Battle of "number four" US cities:SF, DC, Houston or Boston? (cost, live)

[adavi215]

I know I'm late in stating this. But how is it possible to mention Boston in this poll and leave out Phily? I might be naive and maybe plain wrong, but Boston and Phily pretty much are neck-and-neck when it comes to size and culture. Not to mention that Phily's MSA GDP is larger. What am I missing?

[OyCrumbler]

SF might have moved up in the ranks since Wells Fargo's absorption of Wachovia in late 2008 (their charters merge next month) and Charles Schwab having little exposure to mortgage backed securities.

The Bay Area is a fairly cohesive lot. It definitely has the single overarching identity as the Bay Area and people from within each of the three MSAs (SF, East Bay, San Jose/South Bay) commute in large quantities to either of the other two with significant numbers of people going from the heart of one MSA to the heart of another. If you look at a satellite picture of the Bay Area, you'll see one continuous horseshoe of developing rimming the San Francisco Bay with various bridges and a tunnel for mass transit (not visible) crossing the bay.

The area is more important than people give it credit for. It is a media powerhouse, though different than other media powerhouses as it derives much its influence from providing the tools with which media is now made. It hosts three very prominent research universities (Stanford, Berkeley, UCSF), untold number of private r&d departments in many fields with the lion's share of this country's venture capital, and by far the largest collection of US national laboratories. It's a bastion for liberal/progressive politics through media, practice, and association. In addition to the various tech sectors that the Bay Area is known for is the financial services and energy sectors. Also, they ghostride that whip like no one else does because no one else does.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by adavi215

I know I'm late in stating this. But how is it possible to mention Boston in this poll and leave out Phily? I might be naive and maybe plain wrong, but Boston and Phily pretty much are neck-and-neck when it comes to size and culture. Not to mention that Phily's MSA GDP is larger. What am I missing?

I don't think anyone has a problem with Philadelphia being included in the conversation...I sure don't. It's definitely one of the most important cities in our country.

One thing that boosts Boston is the fact that it's home to the best college on the planet, and the world's best technical school. Some of the world's most influential people have been educated in the Boston area. If you combined the revenues of all the companies founded by MIT graduates, you would have the seventeenth largest economy in the world.

Boston is also arguably the medical research capital of the world. Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Mass General, and Boston Medical Center are all world-renowned.

[smith21]

washington dc does not cross my mind at all. other then being the capital i dont see it as being number 4. houston has about 2.3 million in the city alone and will continue to get bigger for a long time. houston is a massive city and is still growing rapidly and to me that is the best choice for number 4. philadelphia is more competative for the 4th spot to me then dc, boston, san fran.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by smith21

washington dc does not cross my mind at all. other then being the capital i dont see it as being number 4. houston has about 2.3 million in the city alone and will continue to get bigger for a long time. houston is a massive city and is still growing rapidly and to me that is the best choice for number 4. philadelphia is more competative for the 4th spot to me then dc, boston, san fran.

Look at the Metropoliatan population and it all evens out. All these cities are good choices for #4 spot. I don't really see neither one leading tremendously above the other. However, if I had to pick; I would pick SF.

[14thandYou]

Originally Posted by smith21

washington dc does not cross my mind at all. other then being the capital i dont see it as being number 4.

First of all, understand that "being the capital" carries a significant amount of weight. DC isn't just a symbolic place where the congresspeople get together to muck around with legislation; the actions and decisions of the men and women who work here--in both the public and private sectors--have a profound impact on the entire country. Its economic impact on the nation extends far beyond the Fortune 500 companies who are located here, or the IT and biomed sectors that are significant here, for instance.

Culturally, the city is home to the largest museum complex in the world, the nation's most prestigious think tanks and institutions, 170 international embassies, world renowned art institutions, world class performing arts venues, and organizations and associations of every color and stripe. More homegrown, the city has played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement, has one of the richest African-American cultural histories in the country, and has played a significant role in the growth and development of musical styles ranging from jazz, to punk and go-go.

[FLABoyJ]

Originally Posted by EverestClimb

I agree that Washington DC is more important than NYC. That is why I voted for Houston on this poll

"Ditto"

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by smith21

washington dc does not cross my mind at all. other then being the capital i dont see it as being number 4. houston has about 2.3 million in the city alone and will continue to get bigger for a long time. houston is a massive city and is still growing rapidly and to me that is the best choice for number 4. philadelphia is more competative for the 4th spot to me then dc, boston, san fran.

Houston is a "massive city" in geographic size only. If you combined the land area of San Francisco, Boston, and Washington DC, Houston would still be 3.71 times larger.

Houston: 579.4 square miles
Boston: 48 square miles
San Francisco: 46.7 square miles
Washington DC: 61.4 square miles

Out of the four cities, Houston has the smallest economy (though it's close).

"Other than being the capital" is an odd thing to say. I'd say being the capital would make it pretty important...It also has the largest economy out of any of these cities. In my opinion Washington DC is the second most important city in the country.

[SouthmoreAve]

Originally Posted by tmac9wr

Houston is a "massive city" in geographic size only. If you combined the land area of San Francisco, Boston, and Washington DC, Houston would still be 3.71 times larger.

Houston: 579.4 square miles
Boston: 48 square miles
San Francisco: 46.7 square miles
Washington DC: 61.4 square miles

Out of the four cities, Houston has the smallest economy (though it's close).

"Other than being the capital" is an odd thing to say. I'd say being the capital would make it pretty important...It also has the largest economy out of any of these cities. In my opinion Washington DC is the second most important city in the country.

Greater Houston has the 4th largest economy in the nation. Where did you get these from. And I think NYC, LA, and Chicago are ahead of it. Are you using CSA economies or what?

If you are using CSA economies, than it would be better to compare CSA land areas, not city land areas. Houston isn't 3.71 times larger then.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by SouthmoreAve

Greater Houston has the 4th largest economy in the nation. Where did you get these from. And I think NYC, LA, and Chicago are ahead of it. Are you using CSA economies or what?

You choose the measure:

Richest Cities and Urban Areas

World Rank; City; GDP

9. Philadelphia 312
10. Washington DC 299
11. Boston 290
15. San Francisco 242
17. Houston 235

CSA Rankings

National Rank; City; GDP

3. Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA $533.542 Billion
Baltimore-Towson, MD Metro Area $133,012
Lexington Park, MD Micro Area
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area $395,747
Winchester, VA-WV Metro Area $4,783

5. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA $508.418 Billion
Napa, CA Metro Area $7,434
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area $310,825
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area $146,687
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area $9,903
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA Metro Area $20,229
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA Metro Area $13,340

6. Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA $413.930 Billion
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metro Area $299,590
Concord, NH Micro Area
Manchester-Nashua, NH Metro Area $20,782
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA Metro Area $65,152
Worcester, MA Metro Area $28,406

7. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA $403.202 Billion
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area $403,202
9. Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA $351.680 Billion
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area $331,897
Reading, PA Metro Area $14,838
Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, NJ Metro Area $4,945

If you are using CSA economies, than it would be better to compare CSA land areas, not city land areas. Houston isn't 3.71 times larger then.

Since the poster I quoted was talking about how massive Houston was, I imagine he was speaking about the city proper. If we're comparing CSA areas, then yes these area all relatively the same size cities.