The Most Overlooked City...

[kman]

St. Louis...who knew?

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation ... -right-now

[WSPanic]

They're right. I was going to go there this weekend, but I forgot it existed.

[brewcrew1000]

I would think somewhere like Jacksonville or Buffalo would be more overlooked.

[warwickland]

jacksonville, nah. it's right on I-95 and in florida. florida is of course insanely overrated.

buffalo? definitely. more intact than detroit and absolutely gorgeous in summer. new york state is completely underrated for its natural beauty, as are the great lakes in general.

[chingon]

I can't say I have any particular fancy for the Great Lakes, which are like the worlds ugliest seas, but upstate/Western NY and northern Appalachia are certainly pretty underrated for natural beauty. That said, the towns and cities of the inland northeast, I find to be pretty much rated appropriately to their solid level of shittiness. Buffalo is overlooked, yes, but anything more than a cursory looks reveals that it does, in fact, suck. Maybe not as bad as Albany, Rochester or Youngstown, and maybe in a little different way, but Buffalo is the pits.

Jacksonville is overlooked, but doesn't suck as much as one would think. Florida as a whole is certainly not overlooked, though I've never been able to parse out if I find it "overrated" or just profoundly complex.

To weigh in on the original trolling, St Louis doesn't seem particular overlooked to me, especially of late. Unfairly maligned, yes. But overlooked, no. And I'd say the amount of well-justified tourism it receives kind of back that up.

[shinatoo]

Raytown.

[warwickland]

que

[chingon]

que

Reality:

[pash]

.

[grovester]

Spend the day at Crane and it will.

[warwickland]

que

Reality:

fine, keep going to gulf shores in july.

[warwickland]

to the original intent of the thread, i think kansas city is more overlooked than st. louis. i think its partially geography...st. louis has sports rivalries with cities within weekend driving distances and is seen as a weekend destination by people from memphis and nashville, although is sort of seen as being out there somewhere beyond the populated heart of the midwest, especially by great lakers. st. louis also tends to have a knack for attracting attention to itself, good and bad.

kansas city sort of has that geography issue two-fold, although the spate of positive press lately has sculpted what people do know of kansas city from the unfortunate "kansas" stereotype to something far more accurate, and urban. kansas city definitely is not a natural attention seeking city, however.

[shinatoo]

Disagree. I think KC has been getting a lot of love lately from the attention from Google Fiber and Cisco Smart city, multiple best of list, and multiple appearances on culinary travel shows like Bourdain's and Zimmer's. Not to mention the World Series. The street car is creating buzz. Not a national destination maybe, but certainly a regional one. Especially with the recent turmoil in St. Louis.

[warwickland]

well, i'm saying that kc should get more greater midwestern attention than it does. not sure what you mean by regional attention but i see kansas city as being in a different region than st. louis (st. louis feels like its in its own region between the plains and the ohio valley grouping/great lakes). i think more st. louisans should travel to kc, honestly.

also, its interesting that kc people keep mentioning the "turmoil," but nationally thats seen as existing in a greater zeitgeist. look what just happened in milwaukee, for instance. i keep seeing this tendency to containerize that kind of thing to st. louis by kansas citians. just saying, seems a bit petty, but i digress.

[shinatoo]

The national news, covering weeks of protest in Ferguson, far outstripped anything that happened in Milwaukee, or anywhere else in the US the last two years. It's not just Kansas Citians. In fact I would say people in Kansas City understand better than others that Ferguson is just a small suburb in St. Louis. I travel to St. Louis for business a couple of times a month. I almost always am with someone from outside the region, and the concern is real. The threat isn't, but the concern certainly is.

[warwickland]

perhaps it is so (i still view that within the context of everything else, baltimore, etc, and i just dont hear people talking specifically about ferguson much these days) but rather quizzical as to how that helps kansas city.

maybe someone from springfield, mo chooses kansas city over st. louis, now. i don't know. perhaps the same people that lament the recent "turmoil" at mizzou and refuse to attend mizzou games, now. we are kind of used to being thought badly of and just don't care that much what peoples "concerns" are.

my point still stands that i think kc is still more overlooked than it deserves, and that part of that is geography. if kansas city was where indianapolis is, it could be the unrivaled boom city of the midwest.

[brewcrew1000]

I kind of agree with what warwickland is saying. Minneapolis to Chicago or Milwaukee is about the same distance as Minneapolis to KC but people from the Twin Cities are always going to Milwaukee and Chicago while KC is treated as this distant far away land.
I really don't think it helps that 90% of the general population thinks KC is in Kansas and most people probably think Podunk when they first think of Kansas.

[WSPanic]

I kind of agree with what warwickland is saying. Minneapolis to Chicago or Milwaukee is about the same distance as Minneapolis to KC but people from the Twin Cities are always going to Milwaukee and Chicago while KC is treated as this distant far away land.
I really don't think it helps that 90% of the general population thinks KC is in Kansas and most people probably think Podunk when they first think of Kansas.

I love KC, but comparing it as a destination to Chicago isn't a fair fight.

And I don't think it's a KS vs MO perception issue. I think perception is that KC isn't that much better than Des Moines - at least not 3 hrs in-the-car (each way) better.

Also - they can do Milwaukee and Chicago in one road trip without adding too much time.

And there's a pretty big lake by both MIL/CHI - and those Minnesotans are crazy for lakes.

[brewcrew1000]

Its funny in old history books you will read about how people in Minnesota had winter homes down in the Kansas City area. Nowadays I bet 0 people have winter homes down in the Kansas City area.

[smh]

Its funny in old history books you will read about how people in Minnesota had winter homes down in the Kansas City area. Nowadays I bet 0 people have winter homes down in the Kansas City area.

I do know a couple who have summer places in Wisconsin and winter near KC