National Geographics's 30 Best Small Cities in the United States

[vi edit]

Are there any other cities in Illinois other than Chicago? My impression of the state was dense urban around Chicago and then rural for the rest of the state.

I guess that really depends on what you classify as "city". Traditional classification was anything over 100k. By that definition Peoria (Where I grew up) is a city. It's got a metro area around 250k people.

 

[Belegost]

Sounds better than, "suburb of Longmont."

I don't know, it's rather catchy. And we all know Boulder is jealous of our fiber. (Disclaimer: Longmont resident if that wasn't obvious.)

 

[Darwin333]

I bet! Back in the 90's my mother and stepfather lived in Lafeyette, LA for about 5 years, but I never got down to visit. I would love to spend a few weeks down there fishing. My stepfather supervised cathodic protection crews on oil rigs for years and I never took him up on the offer to go out fishing on one of the rigs. When you're young you always think there will be time to do the things you want to later. I've tried to teach my kids to work hard, but enjoy life and have your fun along the way.

We've got tons of awesome lake fishing here and I live right on Lake Pend Oreille, but I miss the ocean and fishing in it. I'm semi-retired and a widower so I can fish 3-6 times a week in the summer chasing mostly large and smallmouth bass. No ice fishing for me so far because it's been too warm during the day and too much slush on the lakes.

Well it's never too late my friend, get your ass down here and go fishing!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Louisville is OK (Indy is better), and I can understand New Orleans even though I'm not a fan. But Omaha? Lol

 

[Exterous]

I guess that really depends on what you classify as "city". Traditional classification was anything over 100k. By that definition Peoria (Where I grew up) is a city. It's got a metro area around 250k people.

Pft - Peoria is just another, albeit slightly more distant, suburb of Chicago

Louisville is OK (Indy is better), and I can understand New Orleans even though I'm not a fan. But Omaha? Lol

I quite liked Omaha. City had a nice downtown area and park
Edit: By park I meant zoo

 

[IronWing]

Omaha has a great bananical garden and the Anxiety Closet SAC Museum . Indy has a hubcap store.

 

[vi edit]

I lived in Omaha for a year and worked there frequently for more than 4 years. It's not a bad town. It's actually a very decent place to live and raise a family but it's not anything I'd go out of my way to visit otherwise. Housing and property taxes are very reasonable. It's mostly on a very functional grid system and there are a ton of parks to visit. It's a very restaurant heavy town and there are a ton of options for dining out. The downtown area is really being fixed up and is a nice place for a night out. It does (or at least had) a pretty decent local music scene. But other than that, pretty boring overall. If you don't care about the Huskers or the couple weeks of the college world series it's devoid of any sports and it's a HIGHLY church heavy town. Mega churches are everywhere.

 

[vi edit]

Omaha has a great bananical garden and the Anxiety Closet SAC Museum . Indy has a hubcap store.

Yeah the Botanical Gardens up on the river bluff are very nice. That was a regular stop for us when my parents came to visit.

 

[VashHT]

I guess that really depends on what you classify as "city". Traditional classification was anything over 100k. By that definition Peoria (Where I grew up) is a city. It's got a metro area around 250k people.

Yeah I don't anyone who really considers Peoria a nice place to visit. Rockford has some OK stuff downtown but it's kind of shitty overall, there are some nice suburbs around Chicago but they're all kind of mashed together and I'm not sure any of them by themselves are really that big.

 

[vi edit]

Yeah I don't anyone who really considers Peoria a nice place to visit. Rockford has some OK stuff downtown but it's kind of shitty overall, there are some nice suburbs around Chicago but they're all kind of mashed together and I'm not sure any of them by themselves are really that big.

I won't argue that Peoria isn't worth visiting. It's not. But it is still by definition a city that's also home to a fortune 100 company and it's a good distance away from the Chicago and surrounding suburb footprint. There's a solid 90 minutes of corn and soybean fields separating the two. That's all I was responding to.

 

[IronWing]

Yeah I don't anyone who really considers Peoria a nice place to visit. Rockford has some OK stuff downtown but it's kind of shitty overall, there are some nice suburbs around Chicago but they're all kind of mashed together and I'm not sure any of them by themselves are really that big.

Rockford had the Time Museum. I'd didn't find out that they had a working water clock until it was too late.

 

[nakedfrog]

I lived in Omaha for a year and worked there frequently for more than 4 years. It's not a bad town. It's actually a very decent place to live and raise a family but it's not anything I'd go out of my way to visit otherwise. Housing and property taxes are very reasonable. It's mostly on a very functional grid system and there are a ton of parks to visit. It's a very restaurant heavy town and there are a ton of options for dining out. The downtown area is really being fixed up and is a nice place for a night out. It does (or at least had) a pretty decent local music scene. But other than that, pretty boring overall. If you don't care about the Huskers or the couple weeks of the college world series it's devoid of any sports and it's a HIGHLY church heavy town. Mega churches are everywhere.

I'd say the music scene has only gotten better, and there are more music festivals now. Got a number of playhouses, some improv shows, the art scene has improved (Kaneko in Old Market has some cool exhibits, and AFAIK is still free to check out).

 

[JulesMaximus]

I love the mountains. The mountains, and south central PA. Whenever I go to either place, I immediately feel at home. I'm kind of firmly rooted. I expect I'll die around here. I'm used to everything, even though I like it less and less as years go on. It's just one disappointment after another, as nice old farms fall to shitbox subdivisions :^(

The tallest mountain in PA is 3,200'. Not much of a mountain if you ask me. Hell, I go ride up Palomar Mountain about an hour from my house and it is 6,200' and that's not even a very tall mountain. Mt San Jacinto is over 10,800'.

 

[lxskllr]

The tallest mountain in PA is 3,200'. Not much of a mountain if you ask me. Hell, I go ride up Palomar Mountain about an hour from my house and it is 6,200' and that's not even a very tall mountain. Mt San Jacinto is over 10,800'.

No. Eastern mountains are weaksauce compared to the west, but they still look good, and anyone in reasonable health could expect to walk to the top.

Btw, Mountains and south central PA are two different things. SC PA is rolling land, old towns, and Amish. No mountains, and best of all, no fuckers from Philadelphia :^D

 

[Thebobo]

The tallest mountain in PA is 3,200'. Not much of a mountain if you ask me. Hell, I go ride up Palomar Mountain about an hour from my house and it is 6,200' and that's not even a very tall mountain. Mt San Jacinto is over 10,800'.

Yea but it's also relative to the surrounding land. The area around mt Palamore is close to 3K'. The west has awesome mountains but the east has some nice areas to.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Omaha has a great bananical garden and the Anxiety Closet SAC Museum . Indy has a hubcap store.

Lol, never been to Indy, I see.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yea but it's also relative to the surrounding land. The area around mt Palamore is close to 3K'. The west has awesome mountains but the east has some nice areas to.

Of course there is Denali ... base is at 2K feet ... peak is over 20K feet, over 18K feet of rise ....

there's always a thing X which dwarfs thing Y, but Thing Y is still cool.

When I was a kid, the biggest "mountain" I saw was at the Warren Dunes in Michigan, several hundred feet tall.
I have seen Denali, and yet I am flabbergasted every time I see the beauty around the Smokey mountains or when driving through PA aor really anywhere along the Appalachian mountains.

 

[IronWing]

Lol, never been to Indy, I see.

The hubcap store close?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The hubcap store close?

I know you’re probably joking around, but I literally have no idea of any hubcap store in Indy.

 

[nakedfrog]

Oh, cruel fate!
Poor Indy.

 

[IronWing]

I know you’re probably joking around, but I literally have no idea of any hubcap store in Indy.

There used to be one downtown next to the Greyhound station. I was travelling via great silver limo from my homeland to lands far away and I was much impressed that there was such a store dedicated to the sale of nothing but hubcaps. That was in 1989 so things have probably changed. I never spent much time in your fair city but traveled through it and around it more times than I can count as my family was in Wisconsin and I in Kentucky.


Edit: Apparently, y'alls built a stadium in that area in the intervening years.

 

[nakedfrog]

I will say Indy definitely has more panhandlers downtown than Omaha, but we've been getting more of them these last few years.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I will say Indy definitely has more panhandlers downtown than Omaha, but we've been getting more of them these last few years.

But unlike Omaha, there are things to do here after you manage to dodge the bums.

My memories of Omaha:

1. Everyone was very nice.
2. They had lots of attractive, friendly women.
3. Everyone raved about the steaks and beef there, but I personally didn't taste anything better than anywhere else in the US.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

There used to be one downtown next to the Greyhound station. I was travelling via great silver limo from my homeland to lands far away and I was much impressed that there was such a store dedicated to the sale of nothing but hubcaps. That was in 1989 so things have probably changed. I never spent much time in your fair city but traveled through it and around it more times than I can count as my family was in Wisconsin and I in Kentucky.


Edit: Apparently, y'alls built a stadium in that area in the intervening years.

I am not sure where you're talking about to be honest. There was a big Greyhound station west of downtown (not near the stadium) and there is one next to Union Station. I honestly can't ever remember a big hubcap store, but the first Greyhound station I mentioned was in the hood so I would not be surprised at all. I was but a senior in high school/freshman in college in 1989.

 

[nakedfrog]

But unlike Omaha, there are things to do here after you manage to dodge the bums.

My memories of Omaha:

1. Everyone was very nice.
2. They had lots of attractive, friendly women.
3. Everyone raved about the steaks and beef there, but I personally didn't taste anything better than anywhere else in the US.

It's weird to me that you can just walk down the street drinking a beer there, but you can't buy it on Sunday.