Quote :

"2. New Orleans."

Most overrated city in the U.S.

9/27/2007 1:46:11 PM

I could see how one would see Vegas as overrated. I drove 4.5 hours there while staying in Anaheim and when you drive that long through the desert only to realize that all Vegas is is a few flashy buildings in the middle of sandy mountains, it's less than impressive.

At night, you tend to "lose yourself" in the mystique, but it wasn't spectacular to me. Granted, I don't drink either, so I'm confident that skews my view.

Overrated:
LA: so dirty, so crowded, totally unglamorous.

Underrated:
Kona, Hawaii. I'll just say the Big Island in general. No tourist overcrowding, plenty of open land to "explore," you can rent a car and actually find places to drive (we drove the whole island in a day). If perfection was a place, this is it.

9/27/2007 1:54:39 PM

i didn't find anyplace to be overrated -- that's just me. here's a couple of underrated/overlooked aspects of certain cities i liked:

Chicago -- definitely the best bang for my buck than any place on Earth i've been. Lincoln, Wicker, and Wrigley all feel very collegiate. cheap boozing and fun gals abound.

Amsterdam -- not overrated. incredibly romantic, with the canals & canal houses. the museums are awesome; and i loved riding the bicycle to and from the coffee shops. everywhere in the city except the financial district is walkable.

Barcelona -- never enough time to take it all in. next time i'm making a daytrip to Figueres.

Copenhagen in the summer: just go.

Udaipur -- Only unconquered city in the history of Hindu civilization -- lots of history, high quality human beings, unbelievable food, uncanny gin and tonics.

Singapore -- go to the garment district and get a custom made suit, then to the electronics district and some high tech gadgets. its pretty much a corporate city-state, so everything is high on quality control -- even if it gets a bit facist.

Sevilla -- very happening city, lots of history in surrounding towns, and Andalusian women make me feel like a giddy 7th grader.

Mogadishu -- just kidding...

9/27/2007 4:07:53 PM

^^Isn't Singapore EXTREMELY strict about some of their laws, especially drugs and sex? One of my high school teachers was in the Marines, he said that he was in Singapore for something one time and they publicly hanged a guy for dealing drugs.

9/27/2007 4:58:13 PM

why is being dirty such a turn off to some people?

i dislike most of chicago b/c its so damn sterile feeling. Like im in a glass box.

9/27/2007 6:53:24 PM

Quote :

"Chicago is the ugliest place I've ever been. It's gray and awful all year round."

You obviously have never been to Detroit.

9/27/2007 8:16:18 PM

i dont think ive ever been in or around Baltimore when it was sunny.

^ also Rochester and Buffalo

[Edited on September 28, 2007 at 8:20 AM. Reason : !!!!! SUCK]

9/28/2007 8:19:48 AM

I dubbed Minneapolis the city that tries to hard. It's a midwestern city pretending to be an east coast city, unlike KC, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Madison, etc.

9/28/2007 8:43:22 AM

Quote :

"i dont think ive ever been in or around Baltimore when it was sunny"

its sunny today.

Quote :

"I lived in Bmore for a couple months and -everyone- I knew didn't go downtown past 11pm. "

the only people who go out downtown are tourists and clubbers. stop hanging out with lamers.


[Edited on September 28, 2007 at 12:11 PM. Reason : d]

9/28/2007 12:05:06 PM

I'm glad to see so much love for Chicago It is a great city, and as sprawled out Chicagoland is, even the suburbs aren't bad.

Quote :

"Chicago is the ugliest place I've ever been."

You must not have hit the lakefront, parks, museums, wrigley, soldier field, rode the el, ...


As for underrated, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned DC. Some of the best public urban parks out there IMO.

9/29/2007 2:02:46 PM

LA is definitely overrated. San Francisco is by far the coolest city I've visited, and may be a bit underrated.

9/29/2007 3:21:34 PM

Portland Maine - UNDERRATED!

9/30/2007 12:31:44 PM

ill def. have to agree that prague is overrated, some of the stuff is nice to look at, but overall its got nothing on a lot of other places.

Paris is not overrated, at least if you know where to go/what to do in my opinion, same with amsterdam - it might be "overrated" if you went there to smoke pot and buy hookers, but theres a LOT more there than just that. venice and rome, im not going to even comment on, i dont really understand how those places dont interest people.

underrated - stockholm, oslo, helsinki copenhagen, etc in scandinavia - just a different feel overall than a lot of other places, not as amazing as some but still really cool

9/30/2007 4:08:12 PM

Atlanta is overrated.

I agree with San Francisco being underrated. Portland, OR is also a nice mid-size city, and I kind of think Kansas City, MO is a bit underrated as well.

Underrated overseas: Frankfurt, Germany.

9/30/2007 8:00:23 PM

Quote :

"Chicago is the ugliest place I've ever been. It's gray and awful all year round."

lol, do tell

9/30/2007 8:04:11 PM

overrated:

boston
los angeles
atlanta

underrated:
portland, or
portland, me
madison, wi
minneapolis, mn

on par with the word on the street:
chicago
new york
seattle

9/30/2007 8:07:43 PM

I enjoyed Ottawa even though it was so cold I was in pain.

also Pittsburg is underrated.

[Edited on September 30, 2007 at 9:30 PM. Reason : PITTS!]

9/30/2007 9:29:54 PM

it has never been anything but sunny when i've been in Chicago; and the only ugly part was Cabrini-Green.

9/30/2007 10:41:10 PM

WEST JEFFERSON IS THE BEST.... AND SALISBURY!

9/30/2007 10:42:41 PM

^I actually really like West Jefferson.

10/1/2007 1:55:10 AM

I live in Jefferson/West Jefferson 3 days a week. It's really a nice little small town. It has a great downtown and awesome restaurants.

I definitely agree about Dublin too, When I went to the British Isles that was my favorite large city by far, and Ireland was easily better overall than England or Scotland.

[Edited on October 1, 2007 at 2:18 AM. Reason : ]

10/1/2007 2:16:40 AM

Quote :

"overrated: atlanta "

Wait, who rated Atlanta anything? I didn't realize Atlanta was a travel destination of any kind. I've been there, and I absolutely hated it. It was everything I dislike about Raleigh multiplied by at least 2.

10/1/2007 12:20:02 PM

yeah, seriously who rated Atlanta?

I hated this place for the first 1 1/2 years I was here. But making a lot of good friends and getting into work after grad school made it more bearable. If there was a beach closer than 4 hours away, it would be much better. It does have a shit ton of good music (all kinds) come through here. Foo Fighters at the Tabernacle on Thrusday!

Underrated: St. Petersburgh, Russia...especially in the winter. It was amazing to be up there with the canals frozen solid. Called the Venice of the North and it deserves it.

Push: Croatia...hype has caught up and maybe surpassed the wonderful place it was 7 years ago when I first visited. Probably still underrated for most Americans, but Europenas have been hot on it for a few years now.

Underrated: Malta...seriously cool island country in the Med. Valletta is a great place.

Underrated: Goa, India. Popular destination for ravers. Feels like being in the carribean. A beautiful slice of India.

10/1/2007 1:42:14 PM

Underrated: Lisbon, Portugal. My uncle still talks about the place (he last went 16 years ago!), I can't wait to get my passport. Just don't plan on driving much and you're good to go...

Overrated: Atlanta. Re-name it Terminus already.

10/1/2007 3:43:58 PM

I went to DC about two weeks ago and had a lot of fun. Plenty to do and you can get wasted at the club and take the Metro home. And of course plenty of monuments to visit.

10/1/2007 3:51:11 PM