What’s the Greatest City on Earth?
Mark Frauenfelder over at Boing Boing is confused. “I wanted to live in the greatest city on Earth,” he says, “so I moved to Los Angeles.” Whatever. If he *REALLY* wanted to live in “the greatest city on Earth” he would’ve moved to New York. Or, maybe, Amsterdam (pictured).
Delusions aside, I’ve gotta say I love Mark’s recent list of interesting books. Damon Brown’s Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture made the cut and sounds particularly interesting. (Any gamers out there???) By the way, hat tip to Mikey P. for bringing Mark’s list to my attention. Mike shot me an email noting these books “might appeal to your readers.” See that? Not only do *I* look out for and love my readers, my friends do as well! Some of them even mention some of you by name. Seriously. The other day, Bro asked, “Where’s Mama Christy? She hasn’t commented in a while.” And, Mags said, “Is it just me? I never ‘get’ lamesabassman’s comments.”
See, that’s love.
Anywoo, my stat counter tells me I’ve got quite a few “new” readers. I’m always curious to know who’s out there and where you’re visiting from. No need to give specific details. (i.e. “Hi, My name is Bob Sanders from Crawville, North Carolina. I’m 28 years old, married with 2 toddlers and my wife doesn’t know I read your blog.”) A simple “Hi from Westminster, Colorado!” will do. Come on. Make the funky brown chick happy on this cloudy Tuesday afternoon!! Lurkers, regulars, first time visitors, friends and foes, please use the comment section to tell me where you are and/or which city YOU think is the best city on earth. Was Mark right? Is Los Angeles the place to be? Dunno. When one of my single NY-dwelling girlfriends asked an LA-dwelling friend if she should move out west to plop herself in the middle of all those scantily clad single men (surfers, yum), the LA woman told the New Yorker: “No no no. No. LA is no great mecca for meeting guys. [...] I think there are more single guys out here because none of these hollywood motherfuckers would be caught dead in relationships.” :) Funny. Maybe the key to finding the greatest city is finding the one that “fits” you best. For me, for right now, that’s New York City baby! (Though, I often miss Amsterdam.) How about you? What’s your favorite city?
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
hmmm, i am a military wife here hailing from wilmington,north carolina.after visiting and actually living in many states, my votes for for the best cities are honolulu,hawaii, san diego ca and atlanta,georgia.i agree wholeheartedly on amsterdam,though.
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I’m from Barbados and I’ll have to say Atlanta.
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Um…New York baby!! No place better.
“The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.” – John Updike
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
To each his/her own, but I’ve been to New York, wouldn’t live there, but its a nice place to visit.
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Hey this is d_bmore from…you guessed it Baltimore, MD.
Hometown of the Ravens!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Having lived overseas most of my life, I’ve been to some amazing cities. It all depends on what you’re looking for. Overall my favorites have to be Bangkok, Amsterdam, and Toronto. Amazing places, amazing people!!!
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Papeete is nice. Not for the city itself really, because it’s pretty ordinary, but the surroundings are perfect.
Also on the list: Bangor, Maine. I’ve never actually been to Bangor, but I love the name:
“I knew this girl in Maine…”
“Bangor?”
“No, we’re just friends.”
(Ba-dum-bum.)
Have a nice day!
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Love your blog. My favorite city is Chicago. Not quite like New York, but a great city to live and work in.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Well, I would say London… since I spent 3 years of my life.. yet being such a young woman as I am and still not having travelled as much-hell, what do I know. Second on the list would be Vienna, then Paris, and last but not least – Prague.
I LOVE Europe. Yet still itching to visit the states and canada..
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
oh and j’adore your blog… been secretly reading since I saw ur talk show with zoe margolis, when I was in London.. right now, writing from the heart of Poland, Warsaw.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Yo from Detroit. Enough said.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I would say the “nicest” place to livewould be SF….uts so pretty and clean. Toronto is also a very nice city….and canadians are generally pretty friendly.
I love NYC, but thats just the dangerous devil may care side of me, that likes to live dangerously.
Oh oh oh…I’m an avid computer gamer. I play a few massive multi player games. The funny thing is most of the people playing the games I play are 30 and up. It would be really cool if they developed a game specifically for adults. I actually had one game that was open sourced so you could add stuff into it. people came up with all kinds of things like ” nudity” …..ok….[/nerd rant off]
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
twanna, with all due respect . . .
did some falling autumn leaves knock a screw loose?? amsterdam??
the greatest city besides NYC (my hometown IS the dopest, cannot front)
is by far paris!!
(sssssssh. don’t tell anyone i said that. barcelona is real jealous.)
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I think capetown and Impanema
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I’m from Budapest, Hungary and I love this city!
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I’m one of your new readers. From Kansas City, MO, but now living in Seoul, South Korea. Best city in the world? I haven’t found it yet. Of the places I’ve been, Lake Tahoe is pretty high on the list. I hear Singapore is a pretty great place for raising a family as an Expat.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:10 pm
As fond as I am of Paris, my vote goes to my city – NYC. And I’d like to add that I don’t think it’s a bad place to be single.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
This is a tough one. After having lived in the U.S. and abroad I do have a couple faves. The city I liked the most??? Hong Kong, but New York City is a close second.
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
there are some amazing shout outs to cities i would love to see,such as singapore,budapest and cape town! thanx for the new entries on my travel list.
i enjoyed baltimore wholeheartedly, but baltimore had more rough spots than not. its like new york-great to visit,but long term takes some serious thinking.when we moved to a lovely virginia suburb,our kids were so far behind the other kids academically even THEY said they should have gone to private schools.i guess when you look at it from a mothers point of view, the cities would change to maybe raleigh or charlotte,nc -taos/albuquerque, new mexico …and atlanta makes the cut,again.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Hmmm…lived in the Bay Area, LA, Connecticut, LA, the Bay Area, Paris, the Bay Area, Chicago and LA. And just flat Love LA … so many reasons; the light, the weird admixture of people and cultures, the food (yeah, New Yorkers, the food). Spent time in London and Milan, and like Milan a close second. Even though I speak French and Spanish and have to fake Italian.
Can’t speak to the ‘finding single guys’ issues; when I was a single guy ‘finding single women’ was no more an issue in Paris or the Bay Area than it was in LA. It’s more who you are than where you are, I think…but it’s been a while.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Hi from Denver, which is a fine city, but I’d still vote for Santa Fe.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I’ve visited a few cities, a few states, a few provinces, but I couldn’t name “the best.” How about favorite and least favorite?
Favorite:
1. San Francisco
2. Boston
3. Toronto
4. San Diego
5. Reno/Lake Tahoe
6. Charleston
Least favorite:
1. Pittsburgh
2. St. Louis
3. Memphis
4. Montreal
5. Las Vegas
6. Los Angeles
New Orleans deserves a spot on my list of favorites, but I haven’t been back since Katrina, so I don’t know how it’s changed, just that it has. The old New Orleans will always have a special place in my heart.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:34 am
london and paris. may be a cliché but i love them!
September 24th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I’m in Toronto, a good city to live in but I am surprised to see it on anyone’s list of favourite cities. I’m with Caroline, London and Paris, cliche or not. Wonderful places. Even though you have to be very rich to live in and enjoy either of them. NYC seems wonderful to me, but I haven’t been there for longer than short business trips.
I have to question the judgement, even the sanity of anyone putting Atlanta on their list of favourite cities.. I haven’t lived there so maybe I’m not being fair or open minded but still.. Yuck.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Hi from Chicago! I haven’t travelled very much to judge what’s the best city….I always find that I miss Chicago though if I’m gone too long.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:52 am
@andy- oooooh! cosign on the new orleans thing!
September 24th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I’m a Chicago girl. Always and forever lol.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:50 am
( grin ) whats wrong with atlanta? it consistently makes the cut for everything you would want. even for families.
we went for our honeymoon one year and dragoncon was in full blast & let me tell you,we were VERY entertained and ate at gladys knights chicken joint- more fun.i hear from one friend that the dating scene is dismal,another that it is hot.i guess it does matter who you are. i like tropical weather,which is why hawaii would make the cut for me.but i have never been to miami,only tampa/orlando. which is also a wonderful vacation.i also prefer to be on the coast…
i think LA sucks- when we went,it was ’smokey’ and helicopters were everywhere,blowing debris and more smoke,chasing criminals,i guess. it made our lunch miserable.and ugly,too.
money would make the difference anywhere…if you have plenty,you are sure to have a good time almost anywhere but nebraska.
lol!
September 24th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Hometown: Chicago.
I roamed far and wide across the U.S. looking for the city (suburbs, small towns and rural areas need not apply) I would settle down and ended up returning to my first love, Chicago. I just can’t get enough of this place.
Runners up: NYC (too expensive), Sao Paulo (still on the retire-to list), San Francisco (no summer to speak of) and Seattle (beautiful but didn’t feel a connection).
The only two major cities I didn’t visit personally were Miami and Boston.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I agree Tamara, I think LA sucks too.Those helicopters , so weird.
As for Atlanta, if I have to go back there Gladys Knight’s Chicken Joint may save the city’s image. Happy to give it a try..
As long as you qualify them as vacation destinations those Florida places can be here but as cities to live in. No way..
September 25th, 2008 at 1:30 am
I’ve lived in Atlanta for 8 years. I like it, but I’d love to see what New York and San Francisco are like.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Brooklyn ….. with Katmandu a very close second…….. yeah, I hang my hat in LA…
but …. my soul still lives in Bklyn……
and …. the rest in Katmandu…… if you EVER can…. go there…. it will change your life……
lamesabassman……. have bass…. will travel….
September 27th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I am loving everything about living in Ho Chi Minh City(Saigon), Vietnam. It is inexpensive, the food is wonderful, the people are gorgeous and friendly. They love Americans! HCMC is about the same population as NYC. VN has almost 90 million. VN is the most optimistic place on Earth! A multitude of fabulous places to visit very nearby, in and near VN. Check it out sometime!
September 27th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
It has to be singapore!!! I’ve lived in many cities in the US (esp chicago) and none can be compared to it.
not only it’s a great place to bring up a family, but it has tonnes of activities to do.. think of first ever formula one night races, beautiful cityscape and buildings/infrastructure, very very late night (think of michigan ave but closes at midnight) shopping, 24 hrs restaurants and cafes, voted best night scene in asia..
man i seriously wish that American cities be as progressive..
September 28th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Im reading from St. Louis Missouri
September 28th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
will anyone speak for the Bronx….. just once….. great food …. cool people…
and a up and coming baseball club…. Arthur Ave.
lamesabassman…… just a thought….. Staten Island and NASCAR… whoa,nellie….
September 28th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Hello from Durham, North East England (a BEAUTIFUL but overlooked City)…There is more to the UK than London and Glasgow, ya’ll ;)
November 18th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Call me biased, but definitely London!