kzseattle Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Right. And an honest look is better than spending years in delusionment like some other new growth cities. Only recently has cities like Phoenix admitted some of its quality of life issues such as rising crime, lack of transit options, dearth of public parks and an antiquated water works department. Dallas recently came to grips with reality not being in tune with the locals perception, particularly with regards to schools and crime. Atlanta is finally starting to acknowledge that it is a city that also extends south of I-20 and that blight and decay is growing at a faster rate in this area of the city than prosperity is growing in other parts.The moral (as if I'm one to give morals): the first step to being the best of what you can be is to acknowledge the worst of what you are.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks for putting it more eloquently than I did! While we can all take pride in our accomplishments and enjoy them, lets not forget our shortcomings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elecpharm Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 this dispells the myth that houston is not a tourist destination. tampa's high ranking surprised me. i thought chicago would be higher on the list. are people actually visiting newark, or simply flying into it's airport then heading to nyc?Top U.S. Cities/Hawaiian Islands Visited by Overseas Travelers,Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, ITA, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries Release Date: March 2003in order-New York City Los Angeles Miami Orlando San Francisco Oahu/Honolulu Las Vegas Washington D.C. Chicago Boston Atlanta San Diego Tampa/St. Petersburg San Jose Philadelphia Houston Ft. Lauderdale New Orleans Anaheim Seattle Dallas/Ft. Worth Maui Florida Keys Detroit Phoenix Minn./St. Paul Denver Newark Ft. Myers West Palm Beach Sarasota Riverside/San Bern. Buffalo-Niagara Falls Salt Lake City Sacramento Nassau Monterey Baltimore Santa Barbara Oakland Hawaii (The Big Island) Austin San Antonio Portland Pittsburgh Melbourne Kauai Cleveland Cincinnati Atlantic City Charlotte St. Louis Raleigh Metro Area Columbus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 Neither of these two lists are the least bit surprising if one considers all of the different types of people who travel and all of the different reasons people travel.All of the largest cities are represented in the lists, because lots of relatives and friends go to visit them. Lots of overseas travelers go to the big cities because there are business opportunities there.As to why people go somewhere on vaction or to visit, it is to see something that interests them. I seldom see the biggest visitor attractions on this site. They are NASA, Astroworld (believe it or not), the myriad Art Museums, the Medical Center, The Galleria, and the Arts (symphony, opera, theater and ballet).These places of interest attract families on summer vacation, people seeking world class medical care, expensive shopping (especially from Mexico), and lovers of the arts.What these places do not attract are drunk college kids, heavy gamblers and uppity 20 and 30 somethings who think driving a BMW 3 series makes you wealthy (except the Galleria). Because of this, they are not often shown on the Travel Channel. But fear not. The people who want or need these attractions, find them.As a single guy, I would like to see Houston ramp up its party factor as much as anyone. But when uninformed people tell me Houston is full of middle class rednecks, I remind them of this: "The Houston Theater District is ranked second, only behind New York City, for the number of theater seats in a concentrated downtown area, and Houston is one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines of opera, ballet, music, and theater." -Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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