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Washington DC/NOVA Region
New York
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Chicago
Houston
Boston
Dallas
Atlanta
Orlando
Philadelphia
Seattle
Miami
Charlotte
Las Vegas
Washington DC/NOVA Region
New York
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Chicago
Houston
Boston Dallas
Atlanta
Orlando
Philadelphia
Seattle
Miami
Charlotte
Las Vegas
Orlando?
Philadelphia belongs on the line with Dallas, and move Orlando down and Seattle up.
There is really no reason why Orlando should even be on this list except for Disney World.
Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta and even Boston are pretty even, there is really no cut and dry reason why one should be ahead of the other from an overall standpoint.
After Chicago / San Fran, its gets blurry with the group I mentioned above.
There is really no reason why Orlando should even be on this list except for Disney World.
There is much more to Orlando than just Disney World, your statement above is very ignorant and far from the truth. Why should Orlando be on this list? Well, for starters, beyond tourism:
- Metro population of 3+ million and growing
- Fastest growing city in Southeastern United States (above Miami, Atlanta, and Tampa)
- MCO is the largest and busiest airport in the State of Florida (above both MIA and TPA)
- 2nd Largest Convention Center in North America
- UCF: Largest University campus in the United States
- UCF: Largest Public University in the United States (66k students enrolled)
- 7th Largest research park in the country (Central Florida Research Park)
- Corporate HQs: AAA, Darden, KPMG, Red Lobster, Tupperware, HGVC, MVCI, USTA, etc.
- Magnet for digital media arts industry (EA, Full Sail, etc.)
- Magnet for major sporting events (NFL Pro Bowl, Capital One Bowl, short list for 2026 World Cup, etc.)
There is much more to Orlando than just Disney World, your statement above is very ignorant and far from the truth. Why should Orlando be on this list? Well, for starters, beyond tourism:
- Metro population of 3+ million and growing
- Fastest growing city in Southeastern United States (above Miami, Atlanta, and Tampa)
- MCO is the largest and busiest airport in the State of Florida (above both MIA and TPA)
- 2nd Largest Convention Center in North America
- UCF: Largest University campus in the United States
- UCF: Largest Public University in the United States (66k students enrolled)
- 7th Largest research park in the country (Central Florida Research Park)
- Corporate HQs: AAA, Darden, KPMG, Red Lobster, Tupperware, HGVC, MVCI, USTA, etc.
- Magnet for digital media arts industry (EA, Full Sail, etc.)
- Magnet for major sporting events (NFL Pro Bowl, Capital One Bowl, short list for 2026 World Cup, etc.)
Yeah but its not as important as Miami, Philadelphia or Seattle. Every point you made can be one upped by the three cities listed. Ive lived in Orlando and theres not much going on. Charlotte is also like one of the financial capitals of the country behind NY and Chicago. Remember most of Orlando's growth is very unsustainable and high risk. Low wages and the GDP is not growing at rates seen in other cities. Sure, the population is growing faster but from an importance/business side to things.. absolutely nowhere near the Philly, Seattle, Charlotte or Miami.
Orlando is in the 20-30 range.. nowhere near the top 10.
This is a good rough list. Not exact, but should give a good idea.
1. NY
2. DC
3. San Francisco
4. LA
5. Boston
6. Chicago
7. Dallas (Theres sooo much happening in Dallas through the pipeline.. its crazy)
8. Atlanta
9. Houston
10. Seattle
11. Miami
12. Philadelphia
13. Charlotte
14. Denver
15. Austin
16. Nashville
17. Raleigh/Durham
18. San Diego (#5 in all Pharma/Life Science jobs)
19. Minneapolis
20. Las Vegas
Tampa, Orlando, San Antonio, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, Baltimore, Salt Lake would all be below this. I dont know where but somewhere.
Last edited by masssachoicetts; 01-09-2020 at 01:32 PM..
Yeah but its not as important as Miami, Philadelphia or Seattle. Every point you made can be one upped by the three cities listed. Ive lived in Orlando and theres not much going on. Charlotte is also like one of the financial capitals of the country behind NY and Chicago. Remember most of Orlando's growth is very unsustainable and high risk. Low wages and the GDP is not growing at rates seen in other cities. Sure, the population is growing faster but from an importance/business side to things.. absolutely nowhere near the Philly, Seattle, Charlotte or Miami.
Orlando is in the 20-30 range.. nowhere near the top 10.
This is a good rough list. Not exact, but should give a good idea.
1. NY
2. DC
3. San Francisco
4. LA
5. Boston
6. Chicago 7. Dallas (Theres sooo much happening in Dallas through the pipeline.. its crazy)
8. Atlanta
9. Houston
10. Seattle
11. Miami
12. Philadelphia
13. Charlotte
14. Denver
15. Austin
16. Nashville
17. Raleigh/Durham
18. San Diego (#5 in all Pharma/Life Science jobs)
19. Minneapolis
20. Las Vegas
Tampa, Orlando, San Antonio, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, Baltimore, Salt Lake would all be below this. I dont know where but somewhere.
Generally agree, but the bolded cities are too close to call. Philadelphia's economy is massive and while its not front and center from a blaring LA-Hollywood standpoint, the Philadelphia region is being seriously undervalued if you think its behind Miami and one step ahead of Charlotte...
I mean my goodness, Philadelphia's economy is over twice the size of Charlottes and 1/3 larger than Miami, not to mention the countless relevant institutions throughout the Philadelphia region, moreso than Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston.
It should be like
Dallas/Houston/Philadelphia
Seattle/Atlanta
Miami
Charlotte
And, Chicago is in a different league than Boston.
Boston is more in the Dallas/Houston/Philadelphia group than the Chicago group.
Last edited by cpomp; 01-10-2020 at 07:50 AM..
Reason: edit
I think a lot of people here are under estimating Orlando. It's no longer Mickey Mouse's town and has really exploded this past decade and diversified it's economy. I've watched it mature rapidly and I wouldn't discount it this coming decade.
It would include it on my Top 20 list (not Top 10 though.)
Generally agree, but the bolded cities are too close to call. Philadelphia's economy is massive and while its not front and center from a blaring LA-Hollywood standpoint, the Philadelphia region is being seriously undervalued if you think its behind Miami and one step ahead of Charlotte...
I mean my goodness, Philadelphia's economy is over twice the size of Charlottes and 1/3 larger than Miami, not to mention the countless relevant institutions throughout the Philadelphia region, moreso than Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston.
It should be like
Dallas/Houston/Philadelphia
Seattle/Atlanta
Miami
Charlotte
And, Chicago is in a different league than Boston.
Boston is more in the Dallas/Houston/Philadelphia group than the Chicago group.
Ehh for Boston, its the top city for BioPharma and Research and out of the Dallas/Houston/Philly has somewhere between 3-5 times for foreign investment and research and development. For importance including job growth and what actually happens in Boston/Cambridge, it up there with/ahead of Chicago.
A lot of rankings for innovation and power put it with LA, so im being generous here.
I think a lot of people here are under estimating Orlando. It's no longer Mickey Mouse's town and has really exploded this past decade and diversified it's economy. I've watched it mature rapidly and I wouldn't discount it this coming decade.
It would include it on my Top 20 list (not Top 10 though.)
Same here.
Those of you so quick to dismiss it, or saying "only because of Disney World" are rather clueless. There's a large, booming city that exists completely isolated from Disney.
Top 20 easily.
I agree with Masssachoicetts that some of the growth may be "unsustainable," but that remains to be seen.
Miami faced similar criticism a decade or two ago, (and still does) and it seems to be doing just fine.
There is much more to Orlando than just Disney World, your statement above is very ignorant and far from the truth. Why should Orlando be on this list? Well, for starters, beyond tourism:
- Metro population of 3+ million and growing
- Fastest growing city in Southeastern United States (above Miami, Atlanta, and Tampa)
- MCO is the largest and busiest airport in the State of Florida (above both MIA and TPA)
- 2nd Largest Convention Center in North America
- UCF: Largest University campus in the United States
- UCF: Largest Public University in the United States (66k students enrolled)
- 7th Largest research park in the country (Central Florida Research Park)
- Corporate HQs: AAA, Darden, KPMG, Red Lobster, Tupperware, HGVC, MVCI, USTA, etc.
- Magnet for digital media arts industry (EA, Full Sail, etc.)
- Magnet for major sporting events (NFL Pro Bowl, Capital One Bowl, short list for 2026 World Cup, etc.)
This might be a great argument for "maybe it should be in the top 25, but maybe not." There are no good arguments here.
The seemingly-best points could be simple aggregation...for example you have one big airport vs. multiple airports like Miami. The #7 research park sounds really low, especially since most of the really big research cities aren't centered on research parks. Otherwise the takeaway is you have a lot of visitors, and there are no major HQs.
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