The coolest cities in the US and Canada

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Vast majority of people were nowhere even. Close to 60.

Per 2020 Census, the median age of Sedona, AZ is 59.8.

For comparison's sake, the median age of Milwaukee is 31.4

[Jockey]

Per 2020 Census, the median age of Sedona, AZ is 59.8.

For comparison's sake, the median age of Milwaukee is 31.4

That’s meaningless to me. I wasn’t visiting residents in their homes. Nice restaurants, great outdoor activities, superb scenery are much more important.

Somebody must agree with me - there are basically 3 roads into town. Two of the three were backed up well over a mile as I was leaving town early Saturday night.

[WhiteTrash]

That’s meaningless to me. I wasn’t visiting residents in their homes. Nice restaurants, great outdoor activities, superb scenery are much more important.

Somebody must agree with me - there are basically 3 roads into town. Two of the three were backed up well over a mile as I was leaving town early Saturday night.

Beautiful area and top notch for alternative medicine, mystical healing and crystals.

[pbiflyer]

All right so since this was revived, I’m going with the family to Vancouver next summer. Any recommendations on what to see/do appreciated.

Spend time in Stanley park. Rent a bike, ride the ring around the park. Eat dim sum in Chinatown.

[muwarrior69]

Fairbanks Alaska: all time coolest -66 degrees F and average January temp is 2 degrees F.

My dad was stationed there during WW2. No sunset during the Summer  and no sunrise during the Winter solstice. I'll have to find that photo of him sweeping snow off the barracks steps in mid May.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Used to love Portland and was a frequent visitor but No Mas. Friend tells me downtown is dead. I would concur on Ashville and add Greenville,SC as one of the top choices for best city. Beautiful downtown park with river park coursing through. Plenty of restaurants and unique shops. Lovely town with a great vibe.

[panda]

I feel like everyone is sleeping on st Louis. They have a great take on pizza as well as unique architecture in the form of parabolas in the sky.

[WhiteTrash]

I feel like everyone is sleeping on st Louis. They have a great take on pizza as well as unique architecture in the form of parabolas in the sky.

My daughter was recruited to Washington U for grad school this spring. She passed on the school because of the city (after a visit). She was fortunate to have offers from equally good schools so the city became a decision point.

[MU82]

Used to love Portland and was a frequent visitor but No Mas. Friend tells me downtown is dead. I would concur on Ashville and add Greenville,SC as one of the top choices for best city. Beautiful downtown park with river park coursing through. Plenty of restaurants and unique shops. Lovely town with a great vibe.

We haven't made it to Greenville yet but I keep hearing what a great place it is. We are planning to spend a weekend there in 2024. Thanks for your perspective.

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

Used to love Portland and was a frequent visitor but No Mas. Friend tells me downtown is dead. I would concur on Ashville and add Greenville,SC as one of the top choices for best city. Beautiful downtown park with river park coursing through. Plenty of restaurants and unique shops. Lovely town with a great vibe.

Downtown ain’t dead

[pbiflyer]

We haven't made it to Greenville yet but I keep hearing what a great place it is. We are planning to spend a weekend there in 2024. Thanks for your perspective.

While I agree with the assessment of Greenville being nice, curious as to why you are choosing to spend a weekend there? Part of a larger trip?
I stay there for work when I have customers in the area, but wouldn't really make it a destination.

Oh, and for excitement, you should go down the highway to Spartanburg and the the worldwide headquarters of Denny's. I know its not Arby's but close. (Just kidding, Spartanburg is the antithesis of cool, but probably a good place to buy crack).

[tower912]

Wherever Rico is, obviously.

[MU82]

While I agree with the assessment of Greenville being nice, curious as to why you are choosing to spend a weekend there? Part of a larger trip?
I stay there for work when I have customers in the area, but wouldn't really make it a destination.

Oh, and for excitement, you should go down the highway to Spartanburg and the the worldwide headquarters of Denny's. I know its not Arby's but close. (Just kidding, Spartanburg is the antithesis of cool, but probably a good place to buy crack).

We live only a couple hours away, so you're right, probably could (and should) do it in an overnight or even a day trip. Haven't looked into it enough yet or decided when we'd go. Thanks for your input.

[Uncle Rico]

Wherever Rico is, obviously.

I don’t leave the gated community except for driving my truck to the business park

[ATL MU Warrior]

While I agree with the assessment of Greenville being nice, curious as to why you are choosing to spend a weekend there? Part of a larger trip?
I stay there for work when I have customers in the area, but wouldn't really make it a destination.

Oh, and for excitement, you should go down the highway to Spartanburg and the the worldwide headquarters of Denny's. I know its not Arby's but close. (Just kidding, Spartanburg is the antithesis of cool, but probably a good place to buy crack).

There is a huge (and hugely out of place) Marriott in downtown Spartanburg that I've stayed at once or twice.  Can't recall the name but a decent Irish pub within a couple of blocks with a whole bunch of decay surrounding those two fine establishments.

[muwarrior69]

Downtown ain’t dead

...life support?
https://www.koin.com/news/portland/portland-city-council-passes-tax-incentive-to-lure-central-city-businesses/

[WhiteTrash]

...life support?
https://www.koin.com/news/portland/portland-city-council-passes-tax-incentive-to-lure-central-city-businesses/

Used to be a 'cool' city. Fiends who live there are considering leaving after 15 years. They are very much environmentally conscious and apparently the homeless are trashing the parks, forests, trails, steams and river. They have had to go further out of town to hike with their dogs due to safety concerns. Hopefully Portland can find a balance with the homeless issue. 

[Jockey]

Used to be a 'cool' city. Fiends who live there are considering leaving after 15 years. They are very much environmentally conscious and apparently the homeless are trashing the parks, forests, trails, steams and river. They have had to go further out of town to hike with their dogs due to safety concerns. Hopefully Portland can find a balance with the homeless issue.

You guy need to talk about the real problem cities. Miami, Jacksonville, New Orleans. Way higher crime rates than LA, SF, and Portland.

Betcha Faux News never let you in on that.

[Uncle Rico]

You guy need to talk about the real problem cities. Miami, Jacksonville, New Orleans. Way higher crime rates than LA, SF, and Portland.

Betcha Faux News never let you in on that.

It’s why the Jaguars are leaving Jacksonville

[Pakuni]

Used to be a 'cool' city. Fiends who live there are considering leaving after 15 years.

I thought they were the problem in Portland. Good thing they're leaving.

[MU82]

You guy need to talk about the real problem cities. Miami, Jacksonville, New Orleans. Way higher crime rates than LA, SF, and Portland.

Betcha Faux News never let you in on that.

Not to mention the growing home-insurance crisis.

From Yahoo Finance:

Florida's insurance crisis is threatening the closing of Gernelle Bokuniewicz’s clients for their dream retirement home in Winter Park, Fla.

Frustration began to brew when her client received a premium quote of $17,000 a year for homeowner’s insurance, even though the current owner is paying just $5,000 for the same coverage. Things got worse when the insurance company retracted its quote, citing the high risk associated with the property, leaving Bokuniewicz’s clients scrambling for another insurer before the deal dies.

"I've run into issues before but nothing like this where I couldn't find any insurance for home," Bokuniewicz, the founder of Lively Real Estate, told Yahoo Finance. "It's pretty scary if there is nobody to provide insurance."

That’s becoming a bigger reality — and problem — for Florida homebuyers who typically must obtain homeowner’s insurance as a condition of a mortgage. But as multiple insurers pull out of the state altogether due to rising costs, that’s getting harder to do at a reasonable price and as mortgage costs in general rise.

"It has outrageous prices and trying to get coverage is a problem," Bokuniewicz said.

Floridians already pay the highest home insurance premium in the nation at an average of $6,000 a year in 2023, a year-over-year increase of 42% and 3.5 times higher than the US average of $1,700.

"If you were to go back to 2019, our average premium in this office was about $900 for a home," David Pojero, insurance agency owner based in Debary, Fla., told Yahoo Finance. "It’s $2,400 today."

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

...life support?
https://www.koin.com/news/portland/portland-city-council-passes-tax-incentive-to-lure-central-city-businesses/

People do like to attribute a lot of the problems to an out of control homeless population and it is true it is a noticeable and pressing issue when in some of the spots named in that article, mainly Oldtown/China Town (greyhound station, location of rescue missions), Lloyd center (dead shopping mall).

But the other two neighborhoods seeing that relief are from 1. Lower Albina: a warehouse and brewery district that has been affected by the consolidation of the craft beer industry and its relative lack of accessibility (tight windy roads and hills) for heavier industry, and 2. Downtown - which has been greatly affected by the migration away from full time office work.

To say it is on life support isn't really accurate, as the area around my office has been pretty active in the past year. Sure there still are more vacancies than pre pandemic but I have been seeing more things opening than closing.

(By the way, local Portland news sites like nothing more than to fear monger the city to suburbanites.)

Take it from someone who knows a person who works at TravelOregon, the lowest opinions surveyed of the city are from those who have not set foot in it in six months or longer. People make an opinion from national press coverage and they tend to keep it.

Of course, no one is forcing anyone to spend time here! Just two cents from someone who works downtown and has lived here for nearly a decade.

[Jockey]

Santa Barbara sucks, but seeing the sun rise over the Pacific was unexpected.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

People do like to attribute a lot of the problems to an out of control homeless population and it is true it is a noticeable and pressing issue when in some of the spots named in that article, mainly Oldtown/China Town (greyhound station, location of rescue missions), Lloyd center (dead shopping mall).

But the other two neighborhoods seeing that relief are from 1. Lower Albina: a warehouse and brewery district that has been affected by the consolidation of the craft beer industry and its relative lack of accessibility (tight windy roads and hills) for heavier industry, and 2. Downtown - which has been greatly affected by the migration away from full time office work.

To say it is on life support isn't really accurate, as the area around my office has been pretty active in the past year. Sure there still are more vacancies than pre pandemic but I have been seeing more things opening than closing.

(By the way, local Portland news sites like nothing more than to fear monger the city to suburbanites.)

Take it from someone who knows a person who works at TravelOregon, the lowest opinions surveyed of the city are from those who have not set foot in it in six months or longer. People make an opinion from national press coverage and they tend to keep it.

Of course, no one is forcing anyone to spend time here! Just two cents from someone who works downtown and has lived here for nearly a decade.

PLM  How about the Pearl?  I used to love Portland for its quirkiness and being a foodie paradise with many affordable ,excellent restaurants serving unique locally sourced meals. I remember "Dave" was the source for salmon at one of my favorite haunts.  I was a frequent visitor and am right now planning a steelhead trip for next year. Convinced my son and SIL to join me so I am looking forward to seeing for my self.

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

PLM  How about the Pearl?  I used to love Portland for its quirkiness and being a foodie paradise with many affordable ,excellent restaurants serving unique locally sourced meals. I remember "Dave" was the source for salmon at one of my favorite haunts.  I was a frequent visitor and am right now planning a steelhead trip for next year. Convinced my son and SIL to join me so I am looking forward to seeing for my self.

My office is in the Pearl. It has its moments with people but new things are starting to cycle in. I have never had any issues walking to and from my car aside from the odd tweaked out person talking to themselves. But I have encountered that in most of the cities I visit.

My favorite park in the city is Tanner Springs and it is for the most part kept pretty clear and clean, really good sandwich spot with fresh baked bread right there I go to often. Same with the fields park, I go and get a Moroccan coffee at Ovation and watch the dogs chase each other in the park.

They did just put in a Shake shack by Powell's, utilizing the foot traffic that brings but that's not as much my cup of tea. They have done a ton of building up of Slabtown right next to the pearl and it has some really good places (Jojo arguably best fried chicken in the city). Nob hill right past that is still doing nicely.

I used to live in the Mississippi Ave area and have office space there, and that place has recovered nicely from Covid and is absolutely hopping on nice days. A good stretch to get coffee, drinks, food, you name it.

I live over close to 82nd and even that "unique" stretch is starting to get nicer. I think the Montavilla neighborhood right by Mt. Tabor has two of the better restaurants in the city in Observatory (Montavilla) and Coquine (Tabor). RIP the hot tub by hour place though.

Obviously you know of it being a foodie paradise so I don't have to go on too much further in those details. But for the people who have visited me in the last two years, generally I do a brief jaunt around downtown and then kinda wander the East side neighborhoods more. A lot of people want nature though and I live pretty close to the Gorge so I like taking people to hang out in Hood River, which has some awesome places and tasting rooms with unbeatable views.