Most Powerful City in the West.....Not Named Los Angeles San Francisco or Seattle (best, cost)

[GatsbyGatz]

For the record, Portland is technically slightly closer to the Pacific than Seattle.

[CanuckInPortland]

Originally Posted by GatsbyGatz

For the record, Portland is technically slightly closer to the Pacific than Seattle.

The Chinese navy couldn't get their boats over the Columbia River Bar though, and the old defenses at Fort Stevens and Astoria held strong.

Apparently the US Navy was able to hold San Diego also.

[CanuckInPortland]

Originally Posted by RadicalAtheist

Pretty much

As for the Chinese military, apparently the People's Republic can circumvent the rules from the board game RISK because everyone knows the only way to get to North America from the Far East is through Alaska via Kamchatka!

They have to go through Alberta too though!

As a kid in British Columbia I never liked that the RISK board called all of Western Canada, "Alberta". I guess you have to conquer those oil fields as a strategic resource though.

[Trafalgar Law]

Anyhow to answer the guy's questions:

Originally Posted by BlueRedTide

Based on

-American and International Influence
-Fame and Name Recognition
-Rising Economic Prosperity

1. For "American and International Influence" it is easily San Diego since it has a sisterhood with a city actually on foreign soil. That automatically puts it on notice versus Denver, Phoenix, and Portland. San Diego finishes up the job, it's composition diversity is more foreign born and globally oriented than any of those three anyway, and I easily argue Las Vegas has far more global outreach in many of the same ways and some different ones too over Denver, Phoenix, and Portland. Easy, San Diego 1, probably Denver and Phoenix tie for 2, and Portland a close 3rd. If you include Las Vegas, then its likely San Diego and Las Vegas 1, Denver and Phoenix 2, and Portland 3rd.

2. For "Fame and Name Recognition" it is easily Las Vegas. It occupies an entire tier for itself on this metric. It's substantiated as it easily pours in the most tourist dollars and invites in the most tourists of any of these cities. After that it is San Diego. People know of the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Legoland, La Jolla Cove, the golf courses, the beaches, Bolboa Park, Comic Con, so on and so forth. Right behind San Diego, more than likely Denver. Its been making a name for itself since the legalization of Marijuana, it has a widely noted brewscene, so on and so forth. Portland is likely the most known afterwards, just edging out Phoenix.

3. For "Rising economic prosperity" I assume this means overall economic and income growth? Income is a necessary tool for prosperity and the rising economic conditions could probably factor into it.

Overall nominal Gross Domestic Product percentage growth (2008 - 2013):
01. Portland: + 24.04%
02. Houston: + 23.97%
03. Dallas/Fort Worth: + 18.61%
04. Seattle: + 16.87%
05. Denver: + 16.65%
06. Minneapolis/Saint Paul: + 15.91%
07. San Francisco Bay Area: + 15.88%
08. Boston: + 15.61%
09. New York: + 14.16%
10. Washington DC/Baltimore: + 14.00%
11. San Diego: + 12.04%
12. Chicago: + 11.62%
13. Philadelphia: + 10.75%
14. Atlanta: + 10.61%
15. Detroit: + 10.21%
16. Phoenix: + 8.43%
17. Los Angeles: + 7.16%
18. Miami/Fort Lauderdale: + 6.11%

Denver:
Denver 2008: $179.718 Billion
Denver 2009: $174.154 Billion
Denver 2010: $180.619 Billion
Denver 2011: $187.732 Billion
Denver 2012: $197.440 Billion
Denver 2013: $209.648 Billion
Overall (2008 - 2013) change: + $29.93 Billion or 16.65% growth

Phoenix:
Phoenix 2008: $193.233 Billion
Phoenix 2009: $179.998 Billion
Phoenix 2010: $183.248 Billion
Phoenix 2011: $192.242 Billion
Phoenix 2012: $203.531 Billion
Phoenix 2013: $209.523 Billion
Overall (2008 - 2013) change: + $16.29 Billion or 8.43% growth

Portland:
Portland 2008: $152.584 Billion
Portland 2009: $155.064 Billion
Portland 2010: $161.633 Billion
Portland 2011: $172.195 Billion
Portland 2012: $181.733 Billion
Portland 2013: $189.268 Billion
Overall (2008 - 2013) change: + $36.684 Billion or 24.04% growth

San Diego:
San Diego 2008: $176.616 Billion
San Diego 2009: $173.564 Billion
San Diego 2010: $175.201 Billion
San Diego 2011: $182.676 Billion
San Diego 2012: $190.940 Billion
San Diego 2013: $197.886 Billion
Overall (2008 - 2013) change: + $21.27 Billion or 12.04% growth

Should be noted though that unlike Portland, Denver, or Phoenix that San Diego is an actual player in an important industry (I would say top 3 in that industry): Bio-tech.

Income growth by county (2004 - 2013):
1. San Diego County, CA: + 4.9% (San Diego)
2. Denver County, CO: + 2.8% (Denver)
3. Multnomah, OR: + 1.9% (Portland)
4. Maricopa, AZ: + 0.4% (Phoenix)

Although I don't know which places would stand to gain the most or possibly lose the most if you factored in the mysterious departures of Los Angeles, San Francisco (Bay Area), and Seattle.

[RadicalAtheist]

Maybe it was I who didn't pay close enough attention to the OP's criteria.

[Calisonn]

OP should have included Vancouver.

[MilehiDenver]

Blah! Denver has hosted the Pope, the G8, DNC and RNC, Obama at his silly little Mile High show (80,000 +), millions of international skier visits, Greatest concert venue on Earth (Red Rocks). ALL TV stations in the US are uplinked through Denver in one form or another. One of only a handful of cities with a Patent Office. An airport with far more international reach/flights/passengers. 2nd highest amount of Government workers in the US. The Second largest aerospace industry as well as Intelligence jobs in the Country. Denver is a step above the others for these reasons and many more that I have not listed. More beer is brewed within 60 miles of Denver than any place on Earth! (Tons of Micros, as well as Coors and AB and NB).

[paris-on-ponce]

Tulsa is in the West?

It's actually closer to the East Coast. Even if the entire state of CA fell into the sea (per the OP's hypothetical), it'd still take less time to drive from Tulsa to the Atlantic Ocean than from Tulsa to the Pacific.

The same is true for a number of the cities on this list.

In any case, of these choices, I picked Denver.

[CanuckInPortland]

Originally Posted by Calisonn

OP should have included Vancouver.

I was assuming it was destroyed in the volcano/earthquake/Chinese invasion.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by i'm not a cookie

I'm sorry but Portland and Sacramento are not more impotant/powerful than Phoenix.

maybe not in shear number but per capita then yes