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Since Chicago vs. San Francisco seems to be a very popular theme on this forum right now, I guess I'll make a poll that will actually get responses. Which one of these two areas is more international/cosmopolitan.
Criteria:
Foreign Tourism
International Business
Number of Immigrants
Number of Languages Spoken
Number of foreign language speakers
Consulates
Diversity
International Connections
Anything else?
Since Chicago vs. San Francisco seems to be a very popular theme on this forum right now, I guess I'll make a poll that will actually get responses. Which one of these two areas is more international/cosmopolitan.
Criteria:
Foreign Tourism
International Business
Number of Immigrants
Number of Languages Spoken
Number of foreign language speakers
Consulates
Diversity
International Connections
Anything else?
Foreign Tourism - definitely SF as measured by international visitors (it's not even close)
International Business - not sure how this is measured, but I would be surprised if it doesn't go to SF/Bay Area
Number of Immigrants - someone should look up by CSA the absolute #, but as a percentage I would have to guess it goes to the Bay Area/SF
Number of Languages Spoken - again, Census tracks this somehow, someone should look this up
Number of foreign language speakers - see above...
Consulates - I guess someone already found that Chicago has slightly more than SF
Diversity - subjective, but few would argue that Chicago is *more* diverse than SF or the Bay Area as a whole
International Connections - by flights?
My guess is when all is said and done and people measure crap and debate til their blue in the face, it will be determined by a larger concensus that while Chicago is a larger city and definitely is a global player, SF and the Bay Area in general is more of a global player and is more diverse. It is more undisputably a "gateway" market in today's terms, than Chicago, especially as it pertains to investments.
Foreign Tourism
2012 visitation...
1. New York, NY
... 5. San Francisco, CA: 2.8 million
6. Las Vegas, NV
7. Honolulu, HI
8. Washington, DC 9. Chicago, IL: 1.4 million
Chicago seems to normally get about half the international tourism as San Francisco, though from 2011-2012 Chicago's numbers apparently boosted 14%, whereas San Francisco's fell 3%.
International Business
2010 global export totals...
1. New York, NY
... 7. Chicago, IL: $35.4 billion
8. San Jose, CA
9. Minneapolis, MN
10. Philadelphia, PA
11. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
12. Boston, MA 13. San Francisco, CA: $21.4 billion
If we're talking CSA, the Bay Area is doubtless way higher than Chicago or even Chicago-Milwaukee. Nonetheless, the core MSA of Chicago beats the core MSA of San Francisco, and it's also growing faster.
Between 2010 and 2011...
Chicago: +17.21%
San Francisco: +10.28%
I'm assuming San Jose + San Francisco is still doing far more business than Chicago CSA. Call this one a tie.
Number of Foreign Language Speakers
1. New York, NY
2. Los Angeles, CA 3. Chicago, IL
4. Houston, TX
5. San Jose, CA
6. San Diego, CA
7. Dallas, TX San Francisco, CA
Diversity
Chicago...
Black/African American: 32.9%
White alone, not Hispanic/Latino: 31.7%
Hispanic/Latino: 28.9%
Asian: 5.5%
Two or more races: 2.7%
American Indian/Alaska Native: 0.5%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.0%
San Francisco...
Black/African American: 6.1%
White alone, not Hispanic/Latino: 41.9%
Hispanic/Latino: 15.1%
Asian: 33.3%
Two or more races: 4.7%
American Indian/Alaska Native: 0.5%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.4%
International Connections
Does this mean flights?
Chicago O'Hare: 52 if I'm counting right
Chicago Midway: 6
Chicago total: 58
San Francisco Int'l: 33
Oakland Int'l: 5
San Francisco total: 38
Souces:
(just Wikipedia)
So, for these categories, I'm seeing...
Foreign Tourism: San Francisco
International Business: tie
Number of Immigrants: Chicago
Number of Languages Spoken: Chicago
Number of Foreign Language Speakers: Chicago
Consulates: Chicago
Diversity: tie
International Connections: Chicago
Even if I'm very lenient and call Number of Immigrants, Number of Languages Spoken and Number of Foreign Language Speakers all ties as well because of the influence of San Jose, they're still pretty much equal and there's no clear winner.
Anyone who has been to both cities can easily tell you that San Francisco is way more Cosmopolitan. I would say that on the west coast LA and SF are the most cosmopolitan, and on the east coast NYC, DC, and Miami are the most cosmopolitan. Chicago would come in 6th place behind all these cities in my opinion
Depends on your definition of Cosmopolitan really - both can be cosmopolitan, but I think SF is more apparent from virtue of being smaller and having a more visible ethnic class in tourist areas than Chicago does that drives certain things. I live a very cosmopolitan life in Chicago and most of my friends are international or non-white on top of that, but there are other people who don't have this experience for many reasons such as the neighborhood they live in and what they are into.
It really, really depends on many things, but I think to truly rate both of these cities, you'd have to either live in both of them or spend considerable time in both of them in numerous areas of both cities. The average tourist to Chicago for example is not going to see 95% of the true cultural offerings of the city and probably write it off as not having tons of it when in fact it does. I will say this about Chicago though - Chicago has the stereotype of a sports town which is in part true. The last handful of years, everytime someplace opens it's less and less apt to be a sports bar in those notorious areas. Even in the white yuppie neighborhoods with loads of sports bars, this is true.
In the end though, I don't think many people can talk about either city unless they have a lot of experience in numerous areas of it.
Foreign Tourism: SF
IB: Tie
Number of Immigrants: Not sure the number. Probably Chicago because the population is larger. But percentage wise SF wins. However, it's almost entirely Asian or Latino. Chicago is a better mix.
Number of Languages Spoken: Probably a tie
Consulates: Idk
Diverstiy: SF
International Connections: By flights definitely Chicago
I'd like to say though that if we're going by international, SF definitely wins. Cosmopolitan? Chicago by a long shot! The public transportation, nightlife options, and sophistication of Chicago is miles ahead of SF. What "cosmopolitan" city has a public transit system this poor? Nearly every restaurant outside of downtown (which is tiny in comparison to Chicago) closes at 9pm. Bars and clubs close between 1-2am. The only late night food options are pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, and more pizza. It sounds nice, but it gets old. Cosmopolitan cities should be diverse in every aspect, not just people. SF is quite boring compared to Chicago.
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