Sports division with the best city/metro lineup 2019 edition (living, better, comparison)
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Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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I did a similar thread on this several years ago, but that was limited to just the NFL. For this thread, I’d like to expand this thread to include all North American sports divisions (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, CFL, etc.).
The premise is simple. Out of all of the major North American sports leagues, which one contains the best lineup of cities/metros? Factors to weigh include the usual population, social and economic metrics that define the majority of debates on here, but creativity is welcome to keep the thread from getting stale.
For example, is the AL East of MLB (Boston, NYC, Toronto, Tampa, Baltimore) a better “collection” than the NFC West of the NFL (Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle)? When one division has more cities than the other (as is the case with the aforementioned), limit the comparison to the lowest amount of teams (so exclude one of the AL East cities to make an even 4 against 4 matchup).
I did a similar thread on this several years ago, but that was limited to just the NFL. For this thread, I’d like to expand this thread to include all North American sports divisions (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, CFL, etc.).
I really liked your concept a few years ago and I like this one now. I will answer purely based on my own metrics of where I would choose to live, and rather than reducing to the smallest number of cities I will consider that I must split time equally between the cities. So rather than comparing the top of each grouping for me it will be more of an average for the entire group. (also note the MLS at present doesn't have divisions so only two very large conference groupings. NHL also has fairly large divisions although still manageable for comparison)
So without further ado, it really comes down to just two possibilities for me:
1) MLB's NL East. This is about as perfect as I could reasonably hope for my tastes. Rotating between NY, Philly, DC, Atlanta and Miami? Yes please. Perfect climate distribution as well. Miami and DC are home to me (at least at one time) and NYC and ATL are almost de facto homes as well. Philly is a place I like a lot and would have no worries about living in either.
2) NHL's Pacific Division. This one is enticing for change of pace/variety. You have LA/Anaheim, San Jose, and Vancouver (all top choices for me due to strong family ties) with Vegas, Phoenix, Calgary and Edmonton offering something a little different in between. I like Calgary and Edmonton a lot relative to their size, and although they are on the small side and the winters can be very harsh, spending seven weeks in each would be not only doable but quite fun. In a couple years Phoenix gets swapped out with Seattle, which is a significant upgrade imo, although this reduces the number of good weather days so that's a concern. But if we can double up the time in LA then it should be manageable.
Anyway yeah, between those two it's a tough choice. There's more marginal options in my second option and the first option's cities are much more "home" for me, so I guess I'll lean that way.
This is tougher than I thought. Many divisions have one city/metro that kinda ruin it. I would pick mine by which one I would get to go to some cool cities but doesn't take me to some metros I don't enjoy much. NFC East would be great, except you'd have to go to Dallas (Arlington), NFC West has the Santa Clara 49'ers (San Jose). These places may be fine to live in, but I don't find them fun to visit as a tourist. The MLS Divisions are too big, so that leaves us with the big 4 leagues. My rankings:
1. NBA Atlantic is probably the strongest contender now that the Nets aren't in Newark anymore. Boston, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Toronto, and Philly.
2. NL West- This is a close second. Phoenix is the weak link here, but still interesting to visit a desert city- SF, LA, SD, Denver and Phoenix.
3. NL East- Cobb County/Atlanta metro doesn't have anything that spectacular for a tourist, but they're not enough to hold back the rest of these metros. Queens (NYC), DC, Miami, and Philly.
This is tougher than I thought. Many divisions have one city/metro that kinda ruin it. I would pick mine by which one I would get to go to some cool cities but doesn't take me to some metros I don't enjoy much. NFC East would be great, except you'd have to go to Dallas (Arlington), NFC West has the Santa Clara 49'ers (San Jose). These places may be fine to live in, but I don't find them fun to visit as a tourist. The MLS Divisions are too big, so that leaves us with the big 4 leagues. My rankings:
1. NBA Atlantic is probably the strongest contender now that the Nets aren't in Newark anymore. Boston, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Toronto, and Philly.
2. NL West- This is a close second. Phoenix is the weak link here, but still interesting to visit a desert city- SF, LA, SD, Denver and Phoenix.
3. NL East- Cobb County/Atlanta metro doesn't have anything that spectacular for a tourist, but they're not enough to hold back the rest of these metros. Queens (NYC), DC, Miami, and Philly.
Correction: SF 49ers, not Santa Clara 49ers
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