10 Favorite US Cities

I love to travel and I love cities, so here is my top 10 list of American cities, in no particular order. 

1. Washington, DC, I liked DC well enough to move here. As a center of politics and power it is always an interesting place, there is a lot of history, some monumental architecture, and some great art in the city. 
2. San Francisco, CA, SF is a wonderful city in a spectacular location, surrounded by the bay, with beautiful views.  The neighborhoods of SF are wonderful, Union Square, SOMA, the Castro, Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, North Beach, the business district, the Embarcadero.  
3. Chicago, IL, Chicago is known as the second city, because it was largely rebuilt after a devastating fire in the late 1800's.  The city as we know it was built during a period of great city architecture and is home to blocks and blocks of iconic buildings.  The location on the river and lake grounds the city. 
4. Denver, CO.  The Mile-High City has a wonderful downtown area with a massive pedestrian zone, set with a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. 
5. San Diego, CA.  San Diego is in a spectacular southern California coastal setting, great food, wonderful views and a really neat climate.  
6. Philadelphia, PA.  Downtown Philly has history, architecture, the Mint, and great art.  It is a relatively walkable city. 
7. New York, NY.  I have a love hate relationship with NY.  The city is the biggest and boldest, with a wonderful skyline and every kind of restaurant and shopping you could imagine (and many you can't imagine.)  It is not the center of the universe or representative of the United States, visiting NY and saying you have seen to the United States is like visiting London and saying you have seen the England.  
8. Boston, MA.  I have only been to Boston once and I have to say, it is a great city.  The city core is compact and filled with history.  It is on the water, an easy city to see by bike. 
9. New Orleans, LA.  If you go to New Orleans and you don't have at least a little fun, there is something wrong with you.  The French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and the Garden District offer an amazing array of food and drink.  There is some interesting shopping, lots of history, and some of the most amazing food in North America. J and I spent a week eating our way through the French Quarter one trip - Oh My!  
10. Savannah, Georgia.   Savannah is clearly the smallest city on this list, and the area of interest is the historic district anchored by River Street.  Savannah has water front with a deep water port on the river, history going back to colonial days, great food (seafood- eat local,) antique shopping and is simply charming.  It is one of the few places I go back to over and over again, even at my own expense.