Austin is known as the Live Music Capital of the World, and its weekly nightlife could drain a vampire. But amplify a normal night on the town by the SXSW music festival's 1,000 bands, 60-plus venues, and long list of parties, and you've got a five-day baccahanal each March that rivals Mardi Gras. DAVID GLESSNER

Home of the Summer of Love, freak folk, Rice-A-Roni, and rising bands like Two Gallants and Birdmonster, San Francisco breeds originality like Fox creates reality TV shows. The bad news: You can't hop a cable car at every corner. The good news: You'll never go thirsty for soy milk. MELISSA GOLDSTEIN

The metropolis once defined by KC and the Sunshine Band, vacationing New York Jews, and Cuban exiles is getting more than a nip/tuck these days: Immigrants from all parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Europe, are rapidly reinventing Miami's identity. EVELYN MCDONNELL

Put away that cowboy hat, unless you want to look like a tourist. Country music may be Nashville's biggest cultural export, but outside of the Grand Ole Opry and the Lower Broadway honky-tonks, there's another side of town. Ask Jack White, who recently bought a big spread in the Brentwood suburb, where he lives with wife Karen Elson and baby Scarlett.

O. Henry was talking about New York City when he said, "It'll be a great place if they ever finish it." No word on if he ever visited Phoenix, but he sure could have been describing the Valley of the Sun. Between ripping up the city's main drag for a light-rail system, the gentrifying of downtown, and university expansion, you have a place that's struggling to grow up and gain some respect.