The Selection Process

How I choose the Backseat Cities

Busts on pedestals in a museum, illuminated so that the heads glow

First and Second Century Roman Busts, Cleveland Museum of Art, September 2018

Reading time: 1 minute

Please consider disabling your ad blocker, it disrupts site functions in addition to blocking ads. Thank you!

The Selection Process

I have rules for selecting Backseat Cities.

  • According to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the MSA (metropolitan statistical area) has an approximate population between 250,000 and 2.5m people
  • It’s not a widely recognized tourist destination, and is not particularly close to one
  • In general, if you tell people you’re going there on vacation, they make a face and ask why
  • Exception to the rule above: If you live near the city in question, it’s common to visit for the day or a long weekend
  • It’s not a beach town
  • My choices allow for balanced geographical distribution in the United States
Statue of an angel with a slight smirk, a fresco is in the background

Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY. Aug 2018

Large tower of a red brick church ascending toward a blue sky with puffy clouds

Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Lafayette, LA. Oct 2018

I have visited the Backseat Cities for Book 1. I've written 52,800 words: an introduction, plus chapters on Rochester and Lafayette. Finished manuscript should be 95K words.

Populations below are 2019 estimates for the MSA.

Book 1

City Population MSA Rank
Cleveland, OH 2,048,449 34
Rochester, NY 1,069,644 52
Tulsa, OK 998,626 55
Boise, ID 749,202 78
Des Moines, IA 699,292 83
Lafayette, LA 489,207 114

Tentative follow-up projects:

Book 2

City Population MSA Rank
Milwaukee, WI 1,575,179 39
Richmond, VA 1,291,900 44
El Paso, TX 844,124 69
Stockton, CA 762,148 77
Wichita, KS 640,218 94
Tuscaloosa, AL 252,047 190
Capitol dome on a sunny day against blue skies

State Capitol, Boise, ID. Sep 2019

Book 3

City Population MSA Rank
Kansas City, MO 2,157,990 31
Indianapolis, IN 2,074,537 33
Grand Rapids, MI 1,077,370 51
Spokane, WA 568,521 99
Chattanooga, TN 565,194 100
Lincoln, NE 336,374 152

Guidelines

I followed these guidelines when visiting a Backseat City:

  • Visit at least two museums of any kind
  • Visit at least two historical sites or monuments
  • Go to a market, if there is one
  • Do the most touristy thing there is
  • Do something stereotypically [city name here]
  • Do something you think you will dislike or find boring
  • See the oldest thing in the city
  • See the newest thing in the city
  • Eat where there is live music
  • Eat the local specialties in different neighborhoods
  • Play games
  • Read local newspapers or magazines
  • Participate in one of your interests with locals
  • Visit parks or gardens; sit on benches and watch people
  • See a government building
  • Walk as much as possible

Read more

Recent Posts

A Month in Siena  10/16/2023

Eyewitness Travel: France  4/24/2023

L'Africain du Groenland  8/2/2022

On the Plain of Snakes  5/17/2022

Volcanoes, Palm Trees, and Privilege  3/22/2022

L'axe du loup  2/28/2022

The Art of Travel  12/31/2021

Postcard: Los Angeles  11/5/2021

Afropean  8/6/2021

Roadrunner  7/22/2021

Archive

Show more

About

A smiling Francis and me, sitting outside in front of some shrubs

Some basics

A brief biographical sketch

Me on top of a sunny Mt Pilatus in Switzerland, with mountains in the background

Travel

Pardon the saccharine and the obvious, but travel is everything

A couple standing in front of a large Gothic church, on a bridge over the Seine

France

France deserves its own section

Francis, as a two year-old in a car seat, in sunglasses reading a French picture book

Reading

The bullshit of daily life? I'd rather read.

Stage with musicians going at it—they're Gogol Bordello, and they're crazy

Music

Let me take you back

Little boy sitting on a big white bed, looking at a tablet

Television

I watch a lot more television than movies

Live action from a soccer game at Crew Stadium—yellow versus blue

Soccer

The only sport that matters

Ugly photo of a pig knuckle after it's been eaten—really, it looks horrible

Food

As a travel writer, I have to talk about food

Me in an outdoor restaurant drinking from a green coconut with a long straw

Dumb stuff

You will not feel smarter after reading this

Dumpster full of garbage

Minimalism

Trying to live simply

Me getting out of a red Ferrari F430 with a guy clapping for me

Other Interests

I've only driven a Ferrari once

Dude wearing orange pants and orange and green shoes walking on wet grass

Get off my lawn

A few brief rants

Recent Tweets

If you toggle the switch above the words "Recent Tweets" and it still says, "Nothing to see here - yet," it means the idiot who broke Twitter either hasn't gotten around to fixing this feature, or intentionally broke it to get us to pay for it (which is moronic, I can easily live without it and it generated traffic to his site).