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If you go by contribution to US economy/society I would have to say LA.
If you go by power over economy/society I would have to say DC.
LA is the 2nd largest city/economy. Hollywood certainly gives it cultural relevance, for better or worse.
DC is a special case. As a city its obviously 2nd/3rd tier, more in line with Bos/Atl than LA or Chi. However, as seat of government decisions made in DC have more power over peoples lives than in any other city. The most important issues of the day are decided (or kicked down the road) in DC.
New Deal/WWII/Civil Rights/Vietnam/Roe v. Wade/Wars on Terror, Drugs, Cancer, and Poverty/ the current bailout and stimulus/Health care, global warming, etc.
Contribution to US economy? That would be Chicago, not Los Angeles. 80% of the world's commodities are traded through one of Chicago's exchanges. Chicago is also a center for corporate headquarters and hosts more business meetings than any city (maybe except NYC). Chicago also has the 3rd largest office market in North America and Europe, behind New York and London. So as far as contribution to US economy is concerned, Chicago, in my opinion, easily surprasses Los Angeles. However, I would definitely give Los Angeles credit for contribution to US society and pop culture.
I agree...there's no way we're the second most-important city. I'm not sure who the heck has been voting for Boston (aside from Boston14) because as we mentioned earlier in the thread, the main Boston forumers all said they voted for other cities (I voted for Washington DC).
I can't remember if I have already posted on this thread, but I didn't vote for Boston either. I said LA.
I believe that Houston is not the second or third city. Houston holds its position at its population ranking; 4th. Let us not forget that the question was the 2nd most important city contributing to the US in economics and culture. I would also consider DC because politics is a function of culture. However, the only reason that DC would not be ranked any city is b/c although some of the most influential people live and make decisions here; they often are not from DC. So I would say the culture of DC is more that of an amalgamation of contributing cities from around the US. The city of DC itself, has less than 60% reading and math proficiency in its public schools, serious lack of industry outside of gov't, and is rapidly exporting govt consulting jobs into northern VA. It also as a city does not have a very large population. I believe DC must be left as it is; its own stand alone place not to be ranked with the like of the other cities since it is a strange phenomenon.
Now back to LA and Chi-town. If the ranking was just culture I would have to say LA because as one of the most culturally diverse cities it has some of the largest daily experiments in diversity. If it was economy, I would say Chicago because Chicago is the only other city in the US with a stock exchange that can consider comparing with Wall Street. However since the ranking is both based on the criteria of culture and economy, I would say Chicago does beat LA. This is simply because although LA has a very large GDP, GDP cannot always measure the actual output of a city as far as industry, finance, small business contribution, business travel, etc. (I am sure I forgot some things here.). And because Chicago also has high diversity margins, the fact that it also has an economic impact only second to New York overshadows LA GDP. LA would be the third city. It cannot be contested here because it is the 2nd largest GDP contributor, one of the most diverse cities and is home to Hollywood. Although most would want to immediately downplay Hollywood, it cannot be ignored. Entertainment is one of the largest exports from the US as well as one of the larges services provided within the US. Check sales on TV and computer related electronics, movie sales, cable company profits, etc. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of that Silicon Valley technology (also in CA) may have sprung forth to help the beginning of [personal] entertainment distribution in [Hollywood] LA lol. :-).
I can't remember if I have already posted on this thread, but I didn't vote for Boston either. I said LA.
oooooo according to the italics I accually did vote for Boston.
But, i mean, obviously Boston isn't the 2nd most important city in the country. It's just so outrageous that I had to vote for the home town.
EDIT: Btw I think someone has been making multiple accounts and voting Boston on a lot of polls. I see Boston winning a lot of polls that I kind of doubt.
Washington is the capital city of the most powerful political and economic country in the world. Chicago, for crying out loud, has been called "the Second City" for decades and (I think) its most prominent school for actors is called Second City.
Are you suggesting California is more important than the entire United States, 18Montclair?
How exactly do you interpret from my post that I am suggesting that?
I'm simply stating that to say that DC is more important than LA is saying that Austin is more important than Dallas, that Sacramento is more important than San Francisco, that Tallahasee is more important than Tampa, that Harrisburg is more important than Pittsburgh and so on.
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