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I would say Chicago and Toronto are kind of like carbon copies, the major exceptions being:
Chicago's massive minority underclass and Chicagos much stronger Catholic culture. Torontos obvious British Commonwealth influence as well as its stronger economy due to Canadas lower corporate tax rate that makes it a more attractive place for companies to establish headquarters.
If you are JUST talking surrounding suburban region, Chicagolands suburbs are a virtual carbon copy of metro Detroits suburbs. (Chicagoland has no equivalent to Ann Arbor though).
Philly as far as city neighborhoods might be a carbon copy of Chicagos city neighborhoods, despite the fact that the size and relation to nearby cities is very different. (Chicago being quite a bit bigger and central to its region, but also more geographically isolated).
I might go so far as to say Denver might be a close carbon copy of Sacramento. That might be a bit of a stretch, Sacramento has other CA cities to compete with, whereas everything cool between California and Chicago gets located in Denver, as its the primary city of its region.
Based on what I know about these places as well as other places mentioned, I would have to disagree on most of these.
I think Milwaukee "carbon copy" would be closer to Buffalo, NY than Rochester, NY.
1. Both Buffalo and Milwaukee downtownsare actually on the Great Lake. Rochester is on a river, inland.
2. They both look a little older and more rustbelt (Milwaukee and Buffalo skylines are much more dominated by 1920s highrises, Rochester looks more modern. with a stronger white ethnic heritage maybe. (both buffalo and Milwaukee are known for Polish culture as well as others. Never heard of Rochester having Polish-Am culture).
3. Both Milwaukee and Buffalo are within 2 hour drive of the two world class Great lakes cities (Chicago and Toronto respectively), and benefit from the proximity I believe.
Milwaukee has a lot of new highrises going up in the next few years, and might even be getting a new tallest building (Johnson Controls HQ).
I would say Chicago and Toronto are kind of like carbon copies, the major exceptions being:
Chicago's massive minority underclass and Chicagos much stronger Catholic culture. Torontos obvious British Commonwealth influence as well as its stronger economy due to Canadas lower corporate tax rate that makes it a more attractive place for companies to establish headquarters.
I do think Chicago and Toronto are quite similar, but I think they are not that similar architecturally (maybe in residential architecture, though I'm not too familiar with Toronto's). I also think Chicago does a much better job with its lakefront...once you're at the shore, they don't really seem alike at all!
I agree with your assessment of the Twin Cities, but definitely disagree about Milwaukee and Rochester.
Milwaukee is nearly three times the size of Rochester in terms of both population and area. Milwaukee's metro has twice the population of Rochester's. The Milwaukee economy is nearly double the size of the Rochester economy. I'd say the layout is also quite different, with Milwaukee having a much stronger grid than Rochester does.
In terms of the skyline, demographics, and weather, they are similar, yes, but I'd say there are much more similar cities out there.
Actually, the Milwaukee metro has around 1.6 million while the Rochester metro is around 1.1 million.
I would say Chicago and Toronto are kind of like carbon copies, the major exceptions being:
Chicago's massive minority underclass and Chicagos much stronger Catholic culture. Torontos obvious British Commonwealth influence as well as its stronger economy due to Canadas lower corporate tax rate that makes it a more attractive place for companies to establish headquarters.
If you are JUST talking surrounding suburban region, Chicagolands suburbs are a virtual carbon copy of metro Detroits suburbs. (Chicagoland has no equivalent to Ann Arbor though).
Philly as far as city neighborhoods might be a carbon copy of Chicagos city neighborhoods, despite the fact that the size and relation to nearby cities is very different. (Chicago being quite a bit bigger and central to its region, but also more geographically isolated).
I might go so far as to say Denver might be a close carbon copy of Sacramento. That might be a bit of a stretch, Sacramento has other CA cities to compete with, whereas everything cool between California and Chicago gets located in Denver, as its the primary city of its region.
Milwaukee - Buffalo
Vancouver - San Francisco/Seattle hybrid.
Wouldn't Evanston be Chicago's equivalent to Ann Arbor(liberal, Big Ten campus, stand alone yet close enough to a large city, etc)?
DC may be a little difficult but the closest I can think of as carbon copies for DC are Chicago, Boston, and Richmond, especially if you mix the aforementioned three cities into a hybrid mold. I can see some elements of the three cities in DC:
Chicago: Wide and continuous boulevards, a bungalow belt, diverse housing stock with setbacks and beautiful landscaping, Downtown DC is like a buzzcut version of The Loop, world class museums and other tourist attractions, certain large parts of both cities that have a notorious reputation (Chicago's South and West Sides/Southeast DC, particularly the East of the River neighborhoods, not all of the nabes in the infamous sections of these two cities are bad), and both are relatively clean cities with some interesting grit here and there.
Boston: Stately rowhomes and townhomes, practically the same size (though DC has the larger pop. and Boston has the larger city limits), physically compact, and similar multiple transit system (both have subways, buses, ferries, taxis, and commuter rail. However, DC doesn't have trolleys and light rail but it'll have a streetcar network soon).
Richmond: Some of the neighborhoods in both cities are similar to each other and varied housing stock with green setbacks from the sidewalks, some even with cozy porches.
The former is owned by a university, while the latter is owned by a corporation.
Both are similar in size (about 40,000) with very well-educated populations and cultural offerings beyond cities of their size. There's kind of a trendy vibe to their downtown areas as well. They had similar-sized malls tucked away in the corner of their city.
The main differences are that State College has MUCH younger residents on average, much more isolated, and has many more hills than does Midland.
I know some will disagree, but I would say Long Beach, CA and Virginia Beach, VA. Both are large coastal suburban cities with a similar feel. Their oceanfront areas have quite a bit of activity.
Wouldn't Evanston be Chicago's equivalent to Ann Arbor(liberal, Big Ten campus, stand alone yet close enough to a large city, etc)?
University of Michigan is a LOT larger than Northwestern University, with a much broader range of programs. Northwestern is certainly a top university, but its a bit more "exclusive" and "niche".
U of M when combining BOTH size and prestige does stand alone.
As far as the towns, Evanston is beautiful and a desirable place to live, but is firmly, seemlessly in every way part of the Chicagoland. And is more "sedate" due to the fact that Chicago is where the action is.
Ann Arbor is on the fringes of the metro area, debatable part of it at all (part of CSA, but not MSA) and is really a major center of lots of activity of all sorts.
Ann Arbor is like what Madison, WI would be like if it was located where Elgin, Aurora, or Joliet is now relative to a larger city.
But yeah, I do find that if people like one, they usually like the other.
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