Hmm, thanks for going into detail. My point wasn't so much that you can experience everything a city has to offer in a corporate park. It was more that most US cities offer roughly the same things.
I know I can get Greek and Asian food in both St. Louis and Denver. I just confirmed that both cities have Greek places with Taramosalata; I know from dating a Chinese girl for a year that both of those cities have extremely authentic Asian places. I've seen gay men walking around in at least Denver and Calgary (not even US).
Now, being able to browse and buy a Nigerian movie at a gas station instead of needing to get it online is something that might qualify if it's truly exclusive to DC. The techie "tent city" in California is probably unique to California, you've got me on that one.
Having visited plenty of U.S. history/military/science/etc museums across several midwestern/western states, those could probably be argued either way. On one hand, of course every museum will have different artifacts/exhibits/etc that mean it's not quite the same at every one, and there are individual facts that you could learn at one but not another. On the other hand, I think the likelihood of coming across something in a US museum that noticeably expands my human experience is lower than the likelihood of that happening in another continent's museums.
Well if it is the unique things, there is still many unique things in the big cities. If you are discounting the vibe, I guess I understand why you are disappointed. The vibe is a big part of what makes big cities feel so distinctive.
If you think DC is samey, maybe your expectations around uniqueness are higher than your average person's. Lol. I have not gone out drinking (much) there, but I would wager it would not take long to end up with insane stories about people you read about in the news.
> If you are discounting the vibe, I guess I understand why you are disappointed. The vibe is a big part of what makes big cities feel so distinctive.
The reason I'm "discounting the vibe" is because "vibe" doesn't mean anything. It's a non-word. You need to say something specific to argue that a place is unique. What makes up the "vibe?" The fact that you heard someone playing music on the street, which you assume is indicative of the entire city and no other city? A style of graffiti that may or may not be special? Saying you got a "vibe" from a place tells me you had some experiences there that you associate with it. I only drank root beer while I visited Texas and now I remember my trips to Texas when I drink root beer, but that doesn't mean the root beer I drank and Texas would have anything to do with each other for anyone but me.
(That's why I said "beyond vibes," as in "in more depth than vibes," not just "aside from vibes." Because you could be right, the vibes could be different, but the word "vibe" is no way to explain it to someone who doesn't already know. So I can't know if your idea of a "vibe" is really unique or not without knowing what you actually mean by that.)
> I have not gone out drinking (much) there, but I would wager it would not take long to end up with insane stories about people you read about in the news.
I don't drink alcohol at all. Trying to see politicians act irresponsibly is probably something that's easier to do in a place where lots of politicians live/work, yeah.
I know I can get Greek and Asian food in both St. Louis and Denver. I just confirmed that both cities have Greek places with Taramosalata; I know from dating a Chinese girl for a year that both of those cities have extremely authentic Asian places. I've seen gay men walking around in at least Denver and Calgary (not even US).
Now, being able to browse and buy a Nigerian movie at a gas station instead of needing to get it online is something that might qualify if it's truly exclusive to DC. The techie "tent city" in California is probably unique to California, you've got me on that one.
Having visited plenty of U.S. history/military/science/etc museums across several midwestern/western states, those could probably be argued either way. On one hand, of course every museum will have different artifacts/exhibits/etc that mean it's not quite the same at every one, and there are individual facts that you could learn at one but not another. On the other hand, I think the likelihood of coming across something in a US museum that noticeably expands my human experience is lower than the likelihood of that happening in another continent's museums.