2020s Midpoint: Top 50 US Cities... (skyscrapers, best, state, largest)
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Houston is one of several cities that lead certain segments of cancer research--it's not "the leader" by any stretch. It's far down the list in terms of NIH dollars for all medical research, with no real major institutions at all. Just isolating cancer-focused organizations it's also down the list. Anderson (the whole organization) is typically about half the NIH funding of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle for starters.
As for that "biopharma city" around Atlanta, I agree that the CDC is a draw, but grand real estate plans for biopharma are a dime a dozen. About 20 years ago every city had a grand plan to capture this new hot sector. Most still have the plans. The real top players remain SF, Bos, and SD as always. Another 10-20 also-rans have varying degrees of success, including Seattle often around #9 by various measures, but they tend to struggle for critical mass. It's not for want of grand plans.
I was responding to the claim that Atlanta was ahead of Houston. Of course Houston is no Boston, SF and SD in this regard
I would also like to back up the poster who said that Philadelphia gets shortchanged by many here in some areas. In particular, biomedical research.
I was looking for lists of NIH funding ranked by city/metro and couldn't find one; the NIH's own research funding tool gives figures by state and congressional district but not by city or metro and doesn't rank-order them. Well, I could find one, but the only figures it reported were NHI funding per capita, and it seems to me that most comparisons of biomedical research funding don't use the per-capita figure, which IMO makes sense because many large cities aren't as dependent on biomedical research as some smaller ones are.
The one ranked list I could find was one of academic and medical centers that received NIH funding in 2022. You might note that the University of Pennsylvania ranks sixth on this list, two notches above Atlanta's top-ranked institution, Emory University. Were the figures for Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women'a Hospital, now combined and both affiliated with Harvard Medical School, reported together on that list, it would rank first. Philadelphia's other academic medical centers —*Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (the nation's oldest), Thomas Jefferson University, Temple University Hospital and Drexel University College of Medicine — also receive NIH funding, and I suspect that were all the NIH-funded organizations in this region to be combined, Greater Philadelphia would place in the top five to seven for overall NIH funding.
Following myself up to note that on top of this sits one of the major pharmaceutical research and manufacturing centers in the country.
The Research Triangle claimed one of the city's oldest, Smith Kline & French (later SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmithKline), but the company still has a presence here. Wyeth Laboratories (the famous family of artists in the Brandywine Valley are related to the company's founder, though I think they derive no income from it) is headquartered in the Philly 'burbs, and the suburbs of Wilmington, DE, part of the Philadelphia MSA, contain the headquarters of several major pharma firms, AstraZeneca perhaps the best known.
The top 11 now appear to be fixed.
7. Houston
8.Dallas
9. Atlanta
10. Miami
11. Philadelphia
There are some of us out here, including me, who would swap the places of Miami and Philadelphia. Others have also voiced this sentiment, and I'm now formally adding my voice to them.
Miami may have the bigger pop-culture presence, and it's the unofficial "capital of Latin America," but its economy doesn't appear to me as diversified as Philadelphia's, nor does it have any sectors save tourism in which it either dominates or places in the top tier. (Not to mention that Philadelphia has been growing as a tourist destination, which makes shopping at the Reading Terminal Market less of a pleasure than it once was.)
There are some of us out here, including me, who would swap the places of Miami and Philadelphia. Others have also voiced this sentiment, and I'm now formally adding my voice to them.
Miami may have the bigger pop-culture presence, and it's the unofficial "capital of Latin America," but its economy doesn't appear to me as diversified as Philadelphia's, nor does it have any sectors save tourism in which it either dominates or places in the top tier. (Not to mention that Philadelphia has been growing as a tourist destination, which makes shopping at the Reading Terminal Market less of a pleasure than it once was.)
You could also argue Philadelphia in front of Dallas. For most of us, 9-12 (Dallas, Philly, and Miami) could go in any order depending on what perspective that you're coming from.
I mostly agree with this, but I would give Houston the nod over Atlanta because of the energy industry. What Atlanta have in its favor is:
A) Capital of Black America.
B) Home to numerous Television Outlets.
C) 2nd largest movie producing city in America.
D) Home to more major Fast Food HQs than any other city.
E) Strong rise in global health due to the CDC, GT and Emory.
F) Critical Logistics Hub.
While I think that's definitely enough for 8th, I'm curious to know why do you place it over Houston?
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118
Cultural Impact — Atlanta Influences the World
Capital of the American South — A Major World Subregion
Regional Domination — In the World’s Most Powerful Country
And…
I’m actually fine with:
7. Houston
8. Atlanta.
This makes sense to me as well.
To finalize, The Clear Top 8 is: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, and Atlanta.
Actually Philadelphia did have impressive job growth last year. I was surprised. I think it was around 95,000 jobs in one year.
Philadelphia is also a legacy city. The only concern has been its decline over th last 60 years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdw1084
You could also argue Philadelphia in front of Dallas. For most of us, 9-12 (Dallas, Philly, and Miami) could go in any order depending on what perspective that you're coming from.
DFW is behind only nyc and la in my view. But what others think is wrong but confusion reigns lol. In 5 or 10 yrs out what I say will be obvious but where it is on this list is meaningless.
I'm not even talking about Houston. Please post an A-E of how Dallas is ahead of Atlanta. Actually, Atlanta has an stronger argument against Houston than it does with Dallas. I posted an A-E about Atlanta and still haven't read why I should place Dallas in front of Atlanta. Let's say the U.S loses Atlanta, it would lose a cultural capital, which is clearly top 5. The U.S would lose its 2nd largest film producing city. It would lose a top 10 economy, it would lose numerous TV stations, it would lose the capital of the southeast, it would lose more fast food HQs than any other city in America, it would lose a growing global health care magnet, it would lose 3 top 15 HBCUs, it would lose places where Walmart and Visa opened offices to expand on diversity. It would lose one of the most important logistics hubs in the U.S, which would hamper the growth of the two of the fastest ports (Savannah and Brunswick) that's vital to the growing electric car industry in the U.S. Finally, it would lose a place that's projected to significantly expand its job growth over the next 10 years, right up there with Dallas.
Honestly it's not even close between Atlanta and Dallas if we're being honest. A larger GDP and population plays a role, but Atlanta clearly gains an edge, overall.
I'll wait and maybe I can see what myself and many others are missing.
There was a question posed to Aries and you responded to the strengths of AtL, and then someone disagreed with 2 of your points and then I added to his post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl
Following myself up to note that on top of this sits one of the major pharmaceutical research and manufacturing centers in the country.
The Research Triangle claimed one of the city's oldest, Smith Kline & French (later SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmithKline), but the company still has a presence here. Wyeth Laboratories (the famous family of artists in the Brandywine Valley are related to the company's founder, though I think they derive no income from it) is headquartered in the Philly 'burbs, and the suburbs of Wilmington, DE, part of the Philadelphia MSA, contain the headquarters of several major pharma firms, AstraZeneca perhaps the best known.
Yeah, Philly also has a powerful combination of schools and is good in the medical field in particular.
It is also a major port city and is among the US's military ports.
There is a ton of important things that places Philly at least over Miami.
Pop culture and vacation spots is low on the he list of importance.
What's more important? Pharma or love and hip hop Miami/ Real housewives of Miami?
Culture is important but we give too much weight to cultural notoriety. Well known isn't a synonym for important
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Top 11 are now fixed.
