What are your favorite things about your city or state?

[IrishEyes]

Last edited Thu Jun 20, 2019, 01:02 PM - Edit history (2)

I'm looking for some fun places to visit. I'm also thinking about moving out of New York in the next year or so.

Here are a few great things in New York City.

1. New York Bagels
2. Coney Island
3. Broadway Shows
4. American Museum of Natural History
5. Metropolitan Museum of Art

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Santa Fe, NM. The climate.

I have lived here ten years without air conditioning. And now, it's not hideously cold in the winter. I can have all of my windows and doors open most of the year.

I've just gotten solar panels put on my roof, and am waiting around for the city inspector to show up and say it was done right so I can actually have them turned on.

Amazing art scene. Not much traffic.

I get to hear people speaking Spanish all the time. I like that.

[wryter2000]

3. Definitely a city I'd like to visit

[IrishEyes]

5. I loved visiting Santa Fe

I have been a few times. there is a great art scene.

[DFW]

33. A friend of mine moved there from DC when things got ugly for her there about 15 years ago

She says it's beautiful, but she's ready to get back to DC.

[Bayard]

55. I love Santa Fe.

Thought very seriously about moving there. The art, the weather, the people, the food.....beautiful area.

[Dream Girl]

60. Is Santa Fe a good place to retire?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

67. Possibly.

I moved here after a divorce, and I like to tell people that this is a wonderful place for an older woman (I was 60) to re-invent herself. I would not want to be young here, as the sidewalks tend to get rolled up after 9pm or so.

There is an incredible lot to see and do, far more than in some other places I've lived, such as Phoenix, AZ. We have museums. We have the Santa Fe Opera. We have art galleries that you can treat like art museums by just going in and browsing. We have the 19 Pueblos of Northern New Mexico, all of which have what amount to an open to all visit day once or twice a year. We have nearby skiing. Albuquerque is about a 45 minute drive away, with more museums and lots more shopping. They also have minor league baseball. So does Santa Fe, but it's one of those unaffiliated teams. I don't know much about baseball, I must admit.

Santa Fe has a reputation for being so expensive that no one except millionaires can possibly live here. That simply isn't true. People here only compare this city to Albuquerque or Las Cruces in housing costs, and are completely unaware that housing is far more expensive in much of the rest of the country. What we do have is a genuine housing shortage, especially for what's considered affordable. I bought my little (900sq ft, two bedroom, two bath, three skylight) little townhouse ten years ago. For the first nine I've owned it it was worth a bit less than what I'd paid. Recently it's value has increased, which is nice. But ten years into a thirty year mortgage I have decent equity.

Here's something else I have not found in most other places: amazing night skies. Santa Fe is small enough that it doesn't have too much light pollution, and if you drive ten minutes you get completely away from the city and the skies are breath-taking.

Something else I like. I get to hear people speak Spanish every day. Many here are effortlessly bilingual. I'm not, although my Spanish has improved somewhat. I also see lots of Native Americans.

What I truly like best is the climate. Not needing a/c is wonderful. It helps a great deal that I do not get direct afternoon sunlight into my place because the front side faces a bit south of west. But in the winter I get plenty of sunshine on that side of my home which gives me a degree of passive solar. If you have a lot of windows facing due west, or if you're in manufactured housing, it will be another thing entirely. And yes, I really do have windows and doors open 24/7 for a significant part of the year. Because it's a dry climate and we get little rain, I don't worry much about rain coming in. Unless I'm going out of town, then I close said windows and doors.

There's also an amazing respect for older women. While I don't get treated badly when I visit other places, I don't get the deference I get here. It's subtle, but noticeable.

And even those who for whatever reasons would not want to move here, do visit. It's a great place. We have at least two tourist seasons, summer and ski season, but there is not time when it's not a good place to visit.

[TygrBright]

83. Depends on what you're looking for.

What I like is the combination of a very relaxed pace of living, and a lot of options for enjoyment/entertainment.

As someone else noted, it's not a "nightlife" town, though.

We have tons of Meetup groups that involve seniors - from hiking to RPG table games to water color painting.

The CCA cinema is the best place I know to go to the movies- nice big screens, great audio, rarely a big crowd, fascinating lineup of films, and they MAKE REAL POPCORN on the spot and serve it (if you wish) with REAL BUTTER.

In the summer there is the Opera and the Chamber Music festival but there are quality musical and stage performances all year at various venues ranging from the Lensic downtown to various churches and schools.

Many wonderful walking and biking trails. Tons of excellent places to eat and we have what may be the nation's best Farmer's Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, as well as a range of grocery stores that runs from the major supermarket chains through ultra-organic, international and specialty shops.

We DO have a housing shortage and it's especially tough to find good affordable options. It's not the cheapest place in the state to live but it's certainly cheaper than the Bay Area in CA, or suburban DC, or various other high-cost places.

If you're a believer, there are congregations of many faiths, many relaxed and welcoming.

We're staying.

helpfully,
Bright

[wryter2000]

2. Oakland

No one ethnic group is a majority.

Great climate.

Home to the first wildlife refuge in the United States--Lake Merritt right in downtown.

Greatest band in the world, Tower of Power.

Great food.

Not pretentious, like a certain city nearby I could name.

[IrishEyes]

8. Gosh, I wonder what city you are thinking of.

I have visited Oakland. I had a good time there.

[wryter2000]

9. I'll never say.

What I will say is they like to take credit for everything between Stanford and UC Berkeley.

[Dream Girl]

53. Hey, I heard that!

[mr_lebowski]

26. Aw yeah baby! Oaktown FTW!!!

I was born on Pill Hill myself, my dad went to Castlemont & he LOVES ToP ... saw them with him at Alameda Co. fair in Pleasanton back around 1993 ... great show. He drove truck for Luckys and Coke for many years, and otherwise worked outta the Teamsters Hall there ...

[wryter2000]

29. We used to see TOP at the fair every year

They don't do the fair anymore, but they're playing at the Fox in August. They did their 50th anniversary concert there last year.

I'm a transplanted Easterner, but I fell in love with Oakland 40 years ago. I hope I never leave.

[mr_lebowski]

30. Nice!

I love the Fox, haven't been in forever ... I think last time was circa 1992 for Lyle Lovett & His Large Band. Fantastic Venue though.

I miss O-town. Though I get there pretty often still since I fly in/out of OAK to visit. Played some poker at the Oaks in Emeryville about a month ago with my little bro ...

[appalachiablue]

45. Love Tower of Power, glad to see this about Oakland.

Saw SF in the 90s and it didn't grab me for some reason; I loved Seattle, pre-Amazon.

[wryter2000]

47. TOP fans stick together

I was only in Seattle briefly once. Pre Amazon. Lovely.

[UrbScotty]

4. Kentwood, MI, is very diverse!

Caucasians, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx, Arabs - we have them all! Many of them are refugees or descendants of refugees from places like the Balkans, Sudan, and Vietnam.

Our high school is the most diverse school in the state. The graduates hailed from 60 different countries!

[IrishEyes]

24. I had never heard of Kentwood but it sounds nice.

My mother grew up in Michigan. My great grandparents moved to Michigan when they came over from Ireland in the 1890s.

[UrbScotty]

87. Kentwood is a suburb of Grand Rapids

If you don't mind telling, where in Michigan did your mother grow up?

[IrishEyes]

88. She grew up in a large Irish family in Detroit.

My aunt and some cousins still live there. I also have a uncle in Kalamazoo. My parents actually met while attending college in Michigan.

[The Figment]

63. I used to work in Kentwood, at the Mr Fables restaurant

I don't know if it is still there.
I lived in Hastings for 4 years and have family there.

[UrbScotty]

86. Mr. Fables closed several years ago.

The one on Broadmoor is now a New Beginnings Restaurant.

[Aristus]

6. Washington State (at least the western portion) is very liberal.

And we have the highest state minimum wage in the country.

Seattle is a beautiful city set against the backdrop of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Range.

Tacoma is Seattle's smaller, unsung neighbor to the south. It overcame a soul-crushing downturn that started with the de-industrialization of the 1970's, and has since become a vibrant city of the arts, home to a number of respected museums, an opera company, symphony, and professional and community theaters.

[IrishEyes]

10. I spent a week in Seattle.

It was a good trip. It was clean, the people were nice and there were lot of things to do.

[Trailrider1951]

17. Absolutely, Western Washington! I love it here

I moved here two years ago from Texas because my children and their families now all live here. What a great place to live! The economy is booming and I found a great job within two months. Even better, there is excellent public transportation so I don't have the hellacious commute by car that I had in Texas. And, with all the different ethnic groups and cultures, there is a myriad of food available both in stores and restaurants. You want recreation? There are parks and museums everywhere. My house in 1/2 block away from the Foothills trail, where I go biking every sunny day when I have time.

https://co.pierce.wa.us/1384/Foothills-Trail

And there are hiking trails galore up near Mt. Rainier. And lakes and rivers and ocean, oh my! And camping! My whole family is planning a long weekend camp out near Mt. Saint Helens in July. I don't want to live anywhere else, and will live out the rest of my days here.

[IrishEyes]

25. Wow, it sounds nice.

I will have to check into it. I would prefer to live in a place with a good public transportation.

[kairos12]

7. Phoenix, AZ

1. Saguaro Cactus

2. Camelback Mt.

3. Herberger Theater

4. 70 Degrees in January

5. The Salt River

6. Burton Barr downtown library

7. Proximity of Skyharbor Airport

[yellowdogintexas]

12. I love Phoenix. My daughter lives there and we visit often.

They live on the very edge of the North Mountain Preserve - the mountain is across the street.

Drawbacks: per my daughter, you can't find a decent chicken fried steak there. When she first moved there she was not very impressed with the BBQ although I think that is improving.

I love the different styles of Mexican food found in the Sonora Desert area.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. I'm not so fond of the triple digit overnight lows in the summer there.

People always claim it's so great that the weather is so mild in the winter, but when I lived there with a young one, I would be the ONLY mom with her kid at the park. And I'm talking those January days where it is 70 degrees and quite nice. I didn't just go once or twice, but regularly, all January, February, and March. I think another mom showed up at the park exactly once in all that time.

[The Figment]

11. Greenwood County Ks

1 The Quiet
2 Not having to lock my front door, hell I don't even know where my key is
3 The wildlife, Coyotes,Owls,Hawks,Deer and Catfish bigger than yer car
4 The Dirty Kansa bike races
5 That one can buy a house for less than the cost of a decent used car, a nice house at that
6 No traffic, a "traffic jam" here is a combine that is going slow and is too wide to pass or more than three cars

[yellowdogintexas]

13. well I live in Texas...Fort Worth to be exact

1. Real live dinosaur footprints about 45 minutes away ( really neat state park where you can play in the river) with a wildlife park just a couple of miles away

2. The great museum scene in Fort Worth
3. Stockyards
4. Sundance Square
5. Six Flags/Hurricane Harbor, Texas Rangers, the Cowboys if you are in to that sort of thing
6. The Colonial PGA tournament (now known as the Charles Schwab Challenge). The only PGA tournament which has always been played at the same club. I have a sweet temp job every year at the event
7. The Van CLiburn International Piano Competition in which Fort Worth is the piano center of the Universe for 3 weeks.
8. It is not Dallas
9 lively theater scene
10 lots of great places to eat

[IrishEyes]

16. I have family in Fort Worth

I had a lot of fun visiting there. I wasn't able to get to all the museums that I wanted to visit. There were some really good restaurants as well. The tour of the stockyards was interesting.

[yellowdogintexas]

96. hope you make it back someday.

Come during the Fat Stock Show and go to the rodeo.

[shenmue]

14. The band Obituary. Also the Museum of Art, and the James Museum

I was born in NYC. Now live near Tampa.

[smirkymonkey]

15. Boston, MA

1. Big enough to feel like a real city, but small enough not to be too overwhelming
2. Within 30 mins to a few hours drive of many other beautiful New England destinations and nature spots
3. It's a very clean, physically attractive city - yes, there are a few sketchy areas, but as far as large cities go, it's one of the prettier ones.
4. Great restaurants and other food purveyors. We even have an Eataly!
5. A lot of very well educated, liberal people
6. If you're a sports fan, we've got some of the best teams in the nation
7. Very easy to get around on foot, by bike or public transportation. A car is not necessary unless you live or work way off the beaten path.
8. The nations best hospitals, physicians and medical personnel
9. Lots of "green space"! The Boston Common, The Public Garden, The Esplanade, the leafy streets of Beacon Hill and the Back Bay and tons of other parks and places to get lost in nature.
10. Lobstahs!!

[IrishEyes]

21. There are so many great colleges and universities in the Boston area.

[smirkymonkey]

22. Yes, and the colleges and universities always have interesting things going

on that are open to the public as well.

[dawg day]

54. And it's surrounded by water--

Amazing Boston Bay.

[Harker]

18. Western PA.

1. Lots of running water.
2. Many deciduous trees.
3. Uhhhh.

[The Polack MSgt]

31. Hey - That's my home region - Don't short change it like that

There are also a bunch of hills.

And Pittsburgh is a very cool city...

That's about it tho.

As hot as Alabama in August and just as racist every day. Plus as a bonus it's as cold as Milwaukee come January.

Do you remember back in the late 70s when Sambo Restaurants changed the name to Sam's?

Well, that was just a bridge too far for Western PA and 3 franchises broke away from corporate so they could keep the Sambo name and the Big lipped mascot.

I escaped into the USAF and wound up in the St Louis area - I like it much better here.

I can even put up with the boring flat corn fields...

[Harker]

38. Been here two years and we're about done.

The "city" we live in has all the charm of a town squeezed dry by the mob.

[ProudLib72]

36. I passed through PA once

Why are all the hills so symmetrical like a sine wave? Did you do that, Harker?

[Harker]

39. Why, yes... yes, I did.

They used to be molehills.

[Freedomofspeech]

65. Used to love living in Western PA...

Now I hate it...would love to escape all the hillbilly trumpers.

[Harker]

68. The men call me "buddy"

and the women call me "honey." Most people seem superficially friendly, but we have no friendships - they all seem wrapped up in extended, multi-generational relationships. It's akin to a huge high school, replete with cliques.

My wife and I have each other. And a canoe!

[Freedomofspeech]

69. I have lived here my whole life...

Westmoreland County and Fayette were always blue...now it's a Republican nightmare. Too old to leave...kids are in Maine and Cleveland so no family around at all but fortunately we have the best pizza here!!!!!!!🤪

[Harker]

70. I'm glad there's a bright side for you!

Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2019, 06:22 PM - Edit history (1)

Most days I would see one, too.

[Freedomofspeech]

84. Just sad that I hate it all so much now.

Trump humpers everywhere.

[Harker]

85. You hang in there, buddy!

Lawrence County here...

[Freedomofspeech]

89. You, too....

Westmoreland Co.

[akraven]

19. The clean air/rivers/streams -

the aurora borealis in winter, the very long days in summer.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Lakes and rivers.

Nice summers, usually not too hot
Lots of interesting restaurants, just about every cuisine imaginable
Lots of parkways and bike paths
The Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Museum of Russian Art
The American Swedish Institute
The Science Museum
Minnesota Public Radio
The Minnesota Orchestra
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
Minnesota Opera and several smaller opera companies
Not a lot of Republicans

[zanana1]

23. In New Hampshire...

The White Mountains, the seacoast, the Lakes region and the First in the Nation Presidential Primary!

[IrishEyes]

50. I used to live in Vermont

I visited New Hampshire a few times. I liked it.

[LuvNewcastle]

27. Gulfport, Mississippi

1. Laid-back and casual
2. Delicious fresh seafood
3. Cheap living
4. Close to New Orleans, a couple of hours from great beaches
5. Lots of places to ride in your boat
6. Friendly people

[pangaia]

28. NYC---- FOOD !!!!!!!!!!!

However, I live upstate, where there is very little FOOD !
So I have to either cook it myself, or travel-- which is always my excuse for going to Kyoto.

[hunter]

32. My city is a rough. That's what I like about it. Also what I don't like about it.

A few times dislike in extreme ways. I don't like guns. Doesn't matter cops or gangsters. I've seen people shot.

I've also enjoyed the rougher neighborhoods of Oakland, Chicago, and Los Angeles, wonderful experiences in these three cities, stories I tell, but probably not suitable for delicate white snowflakes.

You'll rarely find me in the "nice" neighborhoods. I fled affluent white U.S.A. a long time ago, as a teen.

I grew up in a community 99% affluent white. The high school was Lord of the Flies. I quit it. My artist parents were there for the work. When my dad retired he and my mom left. All my siblings left as well.

In my most-of-my-life-home-community 40% of schoolchildren don't speak English at home.

The kids next door are fully trilingual. They speak whichever language their friends or relatives are speaking and they freely improvise for anyone else. I like to listen to them over the fence as I'm working in my garden.

Colorful multilingual people will hold this world together, just as some of my old fart multi-lingual friends, and older fart friends of my parents, have held this world together.

Alas, I myself, am not especially multilingual. Unlike my wife and kids, my nephews and nieces, my language improvisations suck.

My wife and I very deliberately chose this environment to raise our own children in. Our children are grown up now, moved away to big cities, fully confident they can be home anywhere in the world. They do not fear the other.

Years ago, before cell phones were common, my car broke down in a "very bad" Oakland neighborhood. I was an out-of-his-usual-environment-white-guy. Maybe I was friendly and pathetic enough, and my car was shitty enough, and I only had twelve dollars in my wallet and small change, that I found temporary refuge on my way to Humboldt where I was doing business I'm now too embarrassed to speak of.

That's not my only rough Oakland story. There was this metal recycling place, maybe it's still there, a place that would buy anything. I'm pretty sure if you showed up with a few grams of plutonium they'd have bought it, and with a fair price too. Mere copper plumbing and wiring torn from abandoned houses was don't ask, don't tell. The line of people selling scrap metal would begin at dawn, before the place opened at eight, and I met some some of the most interesting people on earth there.

[DFW]

34. What I like about where I am now

The climate is not the best, but there is an open air farmers market three times a week in the town square that has been there for the last 800 years or so. I have a 1000 year old castle in back of my house. We have great food here (Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, Greek, etc.), and the bank, the travel agency and the local fruit and veggie grocers all know us well enough by now that they'll stay open a few minutes late if we have an emergency. We have a hospital, an orthopedic hospital, an ENT doctor and a dentist within walking distance, a cool metropolitain city 15 miles away and an intercontinental airport 10 miles away while having parks and forests within 4 minutes by foot from our house door. Shows with world class acts like Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton come here, and the museum on the site of the original Neanderthal find is a 20 minute drive away.

There are downsides, of course, but you didn't ask for those, so why go negative?

[IrishEyes]

40. Yeah, there is enough negativity.

Every place has good things about it. It sounds like you are close but not too close to lots of good things.

[dawg day]

58. Where are you?

[DFW]

61. In the German Rheinland

Just northeast of Düsseldorf.

[ProudLib72]

37. For CO

1. Mountains
2. Blue state
3. Lots of dogs to pet
4. Mountain biking everywhere
5. Rock crawling
6. Fine, I guess there are the winter sports too, but I would rather be biking

[Harker]

43. Nothing like the grandeur of the continental divide...

or the rough beauty of a mountain chickadee, not to mention pygmy nuthatches or flickers.

Two years gone and I'm farking looking for similar excellence.

I'm going to find it here in the East, Proudlib72, and the voyageur cap Mrs. Harker knitted will lead the way.

I'm in search of something on this continent like the west coast of Ireland. I'm sniffing about on the shores Lake Ontario, but we're open to suggestions.

[ProudLib72]

44. Oh Jaysus, Moira, and Joseph if you aren't looking for a pot o gold at the end of a rainbow!

You won't be finding anything the likes of Donegal.

Faux brogue off...

I'm really only familiar with CT and a little of MA and RI. I don't know much about PA, NY, VT, NH, or ME. Like I said, I drove through PA once on my way west, back home to CO. In saying that, I have a feeling that maybe the White Mountains are worth giving a look in. I always wanted to go up there and check them out for myself. Just never got a chance. I do know that all the famous mountain biking in PA is on the east side of the state.

[Harker]

48. You're surely right.

So long as the sun sets over a body of water large enough that I can't see the other side, though... I'll be okay.

[ProudLib72]

73. What about Maine?

Not in the south of the state near the big towns, but up along the coast, like Bangor?

You know that Donegal is at latitude 54, around that of Newfoundland? You probably won't find Donegal replicated here in the US. Maybe county Kerry?

[Harker]

74. We intend to spend time there

as we explore the NE in our teardrop, so thanks for the tip! Consider it taken to heart.

In my soul I know there's no domestic equivalent, but I think the search will be rewarding nonetheless. Maybe I can settle for sunrises over the water, rather than sunsets... and I suppose those warming ocean currents won't be found on this side... but there's beauty in all sorts of environments, and I'm excessively wistful.

We spent a week each in Donegal, Connemara, and Clare with only a daytrip to Kerry for a visit to Muckross House in Killarney. I'm a tweed freak.

[cos dem]

59. White Mountains are OK, but they really don't hold a candle to "real" mountains.

I'm not really trying to diss NH, but my house is at an elevation higher than Mt Washington.

Other great things about CO, that might not occur to some:

- Excellent beer scene. We're one of the top states for microbrews.
- Our arts & music scene isn't too shabby. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic is a really excellent orchestra, probably much better than we deserve. If you like opera, Central City Opera is a historic opera house located in a historic, scenic mining town.
- Boulder is a good liberal town, helps balance out the Republican crazyland of COS (there are plenty of liberals in COS, it's just that our right-wingers are really off the wall).
- You mentioned it already, but the scenery is amazing. I see the front range every day as I drive to work, and if I really think about it, it's just cool to live so close to the mountains.
- Oh, and the skiing really is excellent (except in La Nina years).

The prettiest part of CO (IMHO) is SW, around Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, and Durango. I think it beats just about any other place I've seen in the world.

I think the only downside for me is, it's not the greatest place for sailing. Not because we don't have wind. We just don't have suitable bodies of water. The few lakes we have are generally pretty crowded.

[Harker]

75. You Coloradans are getting to me.

I plied the front range between Boulder and Ft. Collins for 50 years. There's lots to miss there.

[elleng]

41. A river runs thru it, right at my front door!

MARYLAND

[Harker]

42. As a lifelong bookshop guy...

I invite you to emphasize, in turn, each word of Mr. Maclean's book title.

One of my favorite exercises in subtlety.

[kwassa]

72. Maryland is blue, blue, blue.

my main like about Maryland and reflected in it's progressiveness.

2) Crab feasts
3) Great support for education
4) Proximity to DC
5) Some of the most diverse communities in the entire country
6) History going all the way back, a bonus point.

[Corgigal]

46. Stop by for a short hike.

Then the Amish store for lunch and a nice stay at the Boone tavern. If you like enough, buy a house and get a voters card and join my family voting against Mich McConnell.

Plus 20 mins to Lexington, which is a top tier gay friendly city, plus fun.

[IrishEyes]

49. It looks beautiful

I have been in the city too long. I miss fresh air and nature.

[dawg day]

57. Kentucky is a truly beautiful state, and very very very wide

It reaches all the way to the Mississippi-- I've never gotten over that.
Northish of Kentucky are this many states:

W Virginia
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois

And south
Virginia (ish)
Tennessee

That's how wide it is.

And the grass really is blue.

[yellowdogintexas]

97. yes it is, up in the Bluegrass part of the state

when it grows tall and the breeze blows it does look blue.

KY and TN are both wide. From Memphis to Bristol is about 12 hours drive time plus you jump a time zone heading east. That of course is a diagonal run.

[Dream Girl]

51. San Francisco

The weather
The natural beauty
The food
The quirkiness (rapidly disappearing)
The progressive values

[dawg day]

52. Indianapolis

Beautiful neighborhoods, lots of trees
Great Children's Museum (REALLY great)
Compact and walkable downtown with canals
Unhealthy and delicious local food (Pork tenderloin sandwiches the size of a hubcap)
A prototypical state fair-- blue ribbons for hogs and quilts, fried Mars bars, porkchops on a stick, kids exhibiting their prize chickens...

[dawg day]

56. Also in a very red state...

Congressman Andre Carson, a practicing Muslim with deep family and community roots in the city.

Also Indy really resisted the awful Mike Pence when he was governor, shooting down his hateful RFRA law both because it was homophobic and also bad for business!

Indy hosts GenCon, the biggest annual convention of wonderfully active game-players and comicbook lovers.

[Bayard]

62. Kentucky gets such a bad rap

But this is a beautiful state. I couldn't wait to move back here from arid Calif, for various reasons, but the big shock to the eyes was how GREEN it is. With tons of big lakes and rivers. Mammoth Cave is right down the road from us. Limestone outcroppings everywhere. Expect to be called honey or sweetie if you stop to eat or shop. Its friendly here. We also have one of the largest populations of Amish. They have good stores, plant nurseries, and cedar mills, but you can't be impatient when you get behind a buggy on the road. Just a fact of life here.

I'm on the opposite side of the state from Lexington, so haven't been able to visit Kentucky Horse Park since I moved back. It is WONDERFUL. I used to show there fairly often when I still had not-lame horses, and money. So much to do there, and the area is gorgeous.....miles of black board fencing, rolling green hills, and HORSES. Home of U of K.

I'm from Louisville originally, and it's a great river city. The most cosmopolitan and liberal area of the state, with the Speed Art Museum, the Louisville Ballet and Orchestra, a fabulous park system, lots more. Home of U of L, and of course, the Derby. Derby Week is fabulous, where anything that will move is raced. Steamboats on the river, hot air balloons, rat races, waiters carrying glasses of wine on trays. And the Mini-Marathon, where I ripped my hamstring many years ago. Louisville is a major runners' haven, with everything from 5-K's to marathons.

Bowling Green is also nice (and no massacre ever occurred there!). Another college town, Western KY Univ.

Well-known for our bourbon, but I don't drink, so that was never much of an attraction.

Bernheim Forest, south of Louisville, is thousands of acres of nature preserve. I spent many happy hours there with my Dad as a kid.

Yeah, we're stuck with McConnell for the moment. But nobody likes him. He's going down in 2020.

[yellowdogintexas]

98. This KY expatriat living in Texas agrees

I love going back to KY to visit. My youngest sister and her husband have a farm 40 miles due south of Bowling Green. We grew up in a town of 200 near the TN state line.

We are in the area where dark fired tobacco is grown, cured and marketed. In the fall, the curing barns emit heavenly sweet smelling smoke from the cherry, apple, pecan, walnut and peach wood used to cure the crop. I hate smoking and all it entails but those barns are the scent of home.

Mammoth Cave National Park was my "second home" for several years; my husband and I met there. The cave system is 400+ miles of mapped passage and continues to grow. If you are in the area, definitely take some time to visit!

Always nice to find another Kentuckian!

[Funtatlaguy]

101. McConnell, Paul, Bevin is a shameful Triple Crown For Kentucky.

[democratisphere]

64. NYS.

Adirondack Mountains

Catskill Mountains

Finger Lakes Region

St Lawrence Seaway Region

Hudson and Mohawk Valley Regions

[Recursion]

66. Paris

I know that's kind of cheating, but here's five lesser-known wonders of the city:

1. Au Clair de Lune near Les Halles off ave. Etienne Marcel. Best Moroccan/Algerian restaurant I've ever been to. Get your couscous and tagine here.

2. Boucherie David in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Kosher butcher with this amazing "schmaltz tartine"; a baguette spread with chicken fat.

3. "Guitar street" in Pigalle, three blocks of Roue de Douai in the Pigalle quarter that is nothing but musical instrument builders, repairers, and dealers. (A block north is all the strip clubs and burlesque shows, including the original Moulin Rouge)

4. Solstice Rare Books in the Latin Quarter. This is my only pick on the left bank (bunch of elitist snobs over there...) but it's wonderful. Right by the Grand Mosque of Paris and the University (both also worth seeing), this is a teriffic place to get lost in the stacks.

5. Ile de la grande jatte, Neuilly-sur-Seine. This is just a beautiful, quiet, shady island in the Seine as it exits Paris. You may know it from Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon, which is the painting that Cameron stares at in "Ferris Beuller's Day Off" when they go to the art museum.

[IrishEyes]

95. I wish I could move to Paris.

I've been there twice. Both times were wonderful. I had the best meal of my life in a little restaurant I went into while walking around the city.

[LanternWaste]

71. TX - state & national parks. (and BBQ, of course)

The camping and hiking in Texas is beyond glorious. Since 2012, my two week vacation is spent camping either at Big Bend National Park or Colorado Bend State Park every year.

And the BBQ here is nectar of the gods, where we make (imo) the best region-specific style of pulled pork in the history of history.

[IrishEyes]

91. I like Texas. I have family there and they love it.

I'm just not sure that I could stand the heat. I have only lived in northern states.

[LakeArenal]

76. Wisconsin

Beautiful rolling hills
Incredible wildlife
Wisconsin River
Fox River
Lake DuBay
Madison
UW Madison
The former reputation as the most progressive state
The folks that are nice, are really really nice.

[Freddie]

77. Pennsylvania - the food

My cousin from Connecticut said our state motto really is “eat your way through Pennsylvania.” When he visits he stocks up on sticky buns, shoo fly pie, Lebanon bologna, ring balogna and Martins potato chips. Scrapple, cheesesteaks, hoagies, Tastycakes, etc. And one of the greatest things invented is made here, Heinz ketchup.

[DBoon]

78. Los Angeles

1. The local mountains - San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains and their public recreation areas. Ski in the winter, hike in the summer
2. The world's cuisine, from Koreatown to Little Ethiopia
3. An abundance of local small theater (all those aspiring actors have to do something before they make it big)
4. La Brea Tar Pits - world renowned ice age fossils in the middle of town
5. JPL - where the Mars rover was made.
6. Tiki Ti

[happyaccident]

79. Hell

great for suntanning, the best people, no guilt and you don't have to worry about it like you did your entire life...you're already there!

[IrishEyes]

90. Yeah but there must be a lot of republicans there.

Also, I'm Irish so I don't tan at all. I just turn bright red.

[happyaccident]

93. Satan stopped letting them in

They were too much for even him

[Funtatlaguy]

102. "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints"

The sinners are much more fun - Billy Joel

[ValidateThis]

80. Where do I start? Massachusetts

has a liberal government, the country’s best and most widely accessible health care, legal weed, and where I live, breathtaking natural beauty and thousands of acres of preserved forest. I love my home state and the state of my birth.

I personally think New York and New England should secede.

[TygrBright]

81. Santa Fe, NM: Weather, art, diversity and green chile on my breakfast eggs! n/t

[wasupaloopa]

82. Beaches here in CA. I am going to a beach tomorrow that is more than a mile long

and many times I am the only one there on a week day.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

92. Las Vegas, NV

1. You can spend $$$$ or $... the choice is yours;
2. Endless entertainment every day at all hours - people-watching on Fremont or the Strip on a Saturday night after 11 pm is definitely unique!
3. It's freaking Vegas! Sports, music, anything you want. As an example, tomorrow night I'm going to see some Brit bloke by the name of Paul McCartney... not sure you've heard of him;
4. The beauty of the areas around Vegas... Red Rock, Mt. Charleston, Valley of Fire. Lots of hiking and off-road trails;
5. The people - pretty much most everyone is from somewhere else and not everyone works in casinos, but everyone is friendly.

Bonus: the heat! I love the heat. Yes, it does make a difference that it's dry heat. Having lived in NC with the humidity, I'll take a 115 degree day in Vegas any day over 90 degrees and humidity in NC.

[OriginalGeek]

94. 5 cruise ports within driving distance and

surrounded by beaches in all directions.



And some of them are clothing optional.

[Niagara]

99. Buffalo, N.Y.

Cultural Diversity- Mayor Brown is a founding member of The Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable. We have parades and festivals for everyone, including Dyngus Day.


Attractions & Festivals- Art Park, Canal Side, Lockport Caves, Darien Lake, Classic Car Cruise-Ins, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, Old Fort Niagara and all types of museums.


Food for Foodies- American, Greek, Indian, Italian, and Polish dishes. You name it, we have it.


Art & Nature Centers/Parks- Albright Knox Art Museum, Botanical Gardens, Tifft Nature Preserve, Bike and Walking Trails,
Buffalo Harbor State Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Glen Park, Buffalo Naval Park, Niagara State Park and many more.


Colleges and University's- Daemen, Canisius, University at Buffalo and Buffalo State and several community colleges.


Sports- Our football and mens hockey teams (the Bills and Sabres) are currently having a rough patch. We still have the Bandits (Lacrosse), Buffalo Beauts (womens hockey), the Bisons (AAA baseball) and Queen City Rollers (womens roller derby).

[mnhtnbb]

100. Raleigh, NC

Specifically downtown Raleigh. Big city life without big city prices. Walk to almost everything from my high rise apartment with a fabulous view of a 4 acre park right across the street: the Carolina Ballet, the NC Symphony, great little restaurants ( the chef who won the James Beard award this year has 3 restaurants in downtown Raleigh), museums, a branch of the county library, the post office, the Amtrak station, the bus station with a$2 fare to the Raleigh/ Durham International airport 20 minutes away, comfortable fall, winter, and spring weather (but hot and humid summers), beautiful Sandy beaches less than 3 hours away, and access to the Great Smoky mountains only about 5 hours away...I could go on. I tell people that since I haven't won the lottery so I could afford to live on the upper west side of NYC, that downtown Raleigh will have to do.

[Funtatlaguy]

103. Florida's three pros and cons.

Pros...Weather, Beaches, Citrus 🍊
Cons...DeSantis, Scott, Rubio