What's the greatest city on earth, and why?
If you answer with New York, you're a basic bitch.
Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on sh.itjust.worksView original on sh.itjust.works
Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on sh.itjust.worksIf you answer with New York, you're a basic bitch.
84 replies
I haven't traveled the world enough to give a definitive answer. I had a blast in Edinburgh, and Luxembourg City is a wonderful place to visit. Most large Canadian cities are delightful. I doubt any of the cities I have visited would be the 'greatest' on the planet, however.
I 100% doubt any city in the USA could qualify. They are far more alike than they are different.
As for New Yorkers frequently & loudly yelling their city is the greatest, I'm convinced it's some kind of pathology similar to Stockholm Syndrome. This comedian explains it better than I can:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnxtvSMw49M
Sarnia, ON, because why would I leave if its the best place on earth.
Vienna, Austria is a pretty great place.
Which city? Mine.
Why? Because i live there.
Not anything in the US, since you know, then you'd be in the US and that's a big no-no. It's mine, obviously.
Utrecht
Thought you'd say Launceston... 😆
Berlin.
Many people hate Berlin. I don't. It's got so much variety, there are neighbourhoods surrounded by lakes, neighbourhoods that are basically in the woods, beautiful neighbourhoods like Charlottenburg and very urban neighbourhoods. Want something good to eat? There'll be something amazing nearby. They have trams running through the forest. There are trains going to Amsterdam and Prague. You can get everywhere by public transport (outside town in Brandenburg too). It's surrounded by a beautiful state, where you can watch cranes migrate in huge flocks and where you can skate on natural ice in winter.
I live near Freiburg now. Everybody loves Freiburg and the Black Forest. But I miss Berlin.
Shhhh! We keep up that reputation deliberately so not even more people come here and worsen the housing crisis ;)
Berlin is a dirty shithole lol
?? never been?
My favorite city I've ever visited.
Its not a dirty shit hole, not more than any other metropole city. But it suffers from what many cities post ww2, especially german cities, supper from: ugly block architecture and car centered infrastructure
It's not just to do with WW2, both east and west Berlin loved tearing down and uglifying old buildings (seriously, west Berlin paid people to tear off decorations) for some reason.
Houten, Netherlands. No cars in the city, you can bike anywhere. The true 15 minute city
For me? Montréal.
It's incredibly walkable, tons of parks and nature and trees all throughout with a beautiful unique urban design (the brick plexes) and a unique blend of cultures.
Cold.
But also hot (source: I live there).
New York, obviously, and fuck you
This is the most authentic answer
Bed-Stuy
QGTM!
Mostly the G and the JMZ
I'll ask you kindly to reconsider those remarks
Back off, Boston
HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK
Yeah, yeah. Ya got your hockey and your Harvard. And some nice bridges and schools and hospitals.
Just be glad you’re not Philly. Lol
Atlantis. It's so exclusive that nobody knows how to find it.
Not without a charged zed-pee-em.
its in another galaxy, thats why.
Came here to say this :)
Bielefeld, obviously.
That doesnt exist. We mean a real city
Its real to the actors and agents working for/in Bielefeld.
TL;DR: Seoul, Korea. I loved living there.
I've not seen many cities on Earth. But, in making my choices, I'll share what Im considering.
Caveat: I've never been to any place on the African continent. This is an admitted blind spot. I've also been to only three European cities.
Not New York, Toronto, San Fransisco, Ottawa, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Miami, Québec, Atlanta, or Halifax (sorry Nova Scotia, we love you!)
Not London (UK). Not Frankfurt. Not Sydney (Aus). Not Beijing. Not Kathmandu. Not KL, KK, Bangkok, or Singapore. Not Dubai. Not Colombo, Male, Kuwait, Doha, or Muscat (sorry Oman, we love you!)
No La Habana, ni Santiago de Chile, Cali, Arequipa, Cusco, y no á ciudad de Guatemala (disculpame mis hermanos de Guate!)
I think that the greatest cities on Earth have DEEP histories, offer diversity, and have been at the crossroads of the human condition.
Of the cities I've spent at least a week in (in no particular order):
La ciudad de México, México. (Pyramids, gardens, art, and food)
Istanbul, Türkiye (Hagia Sofia, Bosphorus, history)
Seoul, Korea (functionality, history, food, mountains, music)
Cartagena, Colombia (music, seaside, fortress, art)
Beirut, Lebanon [at least, when (2012) and how (with well-connected locals) I was there. Certainly, it's faced repeated harms in the past 7 years.]
Berlin, Germany (architecture, functionality, history, walking tour, art, festivals)
Montréal, Québec (one Canadian city needed to be on)
Ones I've not been to, but might list if I had:
Tehran, Iran (history)
Barcelona, Spain (Al-Analous)
Mumbai, India
Hong Kong
Tokyo, Japan
Serious question, how do you afford that much travel, or am I just that poor?
Not sure how you can say all that, exclude London and then put Montreal on there… place is less then 400 years old!
I like Seoul, but I liked Tokyo just a bit more. I recommend it if you get a chance. But like any city that big, your mileage may vary based on what you actually do and see.
I didn't live in Tokyo, but I did live near it for a little while. It was beautiful, but I'm a bit glad I wasn't in the city all the time. Just too much going on for my tempo.
Tokyo isn't a city though. It's a prefecture. Yokohama is technically the largest city in Japan.
Thank you for the in-depth answer.
I’d love to go back to Cartagena. I proposed to my wife there and we had an absolutely amazing trip
New Amsterdam
(because it became New York)
Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.
SO
take me back to Constantinople!
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks.
And because fuck Old Amsterdam!
Ecologically speaking, it must me Singapore.
I'm intrigued, please clarify what you mean by ecologically speaking?
Im refering to the city's garden/forest project. I dont think there is another large city anywhere alse quite like it. There are some good youtube vids if you want to see.
probably the biodiversity is high in singapore, as being a tropical region.
If you don’t mind being executed for smoking weed.
Been there. It's hard to pick a "greatest" city, but Singapore is definitely up there. Amazing place.
Not Cheyenne, Wyoming. Go there. Walk the streets of its downtown. Walk those desolate streets and say to yourself, "this place is actually the capital of an entire state?"
Cheyenne, Wyoming, the town that God forgot.
Cheyenne isn't that bad, especially compared to other Wyoming towns.
Canmore, Alberta. You're minutes from all the places that make up 90% of the Earth porn pictures on the internet, nestled right in the Rocky Mountains. Nobody is ever going to nuke, invade, occupy or otherwise come anywhere near Canmore during a war. Even if they did you could just escape into the vast Canadian wilderness which surrounds it. Lots of good food, shops, recreation and a generally great place to live and raise a family.
Nobody said it had to be a major city.
I just hiked Ha Ling the other day. Amazing place.
Philadelphia, easy.
Seattle WA is pretty cool.
Scrolled until I saw my city! Moved here from the south and haven’t regretted a single second. NYC is too stuck up because they make you dress up just to go to a mid-cocktail bar. I’ll go to a cocktail bar after work in my ripped jeans and graphic tshirt here, most of the time with my dog. It’s super chill.
Yeahs same. I moved here about ten years ago from Central Florida.
Oslo
Belgrade Serbia. It's the perfect size, not crowded but always busy, big enough that it has everything you could want small enough you can get anywhere in under an hour on free public transportation. The food is great and cheap and there's plenty of places open all night. Lots of green space and a couple huge parks. I live as a nomad but if i had to pick a city to settle in Beograd is the easy choice.
Thanks for including the "why" part of the answer.
Clearly it's Best. That's why they named it that.
That's not what the OP asked. "Greatest" in what capacity, I dunno.
"Best" and "greatest" are synonyms. Also I couldn't find any city named "Greatest." 🤷♂️
Not quite. Greatest also means "largest" or "biggest" - whether that means most land area, most residents, biggest buildings, biggest crime rate, etc. is all up to context.
New York, NY USA
I really don't like cities, but the cities I have disliked the least (in order) are: Singapore, Istanbul, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Quebec City, Granada Spain, New York, Montreal, Cartagena, Cuenca Ecuador, Washington D.C.(although it was many years ago I was there), Ottawa.
Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
They have the least authoritarian government and the most amount of food available for the non-elite class.
Istanbul, although maybe not anymore since Erdogan is doing his best to ruin it.
The food is amazing, it (was) an open and tolerant city and its several thousand years of settlement mean there's fascinating history no matter where you look.
Dammit... I was going to say Constantinople.
I want to say another city to be cool, but New York City, New York State always makes me proud. I live in Rochester lol.
An affordable and walkable one, with every corner a third place and lots of trees.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellorizo
Depends a lot how you interpret "great". My personal favorites are, without picking a winner:
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Edinburgh, Brno
NY.
Because Voldemort was a great wizard.
Purpee Oregon
Los Angeles. In spite of all the anti-homeless initiatives, it's still the least wlrst place in the world for someone to be on the streets.
Wakanda, easy.
Thats a country
I haven't traveled nearly enough, but I'd say it's either Amsterdam, Netherlands, or Barcelona, Spain.
Amsterdam for the freedom and beauty. Barcelona because it's beautiful and on the beach.
It's not even a great beach, kinda rocky for my taste, but it's just such a beautiful city.