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New York is a definite yes.
Toronto and San Fran are high probability nos for the time being.
DC is a probable no but the US center of government gives it some boost.
Mexico City and LA are high probability yesses behind NYC.
Chicago is ahead of Toronto and San Fran but not in my top 3.
NY, Mexico City, and LA for me.
This assessment seems to be pretty on point, IMHO. I agree.
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Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92
I would agree with you that NYC is the #1 in the US due to it's size and influence over global finance, and I personally chose Mexico City and DC as the other two North American cities for influence of political power (plus Mexico city is like if LA and DC were the same city for Mexico)
That said, I do think that he may have a point. California and maybe even LA has a bigger day to day cultural influence over most Americans than NYC.
When I think about my day to day life and that of most Americans, the city and neighborhood I live in look more like something from California than New York. The computer I use, the iPhone, the TV shows, movies (for the most part) are products of California (even if NBC, HBO, ABC etc are technically based in NYC.) The car I drive, while not a product of either state, is more of a result of the California culture than NY culture.
NYC went from a manufacturing city that made stuff for everyone to a financial services and luxury based economy. NYC just doesn't product much stuff anymore, it mainly provides services. While lots of people have 401Ks, most don't follow fashion week, and the museums and opera of NYC are more just amenities for people that live there than cultural trendsetters.
Even the exception proves the rule: Hamilton was unique as a Broadway play in that it went mainstream, most don't. Even some of the most famous shows set in NYC were filmed in California (The fountain in "Friends" is actually in LA)
Transplants that move to cities Californicate them, they don't make them "Little Queens," The sprawl out into "Little Orange Counties"
Even for cities that are densifying do so in a more west coast style than east coast way. The parts of Denver, SLC, Houston,Dallas or Atlanta That are infilling look more like Berkeley, San Diego, San Jose of even LA than Brooklyn. It's a different more west coast street car type Urbanism. Besides, if you are trying to do sprawl repair and fill in missing teeth, you will look at another sprawl place that has had success doing that.
Of course this isn't to say that NYC isn't impactful on American culture, it is, although in alot of ways it has become more of iconic and symbolic image as "The Big City" rather than having the same sort of influence it might have had 50-100 years ago. American Pop culture has shifted to the west coast even if they still like to set movies and TV shows in NYC and many if not most watch the ball drop in NYC on NYE.
This post is a big oxymoron really. Cities are "densifying" in a more "West Coast" type of way than the East? If you mean Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, and Dallas are SPRAWLING more like LA then EC cities that wouldn't be densifying. Seattle and SF are the two most urban cities on the WC and they both are rapidly trying to build and add transit to densify like the EC cities not LA.
LA wins on pop culture in some ways over NYC, but the points you have just laid out have almost nothing to do with what makes NYC the global superpower it is ahead of LA and each city on this list. Apple is not based in LA, in California but not LA.
This post is a big oxymoron really. Cities are "densifying" in a more "West Coast" type of way than the East? If you mean Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, and Dallas are SPRAWLING more like LA then EC cities that wouldn't be densifying. Seattle and SF are the two most urban cities on the WC and they both are rapidly trying to build and add transit to densify like the EC cities not LA.
LA wins on pop culture in some ways over NYC, but the points you have just laid out have almost nothing to do with what makes NYC the global superpower it is ahead of LA and each city on this list. Apple is not based in LA, in California but not LA.
Firstly I clearly stated NYC was number #1 in the us and is a global superpower and brand. I only argued that in the US, California in general and possibly LA alone have a bigger influence on pop culture, and the way we do things in general (like the way we build) This isn't a moral judgement one way or the other.
Cities are doing two things, sprawling around the edges and getting denser in the cores. Both at the same time. In both cases they look more like California style development although of course this happens on the east coast as well.
Even though San Fran is dense at it's core, the bay area is actually pretty sprawly across the metropolitan area. The same can be said for Seattle.
At least part of the reason new cities tend to develop more like west coast cities has to do with zoning laws, setbacks land use etc and history all that are all exemplified by California.
The economic, social and regulatory environment that created the lower east side tenements will probably never come back, but there are alot of places all over the country that are streetcar suburbs like Burkley.
This of course is just my opinion, but I really think the future of urbanism in the US is much like it is now, just moreso
1) walk-able and moderately dense streetcar suburb style neighborhoods that may add some density with the odd apartment buildings
2) Very large apartment buildings and glass towers in the cores.
3) Sprawl and edge cities on the outer parts.
Again I'm not saying if it's better or worse, but there is alot of truth in "As California goes, so goes the nation." Much moreso than NYC.
I would agree with you that NYC is the #1 in the US due to it's size and influence over global finance, and I personally chose Mexico City and DC as the other two North American cities for influence of political power (plus Mexico city is like if LA and DC were the same city for Mexico)
That said, I do think that he may have a point. California and maybe even LA has a bigger day to day cultural influence over most Americans than NYC.
When I think about my day to day life and that of most Americans, the city and neighborhood I live in look more like something from California than New York. The computer I use, the iPhone, the TV shows, movies (for the most part) are products of California (even if NBC, HBO, ABC etc are technically based in NYC.) The car I drive, while not a product of either state, is more of a result of the California culture than NY culture.
NYC went from a manufacturing city that made stuff for everyone to a financial services and luxury based economy. NYC just doesn't product much stuff anymore, it mainly provides services. While lots of people have 401Ks, most don't follow fashion week, and the museums and opera of NYC are more just amenities for people that live there than cultural trendsetters.
Even the exception proves the rule: Hamilton was unique as a Broadway play in that it went mainstream, most don't. Even some of the most famous shows set in NYC were filmed in California (The fountain in "Friends" is actually in LA)
Transplants that move to cities Californicate them, they don't make them "Little Queens," The sprawl out into "Little Orange Counties"
Even for cities that are densifying do so in a more west coast style than east coast way. The parts of Denver, SLC, Houston,Dallas or Atlanta That are infilling look more like Berkeley, San Diego, San Jose of even LA than Brooklyn. It's a different more west coast street car type Urbanism. Besides, if you are trying to do sprawl repair and fill in missing teeth, you will look at another sprawl place that has had success doing that.
Of course this isn't to say that NYC isn't impactful on American culture, it is, although in alot of ways it has become more of iconic and symbolic image as "The Big City" rather than having the same sort of influence it might have had 50-100 years ago. American Pop culture has shifted to the west coast even if they still like to set movies and TV shows in NYC and many if not most watch the ball drop in NYC on NYE.
I’m not denying LA has a great deal of influence, I even voted for it in the poll. I’m just replying to the poster that tried to say that NY somehow did not.
I always thought of suburban culture to start with Levittown. True that most cities in the US are suburban in built form and look more like LA than NYC, but I don’t think all these cities are modeling themselves after LA specifically. I’m sure there probably are some examples of other cities looking to LA for some things, but the same happens with NY too. There’s the term “Manhattanization†that is used a lot on this forum. Even LA itself is marketing its downtown with all the recent growth as “the Manhattan of the West†and LA Live tried to market itself as “the Times Square of the Westâ€. Up in Toronto Canada, they have Dundas Square which is a very obviously modeled after Times Square.
I don’t know why people would even want a “Times Square†in their city as I find that place obnoxious, but whatever.
There’s also Philly recreating their own version of Hudson Yards: “Schuylkill Yardsâ€, and their own version of the high line as well. SF’s transbay transit center is being marketed as “Grand Central of the West†and countless cities + neighborhoods ALL OVER the country are now trying to call themselves as “The Brooklyn of Xâ€
This is a hard one because I don't want to consider Washington DC as a top 3 city of NA because it's really not.... until you consider the fact the capital and governance of the most powerful country that this earth has ever seen is located there. That cannot be ignored but also it becomes frustratingly hard to compare it to the other cities not called NYC.
Is DC more worthy to be on the list than LA - a city much larger and with a heavier global footprint due to Hollywood? How about Mexico City, a true megalopolis and one of the more important cities in the Latin American world? Or Toronto?
I say that after NYC, DC/LA/CDMX/Toronto fight for the next 2 spots on this list. But who gets those next spots is a tough one to name.
Ultimately I will go with NYC/Toronto/CDMX since these cities are the primate cities of their countries - the three most important countries of NA. It can be argued since LA and DC are definitely a tier lower than NYC, that NYC channels their influence to the rest of the world.
You can find a direct transport corridor from Chicago to just about anywhere in North America, and freight containerization has made Los Angeles/Long Beach America's #1 seaport.
Mexico City didn't make the list because I consider it Latin American rather than North American, and as much as I love Montreal, Toronto commands more influence.
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