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Unless you fall into the trap of comparing gross figures according metro area statistics (comparing the gross output of 22 million population vs 14 million), which is fallacious, no, New York is not clearly ahead on most objective statistics.
It lags London in financial services (London is now a juggernaut in the foreign exchange and insurance markets, which sees massive volumes daily, has the edge in OTC derivatives and matches Chicago on commodities futures). London also has a notable lead in foreign direct investment, international dining, the tech industry and office and real estate (AFIRE, Jan 2014). Where New York still retains an undisputed edge is the fashion industry and small businesses, such as independent retailers.
In other areas, comparisons vary by stratum: New York has the edge in the contemporary and post-war art auction market, London leads in terms of classical, Old Master art auctions. Retail volume between the two is very comparable. New York has more billionaires, and HNWIs, London has more multimillionaires, according to the latest Wealth Report by Knight Frank.
Knight Frank is simply London Real Estate PR Master, so of course they would trump up everything London since they have interests in people thinking London is "best". London is a fine city, but I can't help that notice that it tends to have a crushing inferiority complex when it comes to New York. Every single "Most Desirable", "most expensive prime real estate", etc. study comes out from London. Even the "World's Financial Center Index", the self-proclaimed masters of ranking financial centers, is a London based firm (who funnily enough, even they just admitted that NY the Financial Center of the World New York Strips London of Mantle as World). Seems they try so hard to make people think that London is the world's greatest city since most people think that title belongs to NYC. It's very strange...you never see such rankings coming out of the US because the United States/New York simply doesn't care or think about London, to put it bluntly.
But truth is, London trails New York in every single form of wealth measurement. From total GDP, to per capita GDP, per capita income, number of billionaires, millionaires and yes even multimillionaires (Knight Frank is wrong and not the type of firm anyone should get that info from...Wealth X shows NYC at #1 when it comes to every type of "aire")
Well London trumps New York in history, culture, architecture and green space - things which are far more important to me than financial clout.
Great pics Bamford and Benny Bucks. Such lovely weather we're having for this time of year. I spent yesterday exploring Kenwood House and Hampstead properly. Something I've not really done before despite living here 40 years. London is so full of wonderful, little surprises that help make this city what it is.
Knight Frank is simply London Real Estate PR Master, so of course they would trump up everything London since they have interests in people thinking London is "best". London is a fine city, but I can't help that notice that it tends to have a crushing inferiority complex when it comes to New York. Every single "Most Desirable", "most expensive prime real estate", etc. study comes out from London. Even the "World's Financial Center Index", the self-proclaimed masters of ranking financial centers, is a London based firm (who funnily enough, even they just admitted that NY the Financial Center of the World New York Strips London of Mantle as World). Seems they try so hard to make people think that London is the world's greatest city since most people think that title belongs to NYC. It's very strange...you never see such rankings coming out of the US because the United States/New York simply doesn't care or think about London, to put it bluntly.
But truth is, London trails New York in every single form of wealth measurement. From total GDP, to per capita GDP, per capita income, number of billionaires, millionaires and yes even multimillionaires (Knight Frank is wrong and not the type of firm anyone should get that info from...Wealth X shows NYC at #1 when it comes to every type of "aire")
As I predicted earlier, I knew someone would post data using skewed metro area comparisons
Your maps compare GDP stats for the majority of the south east of England (not just the London metro area) with the NY metro area. And they are from 4 years ago. There is a widening disparity in wealth between London and the rest of England, so your sampling is skewed to underrepresent London.
If you want to present a convincing case, you need to provide recent data that compares data for municipal regions (the five boroughs of NYC with 8.3 million population versus the Greater London municipal area with 8.2 million in population).
You also need to back up your other claims with evidence.
Well London trumps New York in history, culture, architecture and green space - things which are far more important to me than financial clout.
Great pics Bamford and Benny Bucks. Such lovely weather we're having for this time of year. I spent yesterday exploring Kenwood House and Hampstead properly. Something I've not really done before despite living here 40 years. London is so full of wonderful, little surprises that help make this city what it is.
London's a very different city to New York, and the two aren't really that similar in many aspects. NYC is a very densely populated metropolis built on a grid system with skyscrapers filling large parts of Manhattan. NYC being very much a product of recent centuries.
London with it's winding streets, parks and more historic architecture, and this applies more so to Central London, is very different to Manhattan, but the city does have a lot of charm and character as a result.
In terms of GDP, London is undergoing substantial growth, and the same is true in terms of population, with London's population set to exceed the 10 million mark by 2030, and new developments and gentrification occurring in lots of outer London boroughs such as Croydon, Elephant & Castle, the Royal Docks, Battersea Nine Elms, Waterloo, Old Oak Common, Canary Wharf, City Basin, Greenwich & Woolwich, Brentford, Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration and numerous other such schemes. The poor post war social housing (projects) in areas of South and East London are also being replaced with new attractive housing on a vast scale with whole estates being torn down.
Whilst in terms of transport London is investing heavily in projects such as Crossrail, 24 hour night tubes and faster Eurostar trains aimed at reducing the train time between London and Paris to around 2 hours from next year, with London's St Pancras having being beautifully restored in order to become a new international rail hub.
This is not to say I don't like NYC it is a great city and may indeed have a greater GDP, and may indeed have greater density or may win when it comes to certain statistics, but due to differing time zones London is not really in competition with NYC it's more in a competition with fellow European Financial Centres such as Paris, Frankfurt, Geneva, Zurich etc and I wish NYC all the best.
Knight Frank is simply London Real Estate PR Master, so of course they would trump up everything London since they have interests in people thinking London is "best". London is a fine city, but I can't help that notice that it tends to have a crushing inferiority complex when it comes to New York. Every single "Most Desirable", "most expensive prime real estate", etc. study comes out from London. Even the "World's Financial Center Index", the self-proclaimed masters of ranking financial centers, is a London based firm (who funnily enough, even they just admitted that NY the Financial Center of the World New York Strips London of Mantle as World). Seems they try so hard to make people think that London is the world's greatest city since most people think that title belongs to NYC. It's very strange...you never see such rankings coming out of the US because the United States/New York simply doesn't care or think about London, to put it bluntly.
But truth is, London trails New York in every single form of wealth measurement. From total GDP, to per capita GDP, per capita income, number of billionaires, millionaires and yes even multimillionaires (Knight Frank is wrong and not the type of firm anyone should get that info from...Wealth X shows NYC at #1 when it comes to every type of "aire")
While I would agree that residents of London probably over estimate how concerned residents elsewhere think about it, I still prefer London to New York City. Both are truly great, global cities (and to be honest I am not a big city person anymore) but even central London doesn't feel as "city like" as New York. It still has charm and some local feeling pubs and restaurants. New York has some of that too, but it is concrete vertical jungle.
If you want energy, buzz, excitement etc then I think New York trumps London, but in terms of spending time or living in one over the other, I would go for London.
I think the best thing about living in London is that it manages the same level of stimulation without resorting to wild excess. In other words, it achieves the same feeling qualitatively, rather than through quantitative measures.
It's definitely less of a 24 hour city, and crowd volumes are surprisingly comparable, but the crowds move more slowly, create less noise and are generally more orderly and civil, giving the overall impression of a more tranquil or gentrified environment.
Take me back to dear old Blighty, put me on the train for London town.....
Londonistan is great for what exactly?
Why don't you read the previous 7 pages
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