What cities do you know the best outside of states you've lived in?

[Wikipedia delenda est]

I thought of this while making my electoral map of states I've been to. I've only ever lived in Iowa, so my top 3 are all places I visited on vacation:

1. Amherst/Northampton, MA: As a kid my family went on East Coast trips every summer to see my grandfather in Amherst. He taught at UMass and lived in the same house for 50 years, before moving to a smaller house in Northampton a few years ago. We spent a lot of the time out walking so I know both cities quite well, especially the downtown areas.

2. St. Joseph, MI: My other grandparents live in Northern Michigan, and though we visited them almost as frequently as my grandpa in Amherst, we spent very little time actually out and about in the town they live in. Instead we would always stop and spent a night in St. Joe's, as it marked the halfway point of the drive. We went out semi-regularly to eat and go shopping, so I have a decent mental map of the downtown area.

3. New York City, NY: Besides Amherst, NYC was the city we most frequently spent time in on our East Coast trips. My dad's best friend from college had a brownstone in Harlem, so we'd spend the night at his place after having spent the whole day and early morning out walking. Therefore I have a general idea of how to get around Manhattan, especially Uptown, but would be completely lost in any other borough.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Jacksonville, Florida. I almost moved there once and may still at some point. I would immediately become the best R-FL poster on this site, of course (sorry, Chairman Sanchez and Fuzzy Bear).

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

So, the cities I know best in Italy outside of Liguria.

In no particular order:

- Cesenatico (Emilia-Romagna). The Italian national finals of the Mathematical Olympiad is held there and I took part thrice. It's really more a town than a city though. It has a nice little historic centre based around a canal to play faux Venice, a long beach with a sort of boardwalk besides and neighbourhoods made up for the most part by hotels just behind it, a relatively large port, and for an unknown reason the only skyscraper >100 m in Italy outside of a major city (which is awful).

- Pisa (Tuscany). Very obvious as it's where my university is, although I haven't gone there in almost seven months because of COVID-19. The historic centre is vaguely quadrilateral, which is a pretty useful thing. I strongly recommend people to not come only for the Leaning Tower / Piazza dei Miracoli (even though it's still a marvellous place and shame on me I haven't visited the Baptistry and the Dome yet). There are also Keith Haring's last mural Tuttomondo, the scenic flea market of the Logge di Banchi, beautiful bridges on the Arno, the incredible church of Santa Maria della Spina, weirdly placed directly on the riverside, and much more...

- Florence (Tuscany). Oh well. I've visited more than a few times. I don't think I need to parse it, it's already extremely well-known. Maybe too well-known, Florence and tourism is a good subject for #classanalysis... Anyway, my favourite place in the city is probably actually the basilica of San Miniato al Monte.



I've been to Rome enough times to have a basic knowledge of its central areas (especially like, around Piazza di Spagna) but again Rome is even more extremely well-known so I gloss it over.
Less renowned cities include Lucca (Tuscany), because I've been to Lucca Comics and Games a few times, and really most places in Northwestern Tuscany, given that they are pretty close to La Spezia while still being in another region.

[HillGoose]

1. Atlanta (honestly I'm more familiar with the ATL than I am with Chattanooga or Memphis)
2. Louisville (I'm about as familiar with Louisville as I am with Chattanooga)
3. Birmingham (Slightly more familiar with Bham than I am with Memphis)

my familiarity after that is very very not great. I could probably get around Huntsville, AL, Mobile, AL, Savannah, GA, Owensboro, KY, and Evansville, IN pretty alright, but I wouldn't consider myself familiar with those cities.

idk if I should include Bowling Green, KY but if that one is included it's above Atlanta but just because it's so small in comparison.

[TDAS04]

I've lived in Iowa and South Dakota.  The cities I know best outside of those states:

1. Denver: My late aunt lived there, visited a lot during the 1990s.
2. Omaha: Nearby, have gone there on numerous day trips and overnighters.
3. Twin Cities: Just slightly further away than Omaha.  People from Sioux falls go to MSP frequently for weekend getaways.
4. Duluth: Vacationed there a few times, beautiful
5. Fargo: I've taken a few weekend trips up there, surprisingly pleasant city.
6. Palo Alto: My sister used to go to Stanford.
7. Montreal: My sister went to grad school there.

[It’s so Joever]

Technically I never had an address in DC proper, so if that counts, then DC by far.
If not...my mind goes pretty blank. All the cities I know well are in VA/NC and I did live in both.

Our family typically prefers going to new places when traveling so their isn’t a frequent spot that isn’t in VA/NC/CO I would really know.

I guess Montreal? Maybe Louisville?

[Mexican Wolf]

1. New York City: Back in middle school, it felt like we took field trips to New York at least two to three times every year, and I always hated it (I'm less hostile towards NYC now, but I have no desire to go back there anytime soon). I remember going to Radio City Music Hall a few times, Times Square, Central Park, and the Ground Zero memorial site, and touring one of the battleships in the harbor.

2. Washington, D.C.: Same case as New York; went there many times in middle school, mostly to the National Mall and at least one theater where I watched a production of Shenandoah. I revisited D.C. the week after Trump's inauguration with a few friends to see the Smithsonian Art Museum and Museum of the American Indian. We had lunch at an Asian restaurant several blocks away in between museums and then had an awful time trying to find the handicap accessibility entrance to the subway station for my wheelchair-bound friend.

3. Minneapolis: My friend from high school lives there. I visited him there a few years ago and basically tried to see as much as I could during the four day weekend. We walked along Bde Maka Ska, hung out in the Amber Room at Griffith Theater, saw the multicolored panda sculpture and cardboard Buddhas at the Minneapolis art museum, and went to open mic nights at several bars and restaurants. I've often debated between moving to here, Portland, Albuquerque, or Golden/Mesa.

4. Los Angeles: A different friend from high school used to live there. I flew out there to visit him over a four-day weekend last October. We hiked at Kenneth Hanh State Park, saw Saturn through the Griffith Observatory's telescope, went swimming at Venice Beach, explored the Natural History Museum, and bought books at the Last Bookstore.

5. Las Vegas: I spent a very hot summer week there with my sister, brother-in-law, and his family back in 2016. We visited almost all of the casinos along the strip, braved the waves of heat flowing through Fremont Street, and won about $50 each at the Golden Goose. I'm not a huge fan of the city itself, but it made a good hub for visiting Zion and Grand Canyon West.

I guess I only really know most of these cities as a tourist, but they're the ones I have the most firsthand experience of outside of my home state.

[Rand]

1. Oklahoma City
2. San Jose
3. San Francisco
4. New York City
5. New Orleans

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Hmm...not a lot considering how I don't leave Iowa that often, however, that list might include:

Gays Mills, Wisconsin
Austin, Minnesota
Albert Lea, Minnesota

yeah i need to get out more lol

[Dr. MB]

Victoria, BC - used to go there every summer as a kid

Vancouver, WA - right across the border so it's pretty natural I guess even though I don't get out there much (more just on I-5 to go somewhere else)

Seattle, WA - I've been there the most times out of any major city outside Portland, I'd say I at least know part of the city well. The metro area not so much.

[Ferguson97]

New York City for obvious reasons.

[Donerail]

I have lived in Florida, Illinois and California. Outside those states:
1. Cambridge, Mass. — I actually don't have any connection to that school just outside Boston, but I've been to more conferences here than I can count
2. Durham, NC — Spent a few summers here, also family
3. Bowling Green, Ky. — family
4. Washington, DC — Conferences, tourism, etc.

[Santander]

too many places

[afleitch]

Weirdly Newcastle Upon Tyne and Brussels.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Albany is far and a way the non-Massachusetts, Vermont, or New Jersey city I know best, and it's a city I dearly love. I used to know Philadelphia fairly well because I lived in the South Jersey side of its metropolitan area, but I'd no longer say that I do.

[Del Tachi]

I've lived in MS, GA and DC. 

Outside of those states, the cities I know the best are Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham and RTP. 

[Hope For A New Era]

Chronologically, I've lived in KS, MO, MS, OH, MO again, and now I'm sort of stuck between MO and UT.

So I guess the places I know best outside of those states would be Colorado Springs, CO and Lynchburg, VA.

[AGA]

New Haven is a sh*thole.

[RINO Tom]

I have lived in Illinois (born in Peoria and now live in Chicago) and Iowa (lived in Iowa City for the majority of my life), so those states are off the table.  Honestly, if I hold myself to a strict standard of really being familiar with the area, I can only really name two places:

Door County, WI: I know this is several towns (Fish Creek, Sister Bay, Egg Harbor, etc.), but I have been to all of them quite a few times, and I am very familiar with each.  I would guess that, in total, I have been to Door County with my family pushing 25 times, considering I am 28 years old (there are years I have visited in both the summer and fall and years I have missed a trip).  I absolutely love this area and feel so relaxed every time I visit.

Indianapolis, IN: My sister played soccer at Butler University from 2013 to 2017, and she stayed in the area to take a job with JPMorgan Chase after graduation, where she has stayed ever since.  I have to admit, I have mostly spent time downtown, near Butler's campus and in some select suburbs (Zionsville and Carmel, mostly), but I was really struck by how nice Indianapolis is.  It's a very small "big city," but that's what I like about it.  I have been in very few downtowns that are as clean and "upscale" in feel as in Indy, though outsiders (and some Indy-hating locals) are always surprised to hear me say this ... my friends who I have brought there definitely share that sentiment, though.

Milwaukee, WI is another city I am somewhat familiar with, as my best friend from high school attended Marquette University, and we visited him quite a lot during college.  I have only been to Nashville, TN twice, but I feel oddly familiar with it due to my cousin going to Vanderbilt University and the aforementioned friend attending law school at Vandy, too. 

Beyond that, I have a passing familiarity with the following cities that I have been to several times but wouldn't consider my knowledge anywhere near that of a local:

- Estes Park, CO
- Denver, CO
- Madison, WI
- St. Louis, MO
- Kansas City, MO
- Omaha, NE
- Lincoln, NE
- Annandale, VA

I have been pretty lucky with my traveling opportunities in life, but I have seen depressingly little of my own country, I admit!

[nclib]

In no particular order - Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Charleston, SC.

[Nutmeg]

Having lived in D.C., Honolulu, Atlanta, and New Haven (in the order in which I would say I know these places), the 10 other cities I know best would be:

1. Las Vegas (beyond the tourist mess)
2. Baltimore
3. Kyoto
4. Bogota
5. Buenos Aires
6. Richmond
8. Melbourne
8. La Paz
9. Dallas
10. Auckland

[Sol]

It depends on how you define 'live.'

I spend 4 months living in Edinburgh a few years ago on a study abroad program. I'd say I know the city fairly well, though I actually met very few Scottish people due to the international nature of the University of Edinburgh and particularly my program, linguistics--which is a strong suit of the university and thus attracts tons of students from around the world. Nevertheless I spent hours wandering around the city so I do think I have an ok feel for it, and I hope to go back at some point.

I did meet Bore and IceAgeComing, who were both lovely.

Excluding Edinburgh and NC cities, there is an added ambiguity of states where I lived as a little baby--if those don't count, I probably know Champaign-Urbana the best. I've also spent a decent amount of time in Washington D.C., Charleston, Hilton Head, and Louisville.

When I was in Europe, I went to Glasgow, London, Milan, and Dublin. I don't know any of those cities so well but Glasgow and Milan left the most vivid impression. Dublin I didn't get a good sense of because I was visiting another studying-abroad friend who was extremely depressed and slept in every day until 1 or 2--so I didn't see too much of the city.

Milan is an extremely gorgeous city which left a very strong impression. I went there in fall pretty much for visa related reasons (had to go out of the UK and come back in to get my visa renewed), and was stunned by the beauty of all the leaves falling, the mist, the long boulevards, and the Alps in the distance. As a total non-Italian speaker I basically did nothing but wander around because I was ashamed of not knowing the language--I bought all of my food at grocery store lol. I can't wait to go back when I have the means.

Anyway, sorry for turning this into Update or something.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Uhhh... Reno? I guess? I haven’t lived out of California and I don’t really spend much time out of it. I’ve been to Reno a number of times for work though. That’s probably the closest.

[Senator Incitatus]

Madrid, Paris, or New York. Maybe Philadelphia or Washington are up there?

[SevenEleven]

Las Vegas, NV
Denver, CO
Alexandria, VA
New York City, NY

As it turns out, most of the places I know well are in my state of residence.