The Best City in the World
According to the 8 million readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine it is Sydney, Australia. The top city in North America? My hometown of Charleston, SC. Details here. The full list:
- Sydney
- Florence, Italy
- Charleston, SC
- Capetown, South Africa
- San Francisco, CA
- Sante Fe, NM
- Quebec City
- Barcelona
- Vancouver
- Rome
- Kyoto
- Chicago
- Paris
- Bruges
- Venice
- Bangkok
- Saltzburg
- Victoria, BC
- Hong Kong
- Vienna
I have visited all of these cities except Santa Fe and can say that all are outstanding places to visit. I might drop a few down the list to make room for Prague, Oslo and Istanbul among others. The only way in which I can see that Charleston deserves such elite status is because of its restaurant industry. There is no other place on the planet that provides the diversity and intensity of fine dining at an affordable price. The best restaurant in Sydney is a pub for Pete's sake and the only cuisine in Florence is Italian!
I make these observations not only to brag about my hometown. Whenever Rob and Peter finally get around to organizing a 2 or 3 day political forum for Ricochet contributors and members, where else should it be but the top travel destination in North America?
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Comments:
Aug '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Ah, ah, ah...the poll didn't name the "best cities in the world". It named the best cities to visit.
Charleston? Bangkok? Capetown? Amusing places to visit, I'm sure; but I wouldn't want to live there.
Mar '11
Re: The Best City in the World
National Geographic released a similar list on which Pittsburgh is the only American city.
Don't laugh. If you haven't been to Pittsburgh in the last 5 years you ought to visit. It ain't what it used to be.
May '11
Re: The Best City in the World
T.P. I was aware of that distinction but picked my title from the link which didn't link.
I choose to live in Charleston precisely because it is, IMHO, the best city in which to live. Most of that is based on subjective assessment of quality of life issues but also based on a sense of where I feel I belong in the geopolitical scheme of things. Bangkok is not nearly as attractive to my way of thinking as it was for awhile and Capetown is entering a long season of decline.
Edited on October 26, 2011 at 7:58pmMay '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Casey: National Geographic released a similar list on which Pittsburgh is the only American city.
Don't laugh. If you haven't been to Pittsburgh in the last 5 years you ought to visit. It ain't what it used to be. · Oct 26 at 10:49am
I love cities like Pittsburgh and Cincinnati that preserve what makes them distinctive.
Aug '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Let me know when Charleston's crime rate drops below its current status of 2.2 times the national average.
Like a lot of other cities, it's not the city you live in - it's where in the city you live.
May '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Tom Paine: Let me know when Charleston's crime rate drops below its current status of 2.2 times the national average.
Like a lot of other cities, it's not the city you live in - it's where in the city you live. · Oct 26 at 10:57am
If safety from crime (and statistics are nearly worthless for assessing that}, is your primary concern, then I am sure you are enjoying your gated community in the outposts of Montana. Avoidance of crime is one of the least important considerations in where Charleston natives choose to live. There are many places I would not walk alone at night but downtown Charleston is not one of them.
Aug '10
Re: The Best City in the World
Clearly, they didn't visit Quebec City in the winter.
Re: The Best City in the World
SP --
Would like to know what happens when you try to use the embed button.
Make sure you're first highlighting text with your cursor, then clicking on the embed button, the one that looks like a chain link. (Note:If you don't highlight any text, the embed button won't be clickable.)
You should next see a box that prompts you to enter the URL. The field already has an http://, so be sure not to add a second one.
May '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Diane Ellis, Ed.: SP --
Would like to know what happens when you try to use the embed button.
Make sure you're first highlighting text with your cursor, then clicking on the embed button, the one that looks like a chain link. (Note:If you don't highlight any text, the embed button won't be clickable.)
You should next see a box that prompts you to enter the URL. The field already has an http://, so be sure not to add a second one. · Oct 26 at 1:16pm
Yep, Probably forgot to highlight first. Thanks. Change my profile to Southern Clueless.
Edited on October 26, 2011 at 10:52pmNov '10
Re: The Best City in the World
Tom Paine: Let me know when Charleston's crime rate drops below its current status of 2.2 times the national average.
Like a lot of other cities, it's not the city you live in - it's where in the city you live. · Oct 26 at 10:57am
I don't know official crime statistics, but one of the attractions of Pittsburgh when we lived there for a couple of years was how safe it felt. Of course, we had moved there from Philadelphia, and so almost anyplace would have felt safe.
Nov '10
Re: The Best City in the World
By the way, SP, you really should visit Santa Fe some time. I have been to only a few of the cities on the list, so I can't compare it with many of the other high-ranking places, but Santa Fe is just lovely. Anyone who has been as far as Sydney and Capetown should surely be able to manage a quick trip to Santa Fe some time.
Oh, and personally I'd rank Venice and Rome above Florence, but I know I'm an outlier in my reaction to Florence.
May '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Lucy Pevensie: By the way, SP, you really should visit Santa Fe some time. I have been to only a few of the cities on the list, so I can't compare it with many of the other high-ranking places, but Santa Fe is just lovely. Anyone who has been as far as Sydney and Capetown should surely be able to manage a quick trip to Santa Fe some time.
Oh, and personally I'd rank Venice and Rome above Florence, but I know I'm an outlier in my reaction to Florence. · Oct 26 at 3:11pm
Santa Fe is definitely on the list of where I plan to visit. The accessibility of some breath-taking artistic wonders, lets me keep Florence high on my list of the best cities I have visited. There is a cathedral that I couldn't find in a quick perusal of the net that has a collection in their basement of the most amazing funeral statues of the Medici by Michelangelo where he deliberately left part of the faces unfinished to create the effect of light and shadow.
My main point in this post was to encourage a Ricochet forum in Charleston.
Edited on October 27, 2011 at 1:09amMay '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Au contraire, Carnival in the depths of winter is a marvel.
Sep '10
Re: The Best City in the World
In homage to James Lileks, Fargo ND would be an ideal location.
Aug '10
Re: The Best City in the World
Southern Pessimist
Au contraire, Carnival in the depths of winter is a marvel. · Oct 26 at 4:35pm
I've been.
No amount of Bonhomme shenanigans can distract me from the bone-shattering wind that comes off the St Lawrence.
Brrrrrr...
Aug '10
Re: The Best City in the World
I spend a night in Fargo once. I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice a town it is! I stayed at the Hotel Donaldson, where every room is a suite and yet it's still reasonably priced.
May '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Why not Minot? That was a popular saying when I was in the Air Force.
Apr '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Hey Chicago did very well beating out all the other major US cities! In fact I notice that the list tends to favor mid sized cities for the most part. Good for us though. I still feel that for people visiting America Chicago is the quintessential American city. If you had to only visit one city in America to get a feeling for what America is and was, Chicago is the place.
Jul '10
Re: The Best City in the World
Tom Paine: Let me know when Charleston's crime rate drops below its current status of 2.2 times the national average.
Like a lot of other cities, it's not the city you live in - it's where in the city you live. · Oct 26 at 10:57am
To be fair, the Conde Nast article is referring to the city of Charleston, while the crime rankings refer to the Charleston metro area, which includes other cities as well.
Mar '11
Re: The Best City in the World
Lucy Pevensie: By the way, SP, you really should visit Santa Fe some time. I have been to only a few of the cities on the list, so I can't compare it with many of the other high-ranking places, but Santa Fe is just lovely. Anyone who has been as far as Sydney and Capetown should surely be able to manage a quick trip to Santa Fe some time.
Oh, and personally I'd rank Venice and Rome above Florence, but I know I'm an outlier in my reaction to Florence. · Oct 26 at 3:11pm
As a refugee of my home town of Albuquerque, all I ca say about Santa Fe is that it is a squat dirty little city with some great restaurants and galleries. I too live in the Charleston metro area, and and I love living and working here. I am shocked that my adoptive home town of San Diego was left off the list. Perfect weather, great beaches, wonderful parks, and sometimes terrific pro teams. GO PADRES and CHARGERS.