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I notice a glut of cities with a metro (not city) population of about 2 million. Which of these has had the most combined cultural, economic and social influence on the country and their respective region? I know some are more influential in some areas, but if you could average out the 'overall' influence which would you pick?
I think when it comes to economic influence, none of these cities hold a candle to Sacramento. Policy set in Sacramento affects a state with the largest population and GDP in the country. That alone, in my opinion, makes it the most influential of the bunch. That being said... the cultural and social influence of Sacramento is next to nil...
As well as the historical aspect of Sacramento as a catalyst for the Gold Rush, birth of California in its modern form.
Also, the debate is most influential, which doesn't necessarily equal most well known globally. And I would say Denver is in a tier above the rest of the cities, although the rest are very competitive.
This is a no brainer. San Jose. How anyone can think otherwise is beyond me. With the importance of Silicon Valley on the entire US economy, it's San Jose by a long shot.
Culturally, and overall the cream of the crop, I'd say Denver. Denver is the capital, great dining and cultural scene, great sports town, landscape is beautiful, several fortune 500 co, etc.
From an governmental and political standpoint, the winner goes to Sacramento. Sacramento is the Washington DC of this group.
Economically speaking, as the hub of tech and commerce, San Jose is up there too.
For tourism, I'd go with Las Vegas and Orlando. But these cities tend to be one-dimensional. LV with gambling and Orlando with Disney, a fun family atmosphere town. I don't know if I'd want to live either of those cities.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl
This is a no brainer. San Jose. How anyone can think otherwise is beyond me. With the importance of Silicon Valley on the entire US economy, it's San Jose by a long shot.
To think otherwise would be to think beyond business. Unless you work in IT, San Jose/Silicon Valley is not really on most people's radar beyond Apple Computers. I could think of a visual image in my minds eye with any one of these cities, yet can't really picture San Jose in my mind.
I go with Denver has it is the major hub city for the entire mountain time zone, a huge sports town, and it's has a lot of history starting as a mining capital. Denver has one of the country's major hub airports, and could even rival Portland on environmental infuence. Oh yeah and it has some great breweries, big beer town. In terms of big league cities, Denver defines that more than any others on the list.
As mentioned before though ask anyone overseas, like it or not Las Vegas will likely come to mind first.
My mother went to University of Denver (because her father wouldn't let her go to Middlebury and everyone from Chicago ends up in Denver), and I know it's a good school and all (especially law), but it can't hold a candle to:
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
Case Western Reserve
University of Pittsburgh (well maybe pretty equal here)
Washington University
Pittsburgh on this list takes the cake for higher education and there is no debate about it. Baltimore is a close second and then St. Louis if it were on the list. I would consider Boulder a school in Denver metro, but to be blunt, I would rather have a degree from Denver unless I wanted to really really "enjoy" my college years (then I would go to Boulder). Boulder is a beautiful school, though.
I also think that overall, the companies that have come out of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and St. Louis if it were on the list have added so much more to America and influenced society so much more than companies to come out of any of the other cities. San Jose has some recent influence in the past 2 decades and is the hub of VC, but its tech influence is waning as other cities capitalize on the industry. I'd say from about 1995 to 2003, San Jose was the center of the universe, but that no longer applies.
Also, for policy, Sacramento may make some policies now that have far reaching impacts, but legislation influenced by events in Baltimore, Cleveland (NEPA after Cuyahoga River caught fire for instance), and Pittsburgh have had much longer, much further reaching effects than anything to come out of Sacramento.
No one school in the Denver area is the top school amongst schools in the cities on this list. The reason why I brought it up is that the Denver area has several pretty good schools. University of Denver, University of Colorado, and Regis come to mind. Just outside of the Denver area is Colorado State University, consistently a top agricultural school, and the Air Force Academy. So when I bring education into the discussion, I am speaking of volume, an unusually high volume of above average to high quality institutions.
My mother went to University of Denver (because her father wouldn't let her go to Middlebury and everyone from Chicago ends up in Denver), and I know it's a good school and all (especially law), but it can't hold a candle to:
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
Case Western Reserve
University of Pittsburgh (well maybe pretty equal here)
Washington University
Pittsburgh on this list takes the cake for higher education and there is no debate about it. Baltimore is a close second and then St. Louis if it were on the list. I would consider Boulder a school in Denver metro, but to be blunt, I would rather have a degree from Denver unless I wanted to really really "enjoy" my college years (then I would go to Boulder). Boulder is a beautiful school, though.
I also think that overall, the companies that have come out of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and St. Louis if it were on the list have added so much more to America and influenced society so much more than companies to come out of any of the other cities. San Jose has some recent influence in the past 2 decades and is the hub of VC, but its tech influence is waning as other cities capitalize on the industry. I'd say from about 1995 to 2003, San Jose was the center of the universe, but that no longer applies.
Also, for policy, Sacramento may make some policies now that have far reaching impacts, but legislation influenced by events in Baltimore, Cleveland (NEPA after Cuyahoga River caught fire for instance), and Pittsburgh have had much longer, much further reaching effects than anything to come out of Sacramento.
Baltimore has the largest economy in this population range with St. Louis a close second and then Pittsburgh. I would rank the educational institutions the same. Seeing that educational output usually coincides with economic output.
No offense to Pittsburgh, but St. Louis is the best recovered rust belt city outside Chicago. Pittsburgh may be doing a great job in reinventing itself, but St. Louis is actually doing better economically. It's really not fair to even compare St. Louis to Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, or Buffalo. The region never stopped growing and now our central city is growing for the first time in 50 years. St. Louis has always had one of the more diversified economies in the Midwest with stronger institutions than comparable rust belt towns. I think that's reflected in St. Louis' relative economic strength.
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