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DC is probably the #2 city in the US in importance. Of course there are many ways of defining "importance" in a city.
That's not a crazy opinion, but I wouldn't say it represents the general consensus either on CD or IRL. Also, FWIW, most professional studies typically rank LA and Chicago ahead of DC in the global pecking order.
There's no single pecking order. It depends what you're counting. I don't recall any professional studies measuring cities' importance specifically.
For example, it would be fine to call a freeway interchange more important than a signficant headquarters for example. Just a choice of what to consider important.
There's no single pecking order. It depends what you're counting. I don't recall any professional studies measuring cities' importance specifically.
For example, it would be fine to call a freeway interchange more important than a signficant headquarters for example. Just a choice of what to consider important.
Most of these studies measure importance in one way or another. But you are right of course that there is no one way to define importance. It's a multidimensional concept and various studies focus on different metrics, and measure and weigh things in different ways. Nevertheless, although no two studies have exact same rankings, a certain pecking order is pretty apparent (for example NYC, London, Tokyo and Paris are almost always in the top 4 to 6 cities in the world). And in this pecking order LA and Chicago are ahead of DC.
Location: Midwesterner living in California (previously East Coast)
296 posts, read 437,817 times
Reputation: 598
I don't think this 3rd tier needs to have five spots. I think this third tier only has two cities that truly meet the expectation, Miami and Seattle. Anyway - here's my ranking:
11.) Miami
12.) Seattle
13.) Detroit
14.) San Diego
15.) Denver
16.) Minneapolis
Miami and Seattle are no-brainers. They truly feel big league. Their peers are the Boston, Atlanta etc.
Detroit used to feel big league, now it's on the edge.
SD, Denver, and Minneapolis simply do not feel big league.
Phoenix can barely hang with any of the above cities. It may have a big population, but there's not much urban substance.
Baltimore absolutely does not belong in this conversation. Not at all. Modern-day Baltimore is a shell of its old self in terms of stature. If it's lucky, DC booming growth will eventually swallow up Baltimore into the DC MSA by 2030. I doubt that will happen, because so much of the growth is in NoVA.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,592,398 times
Reputation: 9169
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrIndependent
I don't think this 3rd tier needs to have five spots. I think this third tier only has two cities that truly meet the expectation, Miami and Seattle. Anyway - here's my ranking:
11.) Miami
12.) Seattle
13.) Detroit
14.) San Diego
15.) Denver
16.) Minneapolis
Miami and Seattle are no-brainers. They truly feel big league. Their peers are the Boston, Atlanta etc.
Detroit used to feel big league, now it's on the edge.
SD, Denver, and Minneapolis simply do not feel big league.
Phoenix can barely hang with any of the above cities. It may have a big population, but there's not much urban substance.
Baltimore absolutely does not belong in this conversation. Not at all. Modern-day Baltimore is a shell of its old self in terms of stature. If it's lucky, DC booming growth will eventually swallow up Baltimore into the DC MSA by 2030. I doubt that will happen, because so much of the growth is in NoVA.
I don't think this 3rd tier needs to have five spots. I think this third tier only has two cities that truly meet the expectation, Miami and Seattle. Anyway - here's my ranking:
11.) Miami
12.) Seattle
13.) Detroit
14.) San Diego
15.) Denver
16.) Minneapolis
Miami and Seattle are no-brainers. They truly feel big league. Their peers are the Boston, Atlanta etc.
Detroit used to feel big league, now it's on the edge.
SD, Denver, and Minneapolis simply do not feel big league.
Denver and San Diego do not belong above MSP. Also, not sure MSP is that far off from Detroit...
Quote:
Phoenix can barely hang with any of the above cities. It may have a big population, but there's not much urban substance.
I don't think this is true. Phoenix might not compete with regions of comparable population, but it's definitely in this group.
I don't think this 3rd tier needs to have five spots. I think this third tier only has two cities that truly meet the expectation, Miami and Seattle. Anyway - here's my ranking:
11.) Miami
12.) Seattle
13.) Detroit
14.) San Diego
15.) Denver
16.) Minneapolis
Miami and Seattle are no-brainers. They truly feel big league. Their peers are the Boston, Atlanta etc.
Detroit used to feel big league, now it's on the edge.
SD, Denver, and Minneapolis simply do not feel big league.
Phoenix can barely hang with any of the above cities. It may have a big population, but there's not much urban substance.
Baltimore absolutely does not belong in this conversation. Not at all. Modern-day Baltimore is a shell of its old self in terms of stature. If it's lucky, DC booming growth will eventually swallow up Baltimore into the DC MSA by 2030. I doubt that will happen, because so much of the growth is in NoVA.
There is no way Mpls is that far removed from Detroit. I would say they're equal for different reasons and both are above Denver, PHX, and SD.
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