Tiers of US cities

[JivecitySTL]

Here's my breakdown (no particular order within tiers):

TIER 1

New York City

TIER 2

Los Angeles

Chicago

TIER 3

Washington, DC

Philadelphia

Boston

Atlanta

Houston

Dallas

San Francisco

Miami

Detroit

Seattle

TIER 4

Cleveland

Saint Louis

Pittsburgh

Baltimore

Denver

Phoenix

San Diego

Minneapolis

Portland

TIER 5

Columbus

Kansas City

Cincinnati

Indianapolis

Milwaukee

Newark

Sacramento

San Antonio

New Orleans

Charlotte

TIER 6

Omaha

Providence

Des Moines

Jacksonville

Hartford

San Jose

Grand Rapids

Albequerque

Memphis

Nashville

Tampa

Buffalo

Tulsa

That's my breakdown based on importance, size, productivity, prestige and image.

[M. Brown]

Tier 1

NYC

LA

Chicago

Bos

Philly

DC

Toronto

ATL

Tier 2

Baltimore

Cleveland

Det

Cincinatti

STL

KC

Seattle

Hou

Dal

Denver

SD

SF

Phx

Pitts

Mia

Min/St Paul

San Antonio

Austin

Tier 3

Charlotte

San Jose

Jax

Tampa

Orl

Richmond

Hartford

Providence

Portland OR

Tuscon

Norfolk/VB

Ral/Dur

Louisville

Tier 4

Winston Salem

Omaha

Little Rock

Des Moine

Long Beach

Fresno

Riverside

Colorado Springs

San Bernardino

Columbia

Charleston SC

Springfield MA

Akron

Toledo

Dayton

St Petersburg

Ft Lauderdale

Spokane

Tacoma

Anchorage

Sarasota

Talahasee

Wilmington DE

Newark

Worcester

Tier 5

Manchester NH

Portland ME

Newport News

Springfield MO

Boise

Billings

Sioux Falls SD

Fargo

Mobile

(I cant think of any more, but I know there Is A LOT MORE. I will Continue it later)

[H-townrep]

I do not know why people keep dis-respecting Houston. It might not be as well known as NYC, LA and D.C., but it is a Tier 1 city as much as the others. It has the largest Port in the U.S as far as tunnage and ranks 10th in the world. We are only behind Boston in Cargo holds.It has the largest and most respected Medical Centers in the world, known as the Texas medical center. Looks like it's own dowtown. One of the most diverse cities in the U.S. Large representation of Both Black and white (non-hispanic and Hispanic) since Hispanic is not a race but a culture and ethnic. As well as Asian and Native.

Houston is known as Space City. one of the 1st words that was spoken on another planet/ satelite (Moon) was Houston. Such as "Houston, the Eagle has landed" Neil Armstrong. People around the worl interested in space travel know about Houston. We are known as the Energy Capital of the world. Every G8 and OPEC conference, Houston and our Energy companies are brought up. Sadly everyone knows about Enron in the world who has a TV and satelite. If you had a computer made by compaq it said's made in Houston. We have the most fortune 500 companies behind only New York and the most international companies as well as embassy's behind only New York.

We have one of the Largest International Airports, Bush Continental. Our metro name is Hou-Galveston. Meaning access to beach and two other large ports.

Lastly, Only New York and Chicago has more skyscrapers than Houston (over 90m), sorry SF. We are the 4th largest City in the US (NY, La, Chi).

If that is not 1st tier then I don't know what is. I would add both Dallas and possibly Atlanta to that list. Ny,La,Chi, DC, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and SF

[M. Brown]

I put Houston up there. I think its Higher than Dallas. And yes Houston was voted the best place for afro-americans to live. I am black so I like that in a city. I also have relatives that live there.

[Wendell FOX]

Whoa, quite a few city rankings here! Ah, the classic days. :banana:

My tiers always change from one thread to the next, but ever since these things became unpopular at SSP I'm going to start anew I guess:

Tier 1 ("Holy Cities Tier")

New York

Tier 2 ("Diamond Cities Tier")

Los Angeles

Chicago

Tier 3 ("Platinum Cities Tier")

Washington D.C.

San Francisco

Boston

Toronto

Tier 4 ("Gold Cities Tier")

Philadelphia

Miami

Dallas

Houston

Atlanta

Seattle

Montreal

Vancouver

Tier 5 ("Silver Cities Tier")

San Diego

Detroit

Cleveland

St. Louis

Minneapolis

Phoenix

Denver

New Orleans*

Tier 6 ("Bronze Cities Tier")

Cincinnati

Kansas City

Baltimore

Milwaukee

Pittsburgh

Charlotte

Tampa

Las Vegas*

Calgary

Ottawa

Tier 7 ("Copper Cities Tier")

Portland

Indianapolis

San Antonio

Columbus

Sacramento

Memphis

Nashville

Orlando

Salt Lake City

Edmonton

As much as I have to support Canada I have to be fairly realistic in ranking the cities of a country that's much smaller than the U.S.

[M. Brown]

I think DC should automatically get number 1 cuz its the capitol

[Allan]

I think DC should automatically get number 1 cuz its the capitol

D.C. is an awesome city, but let's face it, NYC is in a category of its own.

[monsoon]

[H-townrep]

Well Metro, as far as in North America I would say Houston is on par. It has the number 2 economy, just behind New York. Energy and Medical capital of the world. 2 things no place can do with out. No other city can match that. That is the most important thing to have power and to have medicine. Population wise Houston is right behind Chicago and gaining. In the top ten, no city is growing faster than Houston, actually I don't know the numbers on Pheonix but on the others I do.

Granted most people don't like Houston be cause of it's lack of zoning laws but I love to see 6 areas of houston with 90m and taller buildings.

Don't forget about it being the center of Aeronomics(Space City) You have to come to Houston for anything dealing with space.

[cityboi]

Tier 1 cities would be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia

Tier 2 cities would be Seattle, Cleveland, Memphis, Charlotte, Nashville,Pittsburgh, Miami, Minnieapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, ect.

Tier 3 cities would be like Richmond, Rochester, Norfolk, Birmingham, Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Dayton, Orlando, ect.

Tier 4 cities would be Asheville, Savannah, Columbus,GA, Knoxville, Roanoke, VA, Charleston, SC, Chattanooga, TN

[swags]

Toronto is more important than Washington DC?...that's crazy. Washington is the most influential seat of power in the world and has a much larger economy.

Could you give some stats to back the economy claim up? I was searching for stats on the economy of cities but I couldn't find any. I don't know how we're judging the tiers, but I would just like to compare the two using "high-rise building" data from www.skyscrapers.com:

Washington

13 under construction

241 completed

2 approved

1 proposed

2 never built

23 demolished

2 under demolition

Toronto

54 under construction

1,581 completed

119 approved

101 proposed

31 never built

6 demolished

1 on hold

So, if we're doing the tiers based on the number of high-rise buildings, then Toronto would be much closer to the top than Washington, which would be near the bottom. lol. However, I get the impression we aren't putting cities in tiers based on this, which would make this argument pointless. Oh well, lol.

How do Canadians feel about the importance of Ottawa? It's never mentioned at the top.

I think it is fairly important, being the 4th largest metropolis in Canda (After Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver). The parliament buildings are definitely very nice and important architecturally. There is a vast amount of parkland that exists in Ottawa. This being said, there aren't very many high rises, and most of them that do exist are just plain international style, nothing new or old.

Uh yeah, I think that's all I wanted to say.

[monsoon]

[tocoto]

Contrary to what we like to believe on a skyscraper forum, the number of highrises in a city, particularly residential highrises, has little to do with the prominence of a city.

[swags]

Interesting point swag, but keep in mind that DC has a special height restriction which prevents tall buildings

[Allan]

National/international importance is one of the major factors I'd use is ranking cities, but it's certainly not the only factor. The most important cities draw people from all over for cultural reasons, among other things, and I would also use that in determining my ranking of cities.

[monsoon]

[tocoto]

DC/Baltimore is a large metro growing faster thn the bay area. It is already a major metro in high tech and biotech, culture, wealth, education, and of course government. It has eclipsed Philly as the second biggest metro in the northeast. I would say it is easily the second most prominent metro in the US, and is gaining prominence rather than losing it. LA is not a dominant city by virtually any criteria. Chicago has a lot of skyscrapers, but it has certainly lost prominence in recent decades.

[H-townrep]

What would you say about Houston and Boston. They represent both the two largest ports in the States and in the top 20 in the world and represent the tops in Bio tech and Houston has the top Medical complex in the World.. I think they are both Tier one cities along with the ones you said and Toronto and SF. Culturly only New York, SF and Miami can touch Houston. Dallas and Atlanta are important basically because of Airport and Finance. Dallas is the financial center of the South.

[H-townrep]

Internationally, Atlanta and Dallas wouldn't be known if it wasn't for their Airports. I'm not sure how well known Toronto is outside the Western Hemisphere and the UK because of what it offers. What does Toronto offer internationally?

[Allan]

Culturly only New York, SF and Miami can touch Houston. Dallas and Atlanta are important basically because of Airport and Finance. Dallas is the financial center of the South.

You've got to be kidding! NY is in a class of its own. Miami, SF, or Houston don't even come close.

[Guest donaltopablo]

Internationally, Atlanta and Dallas wouldn't be known if it wasn't for their Airports. I'm not sure how well known Toronto is outside the Western Hemisphere and the UK because of what it offers. What does Toronto offer internationally?

Depending on what type of International you are referring to, Atlanta and Dallas are both relatively well known at least throughout Europe and parts of Asian. Dallas, because the show was rebroadcast throughout much of europe, and Atlanta because it played host to the olympics. Although neither of things bring amazing amounts of international appeal, if does give them an edge over some cities because they would otherwise be unknown.

[H-townrep]

That's true donaltopablo. Allan, I was speaking on Culturley on Ney York, Miami and possibly San Fran is more culturley sound than Houston. New York is al by itself when it comes to culture.

[Cotuit]

The cultural elite in the US is NY, Miami, (possibly) SF, and Houston?

And people wonder where that Northeastern superiority complex comes from.

[tocoto]

No offence but IMO Houston is not a tier one city. Neither is atlanta or miami. They are all growing fast and may someday reach that point. For now they are still overgrown suberbs.

The houston medical center is physically large, but not the best. It may not even be the largest unless you mean tallest building or most acreage. It certainly doesn't have the most NIH money or most prestigous personnel or higest national ranking. It is just a big medical center like many others in US cities.

If you want culture, places like NY, LA, Chi, SF, Boston are light years ahead of houston.

[H-townrep]

The Texas Medical Center is on record as being the largest center of Hospitals, medical universities and medical professions in the world. No other city comes close. The M.D. Anderson is the top Cancer Hospital in the U.S. Herman Hospital has been ranked in the top ten for Trauma. Baylor and Texas college of Medicine are in the top 5. It is almost a city by itself. It is the Best and largest center.

Houston has as much culture or more than every other large city except for the New York Metro, LA and possibly SF. Miami mostly has an influx of Cuban's and Puerto Ricans. Houston has the same influx, just of Mexicans, Panamanians, bolivians and Cubans. Also, mainly because Houston is the Energy capital of the world, (oil,gas and Power) there are a lot of Middle Easterners and Nigerians and many other Nationalitys belonging to the OPEC Nations. as well as a very high number of Asians. They represnt China Town, Little Vietnam and Siagon City. Half our streets in parts of town are in three languages. Voted the top city for African- Americans, Hispanics and for foreign investing. Little India is a growing section in Houston and there is a reservation historical place that is still functioning on the outskirts of the Ctiy. Still has the lead in U.S cities as far as foreign Cargo, Boston and LA are a close 2nd and third. I think New Orleans is in there somewhere. Aermexico now calls Houston home. Also there are more foreign nations that have Houston companies subsideries than most other Cities. We are in the top five. Check Fortune magazine for some of these statements.

We have more Fortune 500 companies than any city except NY & Chi and if you include the Suberbs then add LA

You can check any source that Houston has the 3rd most foreign Embassies housed here next to only New York and D.C.

All because Houston is not a place that is looked upon with smiles or that a lot of TV shows are mad or that a lot of people on this forum are not from Houston or the Southwest does not mean Houston is not a Tier one city. Kidding about the TV part

Look at what makes a city Tier 1 and look at Houstons stats and then you tell me, just don't judge on what you believe or hear.

Just in case for you sport fans, the Super Bowl in Houston was the best ever as far as money generated for the City and for the NFL, All-Star game for baseball and basketball are coming up this year and next year.

All I'm saying is give Houston love on this Tier one city topic. We are a Tier one City, although I know longer live there, I'm in ATL. (Govt moved me).