Sense of the City Winner: Congrats ssales of San Francisco!

It all came down to a close race between ssales' San Francisco, sallycat's Buenos Aires, and DeborahMcCoy's Chicago tours, which between the three of them captured a full 50% of the 99 votes cast in Where's Sense of the City Challenge at NextStop.com. The winner when all was said and done late last night was ssales, a "hoop goddess and aspiring lawyer" from the City by the Bay whose tour of her town struck just the right balance between quirky sights, hotspots, and parks to grab 22 votes and earn her the top spot bragging rights and a $50 Visa gift card from NextStop.

All of us at Where would like to extend our hearty congratulations to the winner, and to thank everyone who entered and voted. It's been fun to get a sense of how you experience your cities these past couple of weeks -- and what a mix of cities it was! The Sense of the City Challenge drew 17 entries from San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Prague, Sydney, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Gold Coast, the two Portlands (Oregon and Maine), Athens, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Austin, and Bali.

Thanks, also, go to the folks at NextStop.com, particularly Isabel, who set this whole shindig up, and Kevin, the programmer who built the nifty widgets that have been up on the Where homepage during the contest. The widgets will stay for a few more days for anyone who wants to swing over to NextStop to check out the Sense of the City entries (though voting is now closed) and any of the other challenges that NextStop is currently running. Bon appetite!


(Photo from Allposters.co.uk, by way of NextStop.com.)

Sense of the City Challenge - Only 2 Days Left!

Attention all Wheresters: our Sense of the City challenge at NextStop.com is quickly coming to a close. Only two days remain in the competition, so if you haven't had a chance to check out the dozen entries posted by your fellow readers, make sure to get over to the contest page before midnight on Wednesday to check out personalized tours of cities around the world and vote for the ones that you think best convey a strong sense of place. The winner (who will receive a $50 Visa gift card for their top-notch e-tour skillz) will be determined entirely by public vote, and anyone can put in their two cents by registering at NextStop (which is simple, quick, and totally painless, scout's honor) and voting before the contest closes.

Also, the contest is still close, so if you think you can muster up your own personal fan base and underdog it, it's not too late to create an entry. That should serve as a reminder to those of you who have already entered -- get the word out about your contest entry and get your friends voting. You never know what can happen in 54 hours. Good luck to everyone! (Here's that link, one more time.)

Sense of the City Contest

Where has partnered with new travel and exploration site NextStop.com to bring you, our wonderful readers, the Sense of the City contest. Check out the contest page and use NextStop's super-intuitive site to create a tour of your city to enter. The contest will last for two weeks from today, and can be accessed easily during that time by clicking on the big fancy link at the top of the right sidebar at Where's homepage. The winner (to be determined by a public poll) will be announced on Thursday, May 14th, and will receive a $50 Visa Gift Card. So check out the prompt below, and get to work! We're looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

What defines your city's sense of place? The way that a city makes you feel is determined by so many things -- that's why the same city, or even the same neighborhood, can mean so many things to so many people. Where is hosting this contest to give you a chance to communicate how your city makes you feel, and why. Tell us about the places -- neighborhoods, public spaces, transit stops, buildings, businesses, whatever! -- that capture what your city is all about.