I saw a thing on this and to my surprise there was actual debate out there as to which four cities should be defined as THE four U.S. cities.
What say you?
What say you?
The Four Major U.S. Cities
- Thread starter Gonzo
- Start date
I feel like the only debate is number 4. Top 3 seem pretty obvious.
Straight up by population it’s NYC, Chicago, LA, and DFW.
Houston is not too far behind DFW by just over half a million, and similar in regional location and economic impact so I think you could debate it if you wanted to.
Could maybe argue Miami, ATL, or San Fran if you’re looking at broader categories- but on what planet would Minneapolis or Indianapolis be in this debate?? DC, Philly, Phoenix, and Boston easily beat them out.
Houston is not too far behind DFW by just over half a million, and similar in regional location and economic impact so I think you could debate it if you wanted to.
Could maybe argue Miami, ATL, or San Fran if you’re looking at broader categories- but on what planet would Minneapolis or Indianapolis be in this debate?? DC, Philly, Phoenix, and Boston easily beat them out.
Yep. Its an engagement-bait question which is why it went around tiktok and the like first.
There are really just 3 top cities. After that there's a bunch of cities in that next rung that you can come up with a justification for.
If I had to pick a 4th city I probably pick DC as it has a bunch of elements that make it much more culturally relevant, and it has a ton of power and influence despite not being as large as the top 3. Look at where most television and movie media has been set. If you added up LA\NY\Chicago\DC you probably get north of 90%.
I figured Atlanta was just obvious as the #4.
By metro population you've got NY\LA\Chicago clearly up at the top.
After that though it gets a bit closer, as while you've got DFW and Houston at 8.3 and 7.3 million, respectively, DC and Atlanta aren't far behind at just a bit above 6 million each. DFW and Houston's metro areas are both such sprawling megaplexes it feels like that kind of cancels out some of the population weight.
If you looked at it by CSA the DC CSA actually comes in at #3
I kind of see it as more cultural and regional than population. NYC... Northeast. Chicago... Midwest. LA... West Coast. Atlanta... Southeast.
I get that, but I don't mind not giving the southeast a top 4 city. It's definitely the grossest area of the country.
Due to its cultural and historical importance I'd put Philadelphia at 4.
There's only three imo from this list. NYC, Chicago, LA. In my opinion "major" means large pop but also culturally relevant, and those are the only 3 that meet that. Houston and Dallas bring nothing to the table in that regard.
I said San Francisco as my fourth just because of its importance in Technology innovation.
I’d go with NYC, LA, Chicago, and Dallas with Atlanta being a close 5th. Mostly because of air traffic hubs will have more people in and out of those cities.
Limiting it to 4 seems like a weird arbitrary number.
Limiting it to 4 seems like a weird arbitrary number.
If you're from the south it would be Atlanta. It's a destination City for them. I voted for Dallas though.
