Which city anchors its region the best? Denver (IMW), Phoenix (DSW), or Seattle (PNW)? (live, state)
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- Denver is the largest and most important anchor city of the Intermountain West (IMW) which are the states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.
- Phoenix is the largest and most important anchor city of the Desert Southwest (DSW) which are the states of Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.
- Seattle is the largest and most important anchor city of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) which are the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
All three cities are the largest financial, logistic, economic, corporate, political, social machines of their respective regions. They are also the wealthiest cities of their region with the most extensive and large scale infrastructure in place in their respective regions. That isn't really what is up for debate though. Use MSA for Phoenix and CSA for the other two (Phoenix doesn't have a CSA).
What is up for debate is which city does the best job anchoring its region? Which city is responsible for connecting that region to the rest of the country or world through social factors, cultural factors, economic factors, infrastructure and logistics, political factors, or other stuff. If you took that city out of the region (along with all of its suburbs and stuff of course), which region would lose out the most by the disappearance of that city?
Its truly the primate city of the Intermountain West. Salt Lake City is certainly big enough to be considered a city. But I think in a lot of ways Denver stands alone.
The Pacific Northwest also has Portland, and although Portland is in every way smaller with a lot less of an economy/job market, I think it still has just as much "cache" as Seattle somewhat. Besides, Vancouver, although not counting in this comparison, as its in Canada, it really is JUST over the border, and arguably the more cosmopolitan, "real city"-feeling of the two.
Phoenix is clearly the biggest, but Vegas has a niche that makes it more famous and larger than life than Phoenix, and because Phoenix is kinda sterile with not much history, for Southwest history and culture fans, Tucson and Albuquerque (and Santa Fe) while smaller and more provincial has a more of what I think Southwest fans are looking for.
But like I said, Denver I think clearly stands alone in its region.
I'd say Denver. Portland and Vancouver can compete with Seattle. Las Vegas kinda upstages Phoenix on a national/International level because of it's touristy nature.
SLC of course is an important metro to the IMW, but It doesn't seem to have the same impact over the region that Las Vegas has over the SW or Vancouver/Portland have over the PNW
I voted Denver not only because I think it has more sway over the states listed in its territory but also because I think its territory actually reaches into New Mexico as well and the city is more of a factor here than Phoenix. Phoenix is not really traditionally Southwestern and so it doesn't hold any cultural sway over New Mexico. Santa Fe I think holds more cultural sway over the Southwest than Phoenix. The only place where Phoenix really comes into play here in New Mexico is logistics (sometimes) and flight connections. But even in that area Denver and even Dallas have more importance to New Mexico.
Denver and Dallas also hold more sway in New Mexico when it comes to sports teams. The Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys are the two main teams in New Mexico for football. The 49ers and even teams like the Saints, Packers and Steelers are way ahead of the Cardinals when it comes to a following in New Mexico. The Diamondbacks are really the only Phoenix team that has a respectable following in New Mexico and even there they come in behind the Dodgers, Giants and Rockies, and are about even with the Padres and maybe even the Yankees and Cardinals. Forget about basketball, where the Lakers are king and the Suns probably come behind teams like the Heat, Thunder and Cavaliers. And hockey isn't really a thing here, so whatever Coyote fanbase there is in New Mexico is gonna be fairly small. I think our own New Mexico Scorpions were the only hockey team to ever be a factor here.
As far as a higher level of shopping and other amenities not found in New Mexico, Denver is also closer to most of New Mexico than Phoenix and I have seen people from here travel to Denver for things like that. For instance, on Craigslist there are people who offer to go to Denver and purchase things from Ikea and transport them back to New Mexico for a fee. And in my own family recently there was a trip to Denver to go to Elitch's, which is a much bigger amusement park than Cliff's here in Albuquerque. I also see a lot more people from New Mexico take trips to Las Vegas than Phoenix for fun and leisure, so Las Vegas is more important to New Mexico in that regard than Phoenix for this thread's definition of the Southwest.
So overall I really do see Denver and to a lesser extent Dallas as being the big cities for New Mexico. I also think L.A. fits in there as well, as being the closest megacity to New Mexico and also for past connections like Albuquerque having the AAA baseball affiliate for the Dodgers for decades until just recently when it was switched to the Rockies.
SLC of course is an important metro to the IMW, but It doesn't seem to have the same impact over the region that Las Vegas has over the SW or Vancouver/Portland have over the PNW
I saw Salt Lake City for the first time ever in March, it was an impressive city given the lack of attention it usually gets on forums such as this. Great blend of new and old and the area around it has absolutely stunning scenery and topography. It has a pretty good light rail system for a place of its size and its urban area seamlessly blends into Ogden and Provo areas, all coming together to form one major metropolis. Very good highway system, probably some of the best freeways in the country.
What I find most impressive about Salt Lake City is that it is a CSA of 2.4 million, has a very fast booming downtown and core area, has 2 professional sports teams in the NBA and MLS, and most of all it has direct non-stop flights from its airport to Toronto, Amsterdam, Cancun, London, Paris, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo, Guadalajara, Vancouver, and Calgary. That's 10 places. Respectable for a place of 2.4 million. What's more curious about it is that it has more direct connections with overseas places than several large Midwestern cities with larger CSAs and supposed brand recognition.
If Portland holds its own against Seattle, despite overall being the smaller city both by economy and population; I think Salt Lake City has the same effect on Denver in the Intermountain West and Las Vegas on Phoenix in the Desert Southwest. Not to mention Albuquerque and Tucson as other places in the American Desert Southwest with more than a million people, each.
Also, all three regions have areas that are in other countries. Intermountain West also has Alberta in Canada, perhaps also Saskatchewan. The Desert Southwest includes Sonora, the Mexican state. Finally the Pacific Northwest has British Columbia in Canada, and Alaska (off the American mainland) as well.
Sorry! slc does not stack up against big brother Denver. Just look at the number of passengers DIA gets vs. slc. The number of International skiers Colorado gets vs. utah. The GDP of each metro. The growth of each metro. Denver leads and is pulling ahead in any and all measures. That is not to say that slc is not a nice city. Just not a threat or even on Denver's level.
I'd say Denver for the Intermountain West, and always will be.
I've lived in both cities but Denver has always been recognized as the capital of the "Rocky Mountain Empire".
The first thing that comes to mind for most when you say "Denver" is "mountains", followed now by legalized pot .
The first thing that comes to mind for most when you say "Salt Lake City" is "Mormons". I've even had people ask me, "Utah has mountains?"
They are both beautiful cities on opposite sides of the Rockies. Ironically, SLC is much closer to the mountains than Denver. But perception always seems to trump reality reality.
Last edited by Kar54; 07-01-2016 at 10:02 AM..
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