Under-Rated Cities...

[Naraht]

Anyone live in, or have lived in a city that gets a bad rap in public opinion?
I used to live in El Paso TX...which most ppl hate. It's a semi-small city (750,000 ppl) but due to it's proximity to Mexico, and the fact that the rest of Texas shuns it, it's a very poor town.

It's actually very pretty, has great sunsets...
Has a nice mountain in the middle of the city...

anyway, talk about your favorite cities, which people tend to hate.

[Singin' Stray Cat]

I lived in El Paso for 11 years, but I didn't think it was all that great. However, this was probably not due to the city itself - the little schoolkids I grew up with were mean as hell. I was actually *glad* when we moved. :( I agree about the sunsets, though, they're awesome. And a few cool people did live there. One of my 5th grade substitute teachers was a flamenco dancer. One day she brought her partner to class. :p We moved all the desks to the edge of the room, and they did some fantastic dancing for us.

Right now I live in a city that gets a bad rap quite often, even from the people who live there: Memphis. It's not a bad place - I like it better than El Paso, anyway - but it's not without its serious flaws. Its city schools are some of the worst in the nation, its drivers are some of the worst in the world, and it's gone through a number of failed sports franchises. (Not counting the Memphis Grizzlies...don't know about that one yet.)

But I think it has a few redeeming qualities. Downtown, you can find some lovely rennovated buildings, such as The Orpheum (a theater that's simply breathtaking!) and The Peabody Hotel. Also there is St. Jude Children's Hospital, which continues to do valuable research and treat children with severe life-threatening illnesses, often for little or no charge. For all you chow hounds out there, there's a yearly barbeque competition that draws in competitors from literally all over the world. Gooood eatin'. And no mention of Memphis would be complete without Graceland. (Wondering when I was going to get to that, weren't you? ;) ) Oh yes, and Beale Street - can't forget that either.

Yikes! I actually got close to rambling that time... :o

[The Mad Hatter]

Beale Street's a fun place, and the Pyramid's a great place for a concert.

(Yup, I've been there a time or two.)

[Naraht]

Originally posted by Singin' Stray Cat
I lived in El Paso for 11 years, but I didn't think it was all that great. However, this was probably not due to the city itself - the little schoolkids I grew up with were mean as hell. I was actually *glad* when we moved. :( I agree about the sunsets, though, they're awesome. And a few cool people did live there. One of my 5th grade substitute teachers was a flamenco dancer. One day she brought her partner to class. :p We moved all the desks to the edge of the room, and they did some fantastic dancing for us.

Right now I live in a city that gets a bad rap quite often, even from the people who live there: Memphis. It's not a bad place - I like it better than El Paso, anyway - but it's not without its serious fla
ws. Its city schools are some of the worst in the nation, its drivers are some of the worst in the world, and it's gone through a number of failed sports franchises. (Not counting the Memphis Grizzlies...don't know about that one yet.)


But I think it has a few redeeming qualities. Downtown, you can find some lovely rennovated buildings, such as The Orpheum (a theater that's simply breathtaking!) and The Peabody Hotel. Also there is St. Jude Children's Hospital, which continues to do valuable research and treat children with severe life-threatening illnesses, often for little or no charge. For all you chow hounds out there, there's a yearly barbeque competition that draws in competitors from literally all over the world. Gooood eatin'. And no mention of Memphis would be complete without Graceland. (Wondering when I was going to get to that, weren't you? ;) ) Oh yes, and Beale Street - can't forget that either.

Yikes! I actually got close to rambling that time... :o

It's ok, we won't hold rambling against you!

Memphis huh....I couldn't live there..to much bloody country music.

Where in El Paso were you, West Side, East Side..?

I was a West Side brat..went to Roberts Elementary & Morehead Jr. High...then i moved to Midland...which isn't underrated..it just sucks.

[nightwing_38116]

Memphis is pretty cool ( Born and raised Memphian up until 11 months ago). I lived a block from Graceland for 14 years.

[killercroc]

I have to say that Oklahoma City is pretty underrated. We've got some problems, but the people here are really kind and seem to care about you.

I've had several people who moved here from out of state say they hated this place at first but then realized it was a pretty cool place. Mainly cause of the people. We are definitely lacking in the culture department.

And our cost of living is pretty low here, also. My mom-in-law really cleans up on Ebay, cause she buy's stuff at garage sales or even pays retail for it. Then people bid on it from all over the country. You see where I'm going with this.

[Singin' Stray Cat]

Originally posted by naraht
It's ok, we won't hold rambling against you!

:D Thanks!



Memphis huh....I couldn't live there..to much bloody country music.


Actually, that sounds more like Nashville. (Though there's plenty of country music lovers here.)



Where in El Paso were you, West Side, East Side..?


Eh...East Side, I think. I honestly don't remember. :p

[Danielle]

Los Angeles. It's not that smoggy there, people! :p


Well, okkay, so it's a bit smoggy.


Alright, alright, I withdraw the comment. ;)

[nightwing_38116]

There's really not a lot of country music in Memphis. I'd dare say that Memphis is anti-country music in some ways. There are only two country stations. The other couple of dozen that we have are Top 40, Rock, Talk and "Urban" . Don't you just love euphamistic language. :p (there are few other genres of course)