The Magazine

Foursquare’s crowd-sourced US travel guide

26

By on February 3rd, 2012

NA - Map of the USA, the British provinces, Mexico, the West Indies and Central America, with part of New Granada & Venezuela - map drawn by Geo. W. Colton - engraved by John M. Atwood border desig'd.and eng'd. by W. S. Barnard NYPLPerhaps the greatest thing to come from foursquare’s city badge contest isn’t the badges themselves, but instead the wealth of lists that have been created for cities big and small all over the US. Each has been assembled by users who are very familiar with the best of what their town has to offer. When put together, these lists essentially comprise a crowd-sourced travel guide to some of the country’s best spots.

I don’t have plans to visit any of these cities in the near future, but I’ve followed them all in case I do end up visiting. That way I’ll be able to quickly pull up the local list and know exactly which places I should hit while I’m in town.

I’ve left out lists that don’t include tips and photos for most of the venues, because that’s really the beauty of foursquare lists. A simple list of places doesn’t hold much meaning by itself.

If you’re curious, Anthony Rodriguez has been keeping a ranking of the most followed lists. That, of course, is just one component of the judging, but it is interesting to see which have been the best promoted.

Which list is your favorite? Have I missed any that should be on this list?

 

/Map CC licensed by leiris202 on Flickr.

  • http://www.jonesydesign.com Christopher

    Looks like we had competing Kalamazoo, MI lists… here’s the one I was working with a friend on: https://foursquare.com/rachelbwood/list/the-best-places-to-visit-in-kalamazoo-visitus

  • http://www.twitter.com/newantt newantt

    Missing, San Jose, CA http://4sq.com/wsWPkK

    • Chris Thompson

      Thanks. I struck San Jose because it didn’t have any photos.

      • http://www.twitter.com/newantt newantt

        Ah, never noticed that lol. Just knew it was one the few cities near me with a list :P

  • Rebecca

    Since I spent most of my childhood in St. Marys, I have to correct you! Its plural, not possessive, haha. Random fact about a tiny town, I know.

    I wish I would have known about that list when I visited there a few weeks ago!

    • Chris Thompson

      That is a strange little fact. I’ll get it fixed. Thanks!

  • http://nanpalmero.com Nan Palmero

    Thank you for including San Antonio! It’s a great city to live in and visit.

  • Brian

    Thanks for the mention of my list, although had I known sooner, I definitely would’ve liked to coordinate our efforts and build one amazing Kalamazoo list. No matter who gets the badges, we all win for having great lists curated by people who are passionate about their communities.

  • http://4sqday.com Justin

    I think following each list is a good idea, like you mentioned. Who knows if I’ll visit Philly, Burlington or Oklahoma City next weekend. Having a list I can check in my downtime is a fantastic perk.

  • http://twitter.com/allieharch Allie Harcharek

    Thanks so much for promoting the Philadelphia list! I’m the Geekadelphia.com writer who made it, as well as this list dedicated to geeky spots in Philly, since there is a HUGE geek/tech/creative community there: https://foursquare.com/allieharch/list/geekadelphia-geekiest-places-in-philly-visitus

    This was really surprising and fun for us to watch, since both lists were curated and promoted by a local blog and not a tourism agency. Loved this promotion!

    • http://twitter.com/allieharch Allie Harcharek

      WOW! The Hershey one is so cool, didn’t realize they all revolved around presidents. Good catch.

  • Bryan

    Thanks so much for following and supporting my Detroit List. Hopefully this will draw more people to explore Detroit and figure out that it is a pretty nice city and the media over-exaggerates a lot of the bad stuff.

  • http://www.googleismyboyfriend.com Nicole

    Hot off the presses, another Austin list: https://foursquare.com/wesley83/list/best-places-in-austin-tx-visitus?ref=tw

    4sqTX! <3

  • Pingback: Win a #VisitUS foursquare Badge for your Favorite City | Foursquare Day

  • http://walterelly.com Walter Elly

    Looking sharp! Thanks for including our lists!

  • Eren Brumley

    So glad to see Roswell, GA was mentioned in this list. The foursquare list was created with a lot of love and a lot of information. If you are in Atlanta, it is worth a visit.

  • Carlos S

    Great job Chris! Thanks for including Tampa FL.
    I am suprised that Washington DC and Miami do not appear on the list when they have so much to offer.

  • Zach

    It was surprising enough to see Alabama among the states, but the Shoals area? That’s pretty cool. It’s one of the state’s more unique areas. I thought about doing one for my area but it’s not one city but a gaggle of them. If the Shoals qualifies maybe I can make one for my region anyway. :)

  • Laura Daughtry
  • http://smalltownbigcincy.wordpress.com Rachel

    LOL and not that I see you picking favorites but on the fact of ppl getting on it Cincinnati and Portsmoth seem to be top contenders ;) or at least should be in my opinion :D with buffalo, columbia, milwaukee, baltimore and LA in a close 2nd ;)

    • http://twitter.com/allieharch Allie Harcharek

      Baltimore and Philly have the top followers though. :)

      • http://www.creativevisualdesign.com Chad

        And then Richmond with the 3rd most followers.

  • http://www.creativevisualdesign.com Chad

    Still no word on when they are announcing the winners?

  • Max

    When are they announcing winners?!?!

  • Kyle

    Mine for Cleveland, I’d like to think is worthy of being on the list. It has 82 followers and a bunch of great spots! https://foursquare.com/kyleyounglas/list/come-c-cleveland-visitus

  • Pingback: Foursquare launches international city badge contest « About Foursquare

More on About Foursquare

  • Subscribe

    Enter your email address above

  • Disclaimer

    About Foursquare is not endorsed or certified by Foursquare Labs, Inc. All of the foursquare® logos (including all badges) and trademarks displayed on this site are the property of Foursquare Labs, Inc.