What's the closest major city to where you live that you have never been to?

[SkyPesos]

If 100k metro area population is the criteria, and cities driven through don't count, then it's Huntington, WV for me. For some reason, I-71 North to US 35 East is the fastest route from where I live in Cincy to Charleston, WV and points beyond than the AA Highway, which is how I skipped Huntington.

[hbelkins]

If 100k metro area population is the criteria, and cities driven through don't count, then it's Huntington, WV for me. For some reason, I-71 North to US 35 East is the fastest route from where I live in Cincy to Charleston, WV and points beyond than the AA Highway, which is how I skipped Huntington.

I-71 is faster than OH 32?

[SkyPesos]

If 100k metro area population is the criteria, and cities driven through don't count, then it's Huntington, WV for me. For some reason, I-71 North to US 35 East is the fastest route from where I live in Cincy to Charleston, WV and points beyond than the AA Highway, which is how I skipped Huntington.

I-71 is faster than OH 32?

From where I start (19 miles north on I-71 from KY border), apparently, it is. I was surprised when google maps told me it was the faster route (3h 15m, vs 3h 30m via SR 32) to get to Charleston.

[The Nature Boy]

Pittsburgh, PA

[amroad17]

If 100k metro area population is the criteria, and cities driven through don't count, then it's Huntington, WV for me. For some reason, I-71 North to US 35 East is the fastest route from where I live in Cincy to Charleston, WV and points beyond than the AA Highway, which is how I skipped Huntington.

I-71 is faster than OH 32?

From where I start (19 miles north on I-71 from KY border), apparently, it is. I was surprised when google maps told me it was the faster route (3h 15m, vs 3h 30m via SR 32) to get to Charleston.

SkyPesos is correct--especially since he says he lives near the Fields-Ertel/Mason-Montgomery interchange.  From the I-275/I-71 interchange to the US 35/OH 32 interchange in Jackson, using I-275 and OH 32 the mileage is 115.  Using I-71 and US 35, the mileage is 120.  However, using OH 32 involves the "triplets and their distant cousin"--the traffic lights in Eastgate and Batavia--along with the other traffic lights along OH 32 and a 60 mph speed limit.  The only traffic lights encountered using I-71/US 35 are the three on OH 435 when transitioning from I-71 to US 35 along with a 70 mph speed limit (used to be 65) for all but 13 miles between Richmond Dale and Jackson.  I-71/US 35 is the way I would drive if I had a pickup in the northern Cincinnati area that had to be delivered to Virginia or northern North Carolina (when I was employed by a trucking company from 1999-2008).  I found this was a bit faster, especially after the US 35 freeway between Chillicothe and Richmond Dale was completed.

[NWI_Irish96]

Not sure how you define major city so here are a few options (populations are 2019 est.)

Closest city > 500k: Boston, 963 miles

Closest city > 250k: Cleveland, 325 miles

Closest city > 100k: Peoria, 154 miles

I finally got around to clinching the last section of I-74 I didn't have, which included Peoria, so my closest > 100k is now Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 250 miles away.

[jdbx]

I enjoyed this exercise, had to look at the map for awhile to figure this one out.

> 500k: Tijuana - 473 miles
             USA Only: El Paso - 979 miles
> 250k: Albuquerque, NM - 877 miles
> 100k: Lancaster, CA - 313 miles

[JasonOfORoads]

If "major" = 100,000 or more people: Boise
If "major" = big city, including airports: Oklahoma City
If "major" = big city, excluding airports: Phoenix

[JayhawkCO]

My original answer to this was Fort Worth, but I'll be going on a road trip through there next week, so I decided to reexamine:

>500,000: Fresno (1,155 miles) (The only city of that size I haven't been to)
>250,000: Laredo (1,049 miles)
>100,000: Peoria (939 miles)

I've almost gotten them all within a 1,000 mile (driving) radius.

Chris

[1995hoo]

I'm not really sure of the right answer for myself, but if we were to count state capitals as de facto "major" because of their political significance, then the answer is probably Dover, Delaware. Never been there at all in any respect.

Of course, Dover is hardly a "major" place other than being the state capital and having a well-known speedway. If I set that aside, depending on how you count "been to," then the answer for me is probably Wilmington, Delaware–I've passed through it on I-95 and on US-202, been around it on I-495, and passed through many times on Amtrak and twice on charter buses over the years (of the bus trips, one was a school trip to Philadelphia in the 1980s, the other a group trip to a Capitals—Flyers game in Philadelphia in 2008 or so), but I've never stopped or gotten out of the vehicle except once in a heavy snowstorm when I stopped in the right lane of I-495 under an overpass to chip ice off my frozen windshield wipers so I could keep driving, and I don't know whether that was within the city limits (not that it really matters, as I wouldn't consider it a "substantive" stop that was related to Wilmington because I would have done it wherever I was, given the circumstances).

[hotdogPi]

>500,000: Fresno (1,155 miles) (The only city of that size I haven't been to other than San Juan, PR)

San Juan is under 500,000, although that's mainly because Puerto Rico's municipalities are like New England's in that they can't expand into the suburbs or into (non-existent) unincorporated area.

[JayhawkCO]

>500,000: Fresno (1,155 miles) (The only city of that size I haven't been to other than San Juan, PR)

San Juan is under 500,000, although that's mainly because Puerto Rico's municipalities are like New England's in that they can't expand into the suburbs or into (non-existent) unincorporated area.

I was actually just about to look it up.  I knew that it was the largest metro area I hadn't been to, so I made assumptions.  Good to know.

Chris

[NWI_Irish96]

Not sure how you define major city so here are a few options (populations are 2019 est.)

Closest city > 500k: Boston, 963 miles

Closest city > 250k: Cleveland, 325 miles

Closest city > 100k: Peoria, 154 miles

I finally got around to clinching the last section of I-74 I didn't have, which included Peoria, so my closest > 100k is now Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 250 miles away.

Got to Boston and Cleveland on my recent trip, so my answers now are:

Closest city > 500k: El Paso, TX, 1489 miles away

Closest city > 250k: Wichita, KS, 702 miles away

Closest city > 100k: Cedar Rapids, IA, 250 miles away

[cstp3103]

Depends on your criteria for "major," but it would probably be Buffalo for me (about 400 miles, but I'll be moving to Rochester for school in the fall). However, there are a few smaller cities closer to where I live that I've driven through but never actually stopped in, such as Hartford (just under 100 miles).

[on_wisconsin]

Roughly in order of distance (as a crow flies):
Des Moines
Anything in lower MI
Fargo
Omaha
Kansas City
St. Louis
Winnipeg

[Rothman]

Not sure how you define major city so here are a few options (populations are 2019 est.)

Closest city > 500k: Boston, 963 miles

Closest city > 250k: Cleveland, 325 miles

Closest city > 100k: Peoria, 154 miles

I like your way.  For U.S. cities only, using Google Maps:

>500,000 = Mesa, AZ, 2,330 miles (Toronto is 246 miles away)
>250,000 = Tulsa, OK, 1,280 miles
>100,000 = Sterling Heights, MI, 426 miles (cutting through Canada).  Clinton, MI, 459 miles (staying in U.S.).

Still seems Winston-Salem (647 miles), my initial suggestion, is more "major" than those in MI that are closer -- Winston-Salem is just under 250,000.

I've been to Clinton Township, MI.  So, a minor update:  Even going around the lake, Sterling Heights is a hundred miles shorter a trip than going to Winston-Salem, which is the next closest city I haven't been to that has Between 100,000 and 250,000 people.

[MinecraftNinja]

Ottawa, Quebec City, Portland and Scranton.

[Occidental Tourist]

Ensenada, BC: 180 miles distant.

If you stay in the U.S., it's Las Cruces, NM, at 750 miles.

[bwana39]

I've never been to Texarkana (227 miles), Shreveport (280 miles), or Houston (395 miles).

I take that as a compliment that you put Texarkana on with Houston and even Shreveport. (Shreveport / Bossier is around 4X the size of Texarkana)

As to me. I have been to 3/4 of the world, but have never Been to San Antonio.     Yesterday, I drove to a point in SAT arriving at 10:00 pm and was back out of town in  less than an hour. This somehow doesn't change much. Yes I was physically within the city. I still have not really been to San Antonio.

The next closest is Saint Louis

Then Indianapolis and Tallahassee are almost identically the same distance.

[epzik8]

Raleigh, North Carolina, 291 miles

[silverback1065]

I've never been to Texarkana (227 miles), Shreveport (280 miles), or Houston (395 miles).

I take that as a compliment that you put Texarkana on with Houston and even Shreveport. (Shreveport / Bossier is around 4X the size of Texarkana)

As to me. I have been to 3/4 of the world, but have never Been to San Antonio.

The next closest is Saint Louis

Then Indianapolis and Tallahassee are almost identically the same distance.

stop by indy and check out the 500!

[okroads]

Closest city (+100k pop) I haven't been to is San Angelo, TX

Closest large metro area I haven't been to is the Rio Grande Valley (never been south of Laredo or Corpus Christi)

[SkyPesos]

I'll expand mine in the above format too, though I'll use metro population instead, and include ones I've never been inside the metro area boundaries.

2m+: Houston (920 mi, pop: 7.15m). If not including airport layovers, then it's Dallas.
1m-2m: Grand Rapids (260 mi, pop: 1.08m)
500k-1m: Lansing (230 mi, pop: 548k)
250k-500k: Huntington (120 mi, pop: 354K, see my post above). Ft Wayne, IN is a close second (130 mi, pop: 417k)
100k-250k: Bloomington, IN (115 mi, pop: 169k)
50k-100k: Either Columbus, IN or Frankfort, KY (both 90 mi)

[Harvestman]

Either Anderson, IN or Columbus, IN.  Been all over the state but not to those towns just yet.

[bdmoss88]

100k - Athens, GA
250k+ - Jacksonville, FL