Keep Up With Me
June 24, 2009
If you only follow me here at Extraordinary Observations, you may be missing out on some of the other fun stuff I have been up to recently. We're now almost two months into Newsweek's Generation O project. Check out my posts here and subscribe to the RSS feed if you haven't already! Ohio locals may be interested in my first post over at Rust Wire about a new study that shows Ohio's college graduates have little interest in sticking around in the state.
Continuing with my tour of urban places that began last month in Las Vegas, I'm planning to visit Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York City and possibly one more city (any suggestions?) by the end of summer (ie. Labor Day). Of course, I will have trip reports to share upon my return.
Continuing with my tour of urban places that began last month in Las Vegas, I'm planning to visit Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York City and possibly one more city (any suggestions?) by the end of summer (ie. Labor Day). Of course, I will have trip reports to share upon my return.
When will you be in DC?
Unless you're already pretty familiar with it, my vote'd be for Pittsburgh: the one Rust Belt city of proximity (in the neighborhood of Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo, among others) that is at least relatively stable. It isn't a complete success story, no, but it isn't a disaster - it's easily made more of a comeback than the others. Still, less glamorous than the other cities on your trip, so it might be nice to throw in an honorable 'second city' for good measure.
I'm leaning toward St. Louis for the additional trip. Would that be considered a 'second city'?
Sure, though it's maybe even a second city once removed, long - and still - in the shadow of Chicago. Despite its depressing post-WWII history, it's not that bad of a place - it's by no means grand, but it gets a bad rap. The WashU campus and neighboring Forest Park area are both beautiful, 'the Loop' (nothing like Chicago's) is a nice cultural/shopping area with a local, indie feel, and there's also the MetroLink. While there, be sure to sample some Schlafly beer (yes, related to the infamous Phyllis but the people behind the beer, as one might guess, are extremely different politically) and - this is a must - Fitz's cream soda. There are some cool record shops and I've heard that the place to go for books is any of the various GoodWill stores that abound in the metro region. Oh, Chuck Berry also plays a show once a month or so...
Okay, that's probably more than you bargained for. You make your weekend trips on your own, or do you go or at least meet up with friends? If not the latter, I'd suggest CouchSurfing.