretty much all major u.s. cities are unique though. one city i'm suprised wasn't mentioned also was savannah, ga.

[jarrodslc]

Sorry, if I was a little rough on Houston. I know it's not that bad and a lot of it depends on what you want out of your city, and Houston has a lot to offer. I wasn't talking about the wealth, economy or even the skyscrapers (which I agree are great), but about the whole urban experience of Houston. And that is where I feel Houston is laking but making up ground quickly. I just feel being the 4th largest city it should be more on par with the first 3 which I feel it is not even close. The sprawl there is absolutley terrible and there is little in the way of walkable neighborhoods. The areas that are walkable can only be accessed by driving your car (a scary thing on 610 by the galleria ), parking and then walking. That is all I meant not that it is a terrible city at all and I think there are a lot of good things starting to happen there and people do seem to be gaining a re-interest in urban life. All I meant was that, for me, it is lacking any "uniqueness" that would make me want to live there day in and day-out again. Or even for me to compare it with other much more vibrant, in the urban experience sense (whatever that means), cities in america. Sorry if offened you SimCityEmpire .

Also as a side not, I have visited friends and family often, but I have not lived there in 6 years so I'm sure there is a lot I don't know; because from visiting I can see it has changed tremendously for the better over that short period. And some of the people I hang out with there are not the most "cosmopolitan" people to say the least .

[urbanguy]

NYC of course other honorable mentions:

Honolulu *most definately! its like living in a foreign country yet its a part of America

New Orleans

San Francisco

Miami

Las Vegas

Washington DC

Smaller city runnerups:

Santa Fe

Asheville

Charleston?

sunshine, ahem Honolulu's warm year round too i love how its always overlooked and that also makes it unique people forget that its a part of the US

[satalac]

i totally forgot about honolulu. it definatly does stick out as a very unique american city. feels more like being in a pacific rim country (wonder why ) than the u.s. one of the most memorable cities i've been to.

[goodbye]

Las Vegas is certainly very unique. There are many things/places you would never see in another city in this Country.

My second choice would have to be Orlando.

[PghUSA]

Orlando is a nice town but lacks that "you would never believe what we built" quality to it, true Disney and Universal have some cool things but I remember watching something on the Discovery channel about Vegas, how the Mirage hotel in 1990 or 91 attempted to build a spewing volcano and Steve Wynn boasted "Disney could never even do that", being that Disney is tops with Universal and Seaworld close seconds in O-town Vegas does have it beat on those levels. There is also an electricity about Vegas like anything is possible that Orlando doesn't seem yet to have. Its nice to know that there are some that call my home away from home unique though, Orlando always seemed somewhat facadish in an Atlantic City way, nothing wrong with being built yesterday but the same energy that you see in Hollywood or Vegas with that I haven't seen in Orlando, maybe its that I'm not looking deep enough. Club Paris though has to be the all time best club--only if I get to dance with her though

[marcelo]

My vote goes to Frisco - because New Orleans was not on that list...

[BrandonTO416]

New York has my vote. It could be a city-state in and of itself.

[caravan70]

My first post; I hope all will be a bit gentle. Thanks for the very interesting forums! While "most unique" is indeed grammatically incorrect, perhaps "most distinctive" will work:

1) Las Vegas. C'mon. I don't particularly care for the place, but saying it's not distinctive among American cities is like claiming that Carol Doda is like the girl next door. 24-hour debauchery combined with truly appalling, over-the-top architecture.

2) New Orleans. A place that's still operating like Storyville never was shut down. One of my favorite cities in the world.

3) San Francisco. The center of American individuality and bohemianism, and in its surrounding areas (which are regarded as part of the CMSA), home of some of the greatest technological innovations in American history.

4) Boston. A living, active fossil in many ways, I've always loved this city for its combination of the relatively ancient (in American terms) and its innovation.

5) New York. Sure, this is the biggest city in America, but I would argue that its neighborhoods are what truly make it distinctive. Some of those neighborhoods would be sizable cities in their own right. And with the spread of technology and culture, I would argue that Chicago, San Francisco and Boston all offer everything New York can, just not in the overwhelming quantity. I went to college outside Boston, and I've lived in NY and SF, and I've never been culturally deprived in any of those places.

Darren

[ironchapman]

New York City...it's been the most diverse world city since colonial times.

Even then, many New Yorkers spoke several languages.

[Loughlin]

Boston, its america athens, there is more history in the 44 mile city confines then in most other us citys combined, the city has a wonderful atomosphere. Boston is one of only a couple citys in the US that can be considered International. I noticed New orleans wasnt on the list, two of americas most diverse and unique citys not on the list, i decline to vote.

[Loughlin]

I dont get why people consider New York unique? its a generic city supersized.

[JivecitySTL]

^lol, you must be joking.

[ironchapman]

I don't want to start an argument, but it does have a large group of people from many cultures throughout the world. It's not just the 8 mil.+ population that gives it this either. It is one of, if not the biggest, immigration centers in the US. It is home to innumerable amounts of businesses, many of which are national or international ones. It has many sports clubs with national fan bases. it has many places of interest that are known internationally. Finally, it has a skyline that is, along with Chic and Hong Kong, considered to be one of the world's big three. It skyline is home to many innovations in the technique of building skyscrapers. It is a tier one city as rated by the GaWOC, which is generally considered by most interested in urban interests to be the authority on ranking world cities.

It maybe a generic city supersized, but the large international and business presence, many famous places of interest, and the pioneering skyline make it one of only few worthy to represent he "mopdern city". It is these qualities that give it a uniqueness found in almost no other city.

[ironchapman]

Las Vegas is certainly very unique.  There are many things/places you would never see in another city in this Country.

My second choice would have to be Orlando.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are many things in Las Vegas that you wouldn't find anywhere else in the world, or at least in very few places.

[Loughlin]

^lol, you must be joking.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alot of my dislike of New York was from personal experience, some people love it others hate it.(ill retract that statement so an arguement dosnt result.

[ironchapman]

Alot of my dislike of New York was from personal experience, some people love it others hate it.(ill retract that statement so an arguement dosnt result.

I understand. Didn't have too good of an experiemce when my family went there.

By the way, Boston's a pretty unique city, too. With all the history and large presence of Irish culture. The college town and biotech presence helps, too.

Being from ATL, I envy most ports.

[pwright1]

New Orleans imo.

[ironchapman]

You know, this category could mean two different things.

-The mix of things like cultures and business (where else in the world could you find the mix of cultures and businesses that define NYC)

-The uniqueness of that culture to the usual American culture (where else in America other than New Orleans would you find Cajun?)

I guess its just your perception of it.

[leets]

The only cities that should be on the list are NY and LV. These two have atributes that no other city can match in any way. On this list of two NYC by far is light years different than any other city in the US

[Chris121091]

I dont think new york should be the most unique american city. Tall buildings, big population, big size, diversity, whatever. LA's land area is bigger, population, I dont think it would make it unique. Any way, Las Vegas is completly different from any other city in the country. It is completly centered around gambling and hotels and stuff like that. It Is very diverse. and DIFFERENT which is a synonym of UNIQUE which means that my vote is for Las Vegas

[053e'de]

My, my. Houston has the nation's wealthiest income, the nation's highest concentration of fortune 500 companies save New York. Houston has the nation's hottest economy, according to Wikipedia. Houston is absolutely beautiful. It is a ritzy, glitsy big city, with a coastline, the world's 2nd busiest seaport, and the world's 7th largest skyline. They have the world's tallest suburban skyscraper, and the world's biggest suburban skyline, the Transco Tower and the Galleria, all which have renamed since I was there. To question Houston's existance as a unique city is unbelievable. Incredulous

I think your wrong if you are suggesting that Houston has the second busiest seaport in the world.

I

[mjcatl2]

New Orleans