Jump to content

Tiers of US cities


tocoto

Recommended Posts

Houston has a prominent position in many areas due the blessings of oil, proximity to central and south america, space exploration and medical research. Although it is an important city, it is still not a tier one city IMO due to a lack of urbanity and lack of world leadership in areas outside of oil. Who knows maybe I am wrong?

It's medical center is largest by a very narrow definition. There are other hospital/medial complexes that are very large in other cities, but not all on the same campus for example. There are others with far more NIH money and more prestigous rankings as national leaders. The city with the most people is likely to have the most hospitals in total.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 602
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Hehe, funny the rivality between the North and south. I believe only NY, LA, London, Paris, Tokyo, and maybe Shangai are trier 1. But city's like Chicago, Houston?, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Washington DC, are sort of trier one ''second degree' city's. And I doubt about LA, is it really so important?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest donaltopablo

I'm from the south and I don't consider Houston to be a tier 1 city. I think it's certainly tier 2 along with Boston, Dallas, Atlanta and other cities. But there isn't much about Houston that makes me put it on the same playing field as Chicago, NYC, and LA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That certainly is not a reason for a city to be called Tier one. Not one person on this thread has said why Houston is not a tier one. It is not as Urbane as the North because we are not clamp together. We have more land than the top 20 city's in population. I'm talking about city limits not suburban. Anyone who has been to Houston know that it is very Urban. We have more than oil and gas and the TMC, we also have the largest port in tunage in the U.S plus what was said before. The Texas Medical Center is more than a conglomeration of hospitals, one of my messages above mentioned everything that it has plus Apt. for the families of the terminally ill patients and children as well as hotels plus everything else said earlier. There are over 100 other larger hospitals including the Memorial constilation of Hospitals and the Northwest center. in the houston area, not to mention the ones in Galveston which are very prestigous. New York has the most people in the U.S that is true but they don't have a lot of land so the person saying the city with the most people has the most hospitals is not true. Look in the Medical Professional magazine it has Houston rank on top with the most hospitals and best kept.

Tier i cities, you say LA, what does LA have that makes it a Tier one over Houston besides Population and Hollywood and appeal as an entertainment place. Same with Chicago it has lost some of it's appeal on the international scene. Because Tier one means international appeal not national appeal. Before anyone responds, look at what a Tier one city is then look at what Houston has to offer beyond national appeal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest donaltopablo

That certainly is not a reason for a city to be called Tier one. Not one person on this thread has said why Houston is not a tier one. It is not as Urbane as the North because we are not clamp together. We have more land than the top 20 city's in population. I'm talking about city limits not suburban. Anyone who has been to Houston know that it is very Urban. We have more than oil and gas and the TMC, we also have the largest port in tunage in the U.S plus what was said before. The Texas Medical Center is more than a conglomeration of hospitals, one of my messages above mentioned everything that it has plus Apt. for the families of the terminally ill patients and children as well as hotels plus everything else said earlier. There are over 100 other larger hospitals including the Memorial constilation of Hospitals and the Northwest center. in the houston area, not to mention the ones in Galveston which are very prestigous. New York has the most people in the U.S that is true but they don't have a lot of land so the person saying the city with the most people has the most hospitals is not true. Look in the Medical Professional magazine it has Houston rank on top with the most hospitals and best kept.

Tier i cities, you say LA, what does LA have that makes it a Tier one over Houston besides Population and Hollywood and appeal as an entertainment place. Same with Chicago it has lost some of it's appeal on the international scene. Because Tier one means international appeal not national appeal. Before anyone responds, look at what a Tier one city is then look at what Houston has to offer beyond national appeal.

Actually, early on in the thread I posted my conditions for a city being tier 1.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that, I'm talking about those wh say it isn't. What is it that you gave conditons for Tier one that doesn't qualify Houston to be it. We have much more than oil and we are in the top 5 when it comes to bringing money to the U.S economy and top three on the foreign side. Why is it not a Tier one. Houstn's port being number one in Tunnage and having the third most embassies should suffice that alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^I think New York may be in a category of its own. However, Chicago & Houston may be on the same level, if you think about it and if you take the urban density factor out of it. But if you put metro population numbers in the mix than Houston drops to a tier 2, not that any of this really matters. I guess it all comes down to the categories each person uses to form his/her list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is what the 1990 census may say but the numbers on Houston, which I did rank behind Miami in culture diversity is now more diverse especially amoung the voting age. Whites are below 50 percent, Hispanic, which again is not a race but an ethnicity, is still around 32, black, we are now at 20 and Asian and Native plus make up the rest. There is more than polpulation diversity that makes a city tier one, it is it's influence on the rest of the world not just the U.S. and with that . Houston is a Tier 1. Can't argue with the facts about the Port of Houston, Oil, Power, gas, biotech and Pharmacuticals. as well as the TMC (Texas medical center). Don't forget about Aeronomics with Space exploration. Houston brings more to the economy than any other city except New York. Not even LA brings more to the National economy. They bring more to Calif but that does not help our nation and the world as a whole. Remember the most Embassys outside of New York and D.C., then again in D.C. they are housed near each other.

Yes New York stands on a plane by itself but Houston, D.C., LA, Chicago, San Fran and possibly Boston are in the Tier i status, maybe tier 2 for Boston and S.F. Since we are talking about cities not metros.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That certainly is not a reason for a city to be called Tier one. Not one person on this thread has said why Houston is not a tier one.

Because no one can compare Houston to New York with a straight face. That is why Houston is not Tier One.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because no one can compare Houston to New York with a straight face. That is why Houston is not Tier One.

That makes no sense. New York is a city not a definition of Tier i. They are Tier one on a high scale and Houston is Tier one just not as much as New York. For God's sake they have more than 7 million people in the city limits. Whatcha expect.

Ask someone in Asia and they will tell you, you can't compare Ney York to Hong Kongor Tokyo. so should that mean New York ain't tier one to them. NO.

It's a shame I gotta defend my Hometown like this. All the post that I've sent about Houston influence on the world economy is third only to New York and D.C. D.C. mainly because it is the political capital.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(Whoops, I deleted my post by accident)

H-Townrep - you have shown that Houston is a prominent American city but next only to New York and DC? Houston may beat Chicago in specific industries such as energy or space exploration but overall Chicago is the larger corporate and financial centre, with more F500 companies in its metro. LA has an unusually low # of F500 companies, especially in the city, but overall the metro is much larger and naturally is the #2 economy by GDP, is a gateway to Asia and Latin America, and controls much of the media, not just Hollywood.

BTW, has anyone not put New York in the first tier in any city ranking that has ever existed in the history of any forum? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To this date I still don't know whether it's Dallas or Houston that's the psychological "big city" in Texas. I guess it's sort of like a Calgary-Edmonton rivalry.

I tend to agree with Marc, in that Dallas seems to hold the #1 spot in Texas. I'm not sure exactly why I think that. It's just my feeling that Dallas has a bit of an edge over Houston at this time, although not by much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Texas, Dallas has the bigger economy and metro and I think is generally considered the top dog, but it's close. I have ony voisited Texas on business and as a tourist. Neither city seems like a tier one city IMO. Dallas is so spread out it is hard to find much to do. The downtown is vacant and dead day and night. There may be things going on in the burbs but, its hard for a non native to know where. I haven't been to Houston as many times, but it gives me the same feeling.

Chicago has a real pulse and excitment in the city. It's easy to find something to do without getting out the yellow pages. Same with Boston, SF, and to some degree, LA.

Texas has warm weather, oil, and other resources that make it desirable and wealthy. Its cities are growing large but are very dominated by the car. They just aren't dense enough to be very exciting IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well when it comes to internationally, Houston beats Dallas hands down. Houston (WITHIN CITY LIMITS) is larger than Dallas in population and in Metro, Dallas is only bigger because it has a city with over 400,000 people right down the road (Fort Worth) Houston is Tier one because of it's international acclaim. Oh Yeah Houston's metro has more fortune 500 companies than Chicago's Metro unless you want to include Milwalke. Dallas is the national Financial center of the Southwest but it doesn't have much international acclaim. Inside the city limits for the world economy. Houston is still only second to New York. In Metro, it is replaced by LA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well when it comes to internationally, Houston beats Dallas hands down. Houston (WITHIN CITY LIMITS) is larger than Dallas in population and in Metro, Dallas is only bigger because it has a city with over 400,000 people right down the road (Fort Worth) Houston is Tier one because of it's international acclaim. Oh Yeah Houston's metro has more fortune 500 companies than Chicago's Metro unless you want to include Milwalke. Dallas is the national Financial center of the Southwest but it doesn't have much international acclaim. Inside the city limits for the world economy. Houston is still only second to New York. In Metro, it is replaced by LA.

Very True. The Dallas Metro has two major cities and Houston only has one and Houston is one place behind the Dallas/Fort Worth in Metro Pop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't access the latest Fortune 500 because of the subscription, but from 2002 stats it seems that metro Chicago is larger than Houston, with 36 companies vs. 21.

Chicago's companies:

135 Abbott Laboratories Abbott Park, IL 16,285 1,550 71,426

240 Andersen Chicago, IL 9,340 N/A 85,000 290 Aon Corporation Chicago, IL 7,676 203 53,000 86 BANK ONE CORPORATION Chicago, IL 24,527 2,638 73,519 5 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Chicago, IL 126,000 N/A 150,000 172 CNA Financial Corporation Chicago, IL 13,203 (1,644) 17,274 149 Exelon Corporation Chicago, IL 15,140 1,428 29,200 208 Health Care Service Corporation Chicago, IL 10,430 174 5,700 496 Hyatt Corporation Chicago, IL 3,950 N/A 80,000 106 IGA, INC. Chicago, IL 21,000 N/A 92,000 383 R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company Chicago, IL 5,298 25 33,000 126 Sara Lee Corporation Chicago, IL 17,747 2,266 141,500 267 Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation Chicago, IL 8,377 77 38,500 16 The Boeing Company Chicago, IL 58,198 2,827 188,000 329 The Marmon Group, Inc. Chicago, IL 6,500 N/A 40,000 388 Tribune Company Chicago, IL 5,253 111 25,600

291 Baxter International Inc. Deerfield, IL 7,663 612 48,000 85 Walgreen Co. Deerfield, IL 24,623 886 129,000 137 UAL Corporation Elk Grove Township, IL 16,138 (2,145) 84,000 311 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Freeport, IL 6,909 265 49,425 243 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Glenview, IL 9,293 806 52,000 35 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Hoffman Estates, IL 41,078 735 310,000 408 W.W. Grainger, Inc. Lake Forest, IL 4,754 175 15,385 362 Fortune Brands, Inc. Lincolnshire, IL 5,679 386 24,998

291 Baxter International Inc. Deerfield, IL 7,663 612 48,000 85 Walgreen Co. Deerfield, IL 24,623 886 129,000 137 UAL Corporation Elk Grove Township, IL 16,138 (2,145) 84,000 311 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Freeport, IL 6,909 265 49,425 243 Illinois Tool Works Inc. Glenview, IL 9,293 806 52,000 35 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Hoffman Estates, IL 41,078 735 310,000 408 W.W. Grainger, Inc. Lake Forest, IL 4,754 175 15,385 362 Fortune Brands, Inc. Lincolnshire, IL 5,679 386 24,998

67 The Allstate Corporation Northbrook, IL 28,802 1,158 40,830 53 Kraft Foods Inc. Northfield, IL 33,875 1,882 114,000 151 McDonald's Corporation Oak Brook, IL 14,870 1,637 395,000

160 Household International, Inc. Prospect Heights, IL 13,916 1,924 32,000 65 Motorola, Inc. Schaumburg, IL 30,004 (3,937) 111,000 492 CDW Computer Centers, Inc. Vernon Hills, IL 3,962 169 2,800 322 Navistar International Corporation Warrenville, IL 6,679 (23) 16,500

235 NiSource Inc. Merrillville, IN 9,459 216 12,501

Houston's

410 Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. Houston, TX 4,717 (5) 643 379 Baker Hughes Incorporated Houston, TX 5,382 438 26,800 54 Compaq Computer Corporation Houston, TX 33,554 (785) 78,200 41 Conoco Inc. Houston, TX 38,737 1,589 20,000 249 Continental Airlines, Inc. Houston, TX 8,969 (95) 42,900 455 Cooper Industries, Inc. Houston, TX 4,210 231 30,500 33 Dynegy Inc. Houston, TX 42,242 650 6,139 17 El Paso Corporation Houston, TX 57,475 93 14,180 9 Enron Corp. Houston, TX 100,789 979 20,600 189 EOTT Energy Partners, L.P. Houston, TX 11,614 14 1,200 354 Equistar Chemicals, LP Houston, TX 5,909 (283) 3,400 66 Equiva Trading Company, Inc. Houston, TX 30,000 N/A 13,000 487 Group 1 Automotive, Inc. Houston, TX 3,996 55 6,000 55 Marathon Oil Corporation Houston, TX 33,066 157 30,671 314 Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. Houston, TX 6,868 44 1,000 29 Reliant Energy, Incorporated Houston, TX 46,226 981 16,958 47 Reliant Resources, Inc. Houston, TX 36,546 558 5,052 103 SYSCO Corporation Houston, TX 21,785 597 43,000 194 Waste Management, Inc. Houston, TX 11,322 503 57,000

436 Administaff, Inc. Kingwood, TX 4,373 10 70,730

268 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation The Woodlands, TX 8,369 (181) 3,500

Though within city borders Houston has more, 19 vs. 15.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.