Most unique american city

[Ih8thecold]

I voted for Vegas, but strictly for the Strip (which is a small part of the entire city really). It's the only major city in the US that is based completely on fantasy. It's just weird...but I like it!

[MJLO]

Houston has the nations wealthiest income! And what book are we getting our facts from? I can name, a host of cities, that blow Houston out of the water in terms of per capita income, both in city and metro. Houston is a large american city, both in population, and height of building. In terms of income, it still has some catching up to do, to get to the likes of LA, New York Chicago, Boston, Hell even the Detroit Region, has wealthier people than Houston. I think what defines a city as Unique, is it's History, architecture( Beyond 900ft tall modern glass sky scrapers) the people that live there, and the cultural amenities it offers. Aside from rapid population growth, Houston is the run of the Mill American Large city, give it time, it will turn into something better, I can think of a few cities, in the country, hell a few cities in Texas, with more charm. I totally understand someone with civic pride, and I applaude that. However Giving Houston, the most unique city award, simply means we need to travel more.

[ironchapman]

I think what defines a city as Unique, is it's History, architecture( Beyond 900ft tall modern glass sky scrapers) the people that live there, and the cultural amenities it offers.

Not too many big US cities (300,000+) have a lot of 900 ft.+ buildings. They might have 1 or 2, but not many buildings that size. What about Wash.,DC? It's got some unique architecture with out any major skyscrapers. Balitimore doesn't have any 650ft.+ buildings (I don't know if it has any 600 ft.+ buildings, either!)

I think a more appropriate height would be 700/750 feet.

[MJLO]

I was just using 900ft as an example. Height really has little meaning in bringing a city character.

[KRC]

Of all places I've been in the United States, the Boston/Providence corridor is, by far, the most "unique" urban environment. It's very European feeling. The population is educated and liberal. The culture is accepting. There is a very strong sense of self and community here that lends to a blend of reservation and tolerace. It's weird, but it works. New England is like no other place in the United States. A good example would be to compare Boston with Montreal rather than Houston. Despite some language differences, Montreal and Boston are incredibly similar culturally.

[worldlyman]

Houston has the nations wealthiest income!  And what book are we getting our facts from?  I can name, a host of cities, that blow Houston out of the water in terms of per capita income, both in city and metro.  Houston is a large american city, both in population, and height of building.  In terms of income, it still has some catching up to do, to get to the likes of LA, New York Chicago, Boston, Hell even the Detroit Region, has wealthier people than Houston.  I think what defines a city as Unique, is it's History, architecture( Beyond  900ft tall modern glass sky scrapers)  the people that live there, and the cultural amenities it offers.  Aside from rapid population growth, Houston is the run of the Mill American Large city, give it time, it will turn into something better, I can think of a few cities, in the country, hell a few cities in Texas, with more charm.    I totally understand someone with civic pride, and I applaude that.  However Giving Houston, the most unique city award, simply means we need to travel more.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm someone who has travelled from Amsterdam to Manila, London to Los Angeles...MJLO...yet I can understand why Houston is quite unique.

I've spent many years living in more ostensibly beautiful but similar Sunbelt metros like San Diego and Tampa Bay as well as Houston. In terms of charm, Houston has genuine eccentric charm quite lacking in the other two touristy paradises.

Houston is right up there with NYC and LA in terms of its general diversity, well-represented by East Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, etc.), Central Asian/desi (Pakistani, Indian, Bengali, etc.), Arabic, pan-African (Ethiopians, especially Nigerians) and I don't even have to mention the Latin American diaspora. Sure NYC has more Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, but Houston's got more Vietnamese, Nigerians and Mexicans. So diversity evens out among the big bad metros.

NO other city has seen the demographic change which occured in Houston at such a breakneck speed. The Asian morphing, for example, that took LA perhaps 60 years to accomplish, Houston did it in 20.

What other city other than Atlanta can claim to have a well-stocked, open highway style Chinatown like Houston (Veteran's Memorial area). And have I even mentioned the more urban SW Bellaire Chinatown, Little Korea, Hillcroft (Little India/Little Pakistan), Bissonnet St. (Filipino/Nigerian/Pakistani/El Salvadoran) and the other scattered Asian shopping zones of downtown's environs?

Not many US cities can claim to have street signs, yes, street signs in Vietnamese and Chinese...and they're working on Korean for the Long Point area.

Culture? All I see are redneck yahoos in Tampa's Ybor City nightlife district while the pasty Iowans and Kansans take to San Diego's GasLamp. Houston has a more urbane downtown nightlife when you see a mix of hip-hoppers, Asian swingers, model types and the formally-dressed people attending the Broadway-esque Houston Theater District.

What other city do you know of that has the Texas Medical Center? A complete downtown environment and skyline unto itself. It is replete with a general non-profit economic sector of imaging services, doctors offices, universities, major league cutting edge hospitals? In between there are some handy shops and cafes to give the folks there a good distraction.

Walking the busy pedestrian streets and catwalks of the Med Center gives me a refreshing GENUINE URBAN feel in contrast to the RUN OF THE MILL boutique streets in the more popular touristy cities!

With the exception of some cities I read about in Japan, what other city do you know of that has an expansive multiple mile pedestrian tunnel system? A system that Houston used to beat the elements, replete with futuristic walkways loaded with shops and cool cafes with purposeful people watching. Romantic they ain't but when I worked there in downtown Houston, it sure beat the heck out of watching "snowbirds" in Tampa or San Diego!

What other US city do you know of that has a beautiful 64 story skyscraper with a rotating night beacon well outside its downtown district?

What other US city is known for starting the biggest Night Gay Parade?

What other city started rather eccentric displays like the Orange Show and the Art Car Parade (and poser types have the nerve to say that "it's just like being in New York)?

Houston. You can have your cake and eat all the slices.

You can have super eight lane roadways built for the automobile like Westheimer, loaded with all kinds of neon shops and cafes (yeah, it's a format that gives urbanologists fits). I loved the open vehicular modernism of Westheimer, cruising at night with some techno on a Friday and Saturday night, storefronts loaded with people eating, playing games or waiting to get into a club. I love the urbane nightlife in suburban strip-center format along the crosses and parallels of Westheimer/Fountainview or Richmond/Fountainview...and there are sidewalks, just in case.

...yet you can have the Chicago-style vibe of downtown, the big sidewalks, nightclubs, towering skyscrapers, restored period buildings, fancy-dressed people mixed with the hipsters (in that format that urbanologists love).

...but you can have the palm-tree, LOW-RISE, intimate, pedestrian-friendly flair of the Montrose (sort of a Hollywood in a southern style mixed bungalow and pad building format, quite colorful), yet also with a choice selection of more bars and other eclectic stuff if we are not in the mood for the big sidewalks or alleys of downtown. (Can you get away from the pan-downtownish format of NYC that easily? Doubt it.)

...the Euro-style grid format of the modern and trendy Rice Village and the crowded bar crawl there on Morningside St. Ah, I miss my bubble tea and sushi in the Village!

...the old Main Street style in 19th Street in The Heights and its funky Melrose-type shops with Mayberry eats.

...a genuine Mayberry downtown in Old Town Spring, just 20 minutes north of downtown Houston. Once you veer off the ultra-modern if blighted I-45, and pass the railroade tracks just a mile into Old Town, into the piney forest, it is pure Mayberry heaven. Hard to believe you're in the vicinity of America's 4th largest city. In San Diego's "Old Town," nothing more than a themepark knock off of the GasLamp.

---and then a few miles north of that...is the beautiful, modern and nouveaux Woodlands, a virtual emerald green of Sherwood Forest, replete with its own transit waterway system that taxis people between the businesses, mall and new downtown. A newly different take on the San Antonio Riverwalk concept that is valid.

...a pleasant wraparound boardwalk in Kemah, fantastic view of the ocean, which is far and away quite superior to Chicago's Navy Pier, San Diego's Seaport Village or the Santa Monica Pier in terms of layout and amusements...though the choice of (Tilman Fertitta-chain) eateries is something to be desired.

Houston, for all the dismissals of it, does offer differing streetscapes aside from the usual strip-center/parking lot format. Houston was not built like San Francisco or New York, does not have the mountains of other places, so all considered, it is quite eccentric the different sidewalk styles that exist in that town.

Now how many darn cities can offer those likes which Houston gives? Neither Chicago nor New York nor Dallas nor San Antonio can give you those in one large spread package, I can vouch.

Any city can be unique...but H-town has some new ideas on. It is worthy of "Most Unique City" award. And I say that living here in SoCal.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Philly, just for the simple fact that its the birthplace of america. Its also very poor in some places and very beautiful in others.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

Philly, just for the simple fact that its the birthplace of america. Its also very poor in some places and very beautiful in others.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As a resident of Virginia's Historic Triangle, I have to disagree with the "birthplace of America" despite it being the location of the drafting of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence... nonetheless I have visited Philly on numerous occasions and rather enjoy the city and its charm

But of course... most unique? I don't know.. the vagueness of the category makes it too hard to declare one city "more unique" than another, but I think it's a toss-up between NYC and Las Vegas. New York's ethnic mix, skyscrapers galore, unique neighborhoods, and nearly 400 years of turbulent and tremendous history (British takeover, brief stint as national capital, 1929 stock market crash, ticker-tape WWII parades, New Year's celebration, and (unfortunately of course) 9-11) make it unlike any other major metropolis of its scale on this planet.

Vegas is like a super-sized, VERY adult DisneyWorld. Strolling through the city it almost seems to be a dream because NOTHING is real. Its 100% illusion and as its infamous moniker and nick-name implies, sin-filled. Its utter decadence and lust for money has made it one of the wealthiest cities in the world and among North America's fastest-growing cities for 3 decades strong.

I can't decide which I want to even vote for!

[jazzman]

Key word "unique"

Two words "Las Vegas"

Aside from all that's been said above, Vegas has four monorail systems, the newest one is four miles long with a proposal that would double it to eight miles taking it to the new urban areas downtown. That

[*Sweetkisses*]

As a resident of Virginia's Historic Triangle, I have to disagree with the "birthplace of America" despite it being the location of the drafting of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence... nonetheless I have visited Philly on numerous occasions and rather enjoy the city and its charm

[PeninsulaKiddo]

Come on, its the first major city. If it isnt the birthplace of america, its the cradle of liberty

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And has the famous nick-name "The City of Brotherly Love". I'll def. give it that and the cradle of Liberty.

[AvianKeahi]

Of the cities listed...Las Vegas.

New York is a classic World City. And while certainly unique among American cities, it can't hold a candle to the shallow quirkiness of LV.

Yes, I say shallow.

And unfortunately that is Las Vegas' downfall. Yes, the city is unique. Yes, it can attract the elite of the Jerry Springer set. Yes, it has a big tower. Yes, it has bright, happy lights.

But it doesn't have a many traits that humanity has considered valuable in the last 2000 years.

Tell me about your consideration for the poor! Tell me about your urbanity! Tell me about your intellectual life! Tell me about your contribution to American idealism! Tell me about your values of environmentalism! Tell me about your contribution to livability! Tell me about your ideas of urbanism! Tell me about your ideas of basic human rights as evidenced by the design of your city!!!

And god help me, tell me about why Las Vegas matters? If you can tell us what truly makes Las Vegas great without resorting to casinos, I'd like to hear it.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

Of the cities listed...Las Vegas.

New York is a classic World City.  And while certainly unique among American cities, it can't hold a candle to the shallow quirkiness of LV.

Yes, I say shallow.  And that is Las Vegas' ONLY claim to fame.

And unfortunately that is Las Vegas' downfall.  Yes, the city is unique.  Yes, it can attract the elite of the Jerry Springer set.  Yes, it has a big tower.  Yes, it has bright, happy lights.

But it doesn't have a single trait that humanity has considered valuable in the last 2000 years.

Tell me about your consideration for the poor!  Tell me about your urbanity!  Tell me about your intellectual life! Tell me about your contribution to American idealism!  Tell me about your values of environmentalism!  Tell me about your contribution to livability!  Tell me about your ideas of urbanism!  Tell me about your ideas of basic human rights as evidenced by the design of your city!!!

And god help me, TELL ME ABOUT WHY WE SHOULD THINK LAS VEGAS MATTERS?

You can't?

Well, then. Simply said, Shut up!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh my............

I hear that argument though. The city is a trap of drugs, alcohol, depression, prostitution, etc. The school system is a piece of $&#^. I would NEVER wish to live there, but nonetheless, there's nothing like it in the world. I think maybe that's good. Genting, China (I think it's China, maybe Thailand) is Asia's Vegas, but it's on a somewhat smaller scale---fewer people living in the city, fewer hotels (but one MASSIVE 3,000-room one), etc. etc.

[AvianKeahi]

Oh my............

I hear that argument though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes. Oh My!

Some might think I'm being very harsh about LV. But I don't think so. There is a reason why most Americans do not think highly of Las Vegas. And I hope it's not about some bizarre misplaced sense of "morality." I don't give a crap about morality.

No, I still think that Las Vegas has a LONG way to go to qualify as a great international city. Mostly because it has relied on a false ideal that simply "attention" or "glamour" somehow makes it a great city.

You can criticize me all you want, but Las Vegas does not belong among the great international cities. However, it does satisfy the criteria asked for in this thread. It IS unique. And it does deserve credit for that!

[M2L4K6]

San antonio needs to be there

[alon504]

New Orleans may be THE most unique considering everything there is to consider. NYC and San Francisco are pretty unique, as well, IMO.

[NCB]

well....of the ones listed i would probably go with Las Vegas..NYC coming in 2nd.

LV and NYC are a totally differnt type of unique, though. NYC is more historical, its just plain HUGE, and it mixes old with new very well. Las Vegas is more of a new boomtown and its uniqueness rests on the fact that no where else in the country is like Las Vegas. So many casinos, the people, and the fact that the area is running out of water, WATER!!, a basic necessity for human life, and still, people are moving there by the thousands every month.

But there are some cities not listed that really should be, like New Orleans or Boston. San Antonio doesnt get much attention but is IMO...VERY unique as well.

[LowerRoxbury]

one cannot fathom why boston (european city in america) would not be on the list and cities like philly, miami, and detriot are?

[MrSmith]

IF by "unique" you mean different looking than other American cities then I would vote for:

1. Las Vegas -- how many other cities have a long stip of hotels and casinos and neon and are open 24/7.

2. Washington, DC -- DC is a very planned out city full of museums and monuments and malls. No other city has the same level of planning because in most cities the property is owned by individuals and not the govt.

3. San Francisco -- It is unique because of the architecture --victorian homes buil tright next to one another-- and because of all the hills. Not many cities have that type of topography. IF you see a random street shot of San Fransisco street you can easily identify it because it is so unique.

New orleans could also make the list because of the french quarter which is certainly unique to the USA but the rest of the city is not so unique.

As for the others...

NYC is huge, but it isn't all that different from Boston or Chicago or any other bigger city. The only thing that really makes it different is the size.

Miami is nice, but isn't that much different than Honolulu or other cities build along a shore.

All these other cities are really nice and have there unique features, but as a whole they are not all that different that other cities.

[dpbaker]

L.V. and NYC almost in a tie! But I had to go with my biased California opinion and choose San Francisco....gotta love those hills (except for parallel parking a stick shift ), ocean access, views of the surrounding mountains and that majestic Golden Gate, surrounded by some incredible state parks and a hop-skip-jump from Silicon Valley....

[Heather B]

Pre-Katrina, I would have voted for Washington D.C. because of the height restriction, and the formality and grace of the city plan. While many American cities have grid plans, not many have the European-influenced arc plans overlaid on a grid, integrated with monuments and all that jazz. It's the formality, pomp and circumstance that gives D.C. a lot of distinction.

That said, seeing what New Orleans has been through in the last few months, I'd say it trumps for the most unique city out of the whole lot in the poll.

[PostOak5115]

Houston has the nations wealthiest income! And what book are we getting our facts from? I can name, a host of cities, that blow Houston out of the water in terms of per capita income, both in city and metro. Houston is a large american city, both in population, and height of building. In terms of income, it still has some catching up to do, to get to the likes of LA, New York Chicago, Boston, Hell even the Detroit Region, has wealthier people than Houston. I think what defines a city as Unique, is it's History, architecture( Beyond 900ft tall modern glass sky scrapers) the people that live there, and the cultural amenities it offers. Aside from rapid population growth, Houston is the run of the Mill American Large city, give it time, it will turn into something better, I can think of a few cities, in the country, hell a few cities in Texas, with more charm. I totally understand someone with civic pride, and I applaude that. However Giving Houston, the most unique city award, simply means we need to travel more.

I'm sorry but Houston has alot more wealth than the Detroit region. Houston has a better collection of designer boutiques and River Oaks aka the Beverly Hills of the south speaks for itself. Houston also has a lower cost of living as well as no state income tax alot of millionaires call this city home. One subdivsion alone has 7 billionaires.

[urbanguy]

MrSmith, hehe i guess you don't know much about Honolulu other than its appearance, but on the surface its about as foreign as you can get in the USA. It has its own unique history, culture, language & creole, cuisine, the list goes on and on and thanks to its isolation its also been able to continue to be different and not be influenced by the rest of the US. It also has the highest percentage of mixed races in the entire country over 25% of the population are of two or more races (its also among the highest in raw numbers) the next closest is only at 5% over 50% of the marriages in Hawaii are interracial if that alone doesn't creat uniqueness i dont know what else does but you have some very exotic mixes there. I'm sure that there are people here that have actually spent time there other than me that can vouch for it.