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Tokyo above New York and Los Angeles above London?
Yeah it's a stupid list either way, but we can all agree on this order: NYC> LA> Chi, and only reason DC would rank above any of those cities would be because of government.
1. New York, NY-NJ-CT
2. Washington, DC-VA-MD LA
3. Los Angeles, CA Chicago
4. Chicago, IL-IN SF Bay Area
5. Houston, TX DC
6. Dallas, TX Houston
7. San Francisco-San Jose, CA Boston
8. Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD Dallas
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Miami, FL Philly
11. Boston, MA-NH-RI Miami
12. Seattle, WA
13. Detroit, MI
14. Pheonix, AZ Minneapolis-St. Paul
15. San Diego, CA Phoenix
16. Minneapolis, MN-WI San Diego
17. Baltimore, MD Denver
18. San Antonio, TX Baltimore
19. Denver, CO Portland
20. Virginia Beach, VA Charlotte
21. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA St. Louis
22. St. Louis, MO-IL Pittsburgh
23. Charlotte, NC-SC Tampa Bay area
24. Pittsburgh, PA Orlando
25. Cleveland, OH
26. Portland, OR-WA Cincinnati
27. Las Vegas, NV Kansas City
28. Orlando, FL Las Vegas
29. Sacramento, CA Austin
30. Kansas City, MO-KS Columbus or San Antonio
San Antonio should be lower, if it gets in, it's barely in the Top 30...
Virginia Beach isn't the nucleus of its metro, nor is it the most important city in its state. Richmond is the most important city in Virginia, and it's not Top 30, so Virginia Beach should be nowhere near this list...
The IE shouldn't be on here. It is its own MSA by technicality; otherwise, in reality, it is just the far suburbs/exurbs of Los Angeles...
Sacramento is not one of the most important cities in America.....
Assuming we treat the IE as suburban LA, and San Jose as part of the Bay region, my answers are in bold next to yours above...
San Antonio should be lower, if it gets in, it's barely in the Top 30...
Virginia Beach isn't the nucleus of its metro, nor is it the most important city in its state. Richmond is the most important city in Virginia, and it's not Top 30, so Virginia Beach should be nowhere near this list...
The IE shouldn't be on here. It is its own MSA by technicality; otherwise, in reality, it is just the far suburbs/exurbs of Los Angeles...
Sacramento is not one of the most important cities in America.....
Assuming we treat the IE as suburban LA, and San Jose as part of the Bay region, my answers are in bold next to yours above...
I have Sacramento, Columbus and San Antonio battling out for the last spot. Sac is the 20th largest media market in the country, larger than Columbus, San Antonio and others on the list
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Murk seems like we are relatively in agreement. VA Beach I will kick from the list anyway it is really not the core and honestly I am surprised it is considered one urban area to be honest, I only included it because of its large military presence. Agreed IE is part of LA so remove it too. SFSJ should be higher up, I agree on fifth. I put DC in 2nd only because it is the federal govt and also has the 6th largest GDP, it's not one of the tallest but definitely one of the most important.
Sacramento GDP is only slightly smaller than Austin, but Sacramento urban area is larger. I'd say it beats Austin personally (they are both state capitals). I really do like your list though, just think DC should be higher, keep Sacramento instead of Austin, and Tampa yeah I suppose. Why did you jump Boston up so much (even ahead of Philadelphia?? I'm not sure I agree on that placement?) I agree it should be ahead of Miami and probably Atlanta too, but just wondering? Philadelphia is larger by population and GDP, but only slightly. Philadelphia is also closer to Baltimore and DC, whereas both are pretty equally close to NY. Also, yes my list was missing Cincinnati (an oversight). Thanks for your input and actually completing a list, it does improve upon my original list. Just wondering on Boston v. Philadelphia that's all.
Considering urban area population, metro GDP, proximity to other large urban areas, government presence, military presence, transportation (airport, seaport, rail, trucking), and tourism draw (weakest factor), is this the correct current list of most important cities meaning if they were to disappear a la Independence Day movie explosion this would be the worst)? Just wondering because it is important for us to realize which cities are most important for national security reasons and also because it is interesting to compare/contrast the above factors. Ok, here's my best guess, please let me know if you disagree and why, and how you would change it:
1. New York, NY-NJ-CT
2. Washington, DC-VA-MD
3. Los Angeles, CA
4. Chicago, IL-IN
5. Houston, TX
6. Dallas, TX
7. San Francisco-San Jose, CA
8. Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Miami, FL
11. Boston, MA-NH-RI
12. Seattle, WA
13. Detroit, MI
14. Pheonix, AZ
15. San Diego, CA
16. Minneapolis, MN-WI
17. Baltimore, MD
18. San Antonio, TX
19. Denver, CO
20. Virginia Beach, VA
21. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA
22. St. Louis, MO-IL
23. Charlotte, NC-SC
24. Pittsburgh, PA
25. Cleveland, OH
26. Portland, OR-WA
27. Las Vegas, NV
28. Orlando, FL
29. Sacramento, CA
30. Kansas City, MO-KS
These are the major cities of the USA (the Dow 30). Runner ups are Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Nashville, Tampa, and Indianapolis only.
Based on the included metro areas, Miami should also represent Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach (MIA-FTL-WPB) for South Florida.
I have Sacramento, Columbus and San Antonio battling out for the last spot. Sac is the 20th largest media market in the country, larger than Columbus, San Antonio and others on the list
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but if we're doing a Top 30 we have to split hairs. The last two spots would be a razor-thin margin between Sacramento, Columbus, San Antonio, Austin, and Indianapolis. Razor thin, two of these five cities takes the last spots, the ones on the outside looking in are right behind them...
Murk seems like we are relatively in agreement. VA Beach I will kick from the list anyway it is really not the core and honestly I am surprised it is considered one urban area to be honest, I only included it because of its large military presence. Agreed IE is part of LA so remove it too. SFSJ should be higher up, I agree on fifth. I put DC in 2nd only because it is the federal govt and also has the 6th largest GDP, it's not one of the tallest but definitely one of the most important.
Sacramento GDP is only slightly smaller than Austin, but Sacramento urban area is larger. I'd say it beats Austin personally (they are both state capitals). I really do like your list though, just think DC should be higher, keep Sacramento instead of Austin, and Tampa yeah I suppose. Why did you jump Boston up so much (even ahead of Philadelphia?? I'm not sure I agree on that placement?) I agree it should be ahead of Miami and probably Atlanta too, but just wondering? Philadelphia is larger by population and GDP, but only slightly. Philadelphia is also closer to Baltimore and DC, whereas both are pretty equally close to NY. Also, yes my list was missing Cincinnati (an oversight). Thanks for your input and actually completing a list, it does improve upon my original list. Just wondering on Boston v. Philadelphia that's all.
Well, Hampton Roads is one urban area, it's like SF Bay or Tampa Bay on a much, much smaller scale. It's one continuous region...
DC is my favorite place on the planet, so for sentimental value it's #1 in my heart and mind, but in reality, it's 4 or 5. Certainly not lower than 5th, though, and not higher than 4th. Not yet...
I've never been to Austin, but my impression is that it has a larger, more "major league" profile than Sac. Sacramento is a truly wonderful city, and though it isn't small, it has a rather smallish personality, if that makes sense. It is more so overshadowed by cities in Cali than Austin is by cities in Texas. Truthfully, those two cities are probably dead even...
Tampa was an oversight as well. Maybe it could be lower, but it most definitely belongs within the top 27 or so...
I think Boston has a better outlook than Philly, as far as future growth. I also think it performs as a more complete city, but by a thin margin. Honestly, and I said this in a thread a few months back, my 6-10 are extremely interchangeable and I don't think any city in that group outperforms another by a wide margin. Very tight group...
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