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

[HazMatt]

Jacksonville FL
100k+ - Charleston, SC

[index]

Now that I live somewhere else:
- Any of the Tri-Cities
- Knoxville
- Roanoke
- Chattanooga

[skluth]

Technically, Mexicali, because I've never been to Mexico. In the US, Fresno. I see no reason to change that although Fresno is probably unavoidable whenever I finally visit Yosemite.

[jlam]

The closest 100K+ city that I have never been to is West Jordan, Utah, 370 miles away. However, I have been to nearby Salt Lake City. The closest 100K+ city that I have never been to aside from suburbs is Wichita, Kansas, clocking in at 437 miles away.

[Roadgeekteen]

I've driven through Hartford but I've never left the car in it.

[GaryV]

I've driven through Hartford but I've never left the car in it.

If you leave the car in it, will it still be there when you get back?   

[Flint1979]

I would think it's Kansas City but I don't even know.

[dlsterner]

For me (living in central Maryland) the closest "major" city that I have never visited would be Atlantic City NJ.  About 170 miles away, give or take.

(Even though the city itself falls short of the suggested 100,000 population threshold, the metro area is well above that mark, plus it's well known for many reasons)

Back when I answered this early in the thread, there wasn't really any criteria for what made a city "major".  So I went with "fame" - Atlantic City is a well known tourist spot and gambling mecca, and is known for their boardwalk, Miss America, and for being the inspiration for the Monopoly game board.

Since then others have broken it down by population, so I thought that I would give it a try as well. (FWIW, Atlantic City's population < 100K)

Over 1,000,000 population - Dallas TX
500,000 to 1,000,000 population - Milwaukee WI
250,000 to 500,000 population - Fort Wayne IN
100,000 to 250,000 population - Paterson NJ

(I used city population as stated in Wikipedia; using the 2020 estimate)

[wriddle082]

Definitely Detroit.  Will probably stay that way.

[Charles2]

Living in Birmingham, the closest cities I've never been to in each direction:

North: Fort Wayne (598 miles)
East: Savannah (394 miles)
South: West Palm Beach (743 miles)
West: Shreveport (452 miles)

[SSR_317]

Like silverback1065, I live in Indy but have never set foot, nor have I driven though, the Queen City of Ohio - Cincinnati (a mere 98 miles, as the airliners fly). Flown into & out of their airport dozens of times, but that's in Kentucky (the suburb called Hebron, I believe). Closet major city I've never seen with my own eyes (from the air or on the ground) would likely be Milwaukee, followed by Nashville, TN (though I've been to Nashville, IN and have seen the one on Tennessee from the air).

For visits to mid-sized cities, it would have to be Evansville, which will soon be connected to us via I-69 (once Phase 6 of SIU 3 is opened). Next would likely be Peoria and Springfield, over in Illinois.

[SkyPesos]

Like silverback1065, I live in Indy but have never set foot, nor have I driven though, the Queen City of Ohio - Cincinnati (a mere 98 miles, as the airliners fly). Flown into & out of their airport dozens of times, but that's in Kentucky (the suburb called Hebron, I believe). Closet major city I've never seen with my own eyes (from the air or on the ground) would likely be Milwaukee, followed by Nashville, TN (though I've been to Nashville, IN and have seen the one on Tennessee from the air).

For visits to mid-sized cities, it would have to be Evansville, which will soon be connected to us via I-69 (once Phase 6 of SIU 3 is opened). Next would likely be Peoria and Springfield, over in Illinois.

I can see how living in Indianapolis and not driven through Cincinnati at all be possible for a lot of people, as I-74 pretty much dead ends in Cincinnati, and any options to go to the southeast US from Indianapolis (like US 35) doesn't involve Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis-Lexington is a bit faster going via Louisville than going via Cincinnati according to Google Maps, though there's tolls now in Louisville.

[NWI_Irish96]

Like silverback1065, I live in Indy but have never set foot, nor have I driven though, the Queen City of Ohio - Cincinnati (a mere 98 miles, as the airliners fly). Flown into & out of their airport dozens of times, but that's in Kentucky (the suburb called Hebron, I believe). Closet major city I've never seen with my own eyes (from the air or on the ground) would likely be Milwaukee, followed by Nashville, TN (though I've been to Nashville, IN and have seen the one on Tennessee from the air).

For visits to mid-sized cities, it would have to be Evansville, which will soon be connected to us via I-69 (once Phase 6 of SIU 3 is opened). Next would likely be Peoria and Springfield, over in Illinois.

I can see how living in Indianapolis and not driven through Cincinnati at all be possible for a lot of people, as I-74 pretty much dead ends in Cincinnati, and any options to go to the southeast US from Indianapolis (like US 35) doesn't involve Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis-Lexington is a bit faster going via Louisville than going via Cincinnati according to Google Maps, though there's tolls now in Louisville.

I get that Cincinnati isn't a city that's on the way to many places from Indy, but it's a city that has enough to offer that you think most people would find their way there at least once over a period of several years.

[SEWIGuy]

Toronto.

[ztonyg]

Living in Phoenix it's probably

Reno, NV (739 miles)

If airports don't count then it's:

Salt Lake City, UT (663 miles)

[adventurernumber1]

Residing in northwest Georgia, the closest sizable city that I have never been to would be Huntsville, Alabama. The closest very large city that I have never been to would be Charlotte, North Carolina. Hopefully I'll get the chance to visit these cities sometime in the near future.

[Bruce]

Overall: Victoria, BC (60 miles as the crow flies, 100 miles by road and ferry)

US only: Eugene, OR (325 miles)

US major major cities only: San Francisco, CA (850 miles)

And going by direction:

North: Kamloops, BC (190 miles)
East: Lewiston, ID (270 miles)
South: Bend, OR or Eugene, OR (285 miles)
West: Victoria, BC (60 miles)

[thspfc]

By direction with a minimum population of 100k:

N - Thunder Bay ON (500 miles)
S - Peoria IL (200 miles)
E - Grand Rapids MI (340 miles by road, much less as the crow flies)
W - Sioux Falls SD (440 miles)

[thspfc]

Definitely Detroit.  Will probably stay that way.

That's pretty impressive for living in the Carolinas.

[SSR_317]

Like silverback1065, I live in Indy but have never set foot, nor have I driven though, the Queen City of Ohio - Cincinnati (a mere 98 miles, as the airliners fly). Flown into & out of their airport dozens of times, but that's in Kentucky (the suburb called Hebron, I believe). Closet major city I've never seen with my own eyes (from the air or on the ground) would likely be Milwaukee, followed by Nashville, TN (though I've been to Nashville, IN and have seen the one on Tennessee from the air).

For visits to mid-sized cities, it would have to be Evansville, which will soon be connected to us via I-69 (once Phase 6 of SIU 3 is opened). Next would likely be Peoria and Springfield, over in Illinois.

I can see how living in Indianapolis and not driven through Cincinnati at all be possible for a lot of people, as I-74 pretty much dead ends in Cincinnati, and any options to go to the southeast US from Indianapolis (like US 35) doesn't involve Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis-Lexington is a bit faster going via Louisville than going via Cincinnati according to Google Maps, though there's tolls now in Louisville.

Two things...
As for the tolls on I-65 in L.A. (Louisville area - an old joke from my college days), they're easy to avoid (as long as you're not in a huge rush) since you can hop off onto US 31 less than a mile from the river and use the Clark Bridge (until the bastards try to toll it) and get right back on I-65 south in downtown Louisville.

As for I-74 dead-ending in Cincy, I think the portion east of Indianapolis should be renamed I-68, then upon reaching Ohio, routed along I-275 to OH 32. At that point, OH 32 would be upgraded to Interstate standards until it meets US 50 southwest of Athens. From there it would follow an upgraded highway 50 to Parkersburg & Clarksville in WV before being multiplexed on I-79 to the current western terminus of I-68 in Morgantown. This would extend I-68 into a far more useful route, as well as eliminating the portion of I-74 that is out-of-grid. It may dash North Carolina's wet dream of having I-74, but that (IMHO) has always been ridiculous in the first place.

[Rothman]

Like silverback1065, I live in Indy but have never set foot, nor have I driven though, the Queen City of Ohio - Cincinnati (a mere 98 miles, as the airliners fly). Flown into & out of their airport dozens of times, but that's in Kentucky (the suburb called Hebron, I believe). Closet major city I've never seen with my own eyes (from the air or on the ground) would likely be Milwaukee, followed by Nashville, TN (though I've been to Nashville, IN and have seen the one on Tennessee from the air).

For visits to mid-sized cities, it would have to be Evansville, which will soon be connected to us via I-69 (once Phase 6 of SIU 3 is opened). Next would likely be Peoria and Springfield, over in Illinois.

I can see how living in Indianapolis and not driven through Cincinnati at all be possible for a lot of people, as I-74 pretty much dead ends in Cincinnati, and any options to go to the southeast US from Indianapolis (like US 35) doesn't involve Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis-Lexington is a bit faster going via Louisville than going via Cincinnati according to Google Maps, though there's tolls now in Louisville.

Two things...
As for the tolls on I-65 in L.A. (Louisville area - an old joke from my college days), they're easy to avoid (as long as you're not in a huge rush) since you can hop off onto US 31 less than a mile from the river and use the Clark Bridge (until the bastards try to toll it) and get right back on I-65 south in downtown Louisville.

As for I-74 dead-ending in Cincy, I think the portion east of Indianapolis should be renamed I-68, then upon reaching Ohio, routed along I-275 to OH 32. At that point, OH 32 would be upgraded to Interstate standards until it meets US 50 southwest of Athens. From there it would follow an upgraded highway 50 to Parkersburg & Clarksville in WV before being multiplexed on I-79 to the current western terminus of I-68 in Morgantown. This would extend I-68 into a far more useful route, as well as eliminating the portion of I-74 that is out-of-grid. It may dash North Carolina's wet dream of having I-74, but that (IMHO) has always been ridiculous in the first place.

Keep fictional crap out of here.

[Roadgeekteen]

Like silverback1065, I live in Indy but have never set foot, nor have I driven though, the Queen City of Ohio - Cincinnati (a mere 98 miles, as the airliners fly). Flown into & out of their airport dozens of times, but that's in Kentucky (the suburb called Hebron, I believe). Closet major city I've never seen with my own eyes (from the air or on the ground) would likely be Milwaukee, followed by Nashville, TN (though I've been to Nashville, IN and have seen the one on Tennessee from the air).

For visits to mid-sized cities, it would have to be Evansville, which will soon be connected to us via I-69 (once Phase 6 of SIU 3 is opened). Next would likely be Peoria and Springfield, over in Illinois.

I can see how living in Indianapolis and not driven through Cincinnati at all be possible for a lot of people, as I-74 pretty much dead ends in Cincinnati, and any options to go to the southeast US from Indianapolis (like US 35) doesn't involve Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis-Lexington is a bit faster going via Louisville than going via Cincinnati according to Google Maps, though there's tolls now in Louisville.

Two things...
As for the tolls on I-65 in L.A. (Louisville area - an old joke from my college days), they're easy to avoid (as long as you're not in a huge rush) since you can hop off onto US 31 less than a mile from the river and use the Clark Bridge (until the bastards try to toll it) and get right back on I-65 south in downtown Louisville.

As for I-74 dead-ending in Cincy, I think the portion east of Indianapolis should be renamed I-68, then upon reaching Ohio, routed along I-275 to OH 32. At that point, OH 32 would be upgraded to Interstate standards until it meets US 50 southwest of Athens. From there it would follow an upgraded highway 50 to Parkersburg & Clarksville in WV before being multiplexed on I-79 to the current western terminus of I-68 in Morgantown. This would extend I-68 into a far more useful route, as well as eliminating the portion of I-74 that is out-of-grid. It may dash North Carolina's wet dream of having I-74, but that (IMHO) has always been ridiculous in the first place.

Keep fictional crap out of here.

Keep bad attitude out of here

[dvferyance]

For many years it was Grand Rapids but I finally got there in 2018. Now it's probably Fort Wayne.

[US 41]

Lansing, Flint, and Saginaw, Michigan are the closest for me from western Indiana.

I've been in South Bend and Elkhart city limits before on US 20 and on the IN Toll Road. However I've never actually drive through either of them despite living in this state my whole life.

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

Probably Bridgeport, CT.