# U.S.A. Greatest Cities



## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

philadweller said:


> Evangelion, I am curious to hear your explanation of Philadelphia's character.
> 
> Atlanta is still discovering itself. When the suburbs stop growing and the central city grows in population then it may be a potential nominee. New Orleans has more going for Atlanta in terms of character, authenticity, density and aesthetics. Alanta is a hard city to taste the flavor of...its very subtle. New Orleans hits you like a hot pepper.


Philly, is the one city i put in the second list, thinking afterwards i should put it in the first list. i guess i automatically put philly in the second list because of it being overshadowed by the other major players in its region. Philadelphia's relationship to NYC remind me Baltimore's relationship to DC. Both Baltimore and Philadelphia have alot of history and culture within its borders however, in today's standard of "hype" living i'd pick NYC over Philly in the same way i'd pick DC over Bmore. i think if philly were located somewhere else, it definetely be in the first list, however do to its geographic arrangement, it is overshadowed. I honestly don't mean to offend anyone, this is just way i see US cities, everyone has their likes and dislikes.


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

UrbanSophist said:


> Well, don't play off skyscrapers in Chicago as a meaningless accessory either... I mean, Manhattan without the tall buildings would just be some east coast island. No big deal.



in noway am i playing it off as just an accessory! its a part of Chicago, and i'm greatful for having my skyline view outside my balcony. However, this time it is not I but you that is comparing Chicago to NYC. what i mean by this is that, automatically you are comparing Chicago to NYC by saying NYC would be nothing as well without its tall buildings. However, as you can see, and as well as in many occasions on this forum, NYC doesn't = scrapers like Chicago does. its somewhat confusing, i hope i'm making some kind of sense :bash:


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## UrbanSophist (Aug 4, 2005)

Evangelion said:


> in noway am i playing it off as just an accessory! its a part of Chicago, and i'm greatful for having my skyline view outside my balcony. However, this time it is not I but you that is comparing Chicago to NYC. what i mean by this is that, automatically you are comparing Chicago to NYC by saying NYC would be nothing as well without its tall buildings. However, as you can see, and as well as in many occasions on this forum, NYC doesn't = scrapers like Chicago does. its somewhat confusing, i hope i'm making some kind of sense :bash:



Hey, before you start hammering my yellow head with a hammer...

Are you seriously going to say that had NYC just been lowrise buildings all along it would have taken off the way that it did?


The reason I say that about Manhattan is that there is this notion that "NY is the only real place with real life on earth", and my point is that NY is NY due to the way its built. This was when it seemed like you were saying "well, Chicago has some nice buildings, if you're into buildings, but NY is orgasmically delicious". But since that time, it has been clarified that you were not saying that. 

I find it very tiring how a Chicago forumer cannot even mention NYC without somebody breaking out the second city card.


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

UrbanSophist said:


> Hey, before you start hammering my yellow head with a hammer...
> 
> Are you seriously going to say that had NYC just been lowrise buildings all along it would have taken off the way that it did?
> 
> ...



hehehhe the yellow head thats being hammered was meant to be mine not yours sorry........ 

i understand how you can find it tiring that a chicago forumer cannot even mention NYC w/o somebody breaking out the second city card, on the same stance i find it hard to say anything negative about Chicago without a Chicago forumer ramming chicago's skyline down my throat, not you of course but it's happened here before


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## UrbanSophist (Aug 4, 2005)

Evangelion said:


> hehehhe the yellow head thats being hammered was meant to be mine not yours sorry........
> 
> i understand how you can find it tiring that a chicago forumer cannot even mention NYC w/o somebody breaking out the second city card, on the same stance i find it hard to say anything negative about Chicago without a Chicago forumer ramming chicago's skyline down my throat, not you of course but it's happened here before



Touché. 

And now for some diplomacy:

All in all, both are great towns. :cheers:


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

UrbanSophist said:


> Touché.
> 
> And now for some diplomacy:
> 
> All in all, both are great towns. :cheers:



yes they are, I love both Chicago and NYC =) and neither is perfect


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## LosAngelesSportsFan (Oct 20, 2004)

ROCguy said:


> I am a little shocked at the rankings. LA before NYC, Philly, and San Fran? What bull. I could see it being up there, but not in front of those cities



Its alphabetical. Also, you may not like LA, but plenty of people do and there are many reasons for it to be above any of those cities.-*


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## The anti-cheesehead (Jul 7, 2004)

LosAngelesSportsFan said:


> Its alphabetical. Also, you may not like LA, but plenty of people do and there are many reasons for it to be above any of those cities.-*


I'd rather live in LA than NYC, San Fran, or Philly and yes, I've been to all of them.


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## ChicagoSkyline (Feb 24, 2005)

I think NYC should consider da greatest but chicago isn't distant too much. One of da two greatest cities ever happen for USA!


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

"i think if philly were located somewhere else, it definetely be in the first list, however do to its geographic arrangement, it is overshadowed."

I totally agree.


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## great prairie (Jul 18, 2005)

Only on this forum could an advertistment be used as real measure on "Americas Greatest Cities"

:|


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## JBOB (Aug 26, 2005)

"Only on this forum could an advertistment be used as real measure on "Americas Greatest Cities"

Well let's see american express, hertz, amtrak, Westin Hotels resorts, all of these cities visitors and conventions bureau... Well I guess they may know what they're talking about.. I guess their in that line of business of tourism... Quite a large group of companies or do you all say puny companies worth over a billion dollars, hmmm.....


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## PanaManiac (Mar 26, 2005)

*USA's 10 Geatest Cities*

1-New York City
2-Chicago
3-Los Angeles
4-San Francisco
5-Boston
6-Seattle
7-Houston
8-Philadelphia
9-New Orleans BK (Before Katrina)
10-Miami


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## great prairie (Jul 18, 2005)

JBOB said:


> "Only on this forum could an advertistment be used as real measure on "Americas Greatest Cities"
> 
> Well let's see american express, hertz, amtrak, Westin Hotels resorts, all of these cities visitors and conventions bureau... Well I guess they may know what they're talking about.. I guess their in that line of business of tourism... Quite a large group of companies or do you all say puny companies worth over a billion dollars, hmmm.....


exactly they are in it for the money and where their customers are located if you think tourism ends at Hertz, amtrak(LOL), and westin hotels you need a dose a of reality... hotel wise ever heard of Hilton, Marriott, Accor etc.... car rental companies Avis, Enterprise, Alamo, Budget, etc... Also Visa is as big if not bigger then AMEX not counting Discovery or MasterCard. They are all great cities but it is an advertistment not a study or report.... nothing wrong with this either as this board is for entertainment not facts.


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## NovaWolverine (Dec 28, 2004)

I like Houston, but I don't know how you could put it up that high, it has business, it has the size, but I don't look at it is "great".city should have. It could be a great place to live now, but it doesn't have that distinctive quality that I think a great That's my opinion though.


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

PotatoGuy said:


> I know!! Where's Houston on any of those lists?


One can indeed argue that Houston should be on the list...


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

LosAngelesSportsFan said:


> Its alphabetical. Also, you may not like LA, but plenty of people do and there are many reasons for it to be above any of those cities.-*


To many people in the USA (and the US media), LA is indeed the City after NYC. One can agree or disagree about this in this forum, but it should not come as a shocker to most of us.


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## JBOB (Aug 26, 2005)

"exactly they are in it for the money and where their customers are located if you think tourism ends at Hertz, amtrak(LOL), and westin hotels you need a dose a of reality... hotel wise ever heard of Hilton, Marriott, Accor etc.... car rental companies Avis, Enterprise, Alamo, Budget, etc... Also Visa is as big if not bigger then AMEX not counting Discovery or MasterCard. They are all great cities but it is an advertistment not a study or report.... nothing wrong with this either as this board is for entertainment not facts" WRITTEN BY GREAT PRAIRIE"



Hey son it's an advertisement, that's right on the button... There's a million reason why houston and those other cities are not on there.... We're talking about creme de la creme american the big picture open up your eyes... Seattle even has significance if you can figure it out... They knew what they were doing and I agree with the list...
The greatest of the great american cities three cities have been legends since the 1600 Philly, Boston and NYC, the remaining exploded in the 1800's but all still have major significance to this country, you better believe it.. But for forumers sake develop your own list if you don't like it...


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## JBOB (Aug 26, 2005)

It seems as now a days any city that sprawls and moves into the top five automatically becomes the greatest city in the U.S....


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## staff (Oct 23, 2004)

NYC and LA are the top notch American cities, followed by Chicago, Boston, Philly, Seattle, Miami and Washington DC. In that order..

At least that's what I think is the general opinion in the world (not the US).


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

staff said:


> NYC and LA are the top notch American cities
> 
> At least that's what I think is the general opinion in the world (not the US).


I suspect this is indeed representative.


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## JBOB (Aug 26, 2005)

I would like to see that WORLD POLL WEBSITE.... All the website that I encountered for America Greatest Cities, have been different Philly is in the Top!!!! Eschelon....

But everyone on this forum has a right to their own opinion....


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

At least I can speak about Chicago and LA.

In travels across both the Pacific and the Atlantic, LA appears to be more well known than Chicago. Should this surprise me? No.

I love Chicago, though.


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

tpe said:


> At least I can speak about Chicago and LA.
> 
> In travels across both the Pacific and the Atlantic, LA appears to be more well known than Chicago. Should this surprise me? No.
> 
> I love Chicago, though.



it surprises alot of midwesterners(chicagoans) though, at least from what i can on this forum


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

Evangelion said:


> it surprises alot of midwesterners(chicagoans) though, at least from what i can on this forum


It was less than 20 years ago when Chicago officially lost the designation of 2nd largest US city to LA, although one can argue that most people saw it coming decades back.

Understandable. But I think that in many ways, it has affected Chicago for the better.


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

tpe said:


> It was less than 20 years ago when Chicago officially lost the designation of 2nd largest US city to LA, although one can argue that most people saw it coming decades back.
> 
> Understandable. But I think that in many ways, it has affected Chicago for the better.


in all honesty i love chicago and i think its a great city, i do live here afterall and choose to. but i have to say that LA has taken Chicago's spotlight as second city, but alot of the people are not willing to accept this, in certain niches chicago might come out first or second, however in international recognition i think LA beats it. chicago might be top notch in the midwest and one of the best in the usa but some are not willing to let LA be what its become (doesnt matter whether it doesnt have the skyline chicago has or not!). sorry to go off topic


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

Evangelion said:


> in all honesty i love chicago and i think its a great city, i do live here afterall and choose to. but i have to say that LA has taken Chicago's spotlight as second city, but alot of the people are not willing to accept this, in certain niches chicago might come out first or second, however in international recognition i think LA beats it. chicago might be top notch in the midwest and one of the best in the usa but some are not willing to let LA be what its become (doesnt matter whether it doesnt have the skyline chicago has or not!). sorry to go off topic


I don't think your observations are off-topic. When one talks about USA's greatest cities, it must be viewed in both global and local perspectives. 

The main threads of comparison between Chicago and LA are typical of what has to be grappled with when comparing the East, the Middle, and the West; the North and the South; the Old and New; the Past, the Present, and the projected Future.

Comparing LA and Chicago (even if in this unequal light) can only demonstrate how dynamic, how rich and how multifacetted the urban landscape of this great country really is. It continually changes: it defies stasis.


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

tpe said:


> I don't think your observations are off-topic. When one talks about USA's greatest cities, it must be viewed in both global and local perspectives.
> 
> The main threads of comparison between Chicago and LA are typical of what has to be grappled with when comparing the East, the Middle, and the West; the North and the South; the Old and New; the Past, the Present, and the projected Future.
> 
> Comparing LA and Chicago (even if in this unequal light) can only demonstrate how dynamic, how rich and how multifacetted the urban landscape of this great country really is. It continually changes: it defies stasis.


i totally agree with you. well said!


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## Cerises (Apr 17, 2005)

The U.S. has many great cities. The obvious ones are there, NYC, Boston, L.A., Washington, D.C., Chicago, etc. But I have been to a lot smaller and not so well known ones like Charlotte or Indianapolis that were very nice too. U.S. has endless possibilites.


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## nathanh6686 (Jun 14, 2005)

staff said:


> NYC and LA are the top notch American cities, followed by Chicago, Boston, Philly, Seattle, Miami and Washington DC. In that order..
> 
> At least that's what I think is the general opinion in the world (not the US).


no love in Europe for San Francisco?


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## Jules (Jun 27, 2004)

Chicago, NYC, and Philly round out the top 3 IMO, then followed by Boston, Detroit, STL, and Miami.


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## Dampyre (Sep 19, 2002)

Super Mega Cities:New York, Los Angeles
Mega-City:Chicago
Supersize Urban Centers:Bay Area, Boston, Washington DC, Miami
Others:Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia


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## wickedestcity (Jul 23, 2004)

i would put cities like Atlanta, New Orleans,Denver, Seattle ,Naples, FL, D.C.,Miami,Portland ete. as second teir cities i wouldnt put nyc and la in a compleatly dif teir leval than chicgao though . i think its one of the (and arguably the ) greatest city in america in many respects. at the very least i would consider it apart of the "big three" and not a tear below the "big two" becouse in my opinion its the "big one"


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## Evangelion (May 11, 2005)

wickedestcity said:


> i would put cities like Atlanta, New Orleans,Denver, Seattle ,Naples, FL, D.C.,Miami,Portland ete. as second teir cities i wouldnt put nyc and la in a compleatly dif teir leval than chicgao though . i think its one of the (and arguably the ) greatest city in america in many respects. at the very least i would consider it apart of the "big three" and not a tear below the "big two" becouse in my opinion its the "big one"


putting miami and dc with naples and portland? well i guess whats why you think chicago is the "big one" and "arguably the best city in america", unlike you i would say at the very "most" i would consider it a part of the big three with NYC 1st then LA then Chicago


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## Vangelist (Jul 25, 2005)

It's insane thinking like this: "Chicago, NYC, and Philly round out the top 3 IMO..- that you can only find at this forum...why are the Chicago forumers here so jealous of Los Angeles? Well we know why, but still...the denial of reality is hilarious. I guess on SSC, all that matters is which city has the most taller buildings! 

Just think of the press factor. The nation's most prominent newspapers (on an international and local level) are, in order, The New York Times (still true, despite its current disrepute due to the Jayson Blair scandal from a few years ago), The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and then USA Today (a distant 4th). Neither the Chicago Sun Times nor the Tribune are at the same level as these in terms of reporting, or int'l prominence...everyone knows this, as they don't have spend the same amount of $ or have that budget to always cover global stories (whenever I'm in Chicago and am reading the Sun-Times or the Tribune, it always seems like a major regional, midwesterner paper to me)

...and the irony is, for the past few years the LA Times has been owned by the Chicago Tribune!!! They make $ off their ownership of the LA Times, but they don't seem to pump that into their own reporting budget.


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

Vangelist said:


> It's insane thinking like this: "Chicago, NYC, and Philly round out the top 3 IMO..- that you can only find at this forum...why are the Chicago forumers here so jealous of Los Angeles? Well we know why, but still...the denial of reality is hilarious. I guess on SSC, all that matters is which city has the most taller buildings!
> 
> Just think of the press factor. The nation's most prominent newspapers (on an international and local level) are, in order, The New York Times (still true, despite its current disrepute due to the Jayson Blair scandal from a few years ago), The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and then USA Today (a distant 4th). Neither the Chicago Sun Times nor the Tribune are at the same level as these in terms of reporting, or int'l prominence...everyone knows this, as they don't have spend the same amount of $ or have that budget to always cover global stories (whenever I'm in Chicago and am reading the Sun-Times or the Tribune, it always seems like a major regional, midwesterner paper to me)
> 
> ...and the irony is, for the past few years the LA Times has been owned by the Chicago Tribune!!! They make $ off their ownership of the LA Times, but they don't seem to pump that into their own reporting budget.


Vangelist,

I agree with you that NYC and LA are probably more well-known than Chicago here and abroad.

That said, I don't think it is a question of jealousy.

I don't know whether other Chicagoans will pillory me for this, but I must say that from experience, Chicagoans are more used to making comparisons with NYC, and not with LA. To a great extent, this is understandable.

This does not mean that Chicagoans are jealous of LA, nor does LA suffer from Chicagoans not seeing LA as a lot of people worldwide would see it. I think it very natural.

And I do agree with you regarding the Tribune. It is unworthy of Chicago.


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## JBOB (Aug 26, 2005)

ALL CITIES IN THIS COUNTRY THE USA (SUPER POWER) GREW TREMENDOUSLY BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN PHILADELPHIA, CASE AND POINT.... MOST U.S. CITIES SUCH AS L.A. WERE NOT CREATED WHEN THE U.S. WAS BORN... I'M NOT TRYING TO BASH LOS ANGELES.... THERE'S ONLY THREE REAL CITIES, DENSITY WISE OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. THAT'S PHILLY, CHICAGO AND NYC.... LA, SEATTLE, SAN FRANCISCO AND BOSTON ALL BELONG IN THE CREME DE LA CREME CITY RANKINGS....


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## UrbanSophist (Aug 4, 2005)

Vangelist said:


> ...and the irony is, for the past few years the LA Times has been owned by the Chicago Tribune!!! They make $ off their ownership of the LA Times, but they don't seem to pump that into their own reporting budget.


Well, technically they're owned by the "Tribune Company", which also owns WGN and the Chicago Cubs, as well as, I believe, the NY Post (correct me if I'm wrong on that one).


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## JohnStreet (Jan 6, 2005)

According to National Geographic. Philly is the next Great City.

And I'm the mayor.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/features/philly0510/philly.html


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