Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, if we’re talking about a nice well-rounded five, then St. Denis in Reunion with the rest of the island as the metropolitan area would be pretty nice.
Interesting hypothesis but it's a bit of a stretch. It's a small island but very mountainous and rugged terrain, so lots of gaps between a lot of the settled areas. Some parts of contiguous but far from all of it.
I think to the question the USA takes this one with ease. The top 5 is hard to debate except the order - NY-LA-DC-CHI-SF. It's hard to argue any set of five cities from a country can take these on for notability, world contribution and economic power.
I was leaning towards this as well.
Which is ironic in a way because the U.S. isn't necessarily recognized for its great cities. In fact it's a bit infamous for its troubled or soulless cities.
But like many things, the U.S. is often a place where you find the amazingly good and the amazingly bad.
So just like the U.S. has a bad rep for food, it's also home to the greatest concentration of fine cuisine in the world.
Same goes for cities I guess.
When they're good, they're really good. When they're bad, they're really bad.
I'd argue that in the case of Chicago in particular you can find world-class best and world-class worst (at last by western standards) in the same city on the same subway line.
If I had my way I would turf Ottawa and replace it with Halifax or Victoria for 5th. Canada's got some good cities but ****e climates. But Toronto-Montreal-Vancouver-Ottawa-Calgary is probably the right answer. And that is frankly...not a very good top five.
I don't think that overall Halifax and Victoria offer stuff that's significantly above what Ottawa does. Unless we're talking about something really specific like ocean sailing.
I mentioned earlier that size isn't the only consideration and I still think that, but at some point I think it's something that can't really be overcome. Ottawa-Gatineau at more than 3 times the size of Halifax or Victoria is too big a gap.
I also picked Quebec City over Calgary (only by a razor-thin margin) even though Calgary is larger, but I don't think Quebec City suffers the size comparison very much. It's got a prettier and livelier downtown, its economy is better at the moment and cost of living relative to income is better. Cultural, dining and shopping are arguably on par, as are educational opportunities. Plus it's got a better location and lower crime.
Interesting hypothesis but it's a bit of a stretch. It's a small island but very mountainous and rugged terrain, so lots of gaps between a lot of the settled areas. Some parts of contiguous but far from all of it.
The discontinuity in urban development is there, but it’s also such short distances with nowhere else to easily go, that it effectively operates as one. Every urban settlement is a less than two hour drive to any other even if one can’t cut through the middle of the island and most of the larger urban settlements are along the shore of the western half of the island.
I'm kind of curious as to what the top 5 for other countries are. The US is the third most populous and the two countries that are more populous than it are developing countries while the next more populous developed country is generally much less populous depending on how one defines "developed".
I reckon a common top 5 for China would be Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Chongqing? Wouldn't be my personal top 5 though.
I also reckon India with its many different languages would have a pretty wildly varied top 5 though I don't know what those top 5 would be.
I'll take a shot at India.
Mumbai
Delhi
Kolkata
Bangalore (India's IT hub)
Chennai
Australia by far
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Perth
Adelaide
Climate, multiculturalism, safety, high pib per capita, lifestyle, beaches, vineyards, mountains, not prone to major earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorism attacks and Pandemics.
For culture, multiculturalism, lifestyle, beaches, vineyards, mountains, etc, you could do better elsewhere, though.
Which is ironic in a way because the U.S. isn't necessarily recognized for its great cities. In fact it's a bit infamous for its troubled or soulless cities.
But like many things, the U.S. is often a place where you find the amazingly good and the amazingly bad.
So just like the U.S. has a bad rep for food, it's also home to the greatest concentration of fine cuisine in the world.
Same goes for cities I guess.
When they're good, they're really good. When they're bad, they're really bad.
I'd argue that in the case of Chicago in particular you can find world-class best and world-class worst (at last by western standards) in the same city on the same subway line.
1) I think it's absurd to suggest the US "isn't known for it's great cities". New York, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Seattle, New Orleans, Boston, DC, and more, are all global and culturally distinct cities. To say that the US isn't known for it's great cities is utterly, abjectly false. What country is, then? There are countries that are known for having pretty cities, like Italy, maybe France - Paris, but I wouldn't say these countries are "known for their great cities".
And how is the US "infamous for soulless cities"? It's cities are some of the most culturally unique and significant in the world - even Detroit and Memphis, otherwise grungy, medium-size, and/or somewhat "troubled" are pretty soulful cities, in many ways, and are strongly associated with distinct cultural movements that Montreal, for example, or Vancouver, or Sydney, or Brisbane, aren't.
2) I wouldn't say the US has a bad rep for food at all. I don't think it necessarily has a distinct rep for food. But it has regional cuisines that are quite beloved, namely barbecue cooking styles, southern food, and cajun/creole, and world class, Michelin-starred dining destinations.
You're from Canada, which is certainly not globally known for it's soulful cities or distinct cuisine. Who are you to talk?
I don't think you should mistake America-centric scrutiny and reflexive Anti-Americanism (constant exaggerated comments about shootings and urban decay) with some global opinion that American cities are "really bad" or horrible. If any country is known for it's cities, it's the US. Hence, why more tourists visit American cities than Canadian or Australian or British ones.
American cities routinely appear on "best cities in the world" rankings for travel or living. It has the most GaWc ranked cities of any country. How can you remotely claim America isn't know for it's impressive cities, or it's "soulless" cities? To resentful Canadians, or anyone struggling with reflexive Anti-Americanism, maybe. Is American dominance and cultural hegemony making you resentful?
It's one of the only two countries with an Alpha++ city. Give me a break, Acajack
Last edited by wattsupmane; 04-15-2020 at 12:19 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
