Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
White collar cities:
San Francisco
DC
Boston (mostly, but not fully)
Atlanta
Charlotte
Dallas (mix but...) Charleston, SC (used to be more mixed, but decisively white collar now)
Austin
Indianapolis
With Charleston proper it's hard to say. The peninsula has a touristy/retiree/eds-and-meds hybrid vibe going on that's really neither white or blue collar. Of course it's gentrifying quite rapidly so even the rougher upper peninsula/neck area is getting cleaned up. But the region's economic base is mostly in the suburbs, particularly North Charleston which definitely has more of a blue collar vibe. But blue collar industries today have more of a "white collar facade," if you will, compared to decades ago so there's that. Even a region like Greenville/Spartanburg, SC feels more white collar despite having a ton of manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing facilities that largely define the regional economy.
I think we have to distinguish between a white collar/blue collar vibe and and the actual composition of the local economy of cities because they aren't always the same. Many post-industrial cities still have a blue-collar vibe but may have largely white collar economies today.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,547,418 times
Reputation: 6682
I voted for both—a good mix of white collar and blue collar...exclusively, or close to it, white collar can lead to a snooty environment whereas an exclusive blue collar environment can lead to more of the same thinking, more resistance to change.
When I lived in Orange County, CA I would escape the Newport Beach/Irvine area on weekends because it was too snooty and would head up and socialize in Belmont Shores and LA which had more blue collar types who were much more down to earth.
This is why I prefer living in urban areas, where you have both types.
With Charleston proper it's hard to say. The peninsula has a touristy/retiree/eds-and-meds hybrid vibe going on that's really neither white or blue collar. Of course it's gentrifying quite rapidly so even the rougher upper peninsula/neck area is getting cleaned up. But the region's economic base is mostly in the suburbs, particularly North Charleston which definitely has more of a blue collar vibe. But blue collar industries today have more of a "white collar facade," if you will, compared to decades ago so there's that. Even a region like Greenville/Spartanburg, SC feels more white collar despite having a ton of manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing facilities that largely define the regional economy.
I think we have to distinguish between a white collar/blue collar vibe and and the actual composition of the local economy of cities because they aren't always the same. Many post-industrial cities still have a blue-collar vibe but may have largely white collar economies today.
Greenville to me is very much in the mixed category (perhaps a bit towards blue collar), but yes, I agree, manufacturing has become a bit more "white collar" in feel compared to what it was in the 1960s/1970s. And I think Charleston is a bit of a weird case as well.
I think people are confused with a blue-collar vibe and an actual blue-collar economy.
Baltimore & Philly are my favorite examples as they (along with Pittsburgh) are the modern day poster child for it... Do they have blue-collar under pinnings and feels to them, absolutely but that mainly stems from their urban form. But this is 2019, they economically function completely in line with white/pink-collar cities, hence their relatively healthy economies.
Ex. Baltimore top 5 employers are:
1. Johns Hopkins University
2. UMD Medical Center
3. Johns Hopkins Health system
4. Medstar Health
5. Northrop Grumman
I think people are confused with a blue-collar vibe and an actual blue-collar economy.
Baltimore & Philly are my favorite examples as they (along with Pittsburgh) are the modern day poster child for it... Do they have blue-collar under pinnings and feels to them, absolutely but that mainly stems from their urban form. But this is 2019, they economically function completely in line with white/pink-collar cities, hence their relatively healthy economies.
Ex. Baltimore top 5 employers are:
1. Johns Hopkins University
2. UMD Medical Center
3. Johns Hopkins Health system
4. Medstar Health
5. Northrop Grumman
This isn't the 70-80's
I definitely agree. Same with Philly and its largest employers (the universities, hospitals, Comcast, etc).
Just goes to show how metropolitan economies are very eds-and-meds-driven today.
I definitely agree. Same with Philly and its largest employers (the universities, hospitals, Comcast, etc).
Just goes to show how metropolitan economies are very eds-and-meds-driven today.
Those two sectors in particular have become massive employment centers. I know the Univeristy of Pennsylvania and Health System has something like 33k employees lol.
Granted... Baltimore & Philly are at the very extreme end of that spectrum, but in general those types of institutions contribute a boat load to local economies
To help put the “blue collar” aspect into perspective, manufacturing employment in the United States peaked in 1979. So, as mentioned, while there are cities with that type of vibe, the vast majority of cities have a mix of industries.
Even in terms of manufacturing employment, much of it is high tech manufacturing. So, one would have to obtain some extra level of education or training in to work in that field currently. An example of this, if you have some time: https://www.localsyr.com/news/newsma...nd-doug-wehbe/
Speaking from firsthand experience, Atlanta and Charlotte definitely still have "Southernness" to them but even if they didn't, that doesn't automatically mean they have "bland culture." Both (and you can throw DC in here also) have distinctive local cultures that are anything but bland, but from your perspective they would be considered "ghetto" since they largely revolve around their native Black populations and are thus of little or no interest to you.
In DC, that distinctive local culture gets drowned under the flood of Official Washingtonians who seem to define the place. You can find it, true, but you have to want to find it. "Chocolate City" ain't anymore.
I don't consider Miami a blue collar city at all. The image of Miami is all about conspicuous consumption, fancy lifestyles, mansions, expensive cars, etc etc.
Which type of cities do you prefer?
Why do you prefer those typed cities?
Do you think its fine for the yuppies to come in your neighborhood and raise the prices on homes and kick the hard working blue collar people out?
Also one more question.
Do you think the poverty of the cities balances out where the safe areas are and bad areas are.
White Collar:
Seattle
Minniapolis
Boston
ect
a little bit of both:
NYC
Chicago
Philadelphia
Blue Collar:
Detroit
Cleveland
Los Angeles
DC
LA and DC are lil both , but more white collar.... Philly and Chicago are far more blue collar than LA lmao
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
