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Let’s pretend you have a 2 tech companies one in Atlanta, one in Toronto
You get VC funding from San Francisco
Your company grows, you work with Microsoft in Seattle to get it into Windows
You IPO in New York at launch.
Now your investors want profitability so you hire Bain Capital in Boston to restructure.
In Atlanta 0 of that is international business. In Toronto all of it is.
Toronto is a legit international power but Montreal largely is on that list because of Canada’s reliance on US for investment in general
I love how Montreal continues to get downplayed. Obviously Toronto is more international, but guess what? So is Montreal! As the years pass, we rely less and less on the U.S for investments, with Europe, Asia, LatAm, Middle-East and Africa taking up the majority.
Unlike you, I'm actually involved in attracting businesses and FDI to Montreal. Outside of a few office relocations from Miami to Montreal, 75% of my business comes from Europe, Asia and LatAm (in that order). Lots of deals that will not be announced publicly, but a lot have been announced or will be soon. Obviously, we need the U.S, it's the largest market globally but you make it seem as if Montreal only relies on the U.S and for some reason we are not a legitimate global city.
A city with 200+ ethnic groups, 150+ languages, a historical city that still has ties (and old money) to every region globally, all the international HQ's and offices that choose to come here (majority not American), I can go on.
I love how Montreal continues to get downplayed. Obviously Toronto is more international, but guess what? So is Montreal! As the years pass, we rely less and less on the U.S for investments, with Europe, Asia, LatAm, Middle-East and Africa taking up the majority.
Unlike you, I'm actually involved in attracting businesses and FDI to Montreal. Outside of a few office relocations from Miami to Montreal, 75% of my business comes from Europe, Asia and LatAm (in that order). Lots of deals that will not be announced publicly, but a lot have been announced or will be soon. Obviously, we need the U.S, it's the largest market globally but you make it seem as if Montreal only relies on the U.S and for some reason we are not a legitimate global city.
A city with 200+ ethnic groups, 150+ languages, a historical city that still has ties (and old money) to every region globally, all the international HQ's and offices that choose to come here (majority not American), I can go on.
You understand the difference on these lists are in the margins right?
I’m not saying Montreal is Scranton. But being Canadian and not American boosts it’s Foreign Visitors, foreign investment etc compared to its U S Peers on Paper. It probably belongs in the Atlanta or so level.
I’m actually 100% convinced nothing will ever knock Boston off it’s footing and it’s steady incline. It seems impervious to any of the maladies facing other American cities. Like it had its issue but it seems to have serious effect on the bottom line and desirability. It will pass Houston’s GDP in a yet or two and eventually pass Dallas. One day maybe even DC.
I’ve seen the city weather every storm and make every mistake with minimal difficulty or adverse effect.
I love how Montreal continues to get downplayed. Obviously Toronto is more international, but guess what? So is Montreal! As the years pass, we rely less and less on the U.S for investments, with Europe, Asia, LatAm, Middle-East and Africa taking up the majority.
Unlike you, I'm actually involved in attracting businesses and FDI to Montreal. Outside of a few office relocations from Miami to Montreal, 75% of my business comes from Europe, Asia and LatAm (in that order). Lots of deals that will not be announced publicly, but a lot have been announced or will be soon. Obviously, we need the U.S, it's the largest market globally but you make it seem as if Montreal only relies on the U.S and for some reason we are not a legitimate global city.
A city with 200+ ethnic groups, 150+ languages, a historical city that still has ties (and old money) to every region globally, all the international HQ's and offices that choose to come here (majority not American), I can go on.
Montreal is also what the second or third largest francophone city in the world. That alone raises its international prominence. I agree that Montreal should be on the list. It is a city on the move and on the ascendance and I am happy to see it.
GDP isn't the be all and end all of what makes a city international and the global agencies and institutions that are in Montreal is impressive for a city its size - it punches above its weight. I have a friend who works at Airport Council International so yet another global agency in YUL. Canadian cities are always going to be at a disadvantage vs their U.S counterparts from a strictly GDP perspective. That said, I do think that wealth trickles down more equitably among the masses in our nation. .
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,552,695 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atadytic19
Not sure how you are calling the first group of cities pretty mid tier and DC and SF separate with Chicago. DC is less than 10B away from DFW but it is 160B away from Chicago. SF just recently passed DFW and Houston.
DC and SF may be at the top of the tier with these cities FOR NOW, but they are certainly not on par with Chicago from a GDP perspective. DFW may have already passed DC.
Or are you assigning all of Baltimore's GDP to DC like Baltimore doesn't generate any dollars? Like if there was no DC there would be no Baltimore? The port of Baltimore was created for DC and any $$ generated is because of DC? Baltimore would be nothing without DC?
Baltimore is not a suburb. This brings back the comment made earlier- US metropolitan areas are overly generous
Dallas and Houston have MSA's of 10k+ sq mi, without interruption from another major city in the local MSA growth or economy. And it's being boasted that their economies "almost" are as large as MSA's with half the land mass. When DC or SF's regional economies expand to the size of Houston or Dallas MSA by influence of the equal land area, they are larger than even Chicago's.
With that said I believe there's too much of the ****measuring going on with GDP being thrown around on here like it's some end all be all of why cities rank where they do. It's 10x deeper than that. Cities like Boston, Houston, and Seattle have strong economies as cities with a niche or specialized industries they dominate in. That's what relevance is about. DC and SF, whether by MSA, or CSA are the federal capital of governance/political power, and the global center of technology. That alone keeps the two in constant conversation for top tiered American cities, and often included, or in front of Chicago in certain discussions, or by certain metrics. Regardless of any of those metro area GDP numbers.
Dallas and Houston have MSA's of 10k+ sq mi, without interruption from another major city in the local MSA growth or economy. And it's being boasted that their economies "almost" are as large as MSA's with half the land mass. When DC or SF's regional economies expand to the size of Houston or Dallas MSA by influence of the equal land area, they are larger than even Chicago's.
With that said I believe there's too much of the ****measuring going on with GDP being thrown around on here like it's some end all be all of why cities rank where they do. It's 10x deeper than that. Cities like Boston, Houston, and Seattle have strong economies as cities with a niche or specialized industries they dominate in. That's what relevance is about. DC and SF, whether by MSA, or CSA are the federal capital of governance/political power, and the global center of technology. That alone keeps the two in constant conversation for top tiered American cities, and often included, or in front of Chicago in certain discussions, or by certain metrics. Regardless of any of those metro area GDP numbers.
Don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but - Boston’s economy is as dynamic as any. Idk what “niche” anchor industry you’re referring to… There’s a lot. That’s what makes Boston an economic wagon, despite its <5M population. It’s a big dog in so many major industries and competencies.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
8,128 posts, read 7,552,695 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mwj119
Don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but - Boston’s economy is as dynamic as any. Idk what “niche” anchor industry you’re referring to… There’s a lot. That’s what makes Boston an economic wagon, despite its <5M population. It’s a big dog in so many major industries and competencies.
Correct. You're saying what I'm saying. Boston as an example is a leader in biotech, and other either medical or engineering based industries, as well as the higher education capital in some sense. That's the city's "niche" if you will. It works very well for them, and more than keeps things churning economy wise.
Dallas and Houston have MSA's of 10k+ sq mi, without interruption from another major city in the local MSA growth or economy. And it's being boasted that their economies "almost" are as large as MSA's with half the land mass. When DC or SF's regional economies expand to the size of Houston or Dallas MSA by influence of the equal land area, they are larger than even Chicago's.
With that said I believe there's too much of the ****measuring going on with GDP being thrown around on here like it's some end all be all of why cities rank where they do. It's 10x deeper than that. Cities like Boston, Houston, and Seattle have strong economies as cities with a niche or specialized industries they dominate in. That's what relevance is about. DC and SF, whether by MSA, or CSA are the federal capital of governance/political power, and the global center of technology. That alone keeps the two in constant conversation for top tiered American cities, and often included, or in front of Chicago in certain discussions, or by certain metrics. Regardless of any of those metro area GDP numbers.
GDP is underplayed. Each dollar is a dollar that people think is worth a dollar. Whether that goes to Mars Candy Inc. or Home Depot, or Google or Exxon Mobil people spending that dollar are assigning a value to that product. Just cause you think an IPad is cooler than a snickers doesn’t actually mean anything.
GDP is a measure of a city holistically.
Now the center of Government you could argue matters because hard power that could be theoretically unleashed underpins the influence of Washington unlike any other city in the Hemisphere.
GDP is underplayed. Each dollar is a dollar that people think is worth a dollar. Whether that goes to Mars Candy Inc. or Home Depot, or Google or Exxon Mobil people spending that dollar are assigning a value to that product. Just cause you think an IPad is cooler than a snickers doesn’t actually mean anything.
GDP is a measure of a city holistically.
Now the center of Government you could argue matters because hard power that could be theoretically unleashed underpins the influence of Washington unlike any other city in the Hemisphere.
That last part I agree with. That's why I rank DC ahead of SF and Chicago.
But I agree with Resident09 that looking at alone is giving GDP too much credit. Dallas got example has a huge GDP but apart from it being centrally located it is hard to say why it is important. It has a big centrally located airport but that could easily shift to Phoenix, Denver, Chicago.... It is headquarters for a lot of big companies but again they can shift anywhere.
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