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New York is great to visit but I think I would go crazy living there. Bigger isn't always better. Cities get to a certain size and life becomes harder than it needs to be. I think there is a right size for cities (or towns) and it varies by person - for me under 2 million is too small and over 5 million is too large. I like the ameneties of a city but I also like some elbow room. I think some New Yorkers don't realize that some people see its size as a negative.
NYC deserves all the praise and accolades showered on it.
I say that because it has so many superlatives, leads in so many(if not all) categories that we compare here on C-D, and in person is just so darn HUGE and has the best of every possible amenity.
Saying NYC is the best city in America is like saying Michael Jordan was the best NBA player. It's "true" because the vast majority of the world believes it to be true. There are a few people who would point at stats of certain other players (Like Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russel) and say they were better than Michael Jordan in CERTAIN AREAS, just like you can point at certain aspects of other cities that are better than NYC's, but the overall consensus is NYC is America's number 1 city.
I know, but to me saying any city is "proven as the best city of the world" is silly and arrogant. Liking you can prove such a thing by a magazine poll or even a study. That's what I was responding to there.
I could see saying NYC is the most significant global-city in the world, but saying it or any city is "proven best" just rubs me wrong. It would have been better to say "Time-Out magazine calls it the best city" because that's true and doesn't claim a magazine's opinion as fact. You could even add that Atlantic deal, or others that put NYC as number one, and state "These sources claim NYC as the best city." That's perfectly claim. Acting like opinions are inarguable or facts is unfair and silly.
And I have never really lived in a town or city of more than a 1000, plus I'd never claim any town I lived in as "best." The town I live in now isn't even that great, but it was better than it was I think. Anyway I state all that to make it clear I'm not saying these things to be a partisan for some other city or any city. If someone said the "proven best" line of Seattle, Denver, Oklahoma City, Colorado Springs, Toronto, Paris, Tokyo, or Sydney I'd find that weird as well.
Now in my experience of City v City it's mostly just been New Yorkers, or former New Yorkers, to do the "My high opinion about the city is a fact and must not be disagreed with" thing. So on that basis my opinion is that NYC is overrated here on City v City. In America in general I don't know.
Going by one study I could see saying that in the generalized US NYC might be a bit underrated. According to one study Americans place NYC below Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington DC as a place to live. While they have it essentially tied with Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia. Americans, in general, do not place NYC very high then. Many might still have an unfair image of NYC as it was during the "Summer of Sam" or "Crack Wars" type era. Or as a place full of annoying Woody Allen wannabes. So maybe that explains some of the over-defensive/over-compensated reaction some New Yorkers have about this subject. I do think it's likely a pretty good city even if I have virtually no interest in it.
Nice try but no.
When it comes to Americans’ choices for cities outside of their own, New York City comes in #1 for the seventh consecutive time as the U.S. city people would choose to live in or near. California, Hawaii, and Florida remain the most popular states that U.S. adults would choose to live in if they could live in any state outside of their own, according to a new Harris Poll. Last year, these states were also ranked as the "Top 3" though in a slightly different order: Hawaii has moved to #2 and Florida has dropped to #3.
"If you could live in any state in the country, except the state you live in now, what state would you choose to live in?"
Base: Survey of U.S. Adults
CITY
1 New York
2 San Diego
3 Las Vegas
4 Seattle
5 San Francisco
6 Los Angeles
7-tied Nashville
7-tied Atlanta
9 Denver
10 Boston
Since you like actual studies, all the surveys I can find of favorite cities list NYC as "favorite" or near #1 lol.
America's Favorite Cities poll
US destinations:
1. New York City, New York
2. Honolulu, Hawaii
3. San Francisco, California
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Lahaina, Hawaii
6. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
8. San Diego, California
9. Sedona, Arizona
10. Seattle, Washington
Conde Nast Traveller in Europe say NYC is their second favorite world city
1. Venice 93.87 2. New York 93.43 3. Paris 92.35 4. Rome 91.39 5. Istanbul 90.37 6. Barcelona 89.49 7. Florence 88.72 8. Sydney 88.03 9. Seville 86.41 10. Hong Kong 85.40 11. San Francisco 84.86 12. St Petersburg 83.55 13. Cape Town 83.03 14. Marrakech 82.00 15. Shanghai 80.64 16. Berlin 80.01 17. Vancouver 78.73 18. Prague 78.05 19. Copenhagen 76.94 20. Madrid 76.71
It's interesting the Harris Poll says different. As for tripadvisor really? You think Lahaina is well-known enough nationally to be fifth or that TripAdvisor is representative of that much?
But anyway thank you I suppose. You're helping to confirm NYC really is overrated here as boosters of it can't stand even things intended to support that it's underrated so long as those things imply anything negative about NYC in any sense. (As I was saying Americans comparatively low image of it could mean it's underrated in the US)
It's interesting the Harris Poll says different. As for tripadvisor really? You think Lahaina is well-known enough nationally to be fifth or that TripAdvisor is representative of that much?
But anyway thank you I suppose. You're helping to confirm NYC really is overrated here as boosters of it can't stand even things intended to support that it's underrated so long as those things imply anything negative about NYC in any sense. (As I was saying Americans comparatively low image of it could mean it's underrated in the US)
Yes, and what's interesting is every other survey we can dig up is more in line with the Harris poll than that rubbish you presented us.
Hmmmm.....
And seeing as though tripadvisor polled travellers, not random illiterate people off of the street, yes I can see Lahaina scoring high marks as Hawaii is one of the most popular destinations in the United States. Lahaina might not be a household name in whatever cornfield you hail from, but most educated travellers are well aware of its existence. In any case, it should really come as no surprise NYC is at the top of every poll given NYC's immense popularity and exceptional image, not only in surveys but in visitor counts which year after year place NYC as #1 (well, back and forth with Orlando, domestically that is).
Last edited by andover11; 08-17-2011 at 04:21 AM..
Again, statistically, yes New York City is the "best" city. Objectively, New York City also appears to be the "favorite" city if we go by the extensive polling done in which New York City continually comes up top. Not to mention the hard evidence which show New York to be the most visited city in the United States. Don't shoot the messenger!!
Let's just close it out with some facts
Foreign Policy Global City Index
Gawc World Cities Index
Last edited by andover11; 08-17-2011 at 04:39 AM..
Well you did a good job trying to make your point. I still think it's over-insistent and obnoxious in a way, but okay.
Many respectable sources say NYC is "the best city" or "Number 1." Maybe that's closer to "a fact" than an opinion can get, although I'm not convinced of that. Still nothing can make an opinion "a fact" because opinions don't work that way. It's never going to be universally agreed on that NYC is "number 1" and it's never going to be "a fact" because it inherently can't be. I admit I'm puzzled why this isn't blindingly obvious. It being "number 1" is not going to become a fact because you or someone else can scour the Internet to find sources that place it number 1. Or because you can get obsessed on the matter. I think The Economist, Kiplinger, Mercer, and several sources I could find would not place it number one. However many do place it number 1 so that opinion has some weight and I grant that. If you can just acknowledge "New York is number 1" is not an inarguable "fact" the way "New York City is in the US" is than I'd be happy with this. I fear that you cannot.
Now on the question of the thread it seems 100% certain to me now that NYC is overrated and again thank you for helping that along. That you or others intently need NYC to be "best" in some objective way supports people overrating. Actually I think this might be going beyond mere "overrating" into some kind of bizarre delusion of grandeur.
And I'm done here. (And I have to admit discussions like this give me a rush of determination to avoid NYC like a plague)
Last edited by Thomas R.; 08-17-2011 at 05:50 AM..
Exactly! NYC isn't the best large city..i'm sure. This isn't to say NYC isn't great, but some people from there seem to think that they themselve are superior to other places. Alot of them don't know how to deal with the fact that they aren't the center of the world.
You're 100% right! It's like they think we're trying to bash it or something. NYC is a great city, but that doesn't mean it the greatest to everyone. This thread has really gave me a sour feeling about NYC. When I went I loved it, but I don't want to be anywhere where the people just automatically knows for a fact that their city is the greatest in the world and it's not debatable.
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