Hong Kong versus Paris versus London versus New York versus Tokyo (2015, restaurants)

[OyCrumbler]

I don't really think Hong Kong belongs on this list right now. It's got a strong financial services industry and it used to have a massive entertainment industry (much truncated now), but it's not in the same overall tier the other four are.

Originally Posted by Trimac20

That pretty much sums up NY and London. I definitely agree, Singapore's street food, well a lot of it is in hawker centres, is hard to beat. I think food is one area where Singapore beats HK. I'm not a huge fan of Cantonese food, Dim Sum.etc, I prefer the spicier flavours of SE Asia and I also love Indian food which is more readily available in Singapore.

I think Philly seems underrated in general, which is maybe why it has a lot of boosters. It should be one of America's top cities yet it gets overshadowed by NYC. I hope to see it revived, I've seen some of the nabes on TV and it boasts the largest extant area of 18th or 19th century architecture in the US. Only Boston can approach it's historicity and it's way more expense. Philly is an absolute steal if it's significantly cheaper than NY or even DC.

Philly is severely underrated. America doesn't really have that many great walkable major cities, and Philadelphia is definitely among the best. It did take a huge hit in the rush out towards the suburbs, but the had started slowing significantly in the 90s and is now rebounding back up with net population growth in recent years after decades of falling population. It's also true that a good number of artists, artisans, designers and musicians that helped make NYC such a desirable place to live in over the last two decades are now getting priced out of the city, and a good deal of that overflow has actually been going down to Philly (which is much cheaper but still very much city living while still able to easily make it up to NYC). It's also been happening with the immigrant east and southeast asian communities which are growing quickly in Philly which means you have incongruously good pho in the city. Though NYC's treating me pretty well, I do feel Philly is pretty attractive with south philadelphia being particularly attractive to me.

[Trafalgar Law]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

I don't really think Hong Kong belongs on this list right now. It's got a strong financial services industry and it used to have a massive entertainment industry (much truncated now), but it's not in the same overall tier the other four are.

Yeahh I know but this isn't about which ones are the most important, that one was covered in the last thread that had 4/5 of these cities. This time it's just a different sort of comparison altogether.

This time around, it's just about preference of where to live. No restrictions or barometers, just all preference.

For me:
1. New York (tie)
1. Hong Kong (tie)
1. London (tie)
2. Tokyo
3. Paris

Originally Posted by scrantiX

It's not a fine town, what fine town has 4k folks every decade being shot to death? The UK has 350 as a country in a decade and Japan has 30 compare that to the dumps 4k.

Well yeahhh, no duhhh crime is an issue there and one of which that turns me away from it but it's concentrated crime in pockets of the city. I'm sure you can live in Queens Village, Chestnut Hill, Gladwyne, Villanova, Center City, Ritten House Square, Society Hill in the Philadelphia area and not have anything happen to you.

However on an overall basis, I don't care about the city too much and it's not really a place that registers for me on my priority list for "living" in.

I prefer cities with architecture from late 20th century & 21st century:

Like this: http://slickzine.com/wp-content/uplo...e-at-night.jpg

A skyline like this: http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets...010/07/big.jpg

A bullet train like this: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Env6YIART0...ev%2BTrain.JPG

An extensive transit system like this: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/...90435b59_o.jpg

Diversity like this: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/diver.../diversity.jpg

Street vibrancy like this: http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-conten...cy_stroget.jpg

A city that looks big like this: http://www.techedon.com/wp-content/u...pan_aerial.jpg

A crime rate like this: Japan's Crime Rate - Japan Talk

A waterfront like this: http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/16/63/75.../8/628x471.jpg

A culture like this: http://www.adweek.com/files/adfreak/...a346970c-450wi

A party atmosphere like this: http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...pic97429-a.jpg

Hot girls like this: http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...pic97430-a.jpg

Or this: http://www.korean-drama-guide.com/im...Bon-banner.jpg

Weather like this: http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...631fdd86-b.jpg

With beaches and waters like these: http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...689-miami2.jpg

Scenery like this: http://74211.com/wallpaper/picture_t...Hong_Kong_.jpg

Or like this: http://starvingphotographer.smugmug...._4_5_6_7-L.jpg

With a skyline that's as large and lights up like this: http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/image...ngkongview.jpg

With wildlife like this: http://rainforestenvironment.org/ima...-parrots-1.jpg

Or historically monumental (plus squeaky clean) sites like this: http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...pic94778-a.jpg

Or this: http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...48f4ec0e-b.jpg

And the few times I do like historical architecture it's always a skyscraper and it's like this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lSZx6CegL8...r-Building.jpg

Either real or fictional literature legacies like this: http://images.dailyfreegames.com/wal...175df5f5c3.jpg

With publicly viewable attractions like this: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...lk-of-fame.jpg

With a bar like this: http://0.tqn.com/d/golondon/1/0/9/g/..._LONDON_03.jpg

And a music scene geared to this: http://pricetravelmx.files.wordpress...ueta.jpg?w=595

These are just some of my many interests, a perfect city for me doesn't exist-- at least none of which I know about. I usually go off of places that have as much of my interest as possible, obviously no where is perfect. I'm aware that my interests are strange and that I'm a strange person, even I understand that. All of these interests to me come before history more so. Philadelphia's a great city for people that like history-- for historians and those that love American architecture from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. It's also a great city for those that want to live in a large metropolis (6.5 million people) and pay very fair housing prices while still getting an absolutely stellar location out it. Lastly, it's also a wonderful place for people that love American culture and an "American cultured" city out of their living experience.

However for me personally, while I acknowledge it for the great attributes it does have-- there are far and few things my interests have in common with Philadelphia.

By no means does that make it a bad city but to me and my interests, an average one.

[BigCityDreamer]

^^
Wow, you've got good taste.. I'll say. Let me know if you find a city that has all that. :-)

That was inevitable and guaranteed for those 5 cities to eventually be said together for a topic.

I’ll first say how I rank those cities, and then further explain:

1. Paris, New York City, Hong Kong equally tied for 1st place

Somewhat distantly in second and last place:

2. Tokyo
3. London

They are all some of my favorite cities. However, I have a lot of other favorite cities in the world. I also find the status of these 5 cities to not really be accurate to universal reality in plenty of ways and it can be overly pretentious competition.

They are not the end all be all of cities and not all cities have to be exactly identical to them, even though there is some certain standards and trends to follow for some categories.

Worldly, Intellectual, Ambitious, Talented People do not even have to like all 5 of these cities if they don’t want to.

Despite that, there is a lot to appreciate, value, and find intrigue with these cities, just like for a large amount of other cities.

I lived in New York City for most of my life, other than living in Seattle. I visited Paris, London, and maybe live in Paris soon for part of college/early career years/I'm 21 years old. I'll soon visit Hong Kong, Tokyo, but I already know those cities well enough to make some accurate assumptions about them.

While I love some aspects of New York City, some flaws can be found here too, and some mixed opinions. I actually want a change of scenery soon away from New York City for this time of my life for at least a few years, and maybe come back to NYC later in life.

When visiting both Paris and London, Paris met most of my standards, expectations and did seem to have a consistent positive energy magical vibe about it, including the scenery and all of the entertainment options. The city is also crowded, very dense as the other 4 cities, yet it somehow can seem a bit more slower paced, more manageable, easygoing.

London was a kind of a disappointment and more different from Paris than I initially thought it would be, but London is nice too.

I'll probably say my favorite neighborhoods, places to hang out in New York City in a later post, including the best areas of Paris and London I visited, and the parts of Hong Kong and Tokyo that I already have a good idea for appreciating the most.

I am sure Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London has an equal amount of intriguing best favorite neighborhoods, and specific exact areas to be in each region. I have some familiarity with those cities for that, but I am just a lot more familiar with New York City because I lived there.

[Ethereal]

I like exotic beauty, distinct architecture and culture (or something 'different').

So the answer is Paris.

[tenkier7]

1st Tokyo
2nd New York
3rd London
4th Paris
5th Hong Kong

[Greysholic]

I've only been to Paris,Tokyo,and HK out of the five,and to me it's Paris>Tokyo>>>>>>>>>>Hong Kong

[CalifNumberOne]

Ummm Los Angeles??? But out of those cities I would say Tokyo.

[CalifNumberOne]

My Top World Class Cities:
10.Dubai
9.Hong Kong
8.Shanghai
7.Chicago
6.Seoul
5.Tokyo
4.Paris
3.London
2.SF Bay Area/Oakland/San Jose
1.Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside/Glendale
Top 10 American Cities:
10.Oakland
9.Atlanta
8.Las Vegas
7.Miami
6.San Diego
5.Philadelphia
4.Seattle
3.Chicago
2.San Francisco
1.Los Angeles(Entertainment and creative capital of the world. International hub, most diverse city in the world named by Forbes and CNBC with nyc coming in 2nd on both)(on forbes diversity index foe nyc 79.6 percent)(for LA its 82.5 percent)(on cnbc for nyc its 80.1 prcnt. For LA its 84.5 prcnt.)

[MarineBlue]

for supercar lovers, no question which city is best