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DC. The changes there in the last 15-20 years are amazing. The economy is booming, new buildings are constantly going up, crime is down, people are moving in. It is (obviously) the nation's capital so it has long been important and the center for political power in the US, but now the city itself is reaching its economic potential. It's location is a big advantage in that it is connected to the historically powerful east coast cities (the Bos-Wash corridor), but being at the southern end of that corridor it has a milder climate and is the closest to the booming sun-belt cities. Maybe one day the corridor will run from Boston to DC and then connect with Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
Nobody. The size gap from the big three to the rest is simply too big. The only city that could conceivably catch up to Chicago in population (city or metro) in our lifetime is Houston but it has too many inadequacies as a city.
CSA population is a BS metric that only urban geeks care about. It has very little relevance to the urban qualities of a city or its global perception.
So we are all familiar with the big three cities of America: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. For discussions sake, tier one cities. The question now is which other American city is most ready to join this group. Keep in mind the idea of prominence i.e. Boston is in New York's shadow which takes away from its readiness. The following list wasn't created based on meticulous calculation so some will readily disagree. I've tried to keep a relatively small list to keep discussion relatively streamlined. At any rate, my top candidates would be Houston, Miami, and Washington. Other's may however find Philadelphia, Atlanta, and San Francisco on their lists.
D.C., SF, Houston, Boston, Dallas, or Miami. It could be any of these but at this point I think it might just be all of them as a group.
Atlanta and Philly are close but if we're talking long term then no. Atlanta is on the national radar, I dont think its going international any time soon. Philly likewise is on the national radar but the biggest issue is that if you want power and influence then being located in a 100 mile median beteen NYC and D.C. wont help you. You're restricted and your influence is being poached. Miami and Dallas are the sleepers, they can explode any time and already show they have it in them. Boston is to important and excels at many things but it's the least likely to grow. Houston's ascension into the higher leagues is obvious, it has the power to control inflation and has to many things going for it. D.C. and SF are obvious.
I don't live in any of these places so I'm not a homer but we can already see where the fast start economies are and where the ones of the past are. Next year Beijing will overthrow Atlanta as the worlds busiest airport, if it doesn't by the end of this year. That will drop Atlanta from the busiest in the world to the busiest in the US
DC and SF have bigger economies than Chicago, so if you're going to include Chicago, you have to include DC and SF.
I would say there's a big two of NY and LA, and then the other three cities are in a second tier.
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