{"id":1259,"date":"2010-11-20T10:05:34","date_gmt":"2010-11-20T10:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2010\/11\/top-twenty-cities-in-america.html"},"modified":"2010-11-20T10:05:34","modified_gmt":"2010-11-20T10:05:34","slug":"top-twenty-cities-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/11\/top-twenty-cities-in-america.html","title":{"rendered":"Top Twenty Cities in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UNC.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

TOP TWENTY CITIES IN AMERICA <\/p>\n

(minimum criteria— must be a city of at least 300,000
\npeople)<\/p>\n

                <\/span>As most
\nof you know,  <\/span>I have lectured all over
\nthe place and visited dozens and dozens of cities smallish and largish, and
\nwhat follows here is my personal favorite cities, so this list is subjective of
\ncourse.  <\/span>That doesn’t mean there are no
\ncriteria.  <\/span>My criteria are the following:
\n1) Is it historically or culturally a rich place;  <\/span>2) Does it have great art and architecture;  <\/span>3) How good are its restaurants;  <\/span>4)  <\/span>What’s
\nthe weather like and would I want to live there (n.b. weather is just a factor,
\nnot a deal breaker);  <\/span>5) What about the
\ncost of living (also not a final determinant); 
\n<\/span>6) How clean or environmentally conscious is the city? Does it have good
\ngreen space, parks, efficient public transportation, airports etc.;  <\/span>7) Does it have great museums?  <\/span>What about its entertainment industries
\nincluding sports?;  <\/span>8) How friendly are
\nthe people, and are their nice neighborhoods and good churches? 
\n<\/span>9) Is it culturally diverse to some degree?, and 10) When you add up and
\ncombine all the above factors  <\/span>which
\ncities emerge at the top?  <\/span>Cities are
\nevaluated differently depending on whether we are talking visiting there
\nregularly or actually living there.  <\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Let me
\nsay from the outset that there are very few really large cities in America (a
\nmillion plus) that are not expensive to live in, if you are counting on
\nsomething more than a cramped apartment which garners you no equity at all over
\ntime.  <\/span>Basically, the cost of living in a
\nreally big city ranges from bad to worse if you are blue collar or middle
\nclass, never mind if you are poor.  <\/span>So I
\nam mostly talking about spending regular time in these cities without moving in permanently, though I will
\nsay something about living in mid-sized cities. 
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

(THESE CITIES ARE
\nLISTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER) <\/i><\/p>\n

San Francisco–One of the most beautiful cities in the world.
\nAlso one of the least affordable to live in. Culturally it’s diverse, and interesting.  <\/span>Politically, it’s far too liberal on various
\nsocial and sexual ethical issues for most Americans.  <\/span>It’s public transportation is quaint, but
\nusable. It’s restaurants are outstanding. 
\n<\/span>As for the weather—– that depends. 
\n<\/span>And of course, it’s on a roll now that the Giants finally won the
\nseries.   <\/span> <\/span>Church life is diverse and there is a lot of
\nchoice.<\/p>\n

San Diego— Another beautiful city, but it has no decent
\nseasons and it is exorbitantly expensive to live in. If you’re idea of a nice
\nclimate is 68 degrees every day and only two seasons–wetter and drier. Then
\nthis is the city for you.   <\/span>The Zoo is
\ngreat, the sports teams mediocre but fun. 
\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Washington D.C.–Certainly one of the four or five most
\nbeautiful capital cities in the world in its downtown area. Driving is disastrous
\nhere, the worst in America on a day to day basis, but at least the Metro is
\ngreat for tourists and commuters.  <\/span>This
\ncity is very muggy in the summer, being on the coast and on the Potomac.  <\/span>Great restaurants, and not so great sports
\nteams.  <\/span>No city in America has as many
\nwonderful FREE museums.  <\/span>Lot’s of
\nneighborhoods in D.C. with beautiful old houses, but who can afford them?   <\/span>In terms of airports, while Reagan National
\nhas its limitations, it is miles cleaner and better than the two New York
\nairports which are disasters. <\/p>\n

Boston–  <\/span>The most
\nEuropean of all American cities, whose ethnic neighborhoods are interesting
\n(especially China town and the Italian quarter near the Old North Church).  <\/span>In terms of American history, Boston has all
\nthese other cities beat, if that’s an interest. 
\n<\/span> <\/span>Great restaurants (especially
\nseafood— can you say Legal Seafood), 
\n<\/span>wonderful sports venues and fans (the Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, the
\nPatriots), and Fall in New England is just impossible to beat.  <\/span>Logan Airport needs an upgrade but is o.k.,
\nand the T connects you everywhere. 
\n<\/span>Boston in geographical area is a small city compared to N.Y. or L.A. and
\nso much more manageable to get around in. 
\n<\/span>The Boston Symphony is great. <\/p>\n

Charlotte–  <\/span>The face of
\nthe New South, perhaps even more that Atlanta, and certainly a much more manageable
\ncity than Atlanta these days what with traffic gridlock.  <\/span>Charlotte is a city that is clean, lots of
\ntrees,  <\/span>excellent restaurants and tons of
\ngood churches.  <\/span>With the new rail system
\ninto downtown, it’s easy to get into the heart of the city.  <\/span>Douglas airport is alright (nice rocking
\nchairs).  <\/span>Like most Southern towns
\nCharlotte is basically a college sports town, not a pro sports town (lots of
\nrabid ACC fans, especially Tar Heels and Dookies).  <\/span>Some of the best N.C. barbecue can be had
\nhere. <\/p>\n

San Antonio— If you want a taste of the old West and the
\nsouthwest in general, and some of Mexican culture, this is the town for
\nyou.  <\/span>It’s not so large that one can’t
\nfind their way around, and the Alamo and Riverwalk are huge tourist
\nattractions.  <\/span>Lots of good restaurants
\nand theaters, and the Spurs are always fun to watch.  <\/span>Of course the weather is tre hot in the summer.  <\/span>Not for the faint of heart is the summer
\nweather here.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Austin–  <\/span>a Blue dot
\nin the middle of an overwhelmingly Red state. 
\n<\/span>Austin parks are some of the best in America, and its night life and
\ndowntown area are great.  <\/span>It is a musical
\nhub as well thanks to Austin City Limits, and their annual music festival.   <\/span>Lots of nice neighborhoods, and frankly way
\nmore affordable than older northern cities.  
\n<\/span>Public transportation is not all it should be, and you may be surprised to
\ndiscover that Austin is very hilly, 
\n<\/span>blowing one’s image of Texas as flat.  
\n<\/span>Another town full of good churches. <\/p>\n

Lexington Ky.—  <\/span>If
\nyou are not a horse person, or say, a Wildcat fan, or say a Bourbon person,
\nLexington may well not be on your radar. 
\n<\/span>If however you are looking for a good place to live at affordable
\nprices, in a beautiful setting,  <\/span>in a
\ncity with lots of history and beautiful old neighborhoods, I can vouch for this
\ncity.  <\/span>In my view, it’s probably the most
\nlivable  <\/span>mid-sized city in America.  <\/span>You probably need to like college basketball
\nthough, since most of the residents here bleed blue big time, and I don’t mean
\nCarolina or Duke blue.   <\/span>The airport is
\nsmall but very convenient, easy in, easy out. 
\n<\/span>Church life here as well is plentiful. 
\n<\/span>Not surprisingly the Christian influence is much stronger in southern
\ncities than in northern or western ones. <\/p>\n

 <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Charleston–a gem of a city, and a major tourist attraction
\nand rightly so.  <\/span>This is architecturally one
\nof the most beautiful cities in America, and the food is off the charts.   <\/span>Charleston culture is not like the traditional
\nsouthern culture that you might find elsewhere in South Carolina.  <\/span>Indeed, they have their own accent and
\ncultural style  <\/span>(see Stephen
\nColbert).   <\/span>There is in addition remnants
\nof the old African American culture (Gulla) which adds more flavor to the city.   <\/span>Seaport cities tend to have better seafood
\nrestaurants naturally,  <\/span>and more cultural
\ndiversity with lots of people coming in and out, but Charleston has managed to
\nmaintain its old southern charm without just become a generic pluralistic town.\n<\/p>\n

New Orleans–  <\/span>Post
\nKatrina there is still a lot of recovering to do,  <\/span>but it is impossible to leave this city out
\nwhich introduces us to so much Cajun, Creole, and Jazz culture.  <\/span>This is my favorite place to go to academic
\nmeetings,  <\/span>and it has more good
\nrestaurants per capita than any other city in America.  <\/span>Of course you have to like French and Spanish
\nand amalgamated cuisine of that sort. 
\n<\/span>The Saints are no longer the Aints, and New Orleans has begun to be on
\nmore of a roll, but it still has lots of poverty and devastation to deal
\nwith.   <\/span>For jazzbos like me, I’d rather
\ncome here than N.Y., most of the time.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Chicago–In some ways, this is the most impressive large city
\nin America.   <\/span>Its downtown setting is
\nstriking, on the lake,  <\/span>and its art,
\narchitecture, music,  <\/span>is hard to
\nbeat.  <\/span>It also has great very accessible
\nmuseums, and did I mention great restaurants. 
\n<\/span>Chicago Symphony Hall is a fabulous place to see a concert, right up
\nthere with Boston Symphony Hall.  <\/span>The
\nweather in winter is an issue for sure, but this is also a town with many
\nexcellent colleges and universities and churches and stores.    <\/span>The ethnic diversity spills over into the
\ndiverse restaurants.   <\/span>We enjoy visiting
\nthis town from time to time where one of our children is doing her PhD.  <\/span>In the post Michael Jordan era,  <\/span>Chicago is still looking for a sports
\nidentity, but the fans here are rabid, especially the long suffering Cubs
\nfans.  <\/span>O’Hare airport is one of my least
\nfavorites,  <\/span>but in the end, that’s just
\nthe front door,  <\/span>and when you walk
\nthrough it, there’s much to enjoy.   <\/span>The popular
\nmusic scene  <\/span>(think the band Chicago and
\nvarious jazz venues and artists) is excellent as well.  <\/span>Now if they could just straighten out their
\npolitics. <\/p>\n

Seattle–  <\/span>You need to
\nhave a high tolerance for rain, and like coffee.  <\/span>If that’s not a problem, Seattle is a fascinating
\ncity in the northwest. Seattle mirrors a lot of the values of the northwest,
\nsome of them engendered or furthered by the Gates empire.  <\/span>By this I mean it is one of the most
\nenvironmentally conscious towns, and as a city set on a bay with beautiful hill
\nvistas, it is in many ways like San Francisco, but with more rain.   <\/span>It’s only a short drive up into some
\nbeautiful mountains, and the culture of the sea  <\/span>(go see the fish market)  <\/span>is a prominent part of this town.  <\/span>Not, sadly, a great sports town, but
\nabsolutely a great town for music whether you like Hendrix or grunge or all
\nsorts of other stuff.   <\/span>The airport here
\nis alright and public transportation is not bad.  <\/span>But this is indeed another pricey city. Better
\nto visit than to live in, especially if weather affects your psyche a lot.<\/p>\n

St. Louis— This city is indeed the gateway to the West,
\nand my wife and I were very impressed with this city when we spent time there
\nthis summer.  <\/span>Besides the ever present arch,
\nand the usual downtown museums (capitol building Dred Scott museum etc.),  <\/span>this town is a baseball town through and
\nthrough and the tour of the Cardinals beautiful ballpark is well worth the time
\nand money.   <\/span>The Scott Trade center is a
\nfine place to see a concert as well (we saw James Taylor and Carole King there
\nin July— one of the best concerts ever).  
\n<\/span>This is strongly Catholic town, and one should definitely go see the
\nBasilica–it’s impressive.  <\/span>The Botanical
\nGardens are fabulous as well.   <\/span>The
\nairport and rail system are good, getting into and out of town.  <\/span>This is the epitome of a mid-sized Midwestern
\nsort of town. <\/p>\n

Philadelphia— Here again history plays a crucial roll, and
\nyou need to like history to want to spend a lot of time here.  <\/span>Philadelphia has done a pretty good job of
\nmaintaining its old downtown neighborhoods and lots of the restaurants have
\nconsiderable charm.  <\/span>I like the one with
\nthe singing waiters, who are in training for the opera!   <\/span>Philadelphia is certainly a sports town, and
\nthe fans can be pretty brutal but also loyal.  
\n<\/span>Lot’s of good museums,  <\/span>the
\nairport is just o.k., and frankly this town is nothing like the towns and
\ncities east of it in Pennsylvania  <\/span>(say
\nPittsburgh).  <\/span>It is a world and culture
\nunto itself.  <\/span>There is a lot of Methodist
\nhistory in this town as well, and many good churches.  <\/span>As one of the centers of classic jazz in the
\n50s,  <\/span>it continues to have a rich musical
\nhistory.  <\/span>The Philadelphia Orchestra has
\nalways been one on the best in the land, but my perception is that it has
\nfallen off some since the Ormandy days.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Asheville N.C.–   <\/span>This is a truly diverse town that has been a
\nholiday and resort town for over 150 years. 
\n<\/span>It’s beautiful mountain setting in the gentle Appalachians is a big
\nappeal as well.  <\/span>This city continues to
\nbe a haven for art and artists and writers and musicians, and if you like old
\nsouthern food whether barbecue or fried chicken this is the place for you (try the
\nMoose Caf\u00e9 off I-26).  <\/span>Fall here is off
\nthe hook, and there are plenty of schools, churches, etc. to choose from here.
\nThe airport is small, but serviceable and easy to get in and out of.   <\/span>It’s not cheap to live in the mountains of
\nN.C. even during the economic downturn.  <\/span>What has happened to this town like with Hendersonville is that many
\nnortherners retire to Florida and then discover they can’t take the heat. So
\nthey become half-backs.  <\/span>They move
\nhalf-way back north and land in the North Carolina mountains in this region.   <\/span>This city is basically a clean city, with
\nlots of beautiful vistas. <\/p>\n

Colorado Springs— Another fabulous mountain town, and I
\nprefer this one to Denver, though Denver is pretty as well.   <\/span>Colorado Springs is a manageable sized town
\nnear Pike’s Peak.  <\/span>And of course the Air
\nForce Academy is here with its spectacular chapel.  <\/span>As you would expect there is plenty of hiking
\nand climbing and walking venues (e.g. the Garden of the Gods), and lots of good
\nwestern restaurants.   <\/span>Go in the Fall and
\nsee the beautiful yellow leaves on the hills and enjoy the crisp air.  <\/span>One of the great hotels in America is here
\n(the Broadmoor), and many key Christian organizations.  <\/span>A nice place to live, if you can manage the
\nprices. <\/p>\n

Madison Wis.— Of the truly northern mid-sized towns, this
\nis one of the best.  <\/span>It’s on beautiful
\nglacial lakes,  <\/span>it has a great
\nuniversity, and it has all the virtues of the upper Midwest in terms of
\ngorgeous summers and falls.   <\/span>While
\nMadison is a political hub for Wisconsin, the city still has the feel of a
\nsmaller town, and it’s a great place for coffee shops and the like.   <\/span>Of course you have to like snow in the
\nwinter.   <\/span>The people are friendly,  <\/span>it’s a highly educated populous like many
\ncollege towns, and there are some fine churches here as well.   <\/span>More affordable than many mid-sized towns in
\nAmerica. <\/p>\n

Chapel Hill, N.C.— My favorite college town in America,
\nwhich in fact has now become part of a single large place called Chapel
\nHill\/Durham.  <\/span>The home of the oldest
\nstate university in America  <\/span>this town
\nhas retained its old charm downtown and some of its beautiful neighborhoods,
\nbut it’s pricey these days.  <\/span>The
\nrestaurants are better here than in Durham on the whole, and Chapel Hill is in
\nfact much smaller than Durham, and has a different character.  <\/span>It was never a tobacco town, unlike
\nDurham.   <\/span>It is absolutely a great sports
\ntown, mainly a basketball town of course. 
\n<\/span>There are lots of good barbecue restaurants here and in Durham.   <\/span>One thing people often overlook is that UNC
\nis a large public university (25,000 or so students) Duke a smaller private
\nuniversity (8-9,000 students) but Durham is the larger town by far.  <\/span>So Durham is more diverse and less of a
\nUniversity town than Chapel Hill is.   <\/span>Chapel Hill still has the feel of an old pine
\ntree and oak clustered smaller southern town, somewhat like Princeton in appearance (though they haven’t
\ngot the pines or the barbecue).    <\/span>The
\nRDU airport is fine, but a bit of a hike from Chapel Hill.  <\/span>This town is the home of James Taylor and
\nmany other musicians, and has a vibrant cultural scene.  <\/span>Lot’s of fun and good education too. <\/p>\n

Savannah— Hardly any city better encapsulates the old
\nSouth and its slower pace of life than Savannah. Here is where you want to do
\nthe tour of old ante-bellum houses.  <\/span>Here
\nis where you want to sample the hush puppies until you can’t eat anymore.  <\/span>Here is where the stately old downtown
\nchurches are worth a visit, not least because of their connection with the
\nWesleys.   <\/span>This town is not a huge town,
\nand so it is not hard to get around, and it has a lot of charm. Like many of
\nthese southern coastal cities, it is really humid in the summer— cut out a
\npiece of humidity and eat it for breakfast. 
\n<\/span>The weather dictates a slower pace of life.   <\/span>Try the tipsy parson here (it’s a dessert).  <\/span><\/p>\n

New York— I’ve saved this one for last, because this city
\noften gets touted as the greatest city in the world.   <\/span>It really isn’t because of its drawbacks—-
\nbad airports, dirty and bad subways, 
\n<\/span>lots of gangs, crumbling neighborhoods and infra-structure,  <\/span>and cost of living, especially in Manhattan,
\nthat is off the hook.  <\/span>Having sad all
\nthat,  <\/span>N.Y. is indeed a cultural and
\nbusiness mecca, and if those are your things, its great.  <\/span>Broadway is great, the jazz scene is great
\n(go to the Village Vanguard or the Lincoln Center or the Iridium), and the Met
\nis great.  <\/span>The museums are excellent and
\nof course the shopping is great.  <\/span>At
\nChristmas Rockefeller Center is great, and in many ways this town is old
\nschool. It has lots of old traditions it keeps.   <\/span>There are also a ton of good
\nrestaurants.  <\/span>Of course there is the
\nYankees–love them or hate them, they are the dominant name in baseball history
\nand with good reason.   <\/span>I enjoy walking
\naround Manhattan and taking in the culture, and there are some fine churches in
\nthis town as well.   <\/span>Unlike say Chicago,
\nthis is not a town noted for its great educational institutions though there
\nare a few.  <\/span>And of course the cost of
\nliving in any decent place is prohibitive.  
\n<\/span>The United Nations is a fascinating place, and it brings the world to
\nAmerica, which is an advantage.   <\/span>I am
\nnot at all a fan of Wall Street however, especially in the post- Bernie Madoff
\nera.    <\/span>But still this  <\/span>city has too much going for it, even for a
\nBoston fan to ignore.    <\/span><\/p>\n

You will notice there are many big cities I left out–
\nparticularly L.A.   <\/span>There is a
\nreason.  <\/span>They have too many traffic
\nproblems, pollution problems,  <\/span>urban glut
\nand dirt problems, bad airport problems,  <\/span>cost problems, 
\n<\/span>such that they outweigh the advantages of such towns.   <\/span>There are for example lots of small towns up
\nor down the coast from L.A. which are nice and livable,  <\/span>but this is a post about cities
\nthemselves.    <\/span>Even the Hollywood culture
\ndoes not outweigh the drawbacks of this town, but it too has some wonderful
\nchurches and venues, especially in nearby Pasadena or Malibu.  <\/span><\/p>\n

What do you think about our cities in America?  <\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span>  <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}