# What is the least celebrated or noted big city in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008 "2008-12-06T16:23:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/41 "2008-12-07T15:59:16Z")
Yet another furriner chiming in. Columbus, Jacksonville and San Jose stand out for me. The only thing I could tell you about Jacksonville is that for some reason it has an NFL team. Which is more than I know about Columbus. San Jose is just part of the Silicon Valley sprawl, isn’t it? I wouldn’t say Charlotte (I’m always seeing articles about this new financial boomtown), nor El Paso (border town status makes it slightly noteworthy, and there’s those jars of chili sauce). Honorable mentions to Portland, whichever one we are talking about. And San Antonio. The Alamo, right? Apart from that, I got nothing re San Antonio. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/42 "2008-12-07T16:33:03Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Durham? Really? I mean, considering the size of this place, I think Durham ranks reasonably high on most people’s minds. You’re probably right but for me personally (I do not follow sports) I forgot it existed until you mentioned it, and probably haven’t encountered the name or any reason think about it for years. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/43 "2008-12-07T19:50:36Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I would have to vote for Charlotte, NC first. It is kind of like the Delaware of cities. I was surprised at how big it is when I found out. I know something about all the rest of them even if it is bad (Detroit, I am looking at you) but I know little about it except for knowing about some banking operations there. Columbus, OH is a meh as well. I’m surprised about all the people who are saying “Charlotte”. [Buffalonians have been moving to Charlotte in droves for the past two decades](http://www.wfae.org/wfae/1_218_323.cfm), and it seems to be the number one place mentioned in discussions of relocation from the Buffalo region. Charlotte has a LOT of buzz in the Buffalo area; it’s not just _a_ destination for transplants, but [_the_ destination](http://www.charlotteobserver.com/104/story/347939.html). > [@Charlotte Observer](#): > > Since its 1950s high, Buffalo’s population has declined by more than half, to around 280,000. Meanwhile, since 2000, Charlotte has added 46,000 residents. And now, an Observer analysis of new data from the Internal Revenue Service shows a significant chunk of upstate New York’s population has moved to the Charlotte region. > > The information, using address changes on tax returns, paints a picture of the migration into and out of the Charlotte region. It shows that Mecklenburg County is the No. 1 out-of-state destination for people leaving Erie County, home of Buffalo. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/44 "2008-12-07T21:27:06Z")
I think the list the OP uses is fundamentally flawed because it’s based on the population of the central city only, making no allowances for the rest of the urbanized area an outsider would still consider to be part of “Greater Wherever, USA”. As a result, some larger urban areas with unusually small core cities are left off, and other smaller areas with unusually large core cities are included. This is a list of the 97 urban areas in the US with \>500,000 population. ```auto # Location 2007 population 1 New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA 21,961,994 2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA 17,755,322 3 Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA 9,745,165 4 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA 8,241,912 5 Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA 7,476,689 6 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA 7,264,887 7 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CSA 6,498,410 8 Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA 6,385,461 9 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA 5,729,027 10 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL CSA 5,626,400 11 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA 5,413,212 12 Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA 5,405,918 13 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA 4,179,427 14 Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA CSA 4,038,741 15 Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI CSA 3,538,781 16 Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO CSA 2,998,878 17 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA 2,974,859 18 Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH CSA 2,896,968 19 St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL CSA 2,866,517 20 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA 2,723,949 21 Orlando-Deltona-Daytona Beach, FL CSA 2,693,552 22 Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA CSA 2,446,703 23 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV CSA 2,397,691 24 Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC CSA 2,277,074 25 Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN CSA 2,176,749 26 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA 2,175,113 27 Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS CSA 2,053,928 28 Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN CSA 2,014,267 29 San Antonio, TX MSA 1,990,675 30 Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH CSA 1,982,252 31 Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump, NV CSA 1,880,449 32 Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI CSA 1,739,497 33 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, UT CSA 1,686,703 34 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA 1,658,754 35 Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC CSA 1,635,974 36 Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Columbia, TN CSA 1,601,403 37 Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA 1,598,161 38 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC CSA 1,535,926 39 Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, KY-IN CSA 1,369,024 40 Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI CSA 1,323,095 41 Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT CSA 1,306,151 42 Jacksonville, FL MSA 1,300,823 43 Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA 1,280,533 44 Oklahoma City-Shawnee, OK CSA 1,262,027 45 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC CSA 1,221,881 46 Richmond, VA MSA 1,212,977 47 Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY CSA 1,208,270 48 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL CSA 1,188,764 49 Albany-Schenectady-Amsterdam, NY CSA 1,148,416 50 Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY CSA 1,122,845 51 New Orleans-Metairie-Bogalusa, LA CSA 1,075,283 52 Dayton-Springfield-Greenville, OH CSA 1,067,741 53 Fresno-Madera, CA CSA 1,045,861 54 Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN CSA 1,029,155 55 Tucson, AZ MSA 967,089 56 Tulsa-Bartlesville, OK CSA 955,643 57 Honolulu, HI MSA 905,601 58 Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA CSA 865,894 59 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR CSA 841,326 60 Sarasota-Bradenton-Punta Gorda, FL CSA 839,995 61 Albuquerque, NM MSA 835,120 62 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ MSA 803,844 63 Baton Rouge-Pierre Part, LA CSA 793,028 64 Bakersfield, CA MSA 790,710 65 Columbia-Newberry, SC CSA 753,663 66 El Paso, TX MSA 734,669 67 Syracuse-Auburn, NY CSA 725,359 68 Toledo-Fremont, OH CSA 711,952 69 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX MSA 710,514 70 Springfield, MA MSA 682,657 71 Youngstown-Warren-East Liverpool, OH-PA CSA 679,402 72 Chattanooga-Cleveland-Athens, TN-GA CSA 677,820 73 Stockton, CA MSA 670,990 74 Lexington-Fayette-Frankfort-Richmond, KY CSA 658,217 75 Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon, PA CSA 656,781 76 Wichita-Winfield, KS CSA 630,703 77 Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC MSA 630,100 78 Portland-Lewiston-South Portland, ME CSA 619,917 79 Des Moines-Newton-Pella, IA CSA 616,122 80 Madison-Baraboo, WI CSA 614,103 81 Colorado Springs, CO MSA 609,096 82 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL MSA 590,564 83 Boise City-Nampa, ID MSA 587,689 84 Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope, AL CSA 576,175 85 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL MSA 574,746 86 Fort Wayne-Huntington-Auburn, IN CSA 570,779 87 South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka, IN-MI CSA 561,279 88 Jackson-Yazoo City, MS CSA 561,234 89 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA 549,430 90 Lafayette-Acadiana, LA CSA 538,470 91 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL MSA 536,161 92 Huntsville-Decatur, AL CSA 535,911 93 Port St. Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL CSA 531,958 94 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC MSA 528,519 95 Lansing-East Lansing-Owosso, MI CSA 528,193 96 York-Hanover-Gettysburg, PA CSA 521,828 97 Modesto, CA MSA 511,263 ``` Based from [Statistical area (United States) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_primary_census_statistical_areas) The OP asked about which city is least-known. In my longer list any of those well down in the list would qualify. Considering just the top 27 (the size of the OPs list), I’d say Charlotte or Kansas City have a pretty good shot at least-known. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/45 "2008-12-07T21:32:45Z")
it’s interesting that the list in your list is different in ranking from my list of metropolitan areas in post 34. I wonder how they’re grouped differently? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/46 "2008-12-07T22:02:31Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > There are good and bad things about every city, and I see a lot of people who don’t live around here only know the absolute and exaggerated worst, and I get a little tired of it. I’ll thank you not to call this area an egregious hellhole. > > I should leave the thread here, 'cause this looks like it could become a hijack. I never said my mental image of Detroit was fair or accurate. Just like people’s mental image of San Francisco probably isn’t very accurate either, it’s not all gay pride and sea turtle rescue foundations, and Seattle isn’t entirely populated by latte-swilling flannel-wearing grunge-listening software developers, and so on. But when people talk about Seattle they think they know a few things about Seattle, even if those things aren’t really true. Same with Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/47 "2008-12-07T22:36:32Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > it’s interesting that the list in your list is different in ranking from my list of metropolitan areas in post 34. I wonder how they’re grouped differently? You used MSAs. I used PCSAs, which are different. There are also CBSAs & CSAs. The differences are subtle, but I chose PCSA as the measure best representing the idea of a free-standing conurbation that an outsider would understand as “Greater Fill-in-the-blank, USA.” Essentially, MSAs are the smallest unit, while PCSAs combine MSAs which are closely connected. CBSAs are a subset of PCSAs with a single well-defined core, while CSAs are the largest grouping and can include multiple cores. And there are mu-SAs as well. Clear as mud? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/48 "2008-12-07T23:07:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’d have to go with Columbus. I mean, when the heck does anyone talk about Columbus? It’s Ohio’s capital, anda big city, and yet for most people it’s just the city between Cincy and Cleveland. And Cleveland doesn’t get much respect either. At least Columbus has the distinctive honor of having been named after Peter Falk. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/49 "2008-12-07T23:57:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You used MSAs. I used PCSAs, which are different. There are also CBSAs & CSAs. The differences are subtle, but I chose PCSA as the measure best representing the idea of a free-standing conurbation that an outsider would understand as “Greater Fill-in-the-blank, USA.” > > Essentially, MSAs are the smallest unit, while PCSAs combine MSAs which are closely connected. CBSAs are a subset of PCSAs with a single well-defined core, while CSAs are the largest grouping and can include multiple cores. And there are mu-SAs as well. Clear as mud? _blank stare_ _starts drooling_ ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/50 "2008-12-08T00:15:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You used MSAs. I used PCSAs, which are different. There are also CBSAs & CSAs. The differences are subtle, but I chose PCSA as the measure best representing the idea of a free-standing conurbation that an outsider would understand as “Greater Fill-in-the-blank, USA.” > > Essentially, MSAs are the smallest unit, while PCSAs combine MSAs which are closely connected. CBSAs are a subset of PCSAs with a single well-defined core, while CSAs are the largest grouping and can include multiple cores. And there are mu-SAs as well. Clear as mud? _En Anglais, Sil Vous Plait?_ ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/51 "2008-12-08T01:01:31Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I live _near_ Jacksonville, and I’m hardly even aware of it. I now live next to Jacksonville, too. And, ditto your sentiments. It’s a fine city and all, but it’s a little bland—the working class city amongst a state full of playboys. I spend much more time in St. Augustine than Jax. I’ll nominate Philadelphia, however, for the city that has fallen off the radar screen the most. First capital of the U.S.; once the second largest city in the British Empire; ground zero for the American Revolution and the struggle for Independence; eclipsed NYC through the 18th century; home of Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross and Dick Clark; birthplace of Horn & Hardart automats, the Mummers, cheese steaks, soft pretzels, Italian hoagies and scrapple. Philly rocked the new world for a long time. Now? It takes a back seat to all the cities it once stood head and shoulders over. It got old and retired from the world stage with hardly a whimper. It was a great place to grow up in, though. Still number one in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/52 "2008-12-08T01:20:47Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I’m surprised about all the people who are saying “Charlotte”. [Buffalonians have been moving to Charlotte in droves for the past two decades](http://www.wfae.org/wfae/1_218_323.cfm), and it seems to be the number one place mentioned in discussions of relocation from the Buffalo region. Charlotte has a LOT of buzz in the Buffalo area; it’s not just _a_ destination for transplants, but [_the_ destination](http://www.charlotteobserver.com/104/story/347939.html). When I was in high school I worked at a little restaurant north of Charlotte. IIRC we had about 27 employees and 21 of then were from the Buffalo area. Shorty afterwards I worked at a pizza joint with a similar ratio. . . . and is Charlotte really a banking “boomtown”? It’s been a banking hub as far back as I can remember and probably long before. We got the Nations Bank headquarters (tallest building between Philadelphia and Atlanta) in . . . shit, Wikipedia says 1992 but I thought it was the late '80s. Still, Charlotte = Banking is nothing new at all. It’s been 2nd in the nation for banking for over a decade at minimum. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/53 "2008-12-08T13:51:51Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > _En Anglais, Sil Vous Plait?_ It’s US Federal Bureaucratese. I don’t make it up, I just report on it. Bottom line, there are several ways to define where a given chunk of houses & businesses either fade into wilderness or farmland, or merge into the adjacent chunk of houses & businesses. **Opal Cat** & I chose different lists based on different criteria. So, unsurprisingly, we got different results. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/54 "2008-12-08T14:10:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s US Federal Bureaucratese. I don’t make it up, I just report on it. > > Bottom line, there are several ways to define where a given chunk of houses & businesses either fade into wilderness or farmland, or merge into the adjacent chunk of houses & businesses. > > **Opal Cat** & I chose different lists based on different criteria. So, unsurprisingly, we got different results. I can understand Legalese and Bureaucratese; I just had no idea what the acronyms all stood for… ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/55 "2008-12-08T22:31:39Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > In spite of billing themselves as “The Capital of the Silicon Valley”, most of the country does not really associate “San Jose” when they hear “Silicon Valley”, and they don’t get much cachet from it. I think people mostly view San Jose as an appendage of San Francisco, in spite of the fact that they are about 50 miles apart, **and San Jose is actually the largest of the Bay Area cities.** Bolding mine. It’s a point that many folks don’t realize, but it’s true. Despite being larger, San Jose is often overshadowed by San Francisco and Oakland. [QUOTE=elmwood] Any of the smaller cities in a **twin city metro** : St. Paul, Minnesota; Fort Worth, Texas; Akron, Ohio (again); Durham, North Carolina, **Oakland, California** and a bunch of others. [/QUOTE] As I was saying. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/56 "2008-12-08T22:43:33Z")
An interesting (although perhaps not actually meaningful) way to rank how “well known” something is is to search for it in google and count the hits. So it would be interesting to take the 30 or so largest metro areas, search for them, count the hits, and then compare their rank-by-population with their rank-by-google-hits. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/57 "2008-12-09T00:05:28Z")
Baltimore is famous for- [LIST=A] [li]Unemployment[/li][li]Abandoned buildings[/li][li]Decay[/li][li]Being the only port in America the terrorists **won’t** nuke, cause it would be an improvement.[/li][/LIST] ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/58 "2008-12-09T01:25:25Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Baltimore is famous for- > [LIST=A] > [li]Unemployment[/li][li]Abandoned buildings[/li][li]Decay[/li][li]Being the only port in America the terrorists **won’t** nuke, cause it would be an improvement.[/li][/LIST] Or, to sum up, **The Wire**. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/59 "2008-12-09T01:35:14Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > As I said, this is hardly celebratory, is it? > > [It’s](http://www.bibsociety.org/images.htm) [also](http://www.detroitriverfront.org/east/tricentennialpark/) [missing](http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19267_20424-54585--,00.html)[another](http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2008/todays-news/detroits-book-cadillac-hotel.html) [side](http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081122/ENT05/811220360) [of](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campus_Martius_Park) [Detroit.](http://www.palmerwoods.org/) There are good and bad things about every city, and I see a lot of people who don’t live around here only know the absolute and exaggerated worst, and I get a little tired of it. I’ll thank you not to call this area an egregious hellhole. > > I should leave the thread here, 'cause this looks like it could become a hijack. I don’t want to go on, either, but you are right. Nothing is as bad as people make Detroit seem. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008/60 "2008-12-09T01:39:19Z")
I haven’t seen Charlotte this much talked about outside of a Dopefest thread. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-least-celebrated-or-noted-big-city-in-the-us/476008.md?page=4)