Your Favorite Cities

[Chas]

I live in Vancouver BC. Here, they hate old buildings, and tear them down, it's sad. The whole joint has a bad case of "Condoitis". So needless to say, I travel a lot. So I was wondering: what are your favorite golden era/art deco cities?

My favorite places are:

San Francisco (love the trolley cars)
Seattle
Spokane (wow...)
Los Angeles
Ottawa (mainly Victorian, but lots of other beautiful neighbourhoods)
Montreal

I haven't been to New York yet, though It's on my to-do list.

 

[sweetfrancaise]

Hrm...I'm a traveller too, so this is a fun post!

Los Angeles--well, since I live here, it's much harder for me to enjoy the city, to find the nice bits instead of looking at all the ugly that surrounds it. There are parts I like, certainly, but the LA itself has a long way to go before it becomes a real metropolitain city.

San Francisco--LOVE IT! The weather, the funky cafes. Closest thing I have to a trip to Europe out here!

New York--I haven't been there since August 2001--I know quite a bit has changed, but I love the feel of the city, beyond the fascinating architecture and history.

Glasgow--Thanks to Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the city has some amazing Art Nouveau architecture. It's gorgeous, and one of the friendliest cities I've visited.

 

[Lady Day]

San Francisco is a citay I can see myself living in when Im old. I love this place. Its so well designed, diverse, environmentally conscious, and just an all around great microcosm to be in. Love it.

LD

 

[Eliza]

Buffalo, NY - Victorian and Deco

LOVE the train station! Built in 1929 - these are drawings but the building does still stand.

and City Hall! :eusa_clap Built in 1933 (?)

 

[Bebop]

San Francisco is difficult to beat for me. I live in a quiet part of it and have access to deep city life in 15 minutes. The weather is never too anything for me. People from all cultures seem to get along relatively well. Distinct neighborhoods that seem to have disappeared from most west coast cities. Music, cafes, museums, wildlife, all with easy access.

Buenos Aires. A great city to play in. Dinner at 11 p.m. and then a movie. It's a city where a lot of 40's and 50's culture still dominates among the Paris like atmosphere.

Frankfurt. I like the organized and structured way it runs. The people seem to be quiet and reserved and sometimes I crave that.

I'm sure there are more to be added to my list but those are the first to pop into my head.

 

[Fletch]

Top Ten...in no particular order

Vancouver, Montreal, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Milan, Copenhagen, New York, Chicago, Asheville, Austin.

 

[Flivver]

For me, nothing beats New York. There's just *so* much to do there, I never tire of it.

One of my favorite things to do there is to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on foot. And even though I've been a regular visitor since 1963, I still gawk at the Woolworth Building, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State like a first time tourist.

And possibly the best of all is New York at Christmas time...nothing like it!

I consider myself very lucky to live only 3 hours away by car.

 

[LocktownDog]

I'm stuck between three.

Portland: Lived there for several years and still miss it greatly.
Halifax: Beautiful. Darn cold, but absolutely beautiful.
Savannah: Great food. Great old southern architecture.

Richard

 

[imoldfashioned]

London--if I did nothing but walk around that city I'd be happy. I've got some really wonderful memories of my visits there.

St. Petersburg, Russia--I visited over 15 years ago and back then it was like stepping into the 19th century. Absolutely beautiful buildings with extrordinary light off the water.

Minneapolis--I was born in Manhattan but I grew up in Minneapolis. Even though I hardly recognize it anymore with all the building that's gone on there I still think of it as home.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Montreal. I've never been to Europe, and likely never will, but they say it's as close to Europe as you can get without leaving North America. Plus they have poutine and smoked meat -- who needs Paris when you've got that??

 

[Bebop]

I find it fascinating how many cities are reported to be "just like Europe". The world is getting smaller. I used to be able to tell if someone was from Europe just by looking at their attire. Now the dress code is international. Remember when no one other than Americans wore Levi's or jeans?

 

[HadleyH]

That's my favorite city.
New York is the second one.

 

[KObalto]

Old Montreal is beautiful

Montreal. I've never been to Europe, and likely never will, but they say it's as close to Europe as you can get without leaving North America. Plus they have poutine and smoked meat -- who needs Paris when you've got that??

I have traveled a bit, and have never seen as many elegantly dressed women as I saw in Montreal and the food is wonderful.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I loved Vienna with its bogus easy charm.
I also remember liking Chicago, San Francisco, St. Augustine, Toronto, New York City, Key West, Buffalo, New Orleans, Boston and environs, and Rochester. And my hometown Atlanta.
I've always wanted to see Barcelona, Marseilles, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Glasgow, Dublin, and Mumbai. My prospects of getting another passport are dim, however.

 

[Diamondback]

San Antonio. A site considered hallowed ground in my family for one of us dying in battle there, a nice hot climate, and a reasonably pleasant prevailing local attitude--could use a better natural-history museum, but the Lackland Air Force Base museum's a good compensator... as is being within a fairly-reasonable drive of one of the few places in the world where you can get real old-formula cane-sugar-sweetened Dr Pepper...

Fort Wayne, Indiana. Way too cold in winter and humid in summer, but "home" for the other side of my family tree--and the local Coney dogs are so addictive they should be illegal!

La$ Vega$, even in spite of the traffic--I'm usually down there around Christmas when crowds are light, and I make it a point to hit Ghirardelli's and Buca di Beppo every time I'm in town (would followup on a prof's recommendation about Battista's for italian, but they're never open when I'm there... )

Portland. To be honest there's not much I like there, but the Mother Of All Bookstores single-handedly puts PDX on the list even in spite of climate and other issues. (No offense intended to PDX Loungers--y'all did make the list, ya gotta give me credit for that at least!)

 

[moustache]

London,Paris,Vienna,Prague,Budapest,Portland,Oregon and Bozeman,Montana(more a town than city).

Also admit that Salzburg was nice.

Jim

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Well, I do miss San Diego, not much golden era stuff there but the County Administration Building and the Santa Fe train station, which they have managed to save. Hotel Del Coronado, also, is an oldie but goodie.

Was in San Francisco years ago and loved that city. I don't know why I left it. Everytime I hear Tony Bennett sing....

Lived in NYC and loved some of the buildings there, the Empire State Bldg, of course, and, my favorite, for some odd reason, the Flatiron Building. Mostly, I enjoyed the intellectual "zing" of the place and the people.

I liked San Antonio when I visited there. Got to stay in the historic Menger Hotel, loved the food and the riverwalk and the sacred site of the Alamo. I wish the climate was a little less humid, would consider it when I move from here.

Scottsdale, AZ is nice, but you'd have to have money to live there. Ditto Santa Fe. Savannah is a place I'd like to see after reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Also, Paris, would love to see it.

Des Moines, not a place I love, still has the Equitable Building, built in 1929, but it is now dwarfed by five or six newer buildings. And the State Capitol Building, I think, is the best in the nation, though some would argue that.

karol

 

[CdnDandy]

You folks have me drooling over your previous travels! Very jealous!

I haven't traveled that much (yet!) but my two favourites are Montreal (especially Old Montreal) and Havana, Cuba.

Must see? New York (top of the list with my sister now living there), San Fran, London, Madrid, Paris, Edinburgh.

 

[Luddite]

For me it's San Francisco ahead by a mile, Lisbon and Syracuse (Sicily) neck and neck, Barcelona trailing by a short-head and London trailing the pack by several lengths.

 

[Big Man]

Vancouver, Montreal, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Milan, Copenhagen, New York, Chicago, Asheville, Austin.

Interesting combination of cities to see Asheville thrown in the mix. I assume you are referring to Asheville, NC (which is just up the road from me).