What cities have you visited most often? (live, best, cost)

[Champ le monstre du lac]

What North American cities (that you don't reside in/out of state) have you visited most often? What is it about the place that keeps you coming back for more? Business? Leisure? Family? Friends? I would say mention cities that you have visited either frequently or at least 3 or more times. How is it different from you hometown? Do you have an affection for the place or do you travel to some places out of obligations? How would you describe the cities frequently visited from your viewpoint?

[austiNati]

I just got back from Indianapolis (for like the 100th time). Half of my family is from there. All in all, it's pretty similar to Cincy on the outskirts. The inner-city isn't as dense, and there are not as many defined neighborhoods as there are in Cincy. Geographically, the two are vastly different, with Indy being completely flat, and Cincinnati being very hilly with many cliffs and valleys. Demographically, Indianapolis is more diverse than Cincinnati, with a higher black and latino population.

[Psykomonkee]

I like this topic. It's right up my alley because I love to travel and discuss travel:


My WORK Destinations:
#1 - Washington DC - From PHX (Business travel)
#2 - San Diego (Business)
#3 - Hawai'i (Business)

My FAMILY Business Destinations:
#1 - New York City (Family)
#2 - Atlanta (Family)
#3 - Los Angeles (Family)

My LEISURE Destinations:
#1 - Las Vegas (LOVE that place!!! Leisure) - Casinos, partying, conventions & high life
#2 - New Orleans (Leisure) - Great festivals and great food
#3 - Denver (Leisure) - Snowboarding and great food

[Garfieldian]

Hmmm
NYC probably 10 times, love it
ATL probably 40 times. lived close and good connecting flights... so much time at Hartsfield, my god.
All of the major FL cities 10+ times. lived close
New Orleans 10 times. lived close
Las Vegas 5 times


I've been to a lot of other cities but they are mostly 1 visit and done, maybe twice. This includes most of the U.S. cities as well as most of the European cities as well as the major national parks I might add.

The only places that will probably continue to add up are NYC and Las Vegas (for different reasons). I'd like to see more of Paris and London but they are cost prohibitive. I'd also like to explore more in DC/Boston/Philadelphia in terms of history and museums. I'm pretty much done with everywhere else and will spend my money on foreign destinations I have yet to go to.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Denver, CO: Been four times. My best friend lives in Denver. Truth is it doesn’t really knock my socks off but I really like it anyway. My first visit was in 1998 and I’ve seen a lot of improvement in Denver since then. Its downtown is a good one with LoDo and the 16th pedestrian mall. The area around the state capital is very attractive, the art museum as VERY impressive, as is the library. The nightlife there is friendly and fun. lots of good beer in Denver (not Coors) at the microbreweries. Boulder is a fun place to visit, definitely one of the most interesting and eclectic college towns I’ve seen, with a gorgeous mountain backdrop setting. I spent two weeks in Denver backin 2009 which gave me time to get to know the city fairly well. The parks are great, love Washington Park and the neighborhood surrounding it. There is definitely tons of great roadtrips and receration nearby. The prarie and mountain setting is so striking to me as its so different from the urban density, surrounding forested suburbs, and waterfront in Boston that I'm use to seeing. The airport in Denver is a trip, out in the middle of nowhere well out of town on the prairie yet large enough to serve Tokyo. I’m moving to Albuquerque soon which is the nearest major metro so I’ll likely be visiting Denver a lot more in the future.

Portland, OR: I’ve visited Portland more times than I can count, at least 30 times. I’ve probably spent more time in Portland than any city that I haven’t resided in. It was my home away from home when I lived in Seattle. Whenever I wanted to get out of my element in Seattle I’d make the three hour drive down. I appreciated some of the differences between Portland and Seattle. I like that Portland had a nice park system so close to downtown, a nice waterfront on the river with no roaring expressways overhead. I love downtown Seattle but I felt Portland’s downtown had a bit more charm, in a European sort of way (small blocks, streetcars, more small businesses). Powell’s books would always be one of the highlights of my visits to Portland (can’t think of a better bookstore anywhere). Visiting friends down there I ate at number of restaurants and took in the nightlife often. Portland is an excellent dining city and often cost less to dine out there compared with other west coast cities. I love the city, it’s got a lot of character, so much so it’s better for me to visit as I think the character the city would wear thin on me after a while if I lived there.

Raleigh, NC: Been at least 10 times, was just down there over the Thanksgiving holiday recently. My sister, nieces and nephews live there whom I really enjoy spending time with so it’s likely I’ll be going back again often in the future. That said, it’s not my kind of city. What I appreciate about it is it’s a good place for families and raising kids, a lot of quality suburban housing stock and relatively affordable. It’s pretty friendly, safe, prosperous, plenty of educational and career opportunities which is good for my brother in law supporting a large family like his. So for the sake of my family and their priorities I appreciate Raleigh, for my own personal taste it’s dullsville. One of those places that’s better to live for the attributes listed than to visit. Raleigh has an OK downtown, Duke has a beautiful campus, and Chapel Hill is nice, but the area is largely suburban based with pretty non descript topography. The setting is continuous rolling piedmont pines with a few manmade lakes/reservoirs. My mother lives down the interstate a couple hours away in Wilmington, NC. Though smaller, being on the coast I find there is more to do around there.

Philadelphia: My favorite big city on the East Coast, been at least seven times, and my ex lives there (more of a friend now). It's both very similar and very different than Boston. Nonetheless its one of those place I feel at home in and has a very familiar feeling to me with its large Irish and Italian communities, early American history and architecture. I love the art museum in Philly and I love love LOVE the skyline, freaking gorgeous!

Burlington, VT: A nice weekend away from Boston, nice to visit in all four seasons. A very eclectic college town, good restaurants and bars, nice attractive downtown, and the best thing about it is the setting on Lake Champlain, one of the most beautiful lakes I've very seen with awesome sunsets. Just a short and relaxing three hour drive away I get up there quite a bit. Vermont is so laid back it's my favorite place in New England to escape the ratrace of life around Boston. Burlington does feel like a much bigger city than it actually is, packs quite a punch for a little city though still very laid back. A lot of nice recreation nearby from skiing in the winter, swimming in the lake in summer, hiking the nearby mountains and leaf peeping in the fall, or taking a ferry ride across the lake to the Adirondacks, I love Burlington.

Vancouver, BC: Another place I went to get out of Seattle for long weekends, been at least 8 or 9 times. I loved bike riding and rollerblading around Stanley Park. Good shopping and very cosmopolitan, felt a bit more worldly to me than Seattle. I like the city but I don't feel it was very friendly and driving there is a pain in the a** as there are no freeways there and making a bit of a challenge to navigate. On the plus side it has excellent mass transit. Vancouver feels post modern to me and also has more density than any other newer Western city that I've seen. It paradoxically can look like a dream with its glass towers and mountain setting but also look very dull with gloomy weather and the monotony of the same uniform glass towers block after block. I like Vancouver but also have some mixed feelings about it.

New York City: Just down the road from Boston, been more times than I can count. I don't go as often lately, I liked it more when I was younger.

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

What North American cities (that you don't reside in/out of state) have you visited most often? What is it about the place that keeps you coming back for more? Business? Leisure? Family? Friends? I would say mention cities that you have visited either frequently or at least 3 or more times. How is it different from you hometown? Do you have an affection for the place or do you travel to some places out of obligations? How would you describe the cities frequently visited from your viewpoint?

Great and interesting question! Hmm...I would say Fort Lauderdale. I am ALWAYS back here. No matter where in the world I move. I come back here because my family is here. I have to see them every-time I come to FL. Sometimes I spend thanksgiving and Christmas here and other times not. I've been living in Texas for the past 5 years. I recently just moved back to FL. My hometown is nowhere because I've moved around so much. I would say I DO have an affection for this place because my family has lived here so long, it's like my home away from home. I don't particularly like Florida (even though I was born and raised here) but I have grown a fondness for the area. It doesn't change. That's something I admire about it. Knowing there's a place in this world that I can call home, that doesn't change, feels really comforting and makes me feel secure.

[lammius]

At least 3 times? Oh boy... Just counting cities over 100,000 in population:

Boston/Cambridge/Somerville
Providence, RI
Hartford, CT
New Haven, CT
Rochester, NY
Buffalo, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Allentown, PA
Baltimore, MD
Washington/Alexandria/Arlington
Richmond, VA
Roanoke, VA
Atlanta, GA
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Orlando, FL
New Orleans, LA
Los Angeles, CA
Long Beach, CA
San Francisco, CA
Oakland, CA
Toronto, ON
Montreal, PQ

I had to omit for living/employment reasons:
New York
All major NJ cities
Norfolk/Va Beach

Of the ones on the list, I've been to Philadelphia most (family), followed by DC and Boston (pretty even mix of work and personal reasons for going to each).

[escilade18]

NYC>10 times given that my sister attended college there and my parents were always wanting to visit her up there
Baltimore: 3 times
Philadelphia (well ok it is in state but it is about the same distance from Pittsburgh as Toronto is so it should count) due to friends living out there (I have better relationships with Philly girls than Pittsburgh girls
Columbus OH: I enjoy going there for a good day trip. An easy toll free drive from home
Virginia Beach: used to exclusively go here for vacation
Washington D.C. not too far from Pittsburgh for another great day trip possibility
Detroit

[Back to the 'States]

NYC and LV god it's been so long since I last saw some where else. I think Chi in 06 was decent. IDKC if I see another city in the US again of course excepting NYC and LV.

What else does the US have? I just returned to the States.

[Chicago60614]

I just travel for fun, don't get to for work.

Places I've been the most:

Amsterdam: 9
New York City: 9
Washington DC: 8
San Francisco: 5
New Orleans: 4
Dublin: 4
Paris: 4
Boston: 3
London: 3
Berlin: 3
Rome: 3
Barcelona: 3
Florence: 3
Venice: 3
San Diego: 3