Outside the Midwestern Big Three, what is the next most diverse/global/international/cosmopolitan city in the Midwest? (best, state)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Outside of the Midwestern Big 3 of Greater Chicago, Greater Detroit, and the Greater Minneapolis/Saint Paul areas, what is the next most diverse, international, global, and cosmopolitan city of the Midwest?
Criteria:
- Diverse (racial diversity and ethnic diversity)
- Global (pertaining to business and commerce, a global economic driver, global industries, global innovations, global research, global institutions of higher learning or research)
- International (culturally, socially, or politically has some clout, brand, or image outside of the United States; a public figure with global reach, an event with global attendance or viewership, an institution with global recognition, a team or club with global following, ability to draw immigrants and tourists from overseas, so on and so forth)
- Cosmopolitan (a population that seemingly is knitted together from everywhere; elsewhere from the same state, elsewhere from the same region, elsewhere from the same country, elsewhere from the same continent, elsewhere from the same planet, there are "strong" social network or cultural aspects that tie the population of the city together with the rest of the world via travel, sister cities, ethnic enclaves, innovation of fusion foods from the world on over, general populace is well aware of the world outside of the United States, demonstrates knowledgeable instincts, travelers, live-and-let-live vibe, higher culture, sophistication)
All 4 things are different. I'm not entirely sure if this is the proper way to define each of the four, but I took a stab at it and want to keep that as the framework for responses to this thread.
So outside of the Big 3 in the Midwest, what city is next to best demonstrate the factors mentioned above?
If you want to include Pittsburgh or Louisville or somewhere on the border of the Midwest, then do so, I guess, my take is that the more cities discussed in the thread, the more interesting the debate.
From an outsider's perspective, I think the only cities worth mentioning here are Cleveland and St. Louis. Milwaukee has a fair amount of ethnic diversity, but is small and lacks internationalism, global appeal and presence, and cosmopolitanism...
From an outsider's perspective, I think the only cities worth mentioning here are Cleveland and St. Louis. Milwaukee has a fair amount of ethnic diversity, but is small and lacks internationalism, global appeal and presence, and cosmopolitanism...
Cannot disagree. Cleveland and STL probably win this...for now and most certainly, over the last 150 years....
But who will emerge by 2050?
In the last decade in the Midwest, Detroit, Dayton, Columbus, and Louisville are the hottest immigrant draws.
Louisville will surprise the heck out of you with several ethnic neighborhoods. From the article:
"Louisville has emerged as one of the hottest urban centers for immigrants in recent years. Its foreign-born population rose an estimated 42 percent between 2009 and 2014, more than in any other jurisdiction with at least a half-million residents."
My take on this is Louisville (if counted as Midwest) and Columbus are the two hottest cities in the lower Midwest for just about anything, and immigrants is one of them.
Despite this, I think Cleveland and St Louis are roughly tied for the most internationally diverse metro areas in the Midwest outside the big 3, despite their very small and declining foreign city populations (also partially due to having smaller geographic city limits).
Last edited by Peter1948; 05-29-2016 at 09:56 PM..
I'm kind of figuring Cleveland will win, because there are probably more Cleveland backers on this forum than most cities have. BUT, I imagine each city brings something to the table. As far as someone mentioning Milwaukee's global research, etc., I think it's something that will grow as Milwaukee establishes itself as a global water center. Only two cities in the US have this distinction, the other being San Francisco. This is kind of a big deal, and will be be even a bigger deal with the water issues our country will eventually face.
For a city the size of Milwaukee, it scores well with seven Fortune 500 companies within the MSA, and it's probably as cosmopolitan as many of the cities on the list.
I won't go on and on, because I get sick of reading the same things over and over about some cities...I don't want to be that person. I'm probably about the only Milwaukee booster on this forum, so Milwaukee probably won't get many votes. I don't think it should win this little "contest", but it shouldn't lag like it probably will, either.
Hopefully it's not about how many boosters a city has, but rather about what makes sense.
I voted for Pittsburgh because it's turned the corner economically, it's a good city to visit, it's great to look at, and it has some interesting neighborhoods. Its universities are a big plus.
Milwaukee might take second due to (glancing through the NYT maps) what might have been be the densest core neighborhoods of this group on average in 2010. Buffalo was similar in that regard.
Cleveland might be the largest depending how you count metros. It should get some votes also.
Cleveland will probably win this one, because of the boosters, but I think it's a toss up between Cleveland, St.louis and Milwaukee. I feel they are about even.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
