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There were a lot of pretty eager Houston-boosters in the 5 Primary Cities thread in General US. I’m surprised we haven’t heard more from them, especially when Houston is matching Atlanta in the poll.
Philly is a bit tough. It’s a bit larger than Boston and it shares a lot of core industries with Boston, namely education and biotech. However, I think in those two areas: Boston seems to be a little bit bigger of a deal atm (I’d love to see some evidence to the contrary). Philly then has Comcast and through it NBC and Sky while Boston has a Liberty Mutual, Raytheon, and GE.
Dallas seems to be a bit of a sleeper candidate. The Metroplex has been gaining on Greater Boston in terms of population for awhile and a quick Google search suggests that its doing pretty well for itself economically. I don’t know much about the city or area myself, though.
Boston/Philly share attributes but Boston leads. .
I think Dallas is a sleeper because it's not the "capital" or a leader in any of the categories... the city performs well but it just not #1 in any sector. Reversely Houston is a leader in the energy sector.
It'd be fun to see where the Boston votes go for a #7 thread without Boston as an option.
It'd be fun to see where the Boston votes go for a #7 thread without Boston as an option.
In time, in time.
I kept my OP vague because the threads from 2009 I was copying were also vague. They do mention “cultural importance” in addition to “economic importance”. Between Coke, CNN, the Olympics, and Georgia studios, Atlanta has a pretty huge cultural impact relative to its size and economy. It also has a huge music scene from what I hear, and acts from Atlanta always seem quick to rep the city. The same is true of Houston.
Boston’s has a lot of great actors and comedians from the area get famous over the last few decades. The Super Bowl commercial with Chris Evans and John Krasinski putting on fake Boston accents to talk about a car was great. Evans’ role in Knives Out (as the privileged kid of a wealthy MA family) was also pretty funny considering that he grew up in Sudbury. Otherwise, beyond the Afflecks, Damon, and Walhberg you don’t here Boston celebrities like Amy Peohler, Mindy Kaling, or Steve Carell repoing the city as much or as often as Atlanta’s musicians rep it (I don’t think??).
Miami is another city with a huge cultural significance despite a less important economic significance. Not sure if it’s enough to be #6, but it’s probably enough for the consideration at least.
I kept my OP vague because the threads from 2009 I was copying were also vague. They do mention “cultural importance” in addition to “economic importance”. Between Coke, CNN, the Olympics, and Georgia studios, Atlanta has a pretty huge cultural impact relative to its size and economy. It also has a huge music scene from what I hear, and acts from Atlanta always seem quick to rep the city. The same is true of Houston.
Boston’s has a lot of great actors and comedians from the area get famous over the last few decades. The Super Bowl commercial with Chris Evans and John Krasinski putting on fake Boston accents to talk about a car was great. Evans’ role in Knives Out (as the privileged kid of a wealthy MA family) was also pretty funny considering that he grew up in Sudbury. Otherwise, beyond the Afflecks, Damon, and Walhberg you don’t here Boston celebrities like Amy Peohler, Mindy Kaling, or Steve Carell repoing the city as much or as often as Atlanta’s musicians rep it (I don’t think??).
Miami is another city with a huge cultural significance despite a less important economic significance.
"Repping" their hometown frequently seems to be more of a thing in hip hop and Black culture from what I see, which could be why you see it more in ATL. Just my observation.
Oil is important, but it's still just a commodity. That's the only really major Houston claim.
For example, Seattle is much bigger in military (though a few down the list), tech (#2), and medical research (far more federal dollars, and also a lot of Gates dollars). On this list it might be second from last as the survey says.
Atlanta and Dallas have good cases for #7 also, as two huge centers for office jobs (heavy in the middle-wage sectors), and as huge regional and logistical centers supported by freeway webs and giant airports. I don't know much about Philly's case, though it's bigger in education than its image suggests.
If oil were Houston’s only claim, Houston would have no business being top 7. How about having the most important port in the USA? How about being arguably the most ethnically diverse city in the USA (it’s not first, but it’s received that label from the media). How about being the 4th largest city? How about the arts, culture, musicians that come out. The plethora of shopping.
If oil were the single claim, Houston would have no business being top 7, maybe not even top 10.
You can look up previous threads where it's open for you to see who voted for what. A huge bulk of Atlanta votes always come from Atlanta forumers whereas you see this less with other cities.
All good tho, since it's just a theory we're veering off track.
I never claimed I was. I was simply demonstrating that you don't have to be implicitly (or explicitly) biased against Atlanta to believe that Boston outranks it. It's not a hard concept to grasp.
If oil were Houston’s only claim, Houston would have no business being top 7. How about having the most important port in the USA? How about being arguably the most ethnically diverse city in the USA (it’s not first, but it’s received that label from the media). How about being the 4th largest city? How about the arts, culture, musicians that come out. The plethora of shopping.
If oil were the single claim, Houston would have no business being top 7, maybe not even top 10.
Certainly Houston has one of the most important ports in the country, but THE most important? That's pretty debatable. And the bulk of port activity is petroleum-related, which is to be expected.
If oil were Houston’s only claim, Houston would have no business being top 7. How about having the most important port in the USA? How about being arguably the most ethnically diverse city in the USA (it’s not first, but it’s received that label from the media). How about being the 4th largest city? How about the arts, culture, musicians that come out. The plethora of shopping.
If oil were the single claim, Houston would have no business being top 7, maybe not even top 10.
Diversity is great, but isn't about "importance."
LA/LB is the by far the biggest port by value.
It's not the 4th largest by a longshot. You're using city limits, which isn't relevant.
I'm not aware of any way it stands out in the arts, culture, or musicians that would make it stand out.
Shopping? You're grasping at straws.
If you said NASA and the seaport, that would at least be arguments.
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we're veering off track.
