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View Poll Results: Globally, what's the 3rd most famous city from America?
Chicago 60 27.78%
DC 87 40.28%
Miami 35 16.20%
San Francisco 55 25.46%
Vegas 29 13.43%
Other 11 5.09%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 216. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-16-2019, 12:09 AM
 
Location: WA Desert, Seattle native
9,398 posts, read 8,746,534 times
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Just for explanation, I put Seattle on my list because of its huge business influence with companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and others. The city has become an international air hub. The grunge music thing is old, but still exists for many. The cruise industry has quadrupled in the past 20 years. The skyline continues to explode. All these things make it not necessarily a top 5 US city, but definitely in the top 10 US cities that are recognized internationally.

 
Old 10-16-2019, 12:19 AM
 
8,758 posts, read 6,683,125 times
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In Asia, easily. In Europe, maybe. South America probably not. I'd guess somewhere around #10 on average by reputation.

Seattle is halfway to being an international air hub. Hopefully the new building fixing the logjam at international arrivals will change that.

The cruise industry has gone from about 10 ships a year to 220 last I heard. In a few years that should go up with the fourth berth.

The business side is definitely a win. Tech, coffee, and Boeing go a long way.

Seattle does have a brand. That's why it has a steady flow of movies and TV shows set here, despite not being a major filming location. That plus our resemblance to Vancouver of course.
 
Old 10-16-2019, 07:52 AM
 
Location: New York City
9,340 posts, read 9,202,430 times
Reputation: 6428
Wow, so many people are so sadly uninformed.

Orlando and Tampa above Chicago?...Have these posters even been to an international destination before??

Florida as a state is probably known throughout most of the world, but I know New Yorkers who couldn't tell you the first thing about Orlando or Tampa, you think an average person in Croatia, Kenya, New Zealand or anywhere else has even heard of them???

Disney is well known, but hardly anyone could make the connection between Disney and Orlando, that is not a well-known thing. Heck, I could see Pittsburgh being more well known than Orlando or Tampa (similar sized cities).

Finally, what is up with the disdain toward Chicago??? Chicago is 100% absolutely well known throughout the world, I would put Chicago at number 3 after New York and LA. I get it, some people don't like Chicago, but lets not let personal vendettas get in the way of facts and reality.

And of course, in the end, this thread is largely based on opinions, some stats, (sad assumptions), but I consider myself extremely well traveled for business and pleasure, so I am not blowing smoke with my statements, unlike many others on here.
 
Old 10-16-2019, 08:15 AM
 
24,511 posts, read 17,983,953 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp View Post
Finally, what is up with the disdain toward Chicago??? Chicago is 100% absolutely well known throughout the world, I would put Chicago at number 3 after New York and LA. I get it, some people don't like Chicago, but lets not let personal vendettas get in the way of facts and reality.

Again, if I stop the man in the street in Shanghai or Frankfurt, what are they going to be able to tell me about Chicago? Beyond "it's an American city", I'd expect zero. For New York, I'd get a long list of associations since it's a world city. Same for DC as the nation's capital. Chicago doesn't make world news for anything.
 
Old 10-16-2019, 08:47 AM
 
Location: New York City
9,340 posts, read 9,202,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD View Post
Again, if I stop the man in the street in Shanghai or Frankfurt, what are they going to be able to tell me about Chicago? Beyond "it's an American city", I'd expect zero. For New York, I'd get a long list of associations since it's a world city. Same for DC as the nation's capital. Chicago doesn't make world news for anything.
Isn't that part of what this discussion is? That fact that people have heard of Chicago / know Chicago is a big American city...?

If you stopped someone on the streets of Shanghai or Frankfurt and asked them about Orlando or Tampa, most would say what is that? / they never heard of it.

And what do people know about DC, except that its the capital of America? Most Americans don't know anything about DC, except that its the nations capital...

New York and LA are the only American cities where people might actually know a few things, certainly not a long list, but most likely - Hollywood, Empire State Building, Broadway, beaches, etc.

After those two cities, I guarantee most people don't know much about any American city, however, I would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the world where people didn't at least know Chicago is a big American city.

Your argument is really weak, and if we really want to play this game, then just say New York and Los Angeles are the only two cities. Washington DC is not more (but maybe less) well known than Chicago, there is no argument for you to prove otherwise.

Fun side note, my friend was doing a study abroad in Prague and then Vienna (years ago), one group of people she was with thought the American capital was New York... so there's that too.

Americans have a very limited view of the outside world / think their preferred city is well known, just because it is.... Yet I have not seen one logical post stating why Chicago would not be at least known throughout the world.

Yet, I have seen beyond ridiculous posts claiming Orlando and Tampa are well known, where is the logic?...
 
Old 10-16-2019, 09:03 AM
 
24,511 posts, read 17,983,953 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp View Post
Isn't that part of what this discussion is? That fact that people have heard of Chicago / know Chicago is a big American city...?

If you stopped someone on the streets of Shanghai or Frankfurt and asked them about Orlando or Tampa, most would say what is that? / they never heard of it.

And what do people know about DC, except that its the capital of America? Most Americans don't know anything about DC, except that its the nations capital...

New York and LA are the only American cities where people might actually know a few things, certainly not a long list, but most likely - Hollywood, Empire State Building, Broadway, beaches, etc.

After those two cities, I guarantee most people don't know much about any American city, however, I would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the world where people didn't at least know Chicago is a big American city.

Your argument is really weak, and if we really want to play this game, then just say New York and Los Angeles are the only two cities. Washington DC is not more (but maybe less) well known than Chicago, there is no argument for you to prove otherwise.

Fun side note, my friend was doing a study abroad in Prague and then Vienna (years ago), one group of people she was with thought the American capital was New York... so there's that too.

Americans have a very limited view of the outside world / think their preferred city is well known, just because it is.... Yet I have not seen one logical post stating why Chicago would not be at least known throughout the world.

Yet, I have seen beyond ridiculous posts claiming Orlando and Tampa are well known, where is the logic?...

The thread title says "well-known internationally". From my point of view, knowing Chicago is an American city isn't "well-known internationally".


Munich is the #3 population city in Germany. Globally, I think people can tell you a heck of a lot more about Munich than Chicago.
 
Old 10-16-2019, 11:45 AM
 
Location: New York City
9,340 posts, read 9,202,430 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD View Post
The thread title says "well-known internationally". From my point of view, knowing Chicago is an American city isn't "well-known internationally".


Munich is the #3 population city in Germany. Globally, I think people can tell you a heck of a lot more about Munich than Chicago.
What American cities are "well-known" outside of New York and LA then??

I would be hard pressed to meet an average international person who knows anything about American cities outside of those two. If you are claiming just New York and LA, then fine, but you are claiming other US cities relevancy while downplaying Chicago as if its some small lower tier city....

Just from a name standpoint, Chicago is a clear number 3, (Miami may be close too).

People might have heard of DC, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. but I guarantee its less than those who know Chicago, nor do people know anything about those cities, except maybe that they are old.

And what exactly do people know about Munich? Certainly an exaggeration to say people know "a heck of a lot more". Maybe in Europe, because European countries are more like American states, so it would be obvious that someone in Europe is more familiar with Munich than Chicago.

However, as we all know, (I hope we all know), the world extends far beyond Europe and America.

So in conclusion, the most "well-known" cities are certainly New York and LA.

After that, the only other city that is a guarantee is Chicago and maybe Miami.

Why exactly are you fighting so hard to downplay Chicago?
 
Old 10-16-2019, 12:12 PM
 
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
127 posts, read 109,908 times
Reputation: 132
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp View Post
Wow, so many people are so sadly uninformed.

Orlando and Tampa above Chicago?...Have these posters even been to an international destination before??

Florida as a state is probably known throughout most of the world, but I know New Yorkers who couldn't tell you the first thing about Orlando or Tampa, you think an average person in Croatia, Kenya, New Zealand or anywhere else has even heard of them???

Disney is well known, but hardly anyone could make the connection between Disney and Orlando, that is not a well-known thing. Heck, I could see Pittsburgh being more well known than Orlando or Tampa (similar sized cities).

Finally, what is up with the disdain toward Chicago??? Chicago is 100% absolutely well known throughout the world, I would put Chicago at number 3 after New York and LA. I get it, some people don't like Chicago, but lets not let personal vendettas get in the way of facts and reality.

And of course, in the end, this thread is largely based on opinions, some stats, (sad assumptions), but I consider myself extremely well traveled for business and pleasure, so I am not blowing smoke with my statements, unlike many others on here.
Since you mentioned Croatia...

I agree with you, mostly.
Orlando is overrated, I guess 75% of the people don't even know Disneyland is there and a decent amount of those maybe know it as a fun fact and don't know Orlando is in Florida.

As for Chicago, it's kind of tricky, some people here seem to confuse desirability with fame. Chicago just isn't the "dream city" type of city like NYC, LA, SF or Miami. Very very few people would say they want to move to Chicago one day. But is it famous? Yes, it is. #1 and #2 are undisputed, no talk about that. #3 is tricky, but I'd give it to either SF, Chicago or Washington.

My take on what an average person here knows about these cities:

SF- it's somewhere on the WC, above LA (though I have had people ask me in which state it is), trams, unique architecture, gays (goes with the liberal/hippy thing), IT capital of the world/Silicon Valley is somewhere around there and Alcatraz is somewhere around there

Washington- capital, White House, no skyscrapers (less known fact, but still...), somewhere on the EC below NYC, not in any state, but some sort of special entity

Chicago- somewhere in the middle of the country to the north on one of the lakes, huge industrial blue collar city (similar to EC cities), Bulls (by far and away the most popular American team, no competition (Lakers are a solid #2)), Al Capone, cold in the winter (believe it or not, it's a well known fact and some people have also heard it's both cold in the winter and hot in the summer), problems with crime (not a good thing, but still counts), older generations might know about the Sears Tower since it used to be the highest building in the world, but that might be a stretch

TBH after writing this, it's most likely either SF or Chicago. Even though Chicago is my favorite (tied with NYC), I might give a slight slight egde to SF.

So, this is how I'd put it:

1.NYC
2.LA
gap
3.SF
4.Chicago
5.D.C.
6.Miami
7.Las Vegas (very niche city, but it makes people google a thing or two about it)
8.Boston
9.Philadelphia
10.Houston
Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle and NO
everything else...
 
Old 10-16-2019, 12:17 PM
 
24,511 posts, read 17,983,953 times
Reputation: 40204
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpomp View Post
What American cities are "well-known" outside of New York and LA then??

DC, probably. That's where the list ends. Anywhere else, about all that is know is "it's a city in the United States". This thread is endless inflated importance.
 
Old 10-16-2019, 01:43 PM
 
4,087 posts, read 3,204,042 times
Reputation: 3048
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD View Post
DC, probably. That's where the list ends. Anywhere else, about all that is know is "it's a city in the United States". This thread is endless inflated importance.
Your pushing this Chicago isn't and doesn't belong card to the point it seems personal.

You are a long time C-D member with a very high reputation. I just don't understand this fight?

Chicago has esteem of the business community worldwide and American Architecture contributions.

Some things Chicago .... that people in the world note and can realize. Even one can be enough and some even more so It has become a touristy city too. Growing in international tourism. But of course..... the Coastal cities gain the most internationally:

In case you do not know.

https://www.businessinsider.com/most...2-london-uk-20

*** Trading defines Chicago's importance as a major international city, with two of the biggest commodity exchanges based there. Agricultural products like wheat, corn, and pork are among the products that are traded on the city's mercantile exchanges.

O'Hare is the busiest airport internationally in take-offs and landings too.
By the FAA a US government agency.

Chicago O

Other things known among those internationally.

- Skyscrapers and big ones (some may know it is the city the first official skyscraper was born). More then you think. I'll include Sears (Willis now) Tower for its 20-year reign as world's tallest as The Sears Tower. Of course .... this was before the Asian cities boomed and built the mega-talls. But Chicago as NYC ..... still is getting super-talls.

- Al Capone era. Chicago the musical was widely known as a movie and play. Not to mention the Mafia.

- The Blues. Specifically .... Urban blues as we call it. This genre of music is widely known. Though many varieties of its evolution. No American city has more recognition of "The Blues" then Chicago. New Orleans more in Jazz. Yet Chicago gave the term "Jazz" to this genre. Still gets some recognition too by the Musical and the Al Capone Era that Jazz and Blues also defined.

- Newer in this known for is " The Bean" or Officially "Cloud Gate". It is surprising how this sculpture created so much buzz here for tourist and thru Social Media if Chicago is mentioned in the world by the younger crowd especially.

Route 66 begins here. I met young travelers in a Hostel there, whose travel plans then included traveling this route to California. That surprisingly .... how known yet the old route is known.

- gangland shootings. Not saying more.

Anyone in Business knows Chicago is listed GLOBALLY as a Top 10 city in this type of recognition. You can find links to this fact.

This is a HIGHLY Respected report ....
A.T. Kearney 2019 report of
The CURRENT TOP 25 GLOBAL CITIES and future outlooks.
Chicago at #8 .
Attached Thumbnails
What major US cities are most well-known internationally?-ac-kearney-2019-global-cities-rnkings  

Last edited by DavePa; 10-16-2019 at 02:37 PM..
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