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I think the debate of the cities listed there that are traditionally not considered Midwestern has been more than had out. Instead of starting that debate again lets all vote for the city we feel best suits the poll and be confident we know those cities aren't Midwestern, vs. having to make the declaration they are not. At this point everyone already knows where everyone stands on it, and the OP clearly stated he knew they were questionable when he added them.
Non-coastal northern as a term instead? Northern interior? However, the cities mentioned that aren't Midwestern aren't really likely candidates for most diverse/global/international among the nominees save for maybe Pittsburgh, though that'd be a tough argument. Regardless, I think it's reasonable to argue that they should be included as all these cities are sort of the same general area and have a lot of similarities.
The most reasonable answers are Cleveland and St. Louis right now given their larger sizes and having more nationally/internationally known global institutions than most (universities, major league sports, arts and science institutions).
Columbus is interesting in that it's pretty sizable and has a somewhat higher percentage of foreign-born population and a faster growth rate than the majority of the others so there can be the argument that Columbus is in the running.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 05-30-2016 at 11:59 AM..
Sorry, but some of these cities aren't Midwest and I won't include them (Buffalo, Rochester, Louisville, Pittsburgh).
Foreign-Born Population by City
2014
Columbus: 101,066
Indianapolis: 77,203
Milwaukee: 58,684
Omaha: 42,683
Wichita: 39,430
Madison: 25,654
Des Moines: 23,420
Kansas City: 23,318
St. Louis: 21,519
Grand Rapids: 18,939
Cleveland: 18,625
Cincinnati: 15,276
I included Wichita, Kansas because it is one of the Midwest's largest cities and seems to have been forgotten on the list.
Foreign-Born as a % of Total Population in 2014
Kansas City: 15.79%
Columbus: 12.08%
Des Moines: 11.33%
Madison: 10.70%
Wichita: 10.23%
Grand Rapids: 9.93%
Milwaukee: 9.81%
Omaha: 9.8%
Indianapolis: 9.07%
St. Louis: 6.75%
Cincinnati: 5.14%
Cleveland: 4.75%
So in terms of actual international presence within each city, Columbus, Indy and Milwaukee have the largest total population, but in terms of how big a presence that population actually makes overall, KC, Columbus and Des Moines come out on top.
2010-2014 Total Growth
Columbus: +14,403
Cleveland: +9,570
Omaha: +5,733
Wichita: +5,025
Indianapolis: +2,796
Des Moines: +2,435
Madison: +2,320
Cincinnati: +1,827
Kansas City: +1,672
Milwaukee: +1,576
St. Louis: +263
Grand Rapids: -1,504
When looking at the growth rates of international population within the cities, Columbus, Cleveland and Omaha are the top 3 in totals and % growth.
Of all these measurements, Columbus is the only city that appears in the top 3 of every category. I saw Cleveland and St. Louis mentioned several times in this thread so far, but both are near the botton in totals and % of population, so you're actually less likely to encounter an actual international population there than most of the other cities. Milwaukee was mentioned occasionally too, and it seems to have a more middle-of-the-road international presence.
What about the metro areas?
2014 Metro Foreign Born
Columbus: 136,128
Kansas City: 131,230
Indianapolis: 126,767
St. Louis: 125,211
Cleveland: 114,009
Milwaukee: 108,738
Cincinnati: 93,552
Grand Rapids: 66,236
Omaha: 60,774
Wichita: 46,427
Des Moines: 44,386
Madison: 42,399
Foreign-born as a % of Total Metro Population in 2014
Des Moines: 7.51%
Wichita: 7.30%
Columbus: 6.99%
Milwaukee: 6.94%
Omaha: 6.86%
Madison: 6.83%
Grand Rapids: 6.45%
Indianapolis: 6.43%
Kansas City: 6.43%
Cleveland: 5.52%
St. Louis: 4.48%
Cincinnati: 4.35%
The metro areas are somewhat different than the city alone, but Cleveland and St. Louis still come out toward the bottom.
2010-2014 Total Metro Growth of Foreign-born
Grand Rapids: +19,324
Columbus: +17,026
Indianapolis: +10,901
Kansas City: +10,579
St. Louis: +9,411
Omaha: +7,254
Des Moines: +6,823
Wichita: +6,634
Madison: +5,755
Milwaukee: +4,166
Cincinnati: +2,767
Cleveland: -9,028
2010-2014 % Change of Metro Foreign-born
Grand Rapids: +41.19%
Des Moines: +18.16%
Wichita: +16.67%
Madison: +15.71%
Columbus: +14.30%
Omaha: +13.55%
Indianapolis: +9.41%
Kansas City: +8.77%
St. Louis: +8.13%
Milwaukee: +3.98%
Cincinnati: +3.05%
Cleveland: -7.34%
So overall, in terms of foreign-born population in presence in either the city or metro, Columbus seems to be the strongest across the board. Kansas City, Des Moines, Grand Rapids and Wichita seem to perform pretty well also.
This is according to GaWC most recent listings which are by no means infallible and I'm not positive about criteria, but I would assume would include knowledge of (history), international trade and business relationships, public transit, and who knows what else.
Cleveland-Beta-
Pittsburgh-H.S.
Saint Louis-Gamma +
Milwaukee-Gamma
Cincinnati-Gamma
Indianapolis-H.S.
Columbus-Gamma-
Kansas City-Gamma-
Buffalo-Unlisted
Rochester-Suff.
Grand Rapids-Unlisted
Des Moines-Suff.
Omaha-Unlisted
Madison-Suff.
Louisville-Unlisted
Chicago-Alpha
Minneapolis-Beta-
Detroit-Beta-
Not really. Last I checked, GAWC is only about the presence of certain firms in four industries, as an "indicator."
GAWC is an interesting sidebar and data point, but people think it means more than that. It gets way too much attention for something it's not.
Good to know. I certainly think it's far from perfect, but it's only source I general hear of that talks about that sort of thing. Out of curiosity, what metrics does it measure?
The original post said Midwestern city, and Wichita is one of the largest of that designation.
No it isn't.
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