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I'm a little surprised to see just how rich the rich Bostonians are compared to the 1% in other cities. I wonder where it all comes from?
It's pretty clear, as NOLA pointed out. My girlfriend and I live near the boundary of the Boston and Providence Metro Areas. We're top 24% for Boston, top 12% for Providence. That's a sizable discrepancy in income, but you can actually see and feel it between the two cities which are so close.
How do the cities with the most billionaires have the best entertainment?
Well let's see. The cities with the most billionaires - New York, Hong Kong, London, Paris, San Francisco, Istanbul, Tokyo. Coincidentally, these places seem to be way more exciting and have much better shopping and dining than places with no or few billionaires- like El Paso, TX and Jacksonville, FL. Hmm..a mystery. Super rich people are in certain places for a reason..cause they're the best.
And once again, why is caring where super-rich live any worse than caring which cities have the most human bodies added to their count in the last Census? What comes from that, other than things like traffic? There does seem to be lovely things that come from living around lots of super-rich people - like shopping, dining, huge corporations with high paying jobs and entertainment. And great museums, and landmarks..
I think you just don't like this metric because your town doesn't make the list.
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and its primarily young people and the middle class leaving.
So? Middle class people are going to McDonald over French Laundry and Best Western over the Four Seasons. Why would anyone care? This is a big free country that allows us to move around so what's the problem? Who cares, really? Being a city with high levels inequality works for some cities (the most unequal seem to be the world's most powerful cities) while others are just destined to be just middle-class places. I don't see anything wrong with this. And some cities are so huge that even in 200 years there will still be millions of middle-class. Most people don't move anywhere and the migration stats are a drop in the bucket.
Well let's see. The cities with the most billionaires - New York, Hong Kong, London, Paris, San Francisco, Istanbul, Tokyo. Coincidentally, these places seem to be way more exciting and have much better shopping and dining than places with no or few billionaires- like El Paso, TX and Jacksonville, FL. Hmm..a mystery. Super rich people are in certain places for a reason..cause they're the best.
And once again, why is caring where super-rich live any worse than caring which cities have the most human bodies added to their count in the last Census? What comes from that, other than things like traffic? There does seem to be lovely things that come from living around lots of super-rich people - like shopping, dining, huge corporations with high paying jobs and entertainment. And great museums, and landmarks..
I think you just don't like this metric because your town doesn't make the list.
So? Middle class people are going to McDonald over French Laundry and Best Western over the Four Seasons. Why would anyone care? This is a big free country that allows us to move around so what's the problem? Who cares, really? Being a city with high levels inequality works for some cities (the most unequal seem to be the world's most powerful cities) while others are just destined to be just middle-class places. I don't see anything wrong with this. And some cities are so huge that even in 200 years there will still be millions of middle-class. Most people don't move anywhere and the migration stats are a drop in the bucket.
What list are you talking about? The op just posted a link to an interactive tool. If you are talking about the list you posted
Counties by Top 5% Household Income:
01. New York, NY: $857,643
02. Fairfield, CT: $822,708
03. Westchester, NY: $793,134
04. Somerset, NJ: $625,869
05. Marin, CA: $624,762
06. Montgomery, MD: $567,190
07. Hunterdon, NJ: $554,015
08. Morris, NJ: $546,982
09. Nassau, NY: $538,307
10. San Francisco, CA: $523,744
I grew up right near number 6 on your list , Montgomery county. Who cares. Maryland suburbs around DC, for the most part, are very nice upper middle class suburb with good schools ,great place to raise kids and boring as hell , probably just like most of the other suburbs on that list.
So places with the most billionaires are the best? I dont consider many of the top 10 on that list like Beijing , Moscow, Shenzhen, Mumbai, Hangzhou, Istanbul etc. to be the best cities in the world because they have alot of billionaires that live there, to me its probably a sign of political corruption, vast inequalities in wealth are never a healthy sign in any society, including the US
You didnt answer my question about why cities with the most billionaires have the best entertainment. Like what? A billionaire or multimillionaire can have fun anywhere including el paso or jacksonville, but what about non billionaires ? I have more fun in countries that arent really rich like costa rica,thailand and the caribbean with all the gambling and girls not to mention amazing sailing and diving,tons of outdoor stuff. Outside of vegas ,those places are alot more fun than our rich and boring cities
Shopping is that important to you? Most places have the same chains that our gentrified big cities have.
How does having billionaires close to you and gentrification improve your city? Bland chain stores everywhere like starbucks and suburbanization, overpriced food and drink ,insane rents, high end stores most people cant afford to go in because you are trying to pay the rent,, third rate public transit, cost of living driving out artists, filmmakers, and creative types and you get more trust fund babies and finance guys, not to mention exploding homelessness and evictions. Gentrification rarely makes a city more fun, at least hasnt in america
You didnt answer my question about why cities with the most billionaires have the best entertainment.
I'll answer when you tell me what makes living in a city with a lot of middle-class family refugees from high COL cities great. Increased traffic? Strained infrastructure? More McDonalds and Applebees to satisfy the growing population of those types of people?
Why is caring about population increase any better than caring where rich people live? I guess both are trivial to the average person, but since this is City-Data, all types of data are analyzed.
Also, you have to compare them within their own country since people can't just freely move from country to country. It's not like I can pack up and move to London tomorrow. And yes, Moscow has the most entertainment in Russia. Beijing has the most entertainment China. London has the most entertainment in Europe. Dubai has the most entertainment in the Mid-East. And yes, New York has the most entertainment in America. What a coincidence!!!! It's such a coincidence that the places with the most billionaires/economic capital of each region/country are the most famous and have the most entertainment and amenities!
I grew up right near number 6 on your list , Montgomery county. Who cares. Maryland suburbs around DC, for the most part, are very nice upper middle class suburb with good schools ,great place to raise kids and boring as hell , probably just like most of the other suburbs on that list.
The DC area is one of the least boring metros in the U.S., so it basically proves the point being made.
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Originally Posted by floridanative10
So places with the most billionaires are the best? I dont consider many of the top 10 on that list like Beijing , Moscow, Shenzhen, Mumbai, Hangzhou, Istanbul etc. to be the best cities in the world because they have alot of billionaires that live there, to me its probably a sign of political corruption, vast inequalities in wealth are never a healthy sign in any society, including the US
You're confusing rate and number. Places with the highest number of wealthy people may or may not be interesting. An enormous city will probably have lots of rich people. But concentrations of wealth are certainly relevant, and cities with high proportions of wealthy people (the NYC and Londons of the world) are generally considered the most exciting, healthy, and desirable cities in the world.
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Originally Posted by floridanative10
You didnt answer my question about why cities with the most billionaires have the best entertainment.
Rich people can live anywhere. Their location choice says a lot about which cities are most desirable. And entertainment/leisure is an important part of a city's relative attraction.
How does having billionaires close to you and gentrification improve your city?
The relative health of an area is dependent on the economic viability of the region. Obviously it's a good thing when gentrification occurs, as it's just a fancy way of saying economic improvement.
Rich people are vital to economic health because they pay the bulk of taxes. In NYC the wealthiest 1% pay something like 60% of city taxes. So obviously if they all moved to Timbuktu it would be bad for schools, hospitals, transit, welfare, public services, etc.
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