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I think nowadays people work out definition for words based on association.
They hear urban and they think of NYC. What is NYC known for? Tightly packed buildings and public transit so they ridiculously assume if a city isn't tightly packed or cris crossed with rail it is somehow not urban. Urban simply means of the city as opposed to of the country/ rural areas. Suburbs are also city-like but the difference is they depend on the city for amenities.
Similarly, because the term cosmopolitan was appropriated for fancy magazines and drinks people some how think cosmopolitan means flashy. It simply means worldly.
That poster can attack me all she wants, but the best you can get Asian countries into the cosmopolitan sphere is by saying Tokyo has cosmopolitan connections. She laughed when I said Trinidad is more diverse than Tokyo meaning she doesn't know anything about the demographics of Trinidadian.
The Asian megacities have economies that tie them to all over the world, but their fancy towers, high speed rail, densely populated Urban Areas don't make them cosmopolitan. That is not what the word means. Yall have been watching too much Will and Grace.
Americans are so obsessed with rankings. To me the ranking doesn’t matter. It is binary. A city is either cosmopolitan or it isn’t.
I tend to agree with H’ton’s definition of cosmopolitan, except for the tall buildings bit. Cultural institutions are important to me, but not all C-D users care much about the Fine Arts or Performing Arts. Honestly I think most C-D users care more about pop culture influence.
In this day and age does it matter who has the better symphony or more museums? I don’t think so. Most people would not hear the difference between the NY Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, or the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. I am a trained musician and I could not “name that orchestra” on the radio. Music is an experience and performances should be enjoyed live. If your city has an orchestra, great, enjoy it!
Same with museums…how many times do people go to museums? How many times do Parisians go to the Louvre? You can only see the Mona Lisa so many times! In my experience people go to museums if they are visiting a city or if special exhibits are in town. There is no real value in rankings. If your city has these amenities then be content with that. No city has every single piece of artwork you ever wanted to see!
Again this is ridiculous. No city is in a bubble so it's not a matter of being cosmopolitan or not.
Its like asking which city doesn't have people. They all do.
Just like some cities will be bigger than others, some will be more cosmopolitan than others.
Its just a matter of degree.
And these are our most cosmopolitan cities:
NY, LA
DC, Houston, SF, Miami,
Boston, DFW, Atlanta, Philadelphia.
2nd to only NYC in # of Fortune 500 Companies AND Theater seats
#1 in the nation in diversity..evident in the restaurant and cultural diversity
#4 in the nation in city population (soon to be #3) and I believe top 5 in number of skyscrapers
One of a handful of US cities to have residences in all of the performing arts I listed.
Home to dozens upon dozens of top notch museums and many institutions of higher learning. Rice and University of Houston were the most notable.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Texas Medical Center which is so highly regarded internationally that many fly into Houston just to seek treatment. That's on top of the number of medical innovations pioneered there.
I believe Houston is viewed in far more favorable terms outside of the United States than inside the United States.
The Ismaili example I posted is VERY prestigious...they typically only select one city, per country, and they selected Houston for their United States location.
LOL at how Houstonians (Houstoners?), always trot out out "theater seats" like it is some golden criteria for culture. Houston is probably top 10 for "culture / fine arts" in the U.S. but it's nowhere with the likes of NYC, LA, Chicago and probably not with Boston, SF or Philly either.
LOL at how Houstonians (Houstoners?), always trot out out "theater seats" like it is some golden criteria for culture. Houston is probably top 10 for "culture / fine arts" in the U.S. but it's nowhere with the likes of NYC, LA, Chicago and probably not with Boston, SF or Philly either.
A fair assessment. Top 10 but not top 5 is where I would put it.
It's the same with art museums. Big square footage is great but you also have to look at the quality of the exhibits. MFAH may be top 5 in overall size but it doesn't have the number of well known pieces that real destination museums have.
LOL at how Houstonians (Houstoners?), always trot out out "theater seats" like it is some golden criteria for culture. Houston is probably top 10 for "culture / fine arts" in the U.S. but it's nowhere with the likes of NYC, LA, Chicago and probably not with Boston, SF or Philly either.
This Houstonian already beat you to criticizing it. I agree it’s stupid and most people here do too.
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