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I don't really understand the point you're trying to make. A poster asked to see neighborhoods/cities in the Midwest (apart from Chicago and Minneapolis) that are interesting/cool places to live and I provided them with some examples. Obviously due to sheer size New York and Los Angeles are going to have a much larger scale of amenities than small to mid-sized cities. People my age don't care about "creative class" numbers when seeking a place to live lol. We care about employment opportunities, cost of living and entertainment primarily.
This is the crux. Back in my twenties I guess I did care a little more about QOL than COL and would've been willing to put up with some things to be in a cool place. Young people don't care if places are $6000, they would room with four people to a one bedroom if need be. I am assuming these cities fill up with people like that.
Now I am in my 30s and I have different values. Yes I still value QOL but it's taken a back seat to COL, career, purchasing power and high job growth. If there is a sports team and leagues I can join all the better. If there are enough diverse eateries, great but I make my own food and have perfected my cooking style to cook whatever I want. Now purpose is measured in attaining assets, career, opening up a business and owning land. My goals and values switched.
Then scratch Austin off the cool list, because it falls into the exact same category.
Not really. Austin has more of an identity than those other places apart from its identity as a college town. It's not seen as cool only because it has a big university, but also because of its burgeoning role in tech as well as its music scene.
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Originally Posted by PerseusVeil
Ann Arbor is different though because it falls into Detroit's economic orbit.
Another place that's seen as declining.
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Originally Posted by PerseusVeil
Economic yes, culturally no. Yes, Chicago has the best cultural institutions in the region (and more than the vast majority of the country, TBH), but the city's culture itself doesn't even hold sway throughout the entire state of Illinois outside of politics. The other cities are certainly smaller, but they most definitely stop Chicago's influence throughout the entire region. The Midwest is simply too big a place for Chicago alone to dictate everything, no matter how big it is.
That's not what I meant. I meant things like museums, theater, etc. While the other EC cities aren't on NYC's level, they are still regarded as cultural heavyweights.
"Upper East Side: Gloved Man Shoves Bag of Feces Down Woman's Shorts in New York City, Officials Say" I also don't mind not having to deal with this **** (no pun intended)
"Upper East Side: Gloved Man Shoves Bag of Feces Down Woman's Shorts in New York City, Officials Say" I also don't mind not having to deal with this **** (no pun intended)
That could happen anywhere, though. There are crazy people in any city.
While not on the same level as the warm (well, in the summer anyway) water beaches of the Gulf Coast and East Coast, the Great Lakes certainly can get the job done for much of the upper Midwest during the summer months. This list alone is just made up of beach towns in Michigan. https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nat...h-towns-ranked
Too cold to do many "beachy" activities during the winter, but many on the East Coast will suffer from the same problem.
Beaches in Southern California can obviously offer warm weather year-round with mountainous scenery though.
Precisely.
Which will change given time, as we've already seen with the rebirth of a place like Minneapolis.
Then scratch Austin off the cool list, because it falls into the exact same category. Ann Arbor is different though because it falls into Detroit's economic orbit.
Economic yes, culturally no. Yes, Chicago has the best cultural institutions in the region (and more than the vast majority of the country, TBH), but the city's culture itself doesn't even hold sway throughout the entire state of Illinois outside of politics. The other cities are certainly smaller with less influence, but they most definitely stop Chicago's influence throughout the entire region. The Midwest is simply too big a place for Chicago alone to dictate everything, no matter how big it is.
No. Austin is not a college town. There is a sizeable tech scene as well as music/art festival that gain national attention. Austin also has a better reputation with millennials than any of the other cities mentioned do.
That could happen anywhere, though. There are crazy people in any city.
NYC and LA have massive homeless populations. LA wanted to declare a state of emergency over it. And I feel bad for these folks because they're not just people that are down on their luck in t-shirts and jeans with a sign asking for some change. These are very disturbed mentally ill people covered in soot head to toe, no shoes, just ragged and they literally defecate and urinate in the streets in broad daylight. I've seen it in Downtown LA at a park near the Union train station. It's eye opening. Tent cities. Third world level poverty.
NYC and LA have massive homeless populations. LA wanted to declare a state of emergency over it. And I feel bad for these folks because they're not just people that are down on their luck in t-shirts and jeans with a sign asking for some change. These are very disturbed mentally ill people covered in soot head to toe, no shoes, just ragged and they literally defecate and urinate in the streets in broad daylight. I've seen it in Downtown LA at a park near the Union train station. It's eye opening. Tent cities. Third world level poverty.
They are huge cities with large populations. In raw numbers, yeah they will naturally have more homeless people - and more anyone else - than anywhere else. People of all types are drawn to places like LA and NYC, and they come from everywhere. They are transplant heavy cities. People go to LA and NYC alike to be famous (more so LA in the entertainment sense) or be whoever they want to be/feel they can be. Artists, writers, actors, singers, etc head to these cities to get recognized and make it big (and many don't but stay anyway). With that comes the delusional and mentally ill, the wanderers, those looking for higher paying jobs in what are very amazing places to live, filled with amenities, etc etc. All types will live in major, major cities - and come from anywhere to do so - and you will have a large concentration of all types, good and bad. It may seem like there are more crazies in bigger cities, and maybe there are in raw numbers, but if you were to break it down percentage wise it's probably on par with other cities.
No. Austin is not a college town. There is a sizeable tech scene as well as music/art festival that gain national attention. Austin also has a better reputation with millennials than any of the other cities mentioned do.
Yeah. Austin has SXSW. People from all over go to that. And people like to travel to Austin more generally for the music scene there. I can't think of any reason to go to Columbus or Ann Arbor other than to go to an OSU or UM football game.
Not really. Austin has more of an identity than those other places apart from its identity as a college town. It's not seen as cool only because it has a big university, but also because of its burgeoning role in tech as well as its music scene.
And Columbus doesn't?
It's a similar size as Austin both in terms of city and metro population stats, and it has a higher GDP than Austin. There's certainly much more to Columbus, its economy, and its reputation than Ohio State.
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Another place that's seen as declining.
Detroit will never recapture its former glory, but it currently has good things going for it right now, and the economy in the overall metro certainly isn't bad. Not saying it's on the level of the other cities mentioned, however. I was just pointing out that Ann Arbor doesn't play the same state capital/college town type of role as Columbus and Madison.
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That's not what I meant. I meant things like museums, theater, etc. While the other EC cities aren't on NYC's level, they are still regarded as cultural heavyweights.
In that regard I would agree, but I would also recommend looking into the cultural institutions across the Midwest. It's very much the same relationship that NYC has with the Northeast in terms of Chicago and the others. Places like Cleveland developed their cultural institutions when they were the biggest cities in the country, and they maintained them throughout their respective declines.
Depending on how the OP wants to describe "Middle America," the Midwestern cities actually pack more of a cultural punch than plenty of the upstarts in the Sunbelt. If he's defining Middle America as literally everything between the coasts then the point is moot though.
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Originally Posted by orlando-calrissian
No. Austin is not a college town. There is a sizeable tech scene as well as music/art festival that gain national attention. Austin also has a better reputation with millennials than any of the other cities mentioned do.
Columbus also isn't just a college town. I also never said Columbus reached Austin's reputation level just yet, but to act like Columbus is nothing more than Ohio State is a joke.
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