Best US cities: Off the lists

Let's dump the rank order list of US cities (at least for one thread) and come up with a thread that allows all cities to reach for the stars! What American cities (hopefully not part of the usual top-of-the-list crowd) are the best (be it fact or opinion) in whatever categories you wish to list. i.e. New Orleans is the most festive US city; also the most distinctive personality No city in the US can reinvent itself so quickly, completely, and successfully as Vegas. Boston is the most civilized and cultured of US cities.>