Dec 31st, 2008 at 8:42 am
The Year in Cities
Interesting concept from Jason Kottke who’s listing all the cities he’s been to in 2008. My list (not counting places I just drove through or switched planes in) with asterixes for places I’d never been before:
- Washington, DC.
- New York, NY.
- Los Angeles, CA.
- Claremont, CA.*
- Riverside, CA.
- Tuscon, AZ*
- Austin, TX.*
- Miami, FL.
- Chicago, IL.
- Geneva, Switzerland.*
- Helsinki, Finland.*
- Kitty Hawk, NC.
- Minneapolis, MN.*
- Las Vegas, NV.*
- Baltimore, MD.
All told, I think I did more traveling this year than I had in some time which at times got exhausting (those were three separate trips to Southern California) but overall I found incredibly fun and interesting. I’m still very eager to get to the Pacific Northwest at some point as I’ve never been to Portland, Seattle, or Vancouver and not to the Bay Area since I was a little kid. That or, you know, Asia.
UPDATE: And Cambridge, MA! Apologies to SR my host in that fine town.
55 Responses to “The Year in Cities”
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December 31st, 2008 at 8:46 am
Nothing like a little end-of-the-year navel-gazing. Happy New Year, Matt.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:00 am
“Interesting concept from Jason Kottke”
Interesting? Boring is more like it. Why should I care where Mr. Kottke has been this year?
Would you like a list of the restaurants where I ate this year? I didn’t think so.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:04 am
Matthew writes:
No doubt, visiting some of those cities with Asterix would be interesting.
Or maybe Matthew meant .
Anyway, happy New Year, and here’s hoping for lots of amusing typos in 2009!
December 31st, 2008 at 9:06 am
Uh, of course what I meant to write was:
December 31st, 2008 at 9:10 am
If you are going to Oregon you should go to the coast, Portland is boring. Oregon protected their coastline better than some other states so it is really awesome. On the other hand they don’t let people pump their own gas.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am
What a nice small carbon footprint.
Was it difficult to bicycle to all those places from Washington , DC?
December 31st, 2008 at 9:39 am
Portland is boring.
No way. It is definitely a city worth visiting.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Tucson would be the capital of Tucsony, I suppose.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:42 am
The Pacific NW is great, I agree with Craig that you should go to the coast, the Dunes are awe inspiring, but I’ll disagree and say that Portland is pretty cool. Seattle is great, also, lots of interesting places to see. I’d also recommend Spokane, WA, on the other side of the state, on the other side of the mountains. Though this time of year might be a bad idea, (there’s four feet of snow on my lawn right now), it’s a very nice place to visit.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:44 am
Well, I just found a brand-new way of embarrassing myself in public. Make that “Tuscon” and “Tuscony.” “Tucson” being in fact correct.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:44 am
Vancouver is wonderful and it exemplifies many of the recommendations regarding urban planning, transportation, and cars that you recommend. You should check out the Georgia St. and Robson St. corridors. Quite a place and one of the only growing cities to have reduced both traffic and vehicle use.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:44 am
If you’re interested in this sort of thing, you may enjoy Marty O’Brien’s county-counting site:
http://www.mob-rule.com/counties/
Oh, and by the way:
Los Angeles, CA
Long Beach, CA
Avalon, CA
Solvang, CA
Ventura, CA
Carlsbad, CA
Buffalo, NY*
Niagara Falls, NY/ON*
Toronto, ON*
London, ON*
Seattle, WA
Bellingham, WA*
Vancouver, BC
Ketchikan, AK*
Juneau, AK*
Skagway, AK*
Anchorage, AK*
Talkeetna, AK*
December 31st, 2008 at 9:54 am
Yes, you need to come here to Portland. Great place to visit and to live.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:58 am
surely you can come up with some policy-investigating reason to come to Singapore. I mean, not drug policy reform, obviously, but education or something?
December 31st, 2008 at 10:02 am
thinking now about actual cities I went to this year
Singapore
New York
Washington D.C.
Savannah, GA
Denpasar, Indonesia
not very many, when you get right down to it.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:06 am
Looks like it’s time to explore some NON-first-world cities.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:10 am
The only sizeable U.S. city I’ve traveled to this year was San Antonio. Laredo might count, though it’s much smaller. I’m not counting Houston as it was just a plane-changing stop.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:19 am
If one realy want to understand why many urban planning ideas do not really work, one should drive across the U.S. instead of flying all of the time.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:26 am
Minneapolis and Seattle tied this year as most literate!
December 31st, 2008 at 10:28 am
Hey Matt, didn’t you also go to a thing in Santa Monica, CA? We are a separate city from LA, you know. IIRC, it was at Shutters or somesuch.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:42 am
hmm… for me:
New York, NY
Boston/Cambridge, MA
Philadelphia, PA
Orlando, FL
San Jose, Costa Rica*
Carlsbad, CA*
St. Louis, MO*
San Francisco/Berkeley, CA
Lavallette, NJ
Wilkes-Barre, PA*
Richmond, VA*
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands*
December 31st, 2008 at 10:43 am
Atlanta is nice too.
Really, after my thread request was honored, I am at a loss for words on everything.
“What a nice small carbon footprint.”
I don’t think that’s fair. Matt wasn’t taking privately chartered flights (I don’t think) and his refusal to fly wouldn’t have decreased the overall level of pollution at all.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:33 am
If you’re interested in the pros and cons of cities, Asia offers lots of case studies. I can personally recommend Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. Not the biggest cities in Asia, but lots of unique features in each.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:56 am
Guess I should add mine:
New Orleans, LA
Baton Rouge, LA
Houma, LA
Tulsa, OK
Bristow, OK
Minneapolis, MN
Detroit, MI
Memphis, TN
Washington, DC
Fairfax, VA
Alexandria, VA
Fredericksburg, VA
Baltimore, MD
Bethesda, MD (almost moved here)
Wilmington, DE
Philadelphia, PA
Bethlehem, PA
West Chester, PA
Ocean City, NJ
Atlantic City, NJ (what a shit hole)
Margate City, NJ
Boston, MA
Cambridge, MA
San Miguel de Cozumel, Mex.
Miami, FL
Key West, FL
December 31st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Let me understand this: you went all the way to Switzerland, and the only city you saw there was Geneva? And *then*, you took a whole other trip to go all the way to Finland, and the only city you saw there was Helsinki?
Well, that’s just more than a little sad.
December 31st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Matt,
as a U of A graduate, I am curious your thoughts on Tucson? I think it always depends where you stay. If you in the foothills near the Catalina mountains or in the Tucson mountains (Tucson is literally surrounded by 4 mountain ranges), it is beautiful (if sad seeing all of that development on the wettest desert in the world, a unique biosphere).
If you were in the city, you likely detested it as as a sign of what happens when cheap, mass produced cookie cutter housing falls on hard times.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
“That or, you know, Asia.”
You really need to go to Asia. Europe is fine, but it’s not much different than America. Asia is really different. But a word of caution: before you go to India, go to a practice country first. That way, you won’t be too shocked. Most people recommend Thailand, which is fine if you plan on sticking to the big cities in India. But if you want to go to rural India, then check out Cambodia first. Cambodia will teach you what humanity really smells like. Plus, you’ll get used to seeing lots of really deformed people. In Cambodia, it’s because they stepped on a land mine. In India, it’s either because of one of the plethora of diseases available there, or because their parents cut off their legs so they’d be more effective at begging. Speaking of diseases, don’t get the malaria shots, they’re almost as bad as malaria itself. And buy your mosquito repellent there. The US has limits on how much DEET can be used, and that limit is too low for Asia. Trust me, you do not want to get Dengue Fever. It’s really bad the first time, but then it keeps coming back for years. As for the best Asian city, definitely Bangkok. What I like about Bangkok is its honesty. Most cities hide their dark underbelly, but it’s proudly shown in Bangkok. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all right there in front of you without any sugar coating. It’s humanity at its realest. And the food is great.
That said, I’ve been to about 30 cities this year, and almost all of them are in India.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Didn’t you also spend some time in Aspen, for the Aspen Ideas Festival?
December 31st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Oh, and if you’re going to Asia, always carry one of those pocket packs of tissues with you. You’ll find out why soon enough. And if you’re on a long train ride in India with Delhi Belly, make sure you have four packs of tissues.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:36 pm
#27:
I agree with the comments on Bangkok, but that advice on malaria is shockingly bad. I’ve had 2 friends, and known at least 3 other people who have been seriously ill (as in, to the point of near death) from malaria; one was incapacitated for over a year. Malaria is not something you want to be mess around with.
Travelers should take pills if going into malarial areas (eg. many parts of Thailand or Indonesia are safe) – I’ve taken Malarone with no apparent side effects. You can get 100% DEET in Canada – it’s hard to find DEET at all in many parts of Asia.
And I recommend Laos over Cambodia.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
“Denpasar, Indonesia”
That’s a lie! Nobody goes to Denpasar, except during a taxi ride from the airport to kuta, nusa dua, seminyak, jimbaran or ubud…
December 31st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Looks like no St. Paulites have jumped down your throat yet, so I’ll say it: You should probably add St. Paul, MN to the list too, since that’s where the RNC actually took place.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I would humbly request that you add St. Paul to your list of cities you’ve been to. The convention was HERE, not in that hedonistic cesspool on the other side of the Mississippi.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
“And I recommend Laos over Cambodia.”
I’d agree, but it’s not as shocking, so it’s not as good at preparing you for India. Laos is where I go if I just want to relax. Everything moves really slow in Laos. As for Malaria, I’ve had it. Dengue Fever is much worse and there’s no pill or shot for it. I’ve also taken pills for Malaria, and I was completely dysfunctional while I was on them. Maybe you’re right, and there are better pills these days. But the pills I took were pretty much the same as the Malaria I got. In the end, you just don’t want to be bitten by a mosquito. I got Dengue Fever in Cambodia. I was sick of the DEET, so I asked my motorbike driver if there was Malaria in the area. He said there wasn’t, so I didn’t use the DEET. I got Dengue Fever instead. And I was soon wishing I only had Malaria.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:22 pm
“it’s hard to find DEET at all in many parts of Asia.”
The only place I’ve had trouble finding DEET was India. But in India, it doesn’t really matter. You cannot possibly defend yourself against all the diseases you can get there. If you took a pill for every disease you could get, those pills would surely kill you (we’re talking several thousand pills, and at least four different kinds of Malaria pills). Even if they didn’t, those pills would screw up your stomach so much that you wouldn’t be able to eat. So you take the Montgomery Burns approach and hope that the diseases fight each other off. Unfortunately, one of the diseases will win, and you will get sick. Fortunately, super fatal diseases like Bird Flu are damn near impossible to catch.
December 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
“That’s a lie! Nobody goes to Denpasar”
Don’t ever say “nobody ever goes there,” because sometimes you do. I was hanging out in a bar in Amsterdam with a Bulgarian guy. I asked him where I should go in Bulgaria. And he looks at me like I have two heads and says: “What, are you crazy? Nobody goes to Bulgaria.” And I explain that I decided to go to Turkey, and Sofia is a big train hub around there, so maybe I’d see a little of Bulgaria on the way. He then knew I was completely crazy, but offered some places to go anyway. I didn’t actually go to those places because I can never keep to a plan. That’s why I don’t normally make them. But hey, I had a lot of fun in Bulgaria. And the food kicks ass on Slovakia. But then again, you can mix a bowl of styrofoam and cardboard, and it would be better than Slovakian food. Seriously though, Bulgarian food is quite good. And it’s true, nobody goes there, except me.
December 31st, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Seattle is nice and all but you should be able to see everything here in a day, maybe two. Don’t miss the Columbia Tower observation deck, it’s a thousand times better than the Space Needle. Other than that, the real sites to see are outside the city. Make sure you come during the summer when it doesn’t get dark until almost 10pm.
December 31st, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Don’t ever say “nobody ever goes there,” because sometimes you do.
Except Denpassar. Nobody goes there…
December 31st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
The US has limits on how much DEET can be used, and that limit is too low for Asia.
??? I have some 100% DEET. I don’t remember where I got it, but I assume it was at REI or Sport Chalet. I know it wasn’t in Canada.
December 31st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Oh god, my list this year:
* Portland, OR
* Seattle, WA
* Salem, OR
How depressing.
Seriously though, ignore the anti-Portland naysayer (although he’s right that our coast is very beautiful, if freezing fucking cold all year round). People from other countries on fact finding missions about transit who tour the country always make sure to visit Portland. It’s probably less exciting than most of the places you went this year though.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:23 pm
My List:
Fort Lauderdale FL (lived there until May)
St Petersburg FL
Savannah GA
Raleigh NC
Durham NC
Baltimore MD (lived there since May)
Washington DC
Trenton NJ
Cleveland OH
Akron OH
Ann Arbor MI
Indianapolis IN
Champagne IL
Denver CO
Morgantown WV
San Juan PR
Of these only the last two on the list were new territory for me.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:03 pm
obviously I was actually going to Jimbaran and then Canggu, but the request was for cities, and I had to go to Denpasar to get my daughter’s passport replaced on short notice.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:27 am
Let me understand this: you went all the way to Switzerland, and the only city you saw there was Geneva? And *then*, you took a whole other trip to go all the way to Finland, and the only city you saw there was Helsinki?
Well congratulations to you for being a man of unlimited resources and time. What’s sad about it? I’ve also “only” visited Helsinki, but the alternative was not to go to Finland at all. The only Danish city I’ve ever been to is Copenhagen and the only Dutch city Amsterdam. There’s also a lot to be said for spending a lot of time in one city and getting to know it.
January 1st, 2009 at 7:01 pm
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Comitan, Chiapas
Juchitan, Oaxaca (Mexico) !
Huatulco, Oaxaca
Oaxaca City, Oaxaca
Porto Escondido, Oaxaca
Mazunte, Oaxaca (a.k.a. Heaven)
St. Agustinillo, Oaxaca
Cuajimaloyas, Oaxaca
San Juan Copala, Oaxaca !
Cuatla, Morelos (Mexico)
Tepotzlan, Morelos
DF, Mexico
Tlaxcala, Mexico
Aguascalientes, Mexico
Queretaro, Mexico
Antigua, Guate
Panajachel, Guate
Nahualá, Guate !
San Pedro la Laguna, Guate
Santa Rosa Copan, Honduras
Utila, Honduras
Guarita, Honduras !
Gracias, Honduras
Manhattan, NY
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