Best "Big CITY?"

Ah, yes. I remember that.

The culture?

I only went when I was a teenager, and I only saw one aspect of the culture - the obvious one. Is there more to it than that?

 

NYC, where I was born. There's always something to do, amazing places to see and experience.

 

nope, that's it.

 

Ah, right.

The Gold Coast in Queensland is like that. The only culture is in the yoghurt.

 

Compared to some of really big cities you have been, Kyoto with only ~1.5million people is a small city. I was born and grew up in a city with >10 million, and I now live in a town with less than 5,000. When I was living in a big city, I didn't know who lived next door to me, but now I know almost everyone in town.

 

cheap imitation in Massachusets Gratuitous sandbagging.

Sydney is not most cosmopolitan on most lists, but I suppose local cheerleading should be considered.

 

That's the best kind of sandbagging.

50% of the population were born outside of Australia, and very few people have four Australian grandparents. While disproportionately-large populations come from Britain, Ireland, China, Lebanon and the South-West Pacific Islands, there are a lot of people from absolutely everywhere else too. I can't find it right now, but in terms of variety of country of birth, Sydney outranks even London and New York.

 

Kyoto is indeed pretty small, but it'd be about the seventh-biggest city in the US.

I think that depends on the city. In Shanghai I knew most people on my street, and here in Sydney I do too. When I lived in a village on the outskirts of Hong Kong, I knew everyone in the village, but when I lived in the heart of the city, I absolutely didn't know my neighbours. In London I don't even know who lived near me.

 

They have. If you didn't like the changes to 2000, you really won't like the changes since. Though bicycle friendliness has certainly improved, and the expanding light rail has finally reached the point of usefulness, though is still a skeleton of the eventual plan.

I moved out of the city proper in 1989, but am still in the region.

 

Smoke in the wind?

• Radius of 50 mi. from Mendocino, CA
• Within 25 mi. of Bando to Newport, OR
• Spokane WA (you'll love the winters!)

Every year, GE asked where I'd like to live:

• East of the Rockies
• South of the Mason Dixon Line
• Where there is Dr. Pepper in the Coke machine
• If I ask for chicken fried steak, they ask 'White or brown gravy?'

Bob Wilson

 

I went to school for two years near Vancouver. I haven't been back in about 40 years, but I remember how beautiful it was. I lived in the Denver suburbs for several years and loved it then, but don't think I would like what it has become.

Prettiest city I've ever been to, imho, is Prague. I've been to Paris, Vienna, London. Prague blows them away.

 

Do not forget also that tea is always iced and you have to ask for it not to be sweetened....

As horrible as Seattle has become, they at least do not have San Fran's problem with homelessness. I recently read a squirp on-line rejecting the notion that 'poo maps' are a real thing there.
The idea that a story like this HAS to be debunked is enough for me......

I have a brother who is doing 20-to-life in the area (married a local) and even though I think that everyone in the US should be required to travel cross country (and visit Arlington) before they draw Social Security, I have no immediate plans to travel ANYWHERE west of the 5 below about Vallejo...

 

BIG is bad.

Trying to chose the lesser of the evils is usually just an exercise in futility.
I used to like San Diego......but a recent visit left the impression that it has gone to pot too.

If you must have an urban area, a medium sized city with a State University is often a good choice.

 

Vallejo is about 40 miles west of I-5 along I-80 before you cross the Carquinez Bridge to get into Contra Costa County .

Living just east of Vallejo along the I-80 corridor, I understand your point and that’s why we live just east. Close enough to see what we want, but far enough away.

 

I've not been to many big world class cities, so I'll start with the proviso that I don't have enough experience to say for sure. But it's only an opinion anyway....

I have travelled down the West coast of the US a few times, so I've seen some of those cities. Traffic in Seattle is a fustercluck and I'd rather take the train through than drive. Portland's very bike-friendly, which earns points from me, but there are still too many freeways...and by that metric, I'm not even going to mention LA. San Francisco is nice, and I've had the pleasure of sailing on the bay, which I could get used to. But the hills are brown and the tap water doesn't taste very good. The only US cities on the other side I've seen are Chicago and Detroit, which serve as examples of what great cities are not.

My vote goes to Vancouver. There's oodles of scenic waterfront, pretty mountains that are close and even more majestic mountains a short drive away, and the foliage is green all year. Traffic can be busy and house prices are 'world class', but that kinda shows how many people give it their vote too. There are cultures from around the world, and the restaurant options are endless. I can drive in almost any direction and be in wilderness in under an hour. Plus the tap water is fantastic. And it rarely gets much snow, which is not most people's impression of Canada.

 

A few comments on San Francisco...

First is that SF is not even the largest city in the area. SF has about 870,000 people, while San Jose is over 1,000,000. The San Francisco Super Bowl was celebrated in SF, but the game was played 40 miles south in Santa Clara. The "San Francisco Airport" isn't in San Francisco, it's 13 miles south of downtown SF in unincorporated San Mateo county (not San Francisco county).

The homeless problem is due in large part to the fact that SF is a really good place to be homeless. I haven't seen any statistics, but my guess is that the majority of the homeless in SF are recent emigrants from elsewhere. The weather wont kill you, there are numerous free services such as food, health care, and tolerant police. And lots of tourists with money to beg. Certainly the services aren't enough, but better than where they came from. What tourists don't realize is that the police sweep most of the homeless out of tourist areas during the day. At night/early morning the homeless scour trash bins for discarded clam chowder bread bowls, fish & chips, and beverage cans that can be traded in for money. Crime against tourists is minimal – you're much more likely to lose your chips to a seagull than have your wallet lifted. But be careful anyway.

Consider surviving a winter on the street in Fargo, ND. Not going to happen. Spend your last dollar on a bus ticket to SF...

I like to swim at Aquatic Park in SF. When I get there at 6:00 in the morning to help with an Alcatraz swim event, there are quite a few people in sleeping bags that I pass on the way to the event. By 9:00 AM the evident population is way down, certainly the sleeping bags have disappeared.

Poverty ("low income") level in SF is $105,000 for a family of 4. Two full time minimum wage incomes barely reach half that level.

 

I'm a small-city guy, but I really like NY, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, London, Sydney & Moscow.

 

??????
(Map? I had too look it up. It is based on reports covering 2008-2015. I.e. outdated by Seattle's current issue.)

Homelessness is the top political issue in Seattle this year, and was the driving force behind the recent employment head tax fiasco ($275 per full time employee per year).

Any understanding you may have had about Seattle homelessness, more than three to five years old, is obsolete. The area has moved far beyond the old 'Jungle' under and near the I-5/I-90 junction and the officially sanctioned roving 'Nicklesville' homeless camp. Unofficial tent camps are now ubiquitous, and multiple areas are recognized as homeless car/RV parking.

But you often can't take the train through. The track goes through mudslide zones, and federal law requires a 48 hour suspension of passenger (not freight) train traffic after each such slide. During the wet seasons, this happens very frequently, several times with new suspensions beginning before the previous ones ended.

When passenger service is suspended, the trains hire buses traveling that use those congested highways.

 

Ha, born in The Bronx, have always moved to smaller population areas, currently at 1480’ in a town of 320.

Thinking about a passport, leaving if the 2020 elections keep the fraud in place.