Osler's Razor

Umm . . . I would replace Chicago with Charleston, South Carolina.

There. I said it. Let the haters do their thing.
 

Portland, Oregon
Boca Raton
Grosse Pointe
key West FL
 

I forgot to say why I would put Charleston on the list:

Water views (including views of an actual ocean rather than merely of an overgrown pond)

Unique shops (including Ben Silver, from which I have a pair of Wake Forest cufflinks)

Beautiful architecture (including lovely churches with spires that gave it the nickname "The Holy City")

Wonderful food (including my favorite, she-crab soup with a little sherry on top)

Arts scene (including Spoleto Festival USA with opera, dance, theater, classical music, and jazz)

Quirkiness aplenty (including lots of seersucker, sideways houses, and a restaurant named Slightly North of Broad -- S.N.O.B.)

History galore (including Fort Sumter, the only remaining independent Huguenot congregation in America, and the oldest synagogue building in continuous use in America)
 

Your list is mine but I would add Philadelphia. The Schuylkill River (always a group rowing) and the cobblestone streets in Rittenhouse Square...
 

San Francisco (the bridge, hills and fog)
Seattle (Space Needle and Houseboat living)
New York
Chicago
 

Miami, the most radical nursing home.
Savannah, the city for 19th century time travel and Spanish moss adorned live oaks.
Chicago, the city in the Middle on the edge of a sea made of freshwater.
New York, the city that makes you look up a lot but keeps you grounded even more.

I'll have a guess for the picture and say, Waco.
 

Unmistakable...

Washington D.C.
The skyline reminds of the historical "Ties that Bind."

New York
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - the gateway of arrival and new beginnings for many.

Chicago
The hub, where the spokes of industrialization came together - And steel structures that soared to new heights, transforming my profession and many of the cities we call home.

San Francisco
The Golden Gate Bridge, our western frontier silhouetted by distant sunsets - the gateway to our dreams and new tomorrows...
 

I like all these. Of course, the limit of four seems too confining and the lack of a definition for "unmistakable" is frustrating.

I have no disagreements with any of these nominations, but I think you should add LA to the mix. Palm trees. Hollywood sign. A freeway by your front door that will take you anywhere you want to go. I love LA. On a clear day you can see forever.
 

Here's my complete list:

New York, NY
Washington, DC
San Francisco, CA
Charleston, SC
 

NYC
New Orleans
San Fran

I always get chicago and boston confused. What about Miami?
 

Gary, Indiana
Flint, Michigan
Detroit
 

Las Vegas
New York
New Orleans
Miami
 

Will Rogers supposedly proclaimed San Antonio one of "America's four unique cities," the others being Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Whether he actually said that, or whether some folks looking to boost San Antonio tourism simply made it up, is unclear.
 

1) Des Moines, Iowa
2) Johnston, Iowa
3) Lafayette, Indiana
4) Annapolis, Maryland
 

Parts of many cities are unique... others are all the same. Chicago down by the El, sure. Or Grant Park. But the rest of the city, not so much. New York, outside Manhattan and the cleaned up "cute" parks of Brooklyn could be any northeastern city.

Boston from the water or in the older part of town, like the North End, but the rest is nothing special.

Even places like Baltimore, Pittsburgh (really breathtaking, actually) Richmond and Philadelphia have some unique and interesting features. Minneapolis too.

I like the suggestion of Annapolis -- its downtown is pretty unique, what with the ancient State Capitol and the Naval Academy.

But if the idea is to only consider "major" cities, Annapolis doesn't make the cut, nor does Savannah or even Charleston. (I love the latter, didn't see much different in the former).

So if we're talking about uniquely American cities, unlike any other place in the country or even the world, I'd go with the list below. I would not include L.A., Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas or Dallas. They are very different than cities in the rest of the world and very American, but apart from a few random blocks here and there, they are not really cities, but collections of neighborhoods bound by roadways

My list:

New York
San Francisco
Chicago
New Orleans (although its quickly slipping to cute minor city like Charleston or Savannah)

I left off Washington, as I am biased and can't judge fairly, but this is a pretty unique and beautiful place.
 

i love pretty much all the cities people have named, but i'm with waco farmer on, one, lack of a definition of "unmistakable," and, two, confining the list to just four cities.

so, in the absence of a different definition, merriam-webster will have to do: not capable of being mistaken or misunderstood.

based on that, it seems like the only unmistakable cities are those with clear landmarks: the arch in st. louis, the statue of liberty in nyc, the space needle in seattle, the golden gate bridge in san francisco, the strip in las vegas, etc.

and the landmarks must be pretty well universally known. for example, i hear great things about portland, but when i think of portland, nothing stands out as an unmistakable landmark or feature. i think microbreweries and sam bowie.
thus, it seems some of the cities listed are quite mistakable, unless you're very familiar with them.
another example is charleston. while i agree with NAW that charleston is a great, charming beach town/city, most americans couldn't name a single thing about it that would differentiate charleston from wilmington, nc, even though the two are, indeed, very different.

i'm sure i've just made too much out of all that, but it's just my two cents.
 

For the picture, I'm gonna go with Akron, Ohio.

My top four unmistakable American cities are:

1) New York - no contest.

2) San Francisco

3) Philadelphia (come on, you know it had to be on my list somewhere)

4) Washington, D.C.

Never been to New Orleans or Boston, so can't comment either way on those.
 

Campbell wins! It is Akron.
 

This has been a great thread. I see that Charleston is lost, as it was to the British in the Revolutionary War. But I'm glad to see that some folks have rallied around New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

I'm still not endorsing Chicago . . .
 

What's a "city"? That definition is also critical to effective list-making.

Too many cities (LA, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, the list goes on and on) are all pretty much carbon copies, save for a few landmarks.

The distinguishing features, then are unique mixtures of natural features and skylines, which, upon waking up as the train or plane rolls or flies into town, leave no doubt where you are. I'll use that criteria, anyway.

So, I'll say:

San Fran
Chicago
NYC
Pittsburgh
 

I think I would agree to add New Orleans as it was the most bizarre melting pot during its early history. And sometimes seems to have been left back in time as they have embraced all the good and bad things this represents. It is the only place I have visited where I walked into a total strangers back yard to enjoy a beer and eat bugs (granted during Mardis Gras). This would not and could not happen in to many places in this country.

Unlike NY and Boston where people came from Western and Eastern Europe with the purpose of reinventing themselves.
 

Othello,Washington?