# What's so special about the USA, that tourists won't be able to get elsewhere **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629 "2012-02-03T05:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/101 "2012-02-05T23:33:38Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Empire State Building, **Sydney also has skyscrapers** > Statue of Liberty, **+1, but Sydney has world famous landmarks too** > Times Square, **QVB and many other shopping areas** > Broadway, **+1 New York, Sydney has many art/theatre festivals, but no stage musical district** > Brooklyn Bridge, **Sydney harbour bridge is way more iconic** > Wall Street, \*\*We are talking about tourism \*\* > Madison Avenue, **What?** > Central Park, **Doesn’t compare to Hyde Park** > Harlem, **What?** > Dereck Jeter, **In Australia, rounders is only played by little girls.** > the best pizza anywhere, the best bagels, **I’m looking out of my window and I can see restaurants from dozens of countries. \*\* > the Guggenheim, the Met, the MOMA, Sydney has worldclass galleries/Musuems too > Radio City Music Hall, Sydney Opera House > Rockefeller Center, Sydney has brothels too:) > \*\* Jerry Seinfeld, and a Duane Reade on every corner** Who are those? > \*\*Now, add on Taronga zoo, the harbour and native cultural and somehow I think we can’t say New York wins significantly \*\* > > Now, if you wanna compare it to London, then there’s a five-page thread doing just that floating around. > > @Jackmannii - I’m pretty sure the Koreans and Australians would disagree that good barbeques are limited to the USA You seem to be going back and forth in this thread between trying to prove the US kinda sucks and/or isn’t as good as other places, and sincerely wondering what someone might do there. On the former, it’s kind of a pointless endeavor - some people love it; some people hate it; some people are indifferent. If you’re not interested or think other places are better, that’s fine - personally, I think lots of other places are better myself. But that doesn’t negate why someone might visit the US. For example, most people probably think France is a better/nicer country to visit than Bulgaria. But even though you might logically prove that everything in France is nicer and better, there’s still at least one good reason to visit Bulgaria - _it’s Bulgaria_. There’s an essential Bulgarian-ness there that you don’t have in France. It has it’s own history and style and vibe and culture, and for many people that might be worth seeking out. Same thing with the US - or, per your post above, with New York: yes, in your opinion things in Sydney might be equal or better, but for a curious mind, New York still probably has some interest because it has its own, different personality. That personality may or may not appeal to you, but still - it’s different. Ditto for New Yorkers wondering what the point in visiting Sydney is. If you put barriers up on a piece of land and call it a city or a country and give its inhabitants enough time, a personality of sorts is going to emerge. Discovering those personalities is kind of the point of traveling. I think several people above have made the same point more eloquently. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/102 "2012-02-05T23:47:49Z")
Thuggish jingoism. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/103 "2012-02-06T04:37:34Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > No he is talking about barbecue, the American cooking style, not just things that are cooked on a grill. It is one of the few American cooking styles that is widespread in the U.S. and almost impossible to find true examples of elsewhere. You may not know what I am actually talking about for that reason because there are a lot of misconceptions about what barbecue actually is and Australians stole the word without replicating the style. That’s OK, people in the Northern U.S. make the same mistake but real barbecue is a difficult and extremely time-consuming cooking technique that you can’t find anywhere else. I stand corrected, I guess we should also add Southern soul food restaurants as well, I tried it at “international night” at my university but I couldn’t find it anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/104 "2012-02-06T05:11:27Z")
[Yakov Smirnov/] In Soviet Russia, country see you! [/Yakov Smirnov] ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/105 "2012-02-06T05:44:56Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > \*\*Now, add on Taronga zoo, the harbour and native cultural and somehow I think we can’t say New York wins significantly \*\* > > Now, if you wanna compare it to London, then there’s a five-page thread doing just that floating around. Look, your entire tone is “USA sucks, prove to me why I should go there”. And the fact that you (A) don’t know what half my NYC references (Times Square used to have the brothels, not Rock Center, dumbass) are and (B) think Sydney Austrailia is in the same league as NYC (or London for that matter) makes me think you have spent too much time in the Outback on walkabout or whatever. Sydney may have different versions of many of the same things that NYC has, but the point is that NYC stuff is different just as Buckingham Palace in London is different from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. And with 8 million New Yorkers living together, it’s the friendliest place on Earth! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/106 "2012-02-06T05:50:17Z")
Also, I find it bizarre for someone to say “The Statue of Liberty isn’t unique because other countries also have famous things.” Yes, but what if you don’t want to see just any random famous thing? If you want to see the Statue of Liberty specifically, there is one place you can go, which is NYC. If someone told me they wanted to see Ayers Rock, I would be an idiot if I told them, “You don’t need to go to Australia. There are large geographical attractions in most countries that you could visit instead.” ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/107 "2012-02-06T06:20:53Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > (Times Square used to have the brothels, not Rock Center, dumbass) I’m glad you clarified that, as I was scratching my head trying to figure out when Rockefeller center had brothels - or if some godawful pun… ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/108 "2012-02-06T07:51:28Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Also, I find it bizarre for someone to say “The Statue of Liberty isn’t unique because other countries also have famous things.” > > Yes, but what if you don’t want to see just any random famous thing? If you want to see the Statue of Liberty specifically, there is one place you can go, which is NYC. If someone told me they wanted to see Ayers Rock, I would be an idiot if I told them, “You don’t need to go to Australia. There are large geographical attractions in most countries that you could visit instead.” Yes, but ‘they both have very famous iconic landmarks’ is a valid comment. The Statue of Liberty is something good to visit because of its history and the way it’s been used in so many movies, and that’d true for a lot of places. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/109 "2012-02-06T08:07:14Z")
**msmith537** : In your post #96, you’re attributing a quote to me. I never wrote that. **Namkcalb** did. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/110 "2012-02-06T08:21:31Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > You seem to be going back and forth in this thread between trying to prove the US kinda sucks and/or isn’t as good as other places, and sincerely wondering what someone might do there. > _snip_ I was simply trying to find out what the hypothetical tourist would miss by boycotting the entire USA and their infamous TSA. > [@msmith537](#): > > Look, your entire tone is “USA sucks, prove to me why I should go there”. And the fact that you (A) don’t know what half my NYC references (Times Square used to have the brothels, not Rock Center, dumbass) are and (B) think Sydney Austrailia is in the same league as NYC (or London for that matter) makes me think you have spent too much time in the Outback on walkabout or whatever. Okay, I admit I am not an expert on New York or American culture, One time, I started another thread to find out whether Newark was another name for NYC. I really shouldn’t knock what I don’t understand, but you shouldn’t expect me to know things that only an American would know. > [@](#): > > Sydney may have different versions of many of the same things that NYC has, but the point is that NYC stuff is different just as Buckingham Palace in London is different from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. > > And with 8 million New Yorkers living together, it’s the friendliest place on Earth! Good point, some tourists like unique twists on otherwise familiar things, these kinds of people would definately miss out going there. > [@Rodgers01](#): > > I’m glad you clarified that, as I was scratching my head trying to figure out when Rockefeller center had brothels - or if some godawful pun… Bad pun, sorry, I didn’t drink enough vodka this morning > [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yes, but ‘they both have very famous iconic landmarks’ is a valid comment. The Statue of Liberty is something good to visit because of its history and the way it’s been used in so many movies, and that’d true for a lot of places. To clarify, I think the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island would be well worth visiting. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/111 "2012-02-06T09:01:05Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > The US is more geographically diverse than Russia for sure, it is also more biologically diverse, being one of 17 countries described as “megadiverse” Meh. There’s more [biological diversity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Floristic_Region) in my small home province than in the entire US. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/112 "2012-02-06T09:06:55Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > The Grand Canyon is damn unique, I can’t think of any desert canyons anywhere near as majestic. [The Fish River Canyon](https://www.google.com/search?q=fish+river+canyon&hl=en&safe=off&client=ubuntu&hs=zFg&channel=fs&gl=za&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=h5cvT-WANJCHhQfJ3_D7Cg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CB4Q_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=572) of Namibia is pretty close, I hear from people who have been to both. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/113 "2012-02-06T13:02:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yes, but ‘they both have very famous iconic landmarks’ is a valid comment. The Statue of Liberty is something good to visit because of its history and the way it’s been used in so many movies, and that’d true for a lot of places. It’s only valid if any famous landmark is an equal substitute for any other one. “The Statue of Liberty” is a perfectly reasonable answer to the question of what makes the US unique. The fact that other places also have historic, interesting, and noteworthy landmarks doesn’t change that. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/114 "2012-02-06T13:19:11Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I was simply trying to find out what the hypothetical tourist would miss by boycotting the entire USA and their infamous TSA. That’s slightly different from how I interpreted your OP. If the TSA continue to worsen their hijinks towards people who are afforded zero rights at all, and you decide to boycott, you would certainly lose out on all the many great things listed in this thread. As a vacation destination in the light of the TSA’s shocking abuses of potential tourists, the US wouldn’t necessarily be near top of the list. But that isn’t what you initially asked, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/115 "2012-02-06T15:09:30Z")
How about diving? California, Puget Sound, and Florida are all well known diving locations. Florida in particular, you have the crystal clear shallow reefs of the Keys, the famous Florida springs. Numerous wrecks, including the largest artificial reef in the world for tech divers, and we are the cave diving capital of the world. Plenty of other countries have great diving, but Florida has a greater variety of locations in a small area than anywhere else I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/116 "2012-02-06T15:36:11Z")
I’m going with “wide open space” and good roads to get to it. A couple years ago we drove on US 6 from Ely, NV to Tonopah, NV (160 miles with no services). We saw one other car . ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/117 "2012-02-06T16:07:06Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Meh. There’s more [biological diversity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Floristic_Region) in my small home province than in the entire US. That is comparing a grain of sand to a mountain. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/118 "2012-02-06T16:10:13Z")
> [@YoDoc](#): > > That is comparing a grain of sand to a mountain. And it’s incorrect, anyway. His cite indicates that the Cape Floristic region is home to an admittedly-impressive 9,000 vascular plant species. The lowest estimate for number of vascular plant species in the US is [17,000.](http://ecosystems.usgs.gov/status_trends/static_content/documents/olrdocs/Plants.pdf) Not that I find this a particularly relevant reason to visit the US. 😛 I just like to get my facts straight. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/119 "2012-02-06T17:18:21Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > It’s only valid if any famous landmark is an equal substitute for any other one. “The Statue of Liberty” is a perfectly reasonable answer to the question of what makes the US unique. The fact that other places also have historic, interesting, and noteworthy landmarks doesn’t change that. Well, when you get that specific, then you might as well say that a good reason to visit the US is that your Uncle JimBob lives there. Note that I’m not bashing the US in this thread, btw. I wouldn’t mention, say, Buckingham Palace as a reason for England being unique either. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629/120 "2012-02-06T18:21:43Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I wouldn’t mention, say, Buckingham Palace as a reason for England being unique either. I would. Why wouldn’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-special-about-the-usa-that-tourists-wont-be-able-to-get-elsewhere/611629.md?page=7)