I left Seattle in 1999 after 63 straight days of rain and joined the Air Force. I spent the next three years (17-20 years old) trying to convince everyone how great Seattle was. After that, I just became quietly convinced that Seattle was the best city in America. Two mountain ranges, islands, three lakes, and awesome sister cities (Portland, Vancouver).

Someone once described Seattle as "being married to a really beautiful woman who is often sick." You want to take her out and show her off, but she's often bed-ridden. Obviously I'm getting at the rain.

Globally - I think the city that gives Seattle the most run for its money is Barcelona. It has a great waterfront (something Europeans are bad at taking advantage), mountains nearby, awesome architecture and its tucked away in a "remote" part of the country.

What city would you vote for?

Sydney, Australia is one of my favorite cities. Barcelona is incredible also. Oh also Venice would be up there for me if it didn't have so many tourists all time.

As to your point about Seattle being a beautiful woman who is always sick, I kinda see it, but on the other hand the rain is precisely what makes it so beautiful and green around here. Kind of a catch 22

When I lived there, I didn't mind the rain. What I didn't like was how cold the ocean was, and didn't have white sandy beaches. Even in Florida, the beaches on the Atlantic side just don't compare to the Gulf side. And the water is clearer on the Gulf side as well.

The biggest thing I miss is being able to snow ski in the winter. Can't do that down here in the south.

Chiang Mai Thailand is the best place I have ever spent time.

Seattle is the best city in the world. The rain is just cover to keep the hooligans away. Shhhhh.

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

I love Seattle, but there are many places i've been that I enjoy more.

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Honolulu

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"it'd be a newborn deer" - pehawk

I'm biased but Seattle is the best city in America hands down. I lived in NYC for three years, spent time in many major cities and nothing comes close.

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"WE ALL WE GOT! WE ALL WE NEED!"

San Diego is not too shabby. But Seattle for Sentimental reasons.

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San Diego weather-wise but Seattle easily wins hands down with culture, art, nature, mountains, forest, ocean, SEAHAWKS etc, etc, etc...

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"WE ALL WE GOT! WE ALL WE NEED!"

Uh, no. Now, if you wanted to talk about what city is best in the world in summer weather, you may have an argument. Overall, though? No.

Seattle is amazing for the culture and the amount of places to walk through nature and feel truly at peace. I can drive 5 minutes from my house (or walk a mile or two) and walk my dog on a nice path through some trees that have been alive for over a hundred years. Everything is green and glistening with rain. I only live 15 minutes from Seattle.

I truly love this area, but sometimes I feel like its a better place to visit than live in. The overcast skies can really get to you sometimes, especially if your battling depression. If you can step outside yourself and view the world without the colored lenses of human experience (ex: grey is limbo, rain is sadness) then it is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world. Every once and a while I will look around and realize how truly alive the Seattle area is.

Oslo

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http://personal-spectrum.com/

Just seems like there's a LOT of whiney, pretentious douchebags in Seattle. Don't the city's people count towards how good/bad it is?

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FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ FrankerZ

Sarcasm?

Honolulu can be fun, but talk about commercialized tourist trap hell! The best place in Waikiki to have a drink though is Moose McGillycuddy's, IMO. Too bad I'm sober now, but they do have kick ass omelettes!

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Oh and while we're at it, here in America, yeah I like Seattle.

Worldwide though I am partial to London, but nothing beats Amsterdam!

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Would love to hear more about this?! I've always wanted to visit Norway.

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You're the new Oakland Raiders; class-less and dirty (with trash-talking players, and an unapologetic head coach), no respect for the game, with a stadium filled with obnoxious/rude fans dressed up in corny Halloween costumes/flare. -49er fan

There are some fantastic cities around the world. My favorites are some very cool places in Europe:

Cadiz, Spain - So much ancient seaside charm. Great places to eat, cool museum, awesome back alley shopping, beautiful stretch of waterfront and beach. Carnival there is marvelous.

London, England - So many great and historic sights, linked together by the cool underground. Shopping and pubs and great restaurants all over.

Munich, Germany - Wonderful architectural sights, like the Glockenspiel, a clock-tower sized cuckoo clock above the Marienplatz. The beer houses are amazingly great and all over the place.

Zagreb, Croatia - Very easy to get around, and the old town area, both Gornji Grad and Dolji Grad, are chalk full of sights, restaurants, pubs and such. The national theater there is well worth a visit too.

But pound for pound, Seattle ranks right up there, especially for cities in the United States. Living here, it's easy to overlook some of the great aspects of the city and surrounds. There is an awful lot to do here, and because the downtown area is so compact, it's easy to get around and see a lot in a little amount of time. The Space Needle is one of the coolest national landmarks we have, as well as the EMP, Pike Market, Pioneer Square - and that's just within walking distance downtown. Plus it's small enough to still give off that small town vibe.

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

The answer is a resounding "no". That honor belongs to Kennewick.

Sunshine and good wine is awesome.

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Feel free to contact me if you need legal assistance. I have a great lawyer that helped me with an ex who violated my privacy and kept harassing me on MySpace and Facebook. He's very good. And there is legal precedent. - linuxpro

He is hold back the legion of boom - skater18000

One has only to drive through Kennewick to see how wrong that statement is. And is Kennewick even classified as a "city"?

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.