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Flaws with the methodology aside, if you were citing GaWC Miami was never an Alpha+. It held according to their data an Alpha ranking in 2018 alongside LA and Chicago but they have since modified the list for 2020 and it is now a Beta+ category city. If you were strictly using GaWC as the measure then the "Big 5" would be: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston. If you were talking about international financial prominence that might be the best five - The Global Financial Centers Index ranks the US cities in order as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.
If you were going by population within city limits then we don't need a thread. Houston would be 4th. If we were going by combined statistical areas (expanded metro) then Washington would be 4th. If we were going with GaWC rankings then either San Francisco or Boston would be 4th. I would posit that a consensus "Big 5" ranking of US metros would be NY, LA, Chicago, SF and DC, if polled amongst urban academics.
Flaws with the methodology aside, if you were citing GaWC Miami was never an Alpha+. It held according to their data an Alpha ranking in 2018 alongside LA and Chicago but they have since modified the list for 2020 and it is now a Beta+ category city. If you were strictly using GaWC as the measure then the "Big 5" would be: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston. If you were talking about international financial prominence that might be the best five - The Global Financial Centers Index ranks the US cities in order as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.
If you were going by population within city limits then we don't need a thread. Houston would be 4th. If we were going by combined statistical areas (expanded metro) then Washington would be 4th. If we were going with GaWC rankings then either San Francisco or Boston would be 4th. I would posit that a consensus "Big 5" ranking of US metros would be NY, LA, Chicago, SF and DC, if polled amongst urban academics.
True, although Chicago (#13), Boston (#14), and DC (#15) are clustered right together in that order as of March 2022. So there's not much appreciable difference between these 3. All 3 are in the top 25.
If we are posting a consensus Top 5 it gets really tricky because I believe it is really: NYC and LA.....and then I think Chicago definitely falls somewhere in the top 5, but SF/Boston/DC are all really close. It's hard to leave any of them out of a top 5. For me, a consensus top 6 is easier.
Dallas and Houston will steal clout from each other. There's not a rival for Chicago in the midwest. I think DC is severely undersold here as usual. Mention Washington or DC to anyone international, maybe 3rd in international recognition. Mention Houston or Dallas?
I agree with DC in the future 25 years or more from now Dallas/Houston may be approaching 10 million. I'm guessing they will gain more international recognition over that time, probably not more than DC it's the capital but certainly they will be closer to San Francisco or even Chicago by then.
But Dallas is already bigger than Houston by metro area population and it's growing faster. and I know you're not using city population in your rankings because you have Miami on your list and if we are going by city limits alone it's not even the largest city in Florida.
That's Dallas-Fort Worth that has a larger metro pop than Houston. You cannot ignore another city approaching 1 million in its city limits. That definitely matters.
11 Boston - large education and HQ city, that is a steady growth economic machine
10 Philadelphia - Historically has lost a bit of its dominance, but still a large city with a diversity and strong economy
9 Miami - fast-growing cosmopolitan city that is a force in the Latin X world and growing, but tourism/service limits it
8 Dallas - super fast growth, powerful economy, dominant in HQ growth
7 Atlanta - southeastern US dominant city with huge growth, huge company HQ, powerful economy
Bwahahaha!
I voted for SF myself, but this post is too funny to not call out!
Ranked by GDP, it’s a tie between DC and San Francisco. I was going to pick DC because of it’s global importance as the capital. You can argue San Francisco as the epicenter of tech. I tend to lump San Francisco, San Jose, and East Bay together and that certainly wins over DC.
I would probably put the ranking at something like this.
1. NYC
2. LA
3. DC
4. Houston/Chicago (tie)
5. San Francisco
6. Miami/Atlanta tie
7. Boston
8. Dallas/Seattle (tie)
Not really sure what Philly and Detroit are even doing on the list.
It's a super American tendency, but the equation of size with success, influence, power, etc. is really ridiculous. Metro Chicago is bigger than metro Paris and metro London. But Chicago is a parochial backwater compared to those cities. I think it's a parochial backwater compared to NYC, LA, and maybe even DC. But honestly I think most US cities are parochial backwaters of no particular global significance, so among US cities Chicago obviously is near the top--not because it is a particular interesting or important city but rather because it is a major economic and industrial hub that inevitably has an impact on America life in a way that, say, Boston does not. Houston is an extremely underrated city 8n terms of being a hub for immigration and global transportation and business. The world loves San Francisco much more than Americans do, but I'm not sure that makes it more significant. Boston is a major academic and historical center, but in certain respects so is Philly and the latter absolutely does not belong in this discussion.
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