Most Powerful city in the South (downtown, best, place, America)

[Iconographer]

Your inclusion of option #6 clearly indicates that this is a troll thread.

[Ant131531]

Dallas is economically very healthy, but it's not very powerful especially when you consider the entire southern region. I'd easily put Houston ahead of Dallas. When I think of Dallas, I don't think of power and influence, even with it's very robust job growth. Houston, I do, or at least did.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Dallas is economically very healthy, but it's not very powerful especially when you consider the entire southern region. I'd easily put Houston ahead of Dallas. When I think of Dallas, I don't think of power and influence, even with it's very robust job growth. Houston, I do, or at least did.

So how do you define "power" or what characteristics do you associate with it?

[PT 3000]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

You forget to mention that Atlanta has the most homers on City-Data out of all the cities in this poll.

Lets not forget it has the most haters as well

[Trafalgar Law]

Here are some statistical data on corporate base for all of the cities in question (minus Phoenix, because that's a laughable poll option given the context of the region).

Aggregate Revenue, Global Command Centers:
01. Greater Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: $558.77 Billion
02. Greater Houston: $380.05 Billion
03. Greater Atlanta: Not available (below minimum threshold)
04. Greater Miami/Fort Lauderdale: Not available (below minimum threshold)

GaWC Research Bulletin 381

Total Market Capitalization Sums:
01. Greater Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: $661.380 Billion
02. Greater Houston: $499.075 Billion
03. Greater Atlanta: $341.683 Billion
04. Greater Miami/Fort Lauderdale: $50.324 Billion

Fortune 500, 2015:
01. Houston: 26
02. Dallas/Fort Worth: 21
03. Atlanta: 18
04. Miami-Fort Lauderdale: 7

Greater Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: 10 Poweful Private Corporations
050. Energy Future Holdings $7 Billion
086. Neiman Marcus Group $4.3 Billion
089. Michaels Stores $4.2 Billion
098. Hunt Consolidated/Hunt Oil $4 Billion
116. Glazer’s: $3.5 Billion
125. Sammons Enterprises: $3.4 Billion
133. Sabre Holdings: $3.2 Billion
137. Ben E Keith: $3.1 Billion
150. Mary Kay: $3 Billion
181. Hostess Brands: $2.5 Billion

Greater Atlanta: 8 Powerful Private Corporations
016. Cox Enterprises: $14.7 Billion
027. First Data: $10.7 Billion
036. RaceTrac Petroleum: $9.1 Billion
044. HD Supply: $7.7 Billion
054. Mansfield Oil: $6.6 Billion
066. Southwire: $5.2 Billion
087. Unisource: Worldwide $4.3 Billion
212. Travelport: $2 Billion

Greater Houston: 5 Powerful Private Corporations
069. Gulf States Toyota: $5 Billion
071. Republic National Distributing Company: $4.9 Billion
119. Grocers Supply: $3.5 Billion
143. Academy Sports & Outdoors: $3 Billion
217. Landry’s: $2 Billion

Greater Miami/Fort Lauderdale: 4 Powerful Private Corporations
032. Southern Wine & Spirits: $9.5 Billion
037. JM Family Enterprises: $8.9 Billion
058. Brightstar: $5.9 Billion
096. Oxbow: $4 Billion

Greater Houston: 52 Fortune 1000 Corporations
- 0006: Phillips 66 (Houston)
- 0047: ConocoPhillips (Houston)
- 0056: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (Houston)
- 0063: Sysco Corporation (Houston)
- 0070: Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (Houston)
- 0103: Halliburton Company (Houston)
- 0131: National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (Houston)
- 0132: Baker Hughes Incorporated (Houston)
- 0179: Apache Corporation (Houston)
- 0188: Marathon Oil Corporation (Houston)
- 0202: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (The Woodlands)
- 0203: EOG Resources, Inc. (Houston)
- 0206: Kinder Morgan, Inc. (Houston)
- 0207: Waste Management, Inc. (Houston)
- 0286: Cameron International Corporation (Houston)
- 0307: Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (Houston)
- 0333: CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (Houston)
- 0360: KBR, Inc. (Houston)
- 0368: FMC Technologies, Inc. (Houston)
- 0395: Targa Resources Corp. (Houston)
- 0396: Quanta Services, Inc. (Houston)
- 0414: Calpine Corporation (Houston)
- 0461: Spectra Energy Corp (Houston)
- 0478: MRC Global Inc. (Houston)
- 0485: Buckeye Partners, L.P. (Houston)
- 0491: Noble Energy, Inc. (Houston)
- 0517: Genesis Energy, L.P. (Houston)
- 0534: Superior Energy Services, Inc. (Houston)
- 0558: Nexeo Solutions Holdings, LLC (The Woodlands)
- 0611: Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. (Houston)
- 0624: Westlake Chemical Corporation (Houston)
- 0628: Oil States International, Inc. (Houston)
- 0674: Southwestern Energy Company (Houston)
- 0685: Oceaneering International, Inc. (Houston)
- 0702: Exterran Holdings, Inc. (Houston)
- 0710: American National Insurance Company (Galveston)
- 0724: Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (Houston)
- 0728: Crown Castle International Corp. (Houston)
- 0780: Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (Houston)
- 0790: Newfield Exploration Company (The Woodlands)
- 0823: Service Corporation International (Houston)
- 0827: HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (Houston)
- 0836: Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (Angleton)
- 0846: The Men's Wearhouse, Inc. (Houston)
- 0878: Linn Energy, LLC (Houston)
- 0902: Insperity, Inc. (Kingwood)
- 0905: Kirby Corporation (Houston)
- 0915: BMC Software, Inc. (Houston)
- 0947: Willbros Group, Inc. (Houston)
- 0990: EP Energy Corporation (Houston)
- 0993: Waste Connections, Inc. (The Woodlands)
- 0994: Stewart Information Services Corporation (Houston)

Greater Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: 40 Fortune 1000 Corporations
- 0002: Exxon Mobil (Irving)
- 0011: AT&T (Dallas)
- 0054: Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (Dallas)
- 0109: Fluor Corporation (Irving)
- 0112: American Airlines Group Inc. (Fort Worth)
- 0139: Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Irving)
- 0145: HollyFrontier Corporation (Dallas)
- 0160: Southwest Airlines Co. (Dallas)
- 0227: Texas Instruments Incorporated (Dallas)
- 0229: Tenet Healthcare Corporation (Dallas)
- 0235: J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (Plano)
- 0285: Dean Foods Company (Dallas)
- 0305: GameStop Corp. (Grapevine)
- 0370: Commercial Metals Company (Irving)
- 0399: Celanese Corporation (Irving)
- 0418: D.R. Horton, Inc. (Fort Worth)
- 0430: Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc (Plano)
- 0438: Energy Future Holdings Corp. (Dallas)
- 0501: Flowserve Corporation (Irving)
- 0527: Neiman Marcus Group LTD Inc. (Dallas)
- 0542: Michaels Stores, Inc. (Irving)
- 0559: Trinity Industries, Inc. (Dallas)
- 0571: Alliance Data Systems Corporation (Plano)
- 0605: Pioneer Natural Resources Company (Irving)
- 0612: Atmos Energy Corporation (Dallas)
- 0622: Torchmark Corporation (McKinney)
- 0643: Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (Denton)
- 0657: RadioShack Corporation (Fort Worth)
- 0689: Lennox International Inc. (Richardson)
- 0691: Fossil Group, Inc. (Richardson)
- 0711: Rent-A-Center, Inc. (Plano)
- 0712: Sabre Corporation (Southlake)
- 0761: Brinker International, Inc. (Dallas)
- 0789: Cinemark Holdings, Inc.(Plano)
- 0810: Comerica Incorporated (Dallas)
- 0829: Regency Energy Partners LP (Dallas)
- 0831: Denbury Resources Inc. (Plano)
- 0982: Valhi, Inc. (Dallas)
- 0986: Crosstex Energy, Inc. (Dallas)
- 0987: Primoris Services Corporation (Dallas)

Greater Atlanta: 28 Fortune 1000 Corporations
- 0033: Home Depot (Atlanta)
- 0050: United Parcel Service (Atlanta)
- 0058: The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta)
- 0081: Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0170: The Southern Company (Atlanta)
- 0205: Genuine Parts Company (Atlanta)
- 0261: First Data Corporation (Atlanta)
- 0262: AGCO Corporation (Duluth)
- 0293: Rock-Tenn Company (Norcross)
- 0314: SunTrust Banks, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0317: HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0348: Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0357: Mohawk Industries, Inc. (Calhoun)
- 0423: NCR Corporation (Duluth)
- 0436: Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0472: Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (Duluth)
- 0524: Axiall Corporation (Atlanta)
- 0532: AGL Resources Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0547: Graphic Packaging Holding Company (Atlanta)
- 0644: ARRIS Group, Inc. (Suwanee)
- 0732: Exide Technologies (Milton)
- 0798: Carter's, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0867: Global Payments Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0883: Equifax Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0907: Aaron's, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0931: BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0951: Acuity Brands, Inc. (Atlanta)
- 0955: Ocwen Financial Corporation (Atlanta)

Greater Miami/Fort Lauderdale: 13 Fortune 1000 Corporations
- 0071: World Fuel Services Corporation (Miami)
- 0162: AutoNation, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale)
- 0191: NextEra Energy, Inc. (Juno Beach)
- 0248: Office Depot, Inc. (Boca Raton)
- 0356: Jarden Corporation (Boca Raton)
- 0406: Ryder System, Inc. (Miami)
- 0431: Lennar Corporation (Miami)
- 0567: MasTec, Inc. (Coral Gables)
- 0627: Watsco, Inc. (Miami)
- 0659: B/E Aerospace, Inc. (Wellington)
- 0679: ADT Corporation (Boca Raton)
- 0741: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale)
- 0928: MEDNAX, Inc. (Sunrise)

Fortune 1000 Companies List for 2014 - Geolounge

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Dallas is economically very healthy, but it's not very powerful especially when you consider the entire southern region. I'd easily put Houston ahead of Dallas. When I think of Dallas, I don't think of power and influence, even with it's very robust job growth. Houston, I do, or at least did.

Houston may be more powerful than Dallas economically, but Atlanta and Miami are not.

Plus, right now, DFW has the most healthy and robust economy in the entire region.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

So how do you define "power" or what characteristics do you associate with it?

I just think Houston is more influential on a social and cultural level, and I also think it's an economic power structure of the nation. It is what I would call the most powerful city of Texas. I also think it's the city with the most culture and that kind of follows it's great food scene and diversity(I didn't care for Dallas's food scene all that much and it wasn't as diverse as I thought it would be).

When I was in Dallas, it kind of felt like a city that had everything but a definitive culture and influence. It's the center of nothing. There was little to no influential grand movements in the city's lifespan. There's no real history behind Dallas either, which contributes to a sort of lack of culture.

I don't want to be mean to Dallas because it's an economic beast, probably the best economy in the South, and a top 5 economy right now in the country, but to me it feels that's all it has.

Think about it...Let's go through the list of the four 4 we mention:

Atlanta: The center of the South as most know it as....world's busiest airport...birthhome of one of the most influential leaders of all time...one of the centers of black culture and success....only rivaled by D.C. and arguably NYC....forefront of the Civil Rights Movement...and has it's place in U.S. history that's very underrated.

Miami: The center of Latin American influence and culture in America...center of the beach tourism industry...world renowned nightlife....has become an iconic destination known worldwide, yet still young.

Houston: Center of the energy and oil industry...economically one of the most powerful cities in America(GDP per capita is VERY high)...extremely diverse region...has it's place in history through the Mexican-American struggles.

Dallas: I can't think of anything.

This is what I mean. You don't gain power without influence. If people don't know your name, how can you be powerful?

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by PT 3000

Lets not forget it has the most haters as well

Well, that's what happens when people get tired of all the constant homerism and boosting. Don't blame them for reacting to something all the seemingly endless homers and boosters started.

[Pemgin]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I just think Houston is more influential on a social and cultural level, and I also think it's an economic power structure of the nation. It is what I would call the most powerful city of Texas. I also think it's the city with the most culture and that kind of follows it's great food scene and diversity(I didn't care for Dallas's food scene all that much and it wasn't as diverse as I thought it would be).

When I was in Dallas, it kind of felt like a city that had everything but a definitive culture and influence. It's the center of nothing. There was little to no influential grand movements in the city's lifespan. There's no real history behind Dallas either, which contributes to a sort of lack of culture.

I don't want to be mean to Dallas because it's an economic beast, probably the best economy in the South, and a top 5 economy right now in the country, but to me it feels that's all it has.

Think about it...Let's go through the list of the four 4 we mention:

Atlanta: The center of the South as most know it as....world's busiest airport...birthhome of one of the most influential leaders of all time...one of the centers of black culture and success....only rivaled by D.C. and arguably NYC....forefront of the Civil Rights Movement...and has it's place in U.S. history that's very underrated.

Miami: The center of Latin American influence and culture in America...center of the beach tourism industry...world renowned nightlife....has become an iconic destination known worldwide, yet still young.

Houston: Center of the energy and oil industry...economically one of the most powerful cities in America(GDP per capita is VERY high)...extremely diverse region...has it's place in history through the Mexican-American struggles.

Dallas: I can't think of anything.

This is what I mean. You don't gain power without influence. If people don't know your name, how can you be powerful?

Dallas did have the Kennedy assassination, for what it's worth, albeit a dubious honor.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I just think Houston is more influential on a social and cultural level, and I also think it's an economic power structure of the nation. It is what I would call the most powerful city of Texas. I also think it's the city with the most culture and that kind of follows it's great food scene and diversity(I didn't care for Dallas's food scene all that much and it wasn't as diverse as I thought it would be).

When I was in Dallas, it kind of felt like a city that had everything but a definitive culture and influence. It's the center of nothing. There was little to no influential grand movements in the city's lifespan. There's no real history behind Dallas either, which contributes to a sort of lack of culture.

I don't want to be mean to Dallas because it's an economic beast, probably the best economy in the South, and a top 5 economy right now in the country, but to me it feels that's all it has.

Think about it...Let's go through the list of the four 4 we mention:

Atlanta: The center of the South as most know it as....world's busiest airport...birthhome of one of the most influential leaders of all time...one of the centers of black culture and success....only rivaled by D.C. and arguably NYC....forefront of the Civil Rights Movement...and has it's place in U.S. history that's very underrated.

Miami: The center of Latin American influence and culture in America...center of the beach tourism industry...world renowned nightlife....has become an iconic destination known worldwide, yet still young.

Houston: Center of the energy and oil industry...economically one of the most powerful cities in America(GDP per capita is VERY high)...extremely diverse region...has it's place in history through the Mexican-American struggles.

Dallas: I can't think of anything.

This is what I mean. You don't gain power without influence. If people don't know your name, how can you be powerful?

Im not sure youre trying hard enough on account of Dallas, Ant. Here are some things that stick out about Dallas:

-It has always been viewed as the city where the East ends and its neighbor Fort Worth has a HUGE place in western culture and history.
-Its the city that finances all of those oil related goings on in Houston. As the CEO from a large client of mine in Houston (oil industry related) once said, "Dallas is where we go to beg for money for our projects".
-Dallas is a huge economic giant and has one of the healthiest countries in the US. Its GDP is very high and the economy is diverse and stable.
-While not important, Dallas is one of the best sports cities in the country
-Also not important, Dallas had a long running TV show named after it
-Dallas is the only place in the world with two major airlines HQed there (American and Southwest).
-Dallas is also a very diverse metropolitan area, though that isnt one of the defining characteristics.

These are some things to chew on and while a couple are trivial, to say nothing stands out about Dallas is not fair at all.