Travel and Leisure's top cities for 2008

[ShoogarBear]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1031364/americas_favorite_cities_by_travel.html?cat=16

Travel and Leisure Magazine has come out with its list of America's Favorite Cities for 2008. Most were expected, the differences in the list from 2004 are small, but there were also some surprises. Being named one of America's favorite cities by Travel and Leisure Magazine is no small feat, but in the case of Los Angeles things are not boding well.

America's Favorite Cities by Travel Leisure Magazine in 2008 are (in alphabetical order):

The cities that made the list are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Dallas and Fort Worth, Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Scottsdale, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle and Washington, DC.

When compared to the 2004 list of favorite cities, it becomes obvious that San Juan, Tampa and St. Petersburg, Portland (sic), and Houston did not make the cut in 2008.

The site with the actual rankings: http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2008/index.cfm

A few select tidbits:

Rankings of overall people
1 4.39 Austin
2 4.33 San Francisco
3 4.26 San Diego
4 4.22 Seattle
5 4.20 Minneapolis/St. Paul
6 4.20 Portland, Oregon
7 4.19 Honolulu
8 4.17 Charleston
9 4.13 New York
10 4.13 Chicago
11 4.10 Denver
12 4.10 Santa Fe
13 4.08 Miami
14 4.00 Boston
15 3.97 San Antonio
16 3.94 Washington, D.C.
17 3.93 Nashville
18 3.93 Phoenix/Scottsdale
19 3.87 New Orleans
20 3.87 Las Vegas
21 3.84 Los Angeles
22 3.79 Dallas/Fort Worth
23 3.77 Atlanta
24 3.75 Orlando
25 3.63 Philadelphia

(they also have it broken down by Attractive, Friendly, Intelligent, Athletic/active, Diverse, Stylish categories)

Overall Nightlife:
1 4.81 Las Vegas
2 4.76 New Orleans
3 4.75 New York
4 4.71 Miami
5 4.65 Austin
6 4.56 Chicago
7 4.47 San Francisco
8 4.36 Los Angeles
9 4.35 Nashville
10 4.35 San Diego
11 4.30 Honolulu
12 4.24 Boston
13 4.21 Minneapolis/St. Paul
14 4.21 San Antonio
15 4.18 Seattle
16 4.15 Portland, Oregon
17 4.14 Washington, D.C.
18 4.14 Philadelphia
19 4.12 Atlanta
20 4.11 Denver
21 4.08 Charleston
22 4.04 Phoenix/Scottsdale
23 4.04 Dallas/Fort Worth
24 4.02 Orlando
25 3.44 Santa Fe

Culture (overall0
1 4.73 New York
2 4.52 Washington, D.C.
3 4.51 Boston
4 4.49 Chicago
5 4.38 San Francisco
6 4.37 Philadelphia
7 4.29 Minneapolis/St. Paul
8 4.21 Charleston
9 4.12 New Orleans
10 4.12 Santa Fe
11 4.12 Seattle
12 4.11 Austin
13 4.08 Nashville
14 4.04 San Antonio
15 4.04 Portland, Oregon
16 3.98 San Diego
17 3.91 Denver
18 3.84 Los Angeles
19 3.82 Honolulu
20 3.80 Atlanta
21 3.73 Dallas/Fort Worth
22 3.62 Las Vegas
23 3.62 Phoenix/Scottsdale
24 3.55 Miami
25 3.39 Orlando

Shopping
1 4.56 New York
2 4.37 Charleston
3 4.36 San Francisco
4 4.30 Santa Fe
5 4.30 Chicago
6 4.27 New Orleans
7 4.19 Boston
8 4.14 Seattle
9 4.14 Portland, Oregon
10 4.13 Minneapolis/St. Paul
11 4.12 Los Angeles
12 4.11 Austin
13 4.04 San Diego
14 4.01 Philadelphia
15 4.01 San Antonio
16 3.98 Miami
17 3.97 Washington, D.C.
18 3.97 Phoenix/Scottsdale
19 3.94 Honolulu
20 3.90 Nashville
21 3.88 Dallas/Fort Worth
22 3.87 Atlanta
23 3.85 Denver
24 3.64 Las Vegas
25 3.51 Orlando

Food/Dining
1 4.58 New Orleans
2 4.55 San Francisco
3 4.55 Seattle
4 4.46 Portland, Oregon
5 4.44 New York
6 4.42 Austin
7 4.39 Chicago
8 4.30 Minneapolis/St. Paul
9 4.29 Charleston
10 4.29 San Antonio
11 4.25 Boston
12 4.24 San Diego
13 4.24 Santa Fe
14 4.23 Philadelphia
15 4.13 Los Angeles
16 4.11 Miami
17 4.10 Honolulu
18 4.04 Nashville
19 4.04 Washington, D.C.
20 4.04 Denver
21 3.92 Dallas/Fort Worth
22 3.92 Atlanta
23 3.91 Phoenix/Scottsdale
24 3.83 Las Vegas
25 3.82 Orlando

[ShoogarBear]

Awaiting the five-page rebuttal from Buddy Holly . . .

[T Park]

Charleston has better shopping than Chicago and San Francisco?

Interesting.

[balli]

Overall, I'd agree except that I think Phoenix and Las Vegas are just about the two top places I wouldn't want to travel to or especially live in. Phoenix is just a bunch of materialistic assholes who think they should be treated like celebrities because they lease BMW's and Vegas is the epicenter of American greed. Denver sucks too- it's a wanna be SLC and Salt Lake is actually cooler, in spite of the cultists- which says a lot about how cool everyone else here is.

My personal 5 favorite cities I've visited
1. Bellingham, WA
2. Santa Fe, NM
3. Washinton DC
4. Chicago, IL
5. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

[atxrocker]

Awaiting the five-page rebuttal from Buddy Holly . . .

this should be good :lol

[Brutalis]

Joke lists.

[atxrocker]

were you really expecting inbred central arkansas to make the list?

[Brutalis]

Of course not. The fuck you attacking me and my state for?

[Fernando TD21]

What about landscapes, both urban and natural. What would be the "most beautiful cities" in US that people recommend for tourism?

[1Parker1]

Philly is ranked much too low in each category. On behalf of my city... :flipoff to Travel & Leisure Magazine.

[balli]

Philly is ranked much too low in each category. On behalf of my city... :flipoff to Travel & Leisure Magazine.

I've never been to Philly, but my dad just spent a week there on business and said it was an amazing place.



What about landscapes, both urban and natural. What would be the "most beautiful cities" in US that people recommend for tourism?
Because we weren't even mentioned in those lists, I'm not going to stop hyping SLC in this thread. Who cares about shopping or nightlife when you live in a place like this. (Plus, Park City is twenty minutes away and I bet it's shopping/nightlife hands-down beats most of places on the list) The most beautiful metropolitan area in America... and it isn't close.
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~slind/TPHOLs2004/campus.jpg
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/salt-lake-city-city-guide-ga-1c.jpg

[IronMexican]

Only place I really wanna visit is Guadalajara.

[ShoogarBear]

Philly is ranked much too low in each category. On behalf of my city... :flipoff to Travel & Leisure Magazine.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2008/city/philadelphia :

Philly's historic sites and monuments (No. 3) and museums and galleries (No. 4) earned high marks. But, voters warn, don't hold your breath for stylish (No. 24) or attractive (No. 25) people.

:rollin

(Actually, sounds like you might have to hold your breath.)

[Brutalis]

I've never been to Philly, but my dad just spent a week there on business and said it was an amazing place.



Because we weren't even mentioned in those lists, I'm not going to stop hyping SLC in this thread. Who cares about shopping or nightlife when you live in a place like this. (Plus, Park City is twenty minutes away and I bet it's shopping/nightlife hands-down beats most of places on the list) The most beautiful metropolitan area in America... and it isn't close.
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~slind/TPHOLs2004/campus.jpg
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/salt-lake-city-city-guide-ga-1c.jpg

Damn that looks cool. I didn't realize SLC was as small as Little Rock though.

[leemajors]

I've never been to Philly, but my dad just spent a week there on business and said it was an amazing place.



Because we weren't even mentioned in those lists, I'm not going to stop hyping SLC in this thread. Who cares about shopping or nightlife when you live in a place like this. (Plus, Park City is twenty minutes away and I bet it's shopping/nightlife hands-down beats most of places on the list) The most beautiful metropolitan area in America... and it isn't close.
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~slind/TPHOLs2004/campus.jpg
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/salt-lake-city-city-guide-ga-1c.jpg

3.2% = deal breaker.

[tsb2000]

Overall, I'd agree except that I think Phoenix and Las Vegas are just about the two top places I wouldn't want to travel to or especially live in. Phoenix is just a bunch of materialistic assholes who think they should be treated like celebrities because they lease BMW's and Vegas is the epicenter of American greed. Denver sucks too- it's a wanna be SLC and Salt Lake is actually cooler, in spite of the cultists- which says a lot about how cool everyone else here is.

My personal 5 favorite cities I've visited
1. Bellingham, WA
2. Santa Fe, NM
3. Washinton DC
4. Chicago, IL
5. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Easy killer... I live in Scottsdale, and aside from the Suns, this is a pretty nice place to live. You need to not judge an entire city by the people you run into at nightclubs, with all those $30k millionaires running around.

[tsb2000]

Salt Lake is ok too, but you've almost for sure got to be a Mormon if you plan to have a corporate career there. Since I'm not, me and my Utah degree moved to AZ. :)

[1Parker1]

http://www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2008/city/philadelphia :

Philly's historic sites and monuments (No. 3) and museums and galleries (No. 4) earned high marks. But, voters warn, don't hold your breath for stylish (No. 24) or attractive (No. 25) people.

:rollin

(Actually, sounds like you might have to hold your breath.)

:lol Whatever, they probably went to the wrong parts of Philly to take this survey...hence the unfavorable results.

[balli]

Easy killer... I live in Scottsdale, and aside from the Suns, this is a pretty nice place to live. You need to not judge an entire city by the people you run into at nightclubs, with all those $30k millionaires running around.
Sorry, no offense meant. If it works for you, :tu And actually I like the city/downtown area and the proximity to the desert- I just didn't like the prevailing culture none too much, which as you alluded to, might be a snap judgment on my part.


Salt Lake is ok too, but you've almost for sure got to be a Mormon if you plan to have a corporate career there. Since I'm not, me and my Utah degree moved to AZ. :)

I don't blame you, it's just terrible. My dad's architecture firm gave up doing business in the state because he was sick of getting turned down for projects solely because he isn't mormon. Now he focuses on getting work in just about everywhere but Utah and financially, he's actually coming out better. But still, those cultists should be ashamed of their clan-bigotry.

[1Parker1]

FYI, I just went to Chicago for the first time 2 weekends ago...it has got to be in my Top 3 fav cities. I'm surprised it doesn't get more love. Friendly people, clean city, amazing architecture, cool downtown area :tu

[tlongII]

FYI, I just went to Chicago for the first time 2 weekends ago...it has got to be in my Top 3 fav cities. I'm surprised it doesn't get more love. Friendly people, clean city, amazing architecture, cool downtown area :tu

If you would post your pic it might help garner Philly some votes for attractive people...

[AlamoSpursFan]

I'd have to say my Top 5 favorite cities I've been to outside of Texas would be:

1. Las Vegas
2. Santa Fe
3. Bristol, TN/VA
4. Chicago
5. Indianapolis

[tsb2000]

FYI, I just went to Chicago for the first time 2 weekends ago...it has got to be in my Top 3 fav cities. I'm surprised it doesn't get more love. Friendly people, clean city, amazing architecture, cool downtown area :tu

Chicago is a nice place. Too bad it's sub-arctic most of the time there. WAY too cold for me! :)

[tsb2000]

Sorry, no offense meant. If it works for you, :tu And actually I like the city/downtown area and the proximity to the desert- I just didn't like the prevailing culture none too much, which as you alluded to, might be a snap judgment on my part.



I don't blame you, it's just terrible. My dad's architecture firm gave up doing business in the state because he was sick of getting turned down for projects solely because he isn't mormon. Now he focuses on getting work in just about everywhere but Utah and financially, he's actually coming out better. But still, those cultists should be ashamed of their clan-bigotry.


No problem at all. We get a lot of that from people that even live all around us as well. They meet someone in a Scottsdale nightclub who's a total snob thinking they're rich (even though that same person was serving me my lunch that day), and we all get a bad rap because of it. Sorry for the tools that run around this town. :lol

For the record though, I grew up in SA. I ended up in Utah by some sick joke played on my father by the USAF when they said, you're moving to Hill AFB, Utah. :spin

[timvp]

Because we weren't even mentioned in those lists, I'm not going to stop hyping SLC in this thread. Who cares about shopping or nightlife when you live in a place like this. (Plus, Park City is twenty minutes away and I bet it's shopping/nightlife hands-down beats most of places on the list) The most beautiful metropolitan area in America... and it isn't close.
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~slind/TPHOLs2004/campus.jpg
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/salt-lake-city-city-guide-ga-1c.jpg

I have to agree that Salt Lake City is pretty awesome. We've gone there a couple times for summer league and it's unlike any other "big" city I've seen. Impressive scenery, most everything is clean and all the roads and highways are actually built with a plan to make driving around easy. I was expecting it to be lame but it was actually one of the coolest places I've ever been.

The Mormon thing does take a while to get used to. At a restaurant, we actually ran into a family where the guy had two wives. It took me a couple seconds to put 2 and 2 together as he was introducing people but they seemed happy so I guess whatever works. I've heard that bigamy in SLC was a thing of the past but evidently not. Overall though, almost everyone was overly friendly so I didn't really have any complaints about the people.

What I found funny is that most of the nightclubs in Salt Lake City were gay/lesbian clubs. In downtown SLC, most of the billboards were advertising for gay/lesbian clubs and NBA players would actually go there because they were the biggest clubs with the most people. It seemed like SLC had a higher than usual rebellious teenager percentage, which probably makes sense.

Oh and the hip hop stations on the SLC radio were actually awesome. Blows anything I've heard in other cities out of the water. That, too, probably has something to do the rebellion . . .

But yeah, :tu @ SLC. It's similar to San Antonio in that it's a laidback city that is an easy place to live.

[Whisky Dog]

Santa Fe is one of my favorite places to vacation. Cool, laid back, and the strongest F'n margaritas I've ever had at a restaurant at Maria's.

[balli]

I have to agree that Salt Lake City is pretty awesome. We've gone there a couple times for summer league and it's unlike any other "big" city I've seen. Impressive scenery, most everything is clean and all the roads and highways are actually built with a plan to make driving around easy. I was expecting it to be lame but it was actually one of the coolest places I've ever been.

The Mormon thing does take a while to get used to. At a restaurant, we actually ran into a family where the guy had two wives. It took me a couple seconds to put 2 and 2 together as he was introducing people but they seemed happy so I guess whatever works. I've heard that bigamy in SLC was a thing of the past but evidently not. Overall though, almost everyone was overly friendly so I didn't really have any complaints about the people.

What I found funny is that most of the nightclubs in Salt Lake City were gay/lesbian clubs. In downtown SLC, most of the billboards were advertising for gay/lesbian clubs and NBA players would actually go there because they were the biggest clubs with the most people. It seemed like SLC had a higher than usual rebellious teenager percentage, which probably makes sense.

Oh and the hip hop stations on the SLC radio were actually awesome. Blows anything I've heard in other cities out of the water. That, too, probably has something to do the rebellion . . .

But yeah, :tu @ SLC. It's similar to San Antonio in that it's a laidback city that is an easy place to live.
Nice of you to say timvp. I meant to respond to this post immediately, but I kept procrastinating and procrastinating... and I've always felt bad about it since you took the time to write several laudatory paragraphs about my home town.

As far as the polygamy thing goes, in SLC itself I've only seen polygamists a couple times in my life... but that's probably a consequence of the locals living in an uber-divisive mormon/non-mormon world, where we literally avoid one another's chosen shopping/eating establishments.

We are gay as hell, not sure why, but yeah, there's a lot of gay people here. Which is no skin off my back. I'd rather be surrounded by teh gays than I would republicans.

And yes, you nailed it with the rebellious teenager thing. It is the reason we have awesome hip hop stations. Probably too the reason why everyone who's not mormon has decided to become alcoholic. It kind of sucks that we're so reactionary, but it beats the alternative.

If you and Kori ever come back for the Revue, shoot me a pm and I'll give you some local advice about restaurants, stuff to do, etc (if you were inclined to want it). Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for your post.

[Thunder Dan]

Chicago is my favorite place to visit