yeah that surprised me as well. i don't know that it would make top 5 cities in North Carolina that I'd want to live in.

Wilmington, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Asheville, Charlotte. i guess fifth

I had kitty Hawk in fifth but same list otherwise.

Steering back towards Nashville for a sec, on of my love/hate things about this town is that it's labeled "Music City USA", but it should be labeled "Third Coast Music Industry City". It sucks because people running the country music industry are hacks, but it's cool because with all of the publicity of country music, it allows for a "simmering just beneath the mainstream layer" (as much as one can exist in the information age) creative community that you have to dig for, so for the locals, it's appreciated.

On the other hand, a lot of songwriters are drawn here because it's known as a songwriter's town. That in turn breeds young songwriters looking to leech off a rich history of critic's favorite songwriters and a lot of commercialized and cheesy pop-singer/songwriters that are mainstays in the AAA radio world.

never been to kitty hawk or the outer banks

I guessing Fu didn't take any of us up on our sell jobs?

HOU-freaking-STON

Do I need to say more?










HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA....pffffft

I have friends in Houston still without internet.

wha?

Same song, different verse.

Still not following.

so you moved to Houston?

Since this thread is back up, tell me about these cities:

Albuquerque/Santa Fe
Missoula
Salt Lake City
Denver
Fargo (more curious than anything)

As I am sure you know, these two places are very different... Santa Fe is over 60 miles north, and higher elevation. It's smaller and much more affluent. Lot's of artists and good restaurants, chic, cultures. Opera, classical music, old thin rich women with short silver hair. Albuqueque is more a real city, working class, younger latina women with tatoos. If you go to Santa Fe, don''t miss Taos which is about 60 miles further north, and is a really interesting mix of people.

i can get having a love/hate thing with cashville... i mostly love it tho.

pros:
madd cheap
madd cool people (just don't leave davidson county)
TONS of great (and affordable) food (i swear)
hot chicken
smaller quantity of culturally fantastical offerings but plenty of quality
live music scene = A+++++
ability to have a half acre of land 10 minutes from downtown
never waiting on lines
proximity to other fun cities
leafy
reasonable traffic, wholly reasonable population

cons:
landlocked
everybody bein all up in yr bizness
doesn't seem to be overflowing with job opportunities
oppressive church-iness (if you're less interested in team-sport spirituality)
worst drivers on the planet

far as visiting... i think it's fun, but i think you have to know someone, or you end up on lower broadway watching tourists buy hats.

all that said, i wanna move to the pacific northwest pretty much yesterday.

RE: Christ-yness - I think it helps if you grew up with "the church" being part of your surrounding environment/culture. If you've been exposed to those people your entire life, it doesn't seem as oppressive in relation

RE: worst drivers? Well, yeah. Never use their turn signals, are inconsiderate and drive really damn slow on the interstate/freeway

RE: Nico sums up visiting Nashville. However, I encourage you to either 1. See a show at the Ryman (which is downtown/lower Broad) 2. Go to Robert's Western World and Layla's Bluegrass Inn. But after those, get the hell out of Downtown Nashville.

What about hot as hell in the summertime?

It was relatively mild the past summer. Only getting above 95 a few times (versus last summer where we had 14-straight days of 100+ weather). Chicago also gets pretty damn hot in the summer, if my memory serves me.

I don't how you can prefer freezing your ass off to sweating your ass off.

Missoula: I've only driven through it. Small. I think there's a college.

Fargo (more curious than anything): Ever seen a strip mall?

While neither is awesome, I can put on a sweater and a coat here, but I cannot take off enough layers to make 98 degrees / 95% humidity tolerable.

it gets swampy here in the durrty, no doubt. but i find that air conditioning is damn near unavoidable, so it doesn't really bother me much. mind you being at bonnaroo makes me want to die, but standing in a field in the summer in satchketario for four days probably sucks too.

oh, but MOST FEROCIOUS MOSQUITOES IN HISTORY OF EVER.

all that said, somebody give me a job in portland or seattle. please?

I grew up outside of St. Louis and I will echo its semi-greatness over its semi-wackness. Other than the things mentioned I must add

Pro:
1. Great Wineries within driving distance - some have consistently won international competitions, all put on kick ass Oktoberfests.

2. Great nature all within driving distance. Grant's Farm, The Ozarks, Lake of the Ozarks, amazing canoeing rivers, amazing camping, all filled with truly breathtaking scenery.

3. The Central West End, The Loop, U-City all are pretty cool, arty, comfortable and affordable.

4. Washington University is one of the finest Universities in America. Its med school, its history, poly sci and its law schools all get consistently high marks and its scholars are often sought for their insight from folks at NPR and some of the better newspapers and the like.

5. Other fine institutions include the University of Missouri Saint Louis, Saint Louis University, and many other small private schools like Fontebonne, Maryville, Webster and the like...

6. Slight Proximity to most of the Heartland. Chicago 5 hours. Nashvegas 4.5 hours, Kansas City 4 Hours, OKC 5.5 Hours. Omaha 6.5 hours. Minneapolis 8 hours. Dallas 12 hours. Denver 13ish hellish hours.

7. The Hill (I know, previously mentioned) has 5 star restaurants that treat you like a king and don't charge East/West Coast prices.

8. The City Museum. Fucking Awsome museum put together in an old Office Building/Warehouse downtown by a collective of Art Freaks. Think Keith Haring meets Gogol Bordello meets Tony Hawk meets Pee Wee's Playhouse meets Andy Warhol meets Fat Albert's Junkyard Gang meets Willy Wonka meets Where in The World Is Carmen San Diego meets Legend Of The Hidden Temple. Straight or altered, this place is amazing, and on weekend evenings, it boots all the kids and becomes an adult wonderland WITH BOOZE!

Con:

1. Small(ish) music scene, but I've always noticed a sort of network between most midwestern College towns that makes for one pretty awesome scene. You get the best from Champaign/Urbana IL., Columbia, MO, Springfield, MO, KCMO, Lawrence KS, Tulsa/OKC OK, Lincoln/Omaha NE, Iowa City, IA and the like. Most great bands from these places eventually establish a network or a circuit that they travel consistently, so you can check out some pretty great bands a few times to several times a year.

2. Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser - as Todd said, it is a company town. But since the Belgian company bought it, quite a few of those die hards have basically said fuck it, I'll drink something else. You can find most any kind of beer or libation you'd like, and Missouri has pretty decent liquor laws thanks for their desire to be a tourist destination, so you can get a pretty cheap drink on at most anytime you'd like. And despite its drawbacks, if you want a free drunk, the factory tour used to be pretty sweet.

3. The Rams suck, the Blues Suck, and most everybody outside of the st Louis region hates the Cardinals. (But boy, if you want to see how a baseball stadium should be, catch a Cards game, sure its not Wrigley, but the fans KNOW their team, KNOW the history of the game, and LOVE IT!)

4. Politics - the Big MO is a purple State. It has flaming liberals and ultra conservatives both. It cant seem to make up its mind.

5. It does not have BBQ the way it is done in my current home town of Kansas City!

As much as I hate the Cardinals, this claim is indisputable.