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At first I thought this, but St. Louis does have an old school sophistication to it despite having a very large ghetto subculture. I would argue the same for Chicago and Philadelphia. St. Louis probably ranks higher than expected because of the small city limits with a high number of private schools, museums, private clubs etc. St. Louis is also strange because the cheapest real estate in the region can be found literally a few blocks from some of the most expensive homes in the region. I don't think many people associate St. Louis with million dollar, turn of the century mansions on private streets, but St. Louis City has always had some expensive real estate in a good swath of the city despite it's rust belt reputation. St. Louis City has also been getting rapidly more expensive in the last few years.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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I’d say there truly are maybe several big cities that one could consider glamorous from the 5 criteria stated in the OP…these all attract well to do (residents and visitors) and followers:
NYC
DC
Miami
Chicago
SF
LA
Vegas
Should/Might be able to add Atlanta—certainly glamorous to the Black community.
Then you have smaller cities/towns that I would consider glamorous:
Hamptons
Cape Cod/Martha’s Vineyard
Palm Beach
Aspen
Scottsdale
Newport Beach
La Jolla
Might be missing a few others—feel free to add.
I don’t consider “smart” or techy but non flashy cities or towns to be particularly glamorous. Then there are cities, like New Orleans, that I consider sexy if not glamorous.
Last edited by elchevere; 02-19-2022 at 05:14 PM..
At first I thought this, but St. Louis does have an old school sophistication to it despite having a very large ghetto subculture. I would argue the same for Chicago and Philadelphia. St. Louis probably ranks higher than expected because of the small city limits with a high number of private schools, museums, private clubs etc. St. Louis is also strange because the cheapest real estate in the region can be found literally a few blocks from some of the most expensive homes in the region. I don't think many people associate St. Louis with million dollar, turn of the century mansions on private streets, but St. Louis City has always had some expensive real estate in a good swath of the city despite it's rust belt reputation. St. Louis City has also been getting rapidly more expensive in the last few years.
After reading the criteria and how they are ranking, I agree with your assessment. Especially in the category of entertainment and dining. Outside of pandemic, how often is it that one can't catch a play at some theater? Hardly ever. The restaurant scene continues to amaze me. Now, we are not a fashion forward city but that isn't what the article is about.
I personally have always thought of Philadelphia and Chicago as a very sophisticated cities.
Laughing at St. Louis and at Chicago being ranked over Boston and LA. Get out of here with that.
Why is Chicago not glamorous ( dumb term ) over Boston and LA? LA has glam, but alot of working class monotonous as well. I have lived in all three, nothing funny about the ranking.
Why is Chicago not glamorous ( dumb term ) over Boston and LA? LA has glam, but alot of working class monotonous as well. I have lived in all three, nothing funny about the ranking.
No doubt that Chicago is more glamorous than Boston. To me, Chicago has a grandiose, cosmopolitan feel second to only New York. It has the best fine dining scene outside of the coasts, and is rich in cultural amenities with a huge theatre and arts scene.
Take a drive down Michigan Ave on a Saturday, or a stroll through Astor. Glamorous is the perfect word.
After reading the criteria and how they are ranking, I agree with your assessment. Especially in the category of entertainment and dining. Outside of pandemic, how often is it that one can't catch a play at some theater? Hardly ever. The restaurant scene continues to amaze me. Now, we are not a fashion forward city but that isn't what the article is about.
I personally have always thought of Philadelphia and Chicago as a very sophisticated cities.
Yes, I think a lot of people think of St. Louis as more of a Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo archetype, but in reality St. Louis is more like a smaller version of Chicago and Philadelphia. St. Louis was a very wealthy, sophisticated city in it's heyday and that really shows even in it's common architecture and civic amenities. It was already a mature and established city when many of the other rustbelts were just starting to boom. I think the major area St. Louis is getting killed perception wise is in it's downtown area. Unfortunately, urban renewal was very brutal to the immediate core.
So profoundly true. Considering how people on here consider Oklahoma City as high among the most highly unglamourous metros you can possibly move to best avoided like the plague, what explains how St. Louis can possibly be considered glamorous and desirable when it increased in population from 2010 to 2020 by only 1.17%, while the Oklahoma City metro grew by 13.78%?
Then you have smaller cities/towns that I would consider glamorous:
Hamptons
Cape Cod/Martha’s Vineyard
Palm Beach
Aspen
Scottsdale
Newport Beach
La Jolla
Might be missing a few others—feel free to add.
Nantucket tops the Cape & Islands list. Edgartown is the old money part of Martha's Vineyard as #2.
Of the ski resorts, Yellowstone Club tops the charts prestigious since it's private and has a star-studded corporate exec/pro athlete/entertainment industry membership list. Of actual towns, Aspen. ASE has a ridiculous number of business jets sitting there doing nothing. Incline Village is pretty fancy. It's the Nevada tax address for a ton of Bay Area jillionaires. Your startup hits. You build a house in Incline Village and establish residence before you sell your stock. Telluride makes the list. Jackson WY.
I’d say there truly are maybe several big cities that one could consider glamorous from the 5 criteria stated in the OP…these all attract well to do (residents and visitors) and followers:
NYC
DC
Miami
Chicago
SF
LA
Vegas
Should/Might be able to add Atlanta—certainly glamorous to the Black community.
Then you have smaller cities/towns that I would consider glamorous:
Hamptons
Cape Cod/Martha’s Vineyard
Palm Beach
Aspen
Scottsdale
Newport Beach
La Jolla
Might be missing a few others—feel free to add.
I don’t consider “smart” or techy but non flashy cities or towns to be particularly glamorous. Then there are cities, like New Orleans, that I consider sexy if not glamorous.
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