States with best Lineup of Cities (better, largest, Los Angeles, people)
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What states in your opinion have the best lineup of Cities. States that have different cities that have very different cultures and amenities that you really would not believe that you were still in the same state as the other city.
My Rules
1. There has to be more than 3 major cities in the state that are, known nationwide
My top 5.
1. California
LA, SD, SF, Oakland, San Jose, Sacremento, Long Beach
2. Texas
HOU, DAL, Ft. Worth, Austin, San Antonio
3. Florida
Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa
4. Ohio
Cincinnatti, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Dayton
5. North Carolina (Home State, a little biased)
Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Durham, Asheville
Honorable Mention States
Pennsylvania
New York (really deserves position 5 its just that I am biased to NC)
South Carolina
Colorado
Alabama
States that could do better
Georgia- Savannah and Augusta are up and coming with there own distinctive cultures its just not there yet.
Illinois- We have Chicago and well....... Champagne/Urbana
Oregon- Portland and ......................?????
I think people underestimate NJ - only a handful of states have more large metros even without the two largest cities that anchor the state (that both reside on the Jersey border)
After CA, TX, FL, PA, OH, NY, and NC I would think Jersey would actually be next
And I think PA would actually have more large cities/metros than NC or OH but pretty close
I'm going by how I suspect name recognition would be, it is of course debatable on some cities but this is my feeling:
1 (tie). California - San Diego, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland all have national name recognition (6)
1 (tie). Florida - Orlando, Miami, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale all have national name recognition (6)
3 (tie). Texas - Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso all have national name recognition (5) [sorry but I really don't think the average person knows Ft. Worth or Arlington]
4 (tie). Colorado - Denver, Aspen, Colorado Springs, Boulder (4)
4 (tie). North Carolina - Charlotte, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem (4)
6 (tie). Ohio - Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus (3)
6 (tie). Tennessee - Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville (3)
Honorable Mention:
New York - Buffalo, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens - I'd like to believe Niagra Falls, Rochester, and Syracuse but I doubt Rochester and Syracuse are really known by your average person and I doubt your average person realizes Niagra Falls is in New York State.
I'm also tempted to give Massachusetts another 6th place spot for Boston, Cambridge, Martha's Vineyard but doubt as many people as I'd like to believe know Martha's Vineyard is in Mass. They've heard of it and know its in the Northeast but they don't know where. I had applied for a job there and most people had heard of it but weren't sure which state a lot thought it was in Maine.
I'm going by how I suspect name recognition would be, it is of course debatable on some cities but this is my feeling:
1 (tie). California - San Diego, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland all have national name recognition (6)
1 (tie). Florida - Orlando, Miami, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale all have national name recognition (6)
3 (tie). Texas - Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso all have national name recognition (5) [sorry but I really don't think the average person knows Ft. Worth or Arlington]
4 (tie). Colorado - Denver, Aspen, Colorado Springs, Boulder (4)
4 (tie). North Carolina - Charlotte, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem (4)
6 (tie). Ohio - Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus (3)
6 (tie). Tennessee - Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville (3)
Honorable Mention:
New York - Buffalo, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens - I'd like to believe Niagra Falls, Rochester, and Syracuse but I doubt Rochester and Syracuse are really known by your average person and I doubt your average person realizes Niagra Falls is in New York State.
I'm also tempted to give Massachusetts another 6th place spot for Boston, Cambridge, Martha's Vineyard but doubt as many people as I'd like to believe know Martha's Vineyard is in Mass. They've heard of it and know its in the Northeast but they don't know where. I had applied for a job there and most people had heard of it but weren't sure which state a lot thought it was in Maine.
I think people underestimate the PA cities
Obviously Philly and Pittsburgh
But also Allentown, Bethleham, Reading, Harrisburg, Scranton, Lancaster, York, Erie
many of these are larger metros than those you mentioned prominately in NC
I think many of these cities are overlooked because they have close proximity to NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and DC - in many other areas of the country they would be part of the larger metro based on their proximity.
From another thread states with the most top 100 metros:
California: 10
Florida: 8
Pennsylvania: 7
Ohio: 7
New York: 6
Texas: 6
South Carolina: 5
Massachusetts: 4
Indiana: 4
Wisconsin: 4
North Carolina: 4
Tennessee: 4
Yes but as you said they are overlooked so who cares. I look at maps and geography all the time and I've barely heard of those Pennsylvania cities. Unless I completely misunderstood the post I just don't see it, nor do I see what point population plays in this thread. Most people in the country have heard of Hollywood despite it not even being a city, same thing with Brooklyn. Lancaster, Pennsylvania - not so much.
Yes but as you said they are overlooked so who cares. I look at maps and geography all the time and I've barely heard of those Pennsylvania cities. Unless I completely misunderstood the post I just don't see it, nor do I see what point population plays in this thread. Most people in the country have heard of Hollywood despite it not even being a city, same thing with Brooklyn. Lancaster, Pennsylvania - not so much.
Exactly, thats what I was going for, what states have cities, which have good name recognition. States like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York has it fair share of cities but outside of the 2 or 3 main cities, who really knows about the other cities other than the people that live there.
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. San Diego
4. Lake Tahoe
5. Santa Barbara
6. San Jose
7. Berkeley
8. Beverly Hills
9. Sacramento
10. Oakland
11. Fresno
12. Eureka
Florida just off the top of my head and in no order:
1. Miami
2. Tampa
3. Orlando
4. St. Petersburg
5. Jacksonville
6. Pensacola
7. Gainesville
8. Panama City
9. West Palm Beach
10. Hollywood
11. Boca Raton
12. Fort Lauderdale
13. Daytona Beach
14. Port St. Lucie
15. Tallahassee
16. Coral Gables
Thats just to name most of them, I might be going overboard because a lot of those aren't "major cities", but technically they are all still cities nonetheless.
Last edited by clean_polo; 06-17-2010 at 12:23 PM..
Exactly, thats what I was going for, what states have cities, which have good name recognition. States like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York has it fair share of cities but outside of the 2 or 3 main cities, who really knows about the other cities other than the people that live there.
And beyond Charlotte or RDU (to most they think of it as one place) How are Asheville and Winston Salem that much more on a national scale, seriously, nothing against them
Based on your criteria I would say only 4 states qualify CA, TX, FL, and OH - Dont think NC really has 3 on that national level
I would also scratch Toledo and Dayton from OH but there would still be 3 left
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