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Preface by saying Baltimore is the only one of these cities I've visited, but my list would be as follows:
1-2 (interchangeable): Baltimore, Pittsburgh
(Small gap)
3. Cleveland
4. St. Louis
(Considerable, but not huge, gap)
5. Cincinnati
I'll stary by saying Cincinnati is the clearest outlier, its not really in the same tier, though if it is, its comfortably in the rear. Cincinnati appears to lack the dynamism of any city in this list. All of the other cities have larger economies, have a higher level of ethnic and economic diversity, mostly have higher educational attainment, and all are "big cities". To clarify, Cincinnati has the weakest punch of the group. While it may have the largest metro in Ohio currently, Cleveland certainly has the bones of a large city because it was once in fact a much larger city, and is far more prestigious and renown...
I think St. Louis is a step behind Cleveland, but the two are probably interchangeable. Cleveland appears to have more of a resounding local culture, is historically a bigger immigrant draw, and the vestiges of that are still visible. For those reasons alone do I give Cleveland the slight edge, as I consider the two virtually even elsewhere. Also, St. Louis "seems" somewhat underwhelming for such a large city. Cleveland offers the amenities, generally speaking of a city that's 50-60% larger than it actually is...again, though, I think they're interchangeable. I'd give Cleveland the slight edge...
Historically, Baltimore was far more important than Pittsburgh and every other city on this list. How important is it today? Pittsburgh has narrowed the margin significantly to me because of the way it has diversified its economy. Pittsburgh is a bastion of higher learning and essentially is the anchor city of an entire region--its sphere of influence exceeds Baltimore's. I'd say Baltimore is still more important, but not because of the strength of its economy (Pittsburgh's is stronger). This is the slimmest of margins, but I think Pittsburgh and Baltimore are clearly the top two cities in this mini-tier...
Technically the burden is on Cleveland's shoulders to close out/shut down the competition cities in this thread.
Going by PCSA, Cleveland's population has over 500,000 people on the next largest place. So yeah, you definitely have the human population to be more productive then the rest. The question is, are you capable of that?
By PCSA; I'm using the CSA of Cleveland, the CSA of Saint Louis, the MSA of Baltimore, the CSA of Pittsburgh, and the CSA of Cincinnati.
Population base by PCSA, 2015: 1. Cleveland CSA: 3,493,596
2. Saint Louis CSA: 2,916,447
3. Baltimore MSA: 2,797,407
4. Pittsburgh CSA: 2,648,605
5. Cincinnati CSA: 2,216,735
Total Personal Income (TPI) by PCSA, 2014: 1. Cleveland CSA: $155.678 Billion
2. Baltimore MSA: $149.574 Billion
3. Saint Louis CSA: $136.377 Billion
4. Pittsburgh CSA: $127.169 Billion
5. Cincinnati CSA: $100.716 Billion
Cleveland is capable but the margin of victory is razor thin and much closer than what it should be. However, a win is a win regardless of margin of victory. So Clevelanders? Be relieved. You've done your job, I guess.
To be sure, with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) gap being only $52.837 Billion. Further evidenced by them being in the same general economic range (in the $100 Billions). Similarly sized gap with the Total Personal Income (TPI), indicating further that these cities are in the same general tier, even though the population gap is significant between the largest to the smallest.
Yeah, to Baltimore's credit it is very capable of standing on its own without the need of anywhere else.
In fact by next year it should be #1 for both GDP and TPI among these 5 cities, passing Cleveland CSA. Now that's truly a quality win, to have less people, by a lot (just shy of 700,000 less people), and shut the competition down in arguably the two most important metrics there is when comparing two American cities with one another. One metric tells us the aggregate wealth and value of an economy, the other metric tells us the aggregate wealth and value of the human population.
Not to mention, Baltimore is ethnically and racially the most diverse of the bunch as well. So culturally and socially, it has a larger global portfolio as the bigger immigration center.
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 04-10-2016 at 11:24 AM..
18. Cleveland-Akron (Canton)
21. St. Louis
23. Pittsburgh
26. Baltimore
36. Cincinnati
I absolutely love Baltimore- it's one of my favorite cities. But its location is both a blessing and a curse. The other cities in this comparison are undisputed cultural and media centers of their regions, whereas Baltimore is perennially overshadowed by its higher-profile neighbors. DC (and to a lesser extent, Philly), definitely steals Baltimore's visibility- in everything from concert tours to the freaking national weather map. That said, it's relative obscurity is what makes it appealing to me personally.
18. Cleveland-Akron (Canton)
21. St. Louis
23. Pittsburgh
26. Baltimore
36. Cincinnati
I absolutely love Baltimore- it's one of my favorite cities. But its location is both a blessing and a curse. The other cities in this comparison are undisputed cultural and media centers of their regions, whereas Baltimore is perennially overshadowed by its higher-profile neighbors. DC (and to a lesser extent, Philly), definitely steals Baltimore's visibility- in everything from concert tours to the freaking national weather map. That said, it's relative obscurity is what makes it appealing to me personally.
There's a term for why Baltimore isn't usually on weather maps, it's called the Baltimore Effect. Since Baltimore and DC are so close, and DC being the nation's capitol, it almost has to be on maps, so Baltimore is sacrificed due to space constraints on a map. Sometimes Philly has that problem too being between DC and NYC.
There's a term for why Baltimore isn't usually on weather maps, it's called the Baltimore Effect. Since Baltimore and DC are so close, and DC being the nation's capitol, it almost has to be on maps, so Baltimore is sacrificed due to space constraints on a map. Sometimes Philly has that problem too being between DC and NYC.
18. Cleveland-Akron (Canton)
21. St. Louis
23. Pittsburgh
26. Baltimore
36. Cincinnati
I absolutely love Baltimore- it's one of my favorite cities. But its location is both a blessing and a curse. The other cities in this comparison are undisputed cultural and media centers of their regions, whereas Baltimore is perennially overshadowed by its higher-profile neighbors. DC (and to a lesser extent, Philly), definitely steals Baltimore's visibility- in everything from concert tours to the freaking national weather map. That said, it's relative obscurity is what makes it appealing to me personally.
We have strong Fortune 1000 companies and other institutions in the Greater Baltimore area to make up for the lack of fortune 500 companies. Baltimore still gets a lot of concerts where artist will usually visit all 3 cities. Yeah the Baltimore Phenomenon, I actually like being omitted from the map at times we live in this age of terrorism now and I do not want my city to be a visible target like in the Sum of all Fears. Every city in the Bos-Wash corridor had an incident except Philadelphia and Baltimore. I like to stay as low key as possible.
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