ICYMI —Two lists are getting a lot of attention this week. TIME Magazine released its third annual list of “The World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2021″ and UNESCO World Heritage Sites is also updated.
How did TIME make the pick? The magazine says nominations were solicited from their own international network of correspondents. It’s positioned as recognition to cities, people, and businesses that found ways to adapt and innovate during the pandemic.
“This year, our World’s Greatest Places list is also kind of a tribute to the ingenuity, the creativity, the revitalization and reopening in destinations around the world,” Time Executive Editor Dan Macsai told USA TODAY.
“Big tourist destination cities – New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles – they underwent sort of a shift during the pandemic,” he said. “A lot of them went through shutdowns. And so now, a lot of our write-ups focus on the ways that the cities are bouncing back in extraordinary ways.”
The 20 U.S. destinations on this year’s Top 100 list are:
- Big Sky, Montana
- Denver, Colorado
- Houston, Texas
- Hudson Valley, New York
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Island of Hawaii
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Los Angeles, California
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Napa Valley, California
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, West Virginia
- New York City, New York
- Orlando, Florida
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Sarasota, Florida
- Savannah, Georgia
- Seattle, Washington
- St. Louis, Missouri
-> and in Canada:
- Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Jasper, Alberta
UNESCO World Heritage Sites for “outstanding universal value” have been announced this week, as the world body has done every year since 1978. Unusually, there was also a casualty.
Uh-oh. Last week, ‘Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City’ in the United Kingdom, was stripped of its status due to new developments along its historic waterfront.
Have you got one? There are only 24 in the United States. Here’s a list of America’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the year each was added.
Cultural (11)
- Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (1982)
- Chaco Culture (1987)
- Independence Hall (1979)
- La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico (1983)
- Mesa Verde National Park (1978)
- Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (1987)
- Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point (2014)
- San Antonio Missions (2015)
- Statue of Liberty (1984)
- Taos Pueblo (1992)
- The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (2019)
Natural (12)
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park (1995)
- Everglades National Park (1979)
- Grand Canyon National Park (1979)
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1983)
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1987)
- Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek (1979,1992, 1994)
- Mammoth Cave National Park (1981)
- Olympic National Park (1981)
- Redwood National and State Parks (1980)
- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (1995)
- Yellowstone National Park (1978)
- Yosemite National Park (1984)
Mixed (1)
- Papahānaumokuākea (2010)
