"Cool Cities"

[teshadoh]

^ Definitely Northampton, though I know little of that town. But Dinosaur & Sebadoh started there.

[Miesian Corners]

and in CT I will add West Hartford as it is the cool center of central CT

[TheBostonian]

I will add Northampton MA because we all know boston, but Northampton is as "hip" as they get even if it is only 30-50k (i really have no idea how many people live there)

and in CT I will add West Hartford as it is the cool center of central CT

[JDC]

The only cool city in NC is Durham. Keeping it real there. Nothing plastic about it. It is Cary's antithesis.

[totheskies]

Wow, I can definitely say this is a har question for both of my "home states" of Arkansas and Texas. Im assuming that our interpretation of "cool" is referring to the more unique aspects of the city.

For Arkansas, I'll have to go with Hot Springs. For a listed city of only 35,000, it just seems to have close to everything... nice ultra modern facilities, beautiful parks, historic architecture, a great nature setting, and a diverse population. Even after going to college near there (and partying there most every weekend), the city still takes my breath at how much it can offer. And the fact that it's only 1 hour from Little Rock is very cool too.

My experience with Texas is still limited... I've only spent decent time in four of the five major cities, but among those, I think San Antonio gets the win. Austin has a constant college vibe, but SA is where all of the fun is (literally with Six Flags, Sea World, Universal, and the Riverwalk). Downtown is a flippin' mess now, but hopefully will be looking great in another year or so. The cultural foundings of SA are very peculiar... there's a lot of German influence still left in the local citizenry, and that mixed with Hispanic culture is very very cool. The gay/ lesbian community is also growing exponentially. Again, this is just on my limited experience, but I'd go with SA.

[Durhamite]

Nice. As a Durhamite, I'd have to agree.

[TheBostonian]

MAINE

Portland, Maine is cool. For a city of 65,000 it is stunningly urban with the Jane Jacobsian mix of peoples, lifestyles and activities. There's a law school and an arts college, not to mention a large state university campus. It has distinct and contrasting neighborhoods, including a mostly intact prewar downtown with an arts district and historic waterfront at opposite ends with newer office buildings between and throughout, and a student neighborhood and a "crack zone." It has art galleries, tourist traps and homeless people sleeping in doorways. You'll find the old-money Cumberland Club between a gay bar and a radical activist meeting house next to a respectable art museum near an adult video store. The compactness and density of "The Peninsula" make for a walkable community, and boy do people walk, even on the coldest of cold Northern New England days. The city gives the impression of being the capital of something; bank names and a high proportion of local businesses show that Portland is beyond Boston's sphere of influence. Young folks from deeper into this rural state come here to what is, relatively speaking, the big city, if they don't shoot higher for Boston or even New York.

Take a look around with Microsoft's Bird's Eye View or do a local search for bookstores and bike shops or coffee or diners. See that neither height nor size are necessary for urbanness as much as density and diversity are. Or better yet, come here: by ferry from points north or rail from the south. Come see the irony of a most urban place in an otherwise rural region.

[davidals]

Chapel Hill, Wilmington (Asheville from what I hear, never stopped through town).

Durham is just Durham (nothing fake or uptight about it..rough around the edges and I enjoy it!), if the downtown area was more vibrant, this could be one helluva town.

Richmond, Charlottesville and old town Alexandria. Portsmouth and Norfolk are cool area as well.

Annapolis, Inner harbor Baltimore & Georgetown (DC)

[RaleighRob]

Cities I would classify as cool in NC:

Asheville, NC - definetly a different vibe thanks to the artsy crowd. Very liberal city for our state.

Chapel Hill, NC - classic college city.

Wilmington, NC - almost an 'Asheville by the Sea'

[FromCityToRural]

Here in Texas...we have the State Capitol (I refuse to say the name, got shafted by someone by that name).

In California...well...just find any coastal city.

[Living In622]

Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids aren't cool. Well I guess some people like Ann Arbor cause it's very collegish but Detroit is where the people in SE michigan go when they go "Downtown".

[The Dude]

In my state, Birmingham has the "coolness" factor and so does Huntsville to an extent.

[Snowguy716]

Minnesota doesn't really have "cool" cities. Unless you consider art museums and theater cool. Or so one would think.

Minneapolis has quite a bit to offer younger people with Uptown and the bars/clubs downtown. So, I guess Minneapolis would be the cool city. With 50,000 students right across the river, it has to cater to young people in one way or another.

[suburban george3]

A general question - what about W VA? I haven't spent much time there, just a friend from Morgantown (who spoke highly of it), and a trip passing thrwough Charleston, which left a brief impression as a town that might be worth getting to know as well...

[fred333]

I would have to agree with you on Morgantown.

[Minneapolitan]

Minnesota doesn't really have "cool" cities. Unless you consider art museums and theater cool. Or so one would think.

Minneapolis has quite a bit to offer younger people with Uptown and the bars/clubs downtown. So, I guess Minneapolis would be the cool city. With 50,000 students right across the river, it has to cater to young people in one way or another.

[ohioaninSC]

In SC, I would say that Charleston is the coolest city, but Greenville is pretty cool too, but not nearly as cool as Charleston.

In NC, I definitely agree w/ the sentiment about Asheville.

In Ohio, for the nightlife, and young vibe being a large college city, Columbus would be it, but for a better urban coolness, it has to be Cleveland.

Another city, I recently visited b/c my company is headquartered there is Missoula, MT. I was surprised, that even though it has maybe 60K residents, the diversity there, and the nightlife and also how walkable the downtown was. It's a very cool town, just too cold for me to want to live there, though the mountains are breathtaking.

[davidals]

Sooo...another general question - howzabout Canada, Mexico, or elsewhere? Puerto Rico and the greater Caribbean?

Vancouver and Toronto are very thoroughly discussed.

But I've also heard (haven't yet gone to check out) really interesting things about places like Halifax, NS and Monterrey, NL - both of which are described to me as the Canadian and Mexican equivalents of places like Athens or Asheville or Austin. They are both home to very sizable indie arts-and-music scenes (like their US counterparts, they are university cities), and in the case of Monterrey, a significant chunk of Latin America's technology industry as well...

[lewi25]

In Michigan it would be grand rapids, there is always something to do if its going to see a concert at the van andle arena or an AHL game there. Also being able to see a ferrari, bentley or anything like that

Finally in August there is a 15 mile car cruise down 28th street

[Front_Range_Guy]

For my money Denver. I hear more about Fort Collins and Boulder from... you know... people who are trying to prove how cool they are by drinking trendy microbrews in trendy city's. My city is very not cool. In fact, if you are from here, you are treated as a leper.

I'd argue Denver is the only city in Colorado period, actually... but what do I know.

[rasmeth]

In Iowa there's no big city, but the biggest city Des Moines has recently become the coolest city in Iowa. Before Des Moines it was Iowa City that was coolest.

[doogur]

Wow, I can definitely say this is a har question for both of my "home states" of Arkansas and Texas. Im assuming that our interpretation of "cool" is referring to the more unique aspects of the city.

For Arkansas, I'll have to go with Hot Springs. For a listed city of only 35,000, it just seems to have close to everything... nice ultra modern facilities, beautiful parks, historic architecture, a great nature setting, and a diverse population. Even after going to college near there (and partying there most every weekend), the city still takes my breath at how much it can offer. And the fact that it's only 1 hour from Little Rock is very cool too.

My experience with Texas is still limited... I've only spent decent time in four of the five major cities, but among those, I think San Antonio gets the win. Austin has a constant college vibe, but SA is where all of the fun is (literally with Six Flags, Sea World, Universal, and the Riverwalk). Downtown is a flippin' mess now, but hopefully will be looking great in another year or so. The cultural foundings of SA are very peculiar... there's a lot of German influence still left in the local citizenry, and that mixed with Hispanic culture is very very cool. The gay/ lesbian community is also growing exponentially. Again, this is just on my limited experience, but I'd go with SA.

[doogur]

In Ohio, for the nightlife, and young vibe being a large college city, Columbus would be it, but for a better urban coolness, it has to be Cleveland.

[Walker Evans]

Ohio has no "cool" large cities.

[doogur]

Any city is what you make of it.

If you find yourself bored no matter what city you're in, perhaps the problem isn't the geography.