After New York, which city has the most prestige? (state, life, people)

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

L.A. is capitalizing on the Pacific Rim trade. Besides entertainment, there is a huge import-export business here. The American address of those importers on the Filipino foodstuffs that my family uses are in the Los Angeles area. After all, it's the largest port in America.

Century City is full of lawyers and bankers. It's basically the Wall Street of the West now (instead of San Francisco).

Downtown L.A. has the largest federal government presence outside of Washington D.C. Getting transferred to the L.A. office is not a bad promotion after all. Obama should have bought the Spelling Manor to replace the small, dated White House and move the federal government to L.A.!

The economy of L.A. is much more diverse these days, ranging from manufacturing to shipping. There is enough critical mass for niche professions and hobbies to take hold. Geography and theology are examples of the niche professions, while anime is the most prominent niche hobby.

Lots of cultural activities. The art scene is vibrant, especially in the Contemporary art scene. D.C. has the taxpayer-funded Smithsonian. L.A. has the Getty which museum directors covet for its endowment size. L.A. has Gehry's Walt Disney Concert hall. D.C. has the brutalist neoclassical Kennedy Center.

Daily life does not revolve around national politics. But everyone comes home from work to relax in front of the T.V.! Most of those shows are taped in Los Angeles.

Facts and perception don't always align. There are plenty of schools that rival if not surpass any of the Ivy League schools as far as the quality of education goes. Most of those schools still aren't as prestigious as the least prestigious of the Ivies, however.

I think San Francisco is viewed as having more of an "intellectual" crowd. LA gets sort of disrespected for being "shallow" often times, imo. SF evokes images of Whites and well-to-do Asians; LA, not so much.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by personone

The bad crime press, and shrinking population automatically takes Chicago out of the running.
I would have to say it's a toss up between LA and SF for the most prestigious.
It's kind of subjective with no definitive criteria, but I think both these cities could make good arguments.

Also the fact it's in the Midwest. The Coasts are always going to beat out the Midwest/Heartland in any type of prestige battle. It's like comparing the British Open or the Masters to the Waste Management Open.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by qworldorder

How is D.C. not outright winning this poll? Say what you want about the federal government's efficacy, but prestige and politics kind of go hand in hand. Throw in all the museums and monuments, and I don't see how this is even a question. Los Angeles, aside from the floundering Academy Awards, isn't very "prestigious", and neither is new tech money from the Bay.

Ummm, no. What's prestigious about Ottawa, for example?

[steeps]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Also the fact it's in the Midwest. The Coasts are always going to beat out the Midwest/Heartland in any type of prestige battle. It's like comparing the British Open or the Masters to the Waste Management Open.

Thread is about CITIES. NOT Regions of the nation.

[cheese plate]

Or Liverpool and London. Or Paris and Brest.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by steeps

Thread is about CITIES. NOT Regions of the nation.

That's true. But being in the Midwest generally hurts a city's prestige on C-D whereas being in, say, New England almost certainly helps it. We don't have to go through many threads to see that the coastal cities usually win in matchups on C-D followed by the Midwestern cities with southern cities being dead last (except NOLA).

[18Montclair]

Only because this is a good gage of areas that are inhabited by highly educated, sophisticated, folks, this map pretty much illustrates the prestige factor imo.

Maps are to-scale.


Places are prestigious because of the people who live there. Im just saying.

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Century City is full of lawyers and bankers. It's basically the Wall Street of the West now (instead of San Francisco).

You might have be correct about law firms, idk, but as far as banking and finance, San Francisco is the the undisputed financial center of the entire West Coast.

The GAWC ranking of absolute financial
centers divided the industry into sub
sectors:

Financial Services, Top 5 Cities
1 New York
2 London
3 Chicago
4 San Francisco
5 Sydney

Banking, Top 5 Cities
1 New York
2 Chicago
3 Boston
4 Washington DC
5 London

Investment Banking, Top 5 Cities
1 New York
2 London
3 San Francisco
4 Chicago
5 Paris

Investment Management, Top 5 Cities
1 New York
2 London
3 San Francisco
4 Chicago
5 Boston

Capital Markets, Top 5 Cities
1 New York
2 London
3 Chicago
4 Mumbai
5 Toronto

Venture Capital & Private Equity, Top 5 Cities
1 San Francisco
2 New York
3 London
4 Boston
5 Paris

The cumulative scores for all 6 categories:

World's Absolute Financial Centres
1 New York 5,789
2 London 3,120
3 San Francisco 2,197
4 Chicago 2,007
5 Boston 1,561
6 Sydney 1,217
7 Washington DC 1,218
8 Toronto 1,184
9 Paris 1,105
10 Melbourne 831
11 Amsterdam 804
12 Mumbai 662
13 Hong Kong 647
14 Singapore 647
15 Sao Paulo 514
16 Madrid 473
17 Zurich 457
18 Milan 452
19 Johannesburg 447
20 Vancouver 367

GaWC Research Bulletin 432

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Daily life does not revolve around national politics. But everyone comes home from work to relax in front of the T.V.! Most of those shows are taped in Los Angeles.

Are you therefore saying that prestige can be measured by televison shows being taped in a city?

I tend to disagree, but to each his own.

[Mr Ambitious]

Honestly, I didn't think much of San Francisco until I joined this site a few years ago. Same can be said about many cities. Outside of my "city data life" I would have to go with L.A. here. Most people who aren't into tech and aren't big city geeks ( which would be a majority of the people I know) would go with LA. It just has that image, the glamour, the beaches, weather, and attractions. LA is all in the music, movies, and other types of media. Sure, people use technology on the daily basis but no one seems to care where it came from. I don't know, but it seems like the average american would care more about LA, not saying that it is better. LA gets way more visitors domestically ( I think internationally as well, too lazy to look up the numbers). It seems like its been NYC and LA my whole life.

[steeps]

Originally Posted by personone

The bad crime press, and shrinking population automatically takes Chicago out of the running.
I would have to say it's a toss up between LA and SF for the most prestigious.
It's kind of subjective with no definitive criteria, but I think both these cities could make good arguments.

To say that....is just Wrong. It got some votes. It has the Quintessential Downtown that impresses. That gives Prestige, merely numbers and stereotypes and crime all American cities have. Chicago's North Side the Size of San Francisco is just as safe as SF. The Southside numbers are where the higher rates come in.

As statistics point out also... if WHITE You chances of being shot ect. Are WAY WAY LESS then if AFRICAN-AMERICAN. Just the way it is.... Gang on Gang and revenge is on their own ethic group.

Also 18montclairs list of cities.... still places CHICAGO HIGH. In Finance and banking and investment. So to say "it not in the running" is just wrong....

[Charles22]

One of my mother's businesses had a label that read, "Paris, Rio, San Francisco." She didn't sell anything in Paris or Rio, but they fit on the label and sounded prestigious.