Which US metropolitan area has the most individual municipalities within its CSA?

Which US city has the most individual suburbs?>

Using US cities to build the perfect US city

How would you build the true ideal, the perfect American city? There is only one rule here: you are required to get all your "parts" from current US cities. EXAMPLE: Take San Francisco's setting, replace the downtown skyline with Chicago's with elements of Chicago's lakefront, as well, infuse it with San Diego's climate, give it Dallas's population (size....not Dallas's residents), introduce a city-wide rapid transit coverage as extensive as Manhattan's, place St. Louis's Gateway Arch on a waterfront setting in front of downtown, find select neighborhoods to house Boston's universities, use DC's Union Station for all interurban rail traffic>

Another Metro Rating: Density

These ratings come from SmartGrowthAmerica.org. What is listed is their "density factor" ratings of American metros which combines the following variables: dens - gross population density in persons/sqmile 11500p - % of pop living at densities less than 1500 pp/sqmile g125cp - % of pop living at densities greater than 12,500 pp/sqmile dgcent - estimated density at center of metro derived from a negative exponetial density function urbdn - gross pop density of urban lands lot - weighted average lot size for single family dwellings dncen - weighted density of all pop centers in a metro To read the details about how they put it all together look here: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/sp...lTechnical.pdf Here are the top 20 "densest" --From page 28 of the above document (City) (Density Rating) 1. New York 242.5 2. Jersey City 195.7 3. San Francisco 155.2 4. Los Angeles/Long Beach 151.5 5. Chicago 142.9 6. Miami/Hialeah 129.1 7. Anaheim/Santa Ana 128.8 8. San Jose 124.8 9. Newark 118.9 10. Oakland 116.6 11. Honolulu 116.5 12. Philadelphia 114.7 13. Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood 113.9 14. Boston 113.6 15. San Diego 113.4 16. Las Vegas 110.0 17. Washington DC 106.9 18. Pheonix 106.8 19. Baltimore 104.3 20. Oxnard/Ventura 103.9 Bottom 20 (Least Dense) 1. Knoxville 71.2 2. Greenville 71.9 3. Greensboro/Winston/Salem 74.2 4. Columbia 74.6 5. Raleigh/Durham 76.2 6. Birmingham 77.1 7. Little Rock 77.5 8. Baton Rouge 80.8 9. Worcester 81.2 10. Tulsa 82.7 11. Grand Rapids 82.7 12. Albany 82.9 13. Wichita 84.4 14. Atlanta 84.5 15. Oklahoma City 84.5 16. Jacksonville 85.6 17. Syracuse 85.8 18. Allentown/Bethlehem 86.2 19. Springfield 86.3 20. Hartford 86.3>

Skyline views

What cities offer awesome views of the skyline from their interstate(s)? Heres Atlanta, 75/85 offers awesome views >

U. S. CITY: MOST PICTURESQUE NATURAL SETTING

Which U. S. City has the most picture-postcard photogenic natural setting? What's your top 5 or 10? If the city you deem #1 is not listed, check "Other" and specify in reply. Here's my top ten: 1-San Francisco 2-Seattle 3-Honolulu 4-Pittsburgh/Cincinnati 5-Portland (OR) 6-Miami 7-San Diego 8-Chicago 9-New York City 10-Detroit>

What do you hate most about your city?

Well, we've all proclaimed our cities to the heavens, but now it's time to expose some of the not so good about our cities.>

SF/BA board?

Balt/Wash and Miami were great additions to the list of subforums. Isn't it time to consider having for San Francisco & the Bay Area, as well?>

The Mississippi River

I've always loved the Mississippi, it basically rips right up the middle of our country. Anyone have any cool pictures or statistics on this river or its feeders? The terrain it runs through is amazingly diverse....headwaters up near Canada, bluffs through the midwest, swamps in Louisiana. Here are some shots I found of the Mississippi River in Iowa (where I'm familiar with it). What else do you have from the rest of the country??? >

American Urbanism--still quite relatively "spacious"

If you behold our most urban cities--NYC, SF, Boston, Chicago, etc you will see a pedestrian-oriented environment. Much of the lands around these cities have become "suburbia", ie wasteful formless development with cul-de-sacs, etc. We decry these as ultra-low-density waste pots. But if you think about the evolution of cities during man's existence, you'll easily notice that even America's "urban" cities are relatively spacious compared to their older European cousins. Heck, even in Manhattan most of the avenues are like 6 lane roads with medians. But going back even further, one can see that our most ancient cities were almost like a giant palace or house, with "roads" being more like hallways and individual dwellings just being like rooms of the house. It is amazing what this implies--society has changed so much. Cities were much more communal in those times, almost like a giant extended family. But nowadays, especially in the American sense of cities, individual freedoms and personal space is given the utmost priority. Take a look at these pics of ancient Jerusalem from the Isreal subforum. These are beautiful pictures and truly exemplify what I mean. Enjoy! http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=293222>

What do you like/love about Minneapolis?

What do you like/love about Minneapolis?>

What to name the old state u?

This is a topic that we got into on the Midwest board regarding UW-Madison. Let me bring it up here for national discussion. Names count. Images count. Universities across this land (like private businesses) spend small fortunes coming up with names and logos. the incredible success of one school, the school that started the concept, UCLA, has spread to so many universities in the nation being named the Univ of ___ @ ____. UCLA still manages it best. It is UCLA. Period. Not Cal-LA, not UC Los Angeles. UCLA: four letters that convey it all. But it would appear to me that the naming system hasn't worked all that well for other institutions. In places where it is used, you get, for example: • schools like the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Texas-Austin, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who appear to wish to drop their city names. In fact, in athletics, they do drop them and on logos and on websites, the state's name is huge and the city's quite small. UT Austin is more Texas than Austin. • other campuses in the system come across sounding like branches, second class citizens. The University of Nebraska at Omaha is not the "real" University of Nebraska, for example. Universities can be part of the same system and have different names. The University of Iowa and Iowa State University are under one board, just like the UW's are. Yet their names are not the University of Iowa at Iowa City and the University of Iowa at Ames. The Univ. of North Carolina system not only contains UNC-Chapel Hill, but NCSU and East Carolina U, as well. California State University contains schools such as California State University Fresno and San Francisco State University. Which one is better named? SW Missouri State U had to jump hoops and hurdles to get past the University of Missouri's objection to it calling itself Missouri State University. Lots of time and money went into that name change. Names count. At a time when names and images do count the way do today, wouldn't most states be better off in renaming the Univ of ____ @ ___ schools to names that better reflect the schools' individuality. Am I alone in thinking that naming system doesn't do the trick?>

DO YOU HAVE PHOTOS ABOUT ASHEVILLE?

Hi, how are you, please I would like to see photos about asheville I have family living in that city I wanna see photos of houses, what kind of neighborhood have asheville? If you can show me some photos I will be grateful. Thanks.>

Which are our most evocative states?

Which of our states create the most evocative state-wide images....places where the name of the state immediately draws an overall imperssion of it being a "real place", not just a group of places lying inside a set of borders? This thread is not suggesting a better-worse scenerio. There are wonderful states that don't convey a state wide image. Which states offer that overall picture of concept in your mind that gives them that sense of place....and what is the image that they generate?? (I purposely avoided any examples, even obvious ones).>

Foreign born populations of US Cities

Place Ranking — Percent of Population that is Foreign Born Total Population Rank Place Percent 1 Miami city, FL 60.6 2 Santa Ana city, CA 48.4 3 Los Angeles city, CA 41.3 4 Anaheim city, CA 40.3 5 San Francisco city, CA 36.7 6 San Jose city, CA 36.5 7 New York city, NY 36.0 8 Long Beach city, CA 30.9 9 Houston city, TX 28.1 10 San Diego city, CA 27.9 11 Oakland city, CA 27.1 B 12 Boston city, MA 27.0 13 Dallas city, TX 26.5 14 Sacramento city, CA 26.4 15 Honolulu CDP, HI 25.5 16 El Paso city, TX 24.9 17 17 Stockton city, CA 24.2 18 Riverside city, CA 23.9 19 Fresno city, CA 22.7 20 Chicago city, IL 22.6 21 Newark city, NJ 22.4 22 Phoenix city, AZ 21.1 22 Las Vegas city, NV 21.1 24 Denver city, CO 20.2 25 Austin city, TX 19.6 26 Aurora city, CO 17.7 27 Minneapolis city, MN 17.6 28 Seattle city, WA 17.2 29 Arlington city, TX 16.6 30 St. Paul city, MN 16.3 31 Fort Worth city, TX 15.6 32 Washington city, DC 14.6 33 Tampa city, FL 14.0 34 Tucson city, AZ 13.8 35 Bakersfield city, CA 13.4 36 Portland city, OR 12.9 37 Mesa city, AZ 12.8 38 Raleigh city, NC 12.3 39 Charlotte city, NC 12.0 40 San Antonio city, TX 11.2 41 Oklahoma City city, OK 10.5 42 Albuquerque city, NM 10.0 42 Philadelphia city, PA 10.0 44 Milwaukee city, WI 9.5 45 Colorado Springs city, CO 9.4 46 Nashville-Davidson (balance), TN 9.0 47 Jacksonville city, FL 8.5 48 Wichita city, KS 8.2 49 Columbus city, OH 8.1 50 Anchorage municipality, AK 8.0 51 Lexington-Fayette, KY 7.8 52 Cleveland city, OH 7.6 53 Pittsburgh city, PA 7.3 54 Omaha city, NE 6.7 55 Detroit city, MI 6.4 56 Atlanta city, GA 6.3 56 Virginia Beach city, VA 6.3 58 Cincinnati city, OH 6.2 59 Baltimore city, MD 6.1 59 Tulsa city, OK 6.1 61 Corpus Christi city, TX 5.9 62 Kansas City city, MO 5.8 63 St. Louis city, MO 5.7 64 Indianapolis city (balance), IN 4.9 65 Buffalo city, NY 4.7 66 Memphis city, TN 4.2 67 New Orleans city, LA 3.4 68 Louisville city, KY 3.2 68 Toledo city, OH 3.2 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey>

Where Do You Live? Maps of your Neighborhoods.

Everyone post a map of your 'hood.>

Are there any Christians in here?

deleted>

Deck the Highways With Piles of Greenery and New Development

I've been a fan of capping highways or tunneling highways in cities, ever since I learned about the Big Dig in Boston. Now Boston has dozens of acres of new urban greenscape and parkland and reconnected neighborhoods b/se they recouped that lost acreage from the interstates. Similar things can happen with air rights over railyards such as the plan to cap the Union Staion railyard in Washington, DC for development. Similar plans are in the works for Paris, NYC, and even Charlotte, NC. The idea of getting more all purpose capabilities out of infrastructure is becoming rather important and smart in this generation of urban planning. This is short article about capping urban freeways in the U.S. What do u think??? Benefiting from a Cover Up Cities reap rewards for decking highways with parks By PETER HARNIK and BEN WELLE U.S. cities are increasingly putting freeway segments underground and covering them with parkland. Whether called a lid, deck, bridge or tunnel, there are already some 20 highway parks in the country, several under construction — most notably, the Rose Kennedy Greenway park atop Boston’s Big Dig — and at least a dozen more in the planning pipeline. As urban auto impacts become less welcome, these decks have moved from the novel to the expected. Despite the sometimes considerable cost — as much as $500 per square foot — they are no longer classified as porkbarrel. They’ve been redefined as amenity investment with high economic payback. It wasn’t until the 1970s construction of Seattle’s Freeway Park atop a downtown section of Interstate 5 that the “deck-the-freeway” concept began getting serious attention — opening as it did in time for the Bicentennial. Since then, there have been many more deckings. Phoenix, for instance, put 10-acre Hance Park over the Papago Freeway, uniting uptown and downtown and providing open space adjacent to the city’s central library, while Duluth, Minnesota, put in place three different deck parks over Interstate 35 to bridge the divide the road created between the city and the Lake Superior waterfront. More recently, New Jersey placed innovative freeway parks in Trenton and Atlantic City. A study carried out by the Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence found that the average size of freeway parks in the U.S. is about nine acres, and that, on average, each one covers 1,620 linear feet of highway. While construction costs for deck parks can be wincingly high, there is also an upside: The land itself is generally free, made available as air rights by state transportation agencies. In center-city locations, this can amount to a multimillion-dollar gift. Land near the Santa Ana Freeway by Los Angeles City Hall, for instance, goes for between $2 million and $3 million an acre. In near-downtown San Diego by Balboa Park, an acre is worth up to $13 million. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS Regardless of cost, the actual force driving the trend is the opportunity for private development and redevelopment around the parks. In Trenton, for instance, the New Jersey Department of Transportation spent $150 million on the new 6.5-acre Riverwalk deck over U.S. 29, linking the city to the Delaware River. In response, there was a significant spike in prices of nearby property. One lot, worth $120,000 pre-construction, was developed with six housing units that sold for $200,000 each. The park’s existence also helped recruit a new 82-unit market rate residential building. Projects where freeways are already below grade are much more feasible than others, and there are four particularly high-prospect opportunities in major downtowns. In St. Louis, one of Mayor Francis Slay’s top priorities is the “three-block solution,” a plan to cover a portion of I-70 between center city and the Gateway Arch so that visitors to the Arch — there are about 3 million a year — can get into downtown St. Louis easily, while making it easier for those downtown to reach the Arch and Mississippi waterfront. An early rough estimate put the cost at a minimum of $40 million. Cincinnati faces a similar situation. An interstate highway, Fort Washington Way, blocks downtown from the Ohio River and the city’s two new sports stadiums. However, there the political will has not yet solidified. Cincinnati had an opportunity to construct a five-block-long park deck during a recent reconstruction (and road narrowing), but opted not to because of cost. As a compromise, the new Fort Washington Way was equipped with $10 million worth of steel pilings capable of supporting a future park. (Adding the park deck is estimated to cost $46 million.) Dallas, on the other hand, is fired up about the opportunity of building a park over a stretch of the Woodall-Rodgers Freeway. The freeway separates the city’s downtown and arts district from the Uptown neighborhood, and a three-block park cover is seen as both improving the urban form and opening up new opportunities for development. An existing trolley line would run through the park, and condominium towers are expected to flank it on both sides. The park’s price tag is estimated at more than $60 million, but boosters are seeking to raise one-third of that from private sources. Downtown interests in San Diego are in the early stages of evaluating decking a few blocks of I-5 so as to link with Balboa Park. The city is in the midst of an unprecedented center city residential construction boom, and the highway presents a major barrier for the thousands of apartment dwellers who have little access to green space. PAYING THE WAY Despite the cost of a park deck, there are numerous sources of local, state and federal funds to cobble together, particularly if an analysis shows that associated development will generate significantly more tax revenue. One direct approach is to create a tax increment financing district, whereby future increased tax revenue is used to pay back the costs of the deck park. (Chicago used a TIF as partial funding for Millennium Park, which was built over railroad tracks.) Other local funding sources include general public works capital funds, revenue from another form of a special tax district, or municipal bonds. (Seattle’s “Forward Thrust” bond paid 20 percent of the cost of Freeway Park.) Often the deck superstructure is paid for by the federal government while actual park development is financed by the city. Phoenix, for instance, spent $5 million landscaping Hance Park. On the federal level, several decks were built using the Transportation Department’s Interstate Construction Program, but that no longer exists. At present, a state can use National Highway System or Surface Transportation Program funds (although only at the time of road construction, not as an after-the-fact retrofit). The Transportation Enhancement program conceivably could be used if the project provides pedestrian and bicycle facilities and landscaping and scenic beautification. In addition, while the Community Development Block Grant program has shrunk since Seattle used it for Freeway Park in the 1970s, it is still available. It may also be possible to tap into state transportation funding. The Trenton project involved reconstruction of a New Jersey highway, and the state transportation department paid for it. In Duluth, the Minnesota Department of Transportation contributed 10 percent of the cost. Private funding can play a role, too. In Cincinnati, 20 percent of the narrowing of Fort Washington Way was financed through private dollars, including $250,000 from the Cincinnati Bengals. The real key to a successful highway park deck is the economic spinoff that’s generated. A project needs to show its potential impact as a redevelopment tool for surrounding real estate. Only then will the rate of return give both public and private funding sources a sound idea of the value of the investment. Many years ago, urbanist and public intellectual Lewis Mumford said, “Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” Building parks over freeways doesn’t forget the automobile, but if done right, it offers some help to lovers and friends. That’s a combination that could make political leaders happy. Peter Harnik is director of the Center for City Park Excellence of the Trust for Public Land, and author of Inside City Parks. Ben Welle is a program assistant with the Center. http://www.governing.com/articles/1parks.htm>

SF/Midwest/Northeast

I'd like to test out a comparison I have made and see if others agree or disagree: the cities in the northeast quadrant of the US (in essence, the cities that spread from the northeast corridor's Bowash across to the Middle West) share much in common. These cities started to follow a common route during the second half of the 19th century, particularly after the Civil War. Their industralization spawned an enormous amount of European immigration. They grew tremendously during the pre-automotive era and thus their character was greatly affected by their tight, urban, and walkable neighborhoods and a dependence on public transporation. If you accept the above assessment, would you also agree with the following: of all the US cities outside of the northeast and middle west, only one truly followed their route to urbanization and the way that urbanization that dense, traditional, historic urbanization still exists today. THAT CITY WOULD BE SAN FRANCISCO.>

When people were not afraid of a little high density.

Density for the top 100 cities from 1910-2000. These are the only ones I've picked and is not to be taken as an actual densest to least dense list of all cities, major or otherwise. It might open your eyes considering how dense some cities used to be. 2000-New York City--26,694 1930-Jersey City-----24,363 1930-Newark--------18,743 1910-Baltimore------18,554 1910-Milwaukee-----18,069 1930-Boston--------17,795 1950-Chicago-------17,450 1950-San Francisco-17,385 1950-Philadelphia---16,286 1920-Wilmington----15,738 1910-Charleston SC-15,482(only info) 1920-Pittsburgh-----14,745 1930-Buffalo--------14,732 1930-Providence----14,212 1920-Cleveland------14,128 1950-St Louis-------14,046 1950-Detroit--------13,249 1950-Washington----13,065 1910-Richmond------12,763 1930-Dayton--------11,104 1910-Rochester-----10,853 1910-Louisville------10,818 1920-Columbus------10,488 1950-Minneapolis----9,696 1910-Albany---------9,283 1920-Tulsa----------9,240 1920-Akron----------9,182 1950-Atlanta--------8,979 1930-Toledo---------8,810 1950-Sacramento----8,140 1950-Nashville-------7,923 2000-Los Angeles----7,873 1950-Indianapolis----7,739 1930-El Paso--------7,587 1910-Cincinnati------7,301 1940-Dallas----------7,259 1910-Memphis-------7,125 1940-San Antonio----7,111 1930-Kansas City----6,822 1950-Jacksonville----6,772 2000-Seattle--------6,722 1950-Tampa---------6,562 1950-Wichita--------6,548 1950-Omaha---------6,170 1930-Oklahoma City--6,098 1960-St Paul--------6,004 1950-Portland-------5,829 1940-Birmingham----5,330 1950-Houston-------5,282 1940-Charlotte------5,228>

Mason Dixon line still going strong

Found this interesting... A Fine Line Between Gettysburg, Pa., And Emmitsburg, Md., Mason and Dixon Still Draw Subtle Distinctions By Linton Weeks Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 28, 2007 A few years ago, Brad Edmondson and I decided to found the Institute for Northern Studies. Edmondson, former editor of American Demographics magazine, lives in Ithaca, N.Y. I'm from Memphis. Our think tank would treat the North in the same anthropological way that many people treat the South. We would explore Northern folkways -- such as food, language and music -- and we would talk knowingly of Yankee yells, speaking Northern and "the New North." Recently I had an opportunity to spend a weekend doing fieldwork along the Mason-Dixon Line. For non-historians, the Line, surveyed in Colonial days, runs along part of the borders of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. The boundary has served as a shorthand for referring to the North-South cultural divide. The Line -- between Maryland and Pennsylvania -- is less than an hour from Washington. To get there, I drove up Interstate 270 until it became Route 15 north, past the Walkersville Southern Railroad and the "Get US Out of the U.N." signs. In Emmitsburg, which is a few miles south of the famous line, I stopped by Chubby's Southern Style Barbeque. It sure enough felt Southern. In the guest book, a customer from Greenville, N.C., had written, "Just like home cooking from southern North Carolina." It smelled like the South in there. People talked like Southerners. Lori A. Smith, 33, took a break while serving tasty beef brisket and coleslaw. "Frederick County has an identity crisis," Smith said. "It's torn between the North and the South." A sweet-smiling woman at Feud House Treasures in downtown Emmitsburg thinks pretty much the same thing. I asked her if she thinks of the town as being Northern or Southern. Standing amid the dried-flower crafts and collectibles, she drawled, "I never thought about it." Sounds Southern to me. "A lot of people around here seem to think this is the South," Linda Carpenter, 48, said at Mountain Liquors, a package store on Old Emmitsburg Road near the Blue-Gray Highway bridge, a stone's throw south of the Line. You can get a fifth of Southern Comfort there for $14. Just over the Line, you get your first sense of a different world when you stop at Keystone Fireworks' 10,000-square-foot superstore . Yee-ha, firecrackers! There's even a display called the Boss Hog. But hold your hosses, boss. If you live north of the Line -- in Pennsylvania -- you're not allowed to buy fireworks that fly. If you're a card-carrying Southerner from Maryland, however, you have the run of the place. Pennsylvanians need a special permit to buy Roman candles and other aerial pyrotechnics. Wonder why that is. Maybe Northerners like looking down on things. "This doesn't feel Southern to me at all," said Judy Graves, whose partner, Florence Tarbox, runs the Battlefield Bed & Breakfast Inn in Gettysburg, Pa. "They drink root beer here, not Dr Pepper." Graves has spent some time in the South, where she said people get all up in your business. In Gettysburg, she said, folks keep to themselves. Makes perfect sense that Gettysburg should feel like a Northern town to Graves and others. After all, it was here that the Union's Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George Meade defeated Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the goriest battle of the Civil War. But there has been some residual Southern influence. In Gettysburg proper, for instance, the South seems to be winning the war -- of memorabilia. At Gettysburg Souvenirs & Gifts on Steinwehr Road, Todd Mickley, 34, said Confederate T-shirts outsell Union tees 4 to 1. The area around Emmitsburg and Gettysburg, Mickley said, "is right in the middle" of North and South. "A lot of people wanted to remain neutral." The Avenue Restaurant on the main drag serves both grits (a Southern staple made from corn) and scrapple (a Northern food made from -- well, let's just say that Northerners know how to use their brains). But at karaoke night at the Pike, a beer hall on Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg, Southern music ruled. Amid lots of high-decibel urban tunes, the only two songs that somebody actually sang to were Southern: "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash and "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley. After experiencing a difference in attitudes, breakfast foods and musical moods, I am ready to file my report to the Institute. Edmondson -- who runs the demographic Web site ePodunk.com -- and I meet every once in a while to discuss our findings. Our next meeting may be at the new welcome station near Emmitsburg. The Mason-Dixon Discovery Center on Route 15 will eventually include an exhibition wing that explores the history of the demarcation. It opened to the world last spring, but, for some curious reason, is accessible only to folks in the southbound lane.>

what city do you recomend me to visit?

With the exception of the following: 1.new york city-been there 2.los angeles-been there 3.dallas-been there 4.houston-been there 5.seatle-been there 6.buffalo-been there 7.chicago-been there 8.oklahoma city-i dont like it 9.tampa-been there 10.orlando-been there 11.jacksonville-been there i have been to all these cities more than 1 time. i like warm,sunny climate (not extremely hot) and i like big cities. so whats it going to be?>

NHL warm climate cities: Which are most successful?

Which warm climate cities, if any, have the most successful or profitable NHL franchises?>

Sure, cities need US...but US needs cities, too

Our focus on this board is often about how our US cities stack up when compared to each other and some sort of a preceived pecking order within the United States. But haven't a number of our greatest cities already transended the United States and look to the world to determine the type of future they will have? Is it time to put some thoughts of the US to rest and to see how are cities are fitting in globally rather than nationally? We spend so much time here talking about how cities fit here in the US without realizing that a number of our cities are finding American issues less relevant, their concerns about how Americans feel abot them lessening, and see themselves as free agents in the world, their ties to the US not being the key issue. Our paradigm seems so set on what the US thinks of how it needs its major cities rather than the equally important (in this global era) of how our great cities think about the United States and how essential they are to the nation. Is it time to stop thinking about how our cities come neatly placed in a package called the United States and to realize the babies may be leaving the nest and viewing their relationships with the rest of the world that are not dependent on their being American cities?>

How sustainable is America's life style?

No need to add more information on what I'm asking; I believe it is clear" How sustainable is America's life style?>

what cities have the best nightlife?

New York City,Miami Beach>

Rustbelt cities in the Sunbelt, Sunbelt cities in the Rustbelt

There are a few cities in the Sunbelt (particularly the South) that seem to have more Rustbelt-like qualities (slow-to-moderate growth, industrial economy [past or present], etc.) and there are cities in the Rustbelt (Midwest, North) that seem to enjoy the economic and population growth that many Sunbelt cities now enjoy. Let's discuss some of these cities.>

Which has a better quality of life: the North (Midwest/Northeast) or the South?

I think it's the South, because the winters are mild, people are nicer, and the cities are easier to navigate. Just my two cents.>

Metropolitan areas & higher education

based on cities and their metropolitan areas, which US cities do you see as the leaders in the field of higher education...based on the number of institutions and their sizes, but more imporantly the quality of the schools in question? In other words, how many Bostons are there out there?>

Which city/state is prone to the most natural disasters?

Which one? I think it's LA, which is prone to heat waves, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, drought, and mudslides.>

Your city's Irish community?

St. Patrick's Day is this week. Many cities in the nation have large and/or visible Irish populations. Does your city have an Irish neighborhood? Does your city have a big St. Patrick's Day parade or have a large Irish festival at some time in the year? Forty Acres is Wilmington's historically Irish neighborhood. As you might find with Irish in any part of the country, they are proud of their heritage. irish flags fly next to American flags at some houses, Ntore Dame gear can be seen being worn by people, and cultural events are scheduled on occasion. Forty Acres got it's name back when it was still farmland in the mid-1800's. It was said that one acre of land in this area produced as much goods as forty acres of land somewhere else outside of Wilmington. General boundaries of Forty Acres: Pictures from Forty Acres: An Irish flag flies at a house on Shallcross Avenue. A duplex on Grant Avenue. Sweeney's, a store that specializes in Irish products at the corner of Union Steet and Gilpin Avenue. Some houses on Gilpin Avenue. The building on the right is the old Number 5 Firehouse, dating from 1893. It is the oldest continuously-used firehouse in Wilmington. Some rowhouses on Lincoln Street. More rowhouses in Forty Acres. The old Delaware Academy of Medicine building on Lovering Avenue. Some new houses in Forty Acres. These houses were built on the site of a convent. The nuns moved into the suburbs because it became too expensive to live in the city. The building was destroyed, and the only thing saved from the convent was the wall. You can see where the wall was knocked down to make way for a little street opening. St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church on Union Street near Gilpin Avenue. St. Ann's is the center of the neighborhood, being the common link for all the Irish in the neighborhood when people started moving into the surrounding area. >

Pedestrianization

I think the USA are lagging behind Europe in downtown pedestrianization which is a shme as I'm sure that would do a lot to revitalize city centers. Which cities in America have, in your opinion, done best in that area? What cities have the most extensive pedestrianized systems? What are the prospects in your city on that subject?>

If you city was a verb...?

The recent coining of Baltimore'd got me thinking of what would be the verbal definition for your city. Chicagoed- Become part of the machine. The new immigrant group quickly Chicagoed and received numerous patronage jobs. Milwaukeed- to get really drunk on beer. The fraternity was known for the parties it gave where everyone totally Milwaukeed. Of course, multiple definitions are possible.>

Global Information Technology Report: US#1

US regains top ranking for technology The US has regained top position in the 2005 information technology rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum after slipping to fifth place in 2004. 1. US 2. Singapore 3. Denmark 4. Iceland 5. Finland 6. Canada 7. Taiwan 8. Sweden 9. Switzerland 10. UK 11. Hong Kong 12. Netherlands 13. Norway 14. Korea 15. Australia Releasing its latest Global Information Technology Report, Geneva-based WEF said the US lead reflected its excellent physical infrastructure, a supportive market environment and high levels of business and government usage of the latest technologies. Singapore, first in 2004, came second and Denmark third. Four Nordic countries – the others being Iceland, Finland and Sweden – are in the top 10 alongside Canada, Taiwan and Switzerland. The UK, in 10th place, is the top-ranked of the European UnionÂ's large economies, followed some way behind by Germany (17), France (22) and Italy (42). WEF, which for 2005 ranked 115 economies worldwide, said information and communications technologies were clearly emerging as one of the key drivers of economic growth and competitiveness. WEF produces a separate league table on global competitiveness each year. The Â"networked readiness indexÂ" rates each economy for its broad ICT environment, such as regulation and infrastructure, the readiness of individuals, businesses and governments to use ICT, such as education quality and spending on research and development, and use of ICT in practice. Augusto Lopez-Claros, director of WEFÂ's global competitiveness network, said: Â"The US has been for many years an ICT powerhouse, and its sustained ability to harness these technologies so effectivelyÂ…provides a standard of measurement for other countries wishing to rapidly improve the living standards of their citizens.Â" All ranking exercises of this type have an element of arbitrariness, depending on how the indexes are compiled. However, the leaders tend to be roughly the same whatever the criteria, with the US, UK, the Nordics, Switzerland, Singapore and others in east Asia all featuring regularly in the top 10. Further down the rankings the idiosyncrasies of the index become more apparent. India is ranked at 40, much the same as in 2004, despite its booming ICT sector. China, which is set to overtake the US in the number of internet users, has fallen nine places to 50. Both are ranked well below countries such as Malaysia (24), United Arab Emirates (28), Thailand (34) and South Africa (37). Among those moving up the league table in 2005 were Taiwan, which jumped to 7 from 15 in 2004, South Korea (up 10 places to 14), and several new EU members, including Poland and the Czech and Slovak Republics. Chile, ranked 29, leads in Latin America, with bigger economies such as Brazil (52) and Mexico (55) well down the list. Source>

New York expects 9 million in 2020

People along Court Street between Montague and Remsen streets in Brooklyn With higher birth rates among Hispanic and Asian New Yorkers, immigrants continuing to gravitate to New York City and a housing boom transforming all five boroughs, the city is struggling to cope with a phenomenon that few other cities in the Northeast or Midwest now face: a growing population. It is expected to pass nine million by 2020. New York might need an extra million or so slices of cake for its 400th birthday party in 2025. Estimated today at a record 8.2 million, the population is expected to reach nearly 9.4 million in 2025. But that projected growth poses potential problems that New York is just starting to grapple with: ensuring that there are enough places in which to live, work, attend school and play and that transportation and energy are adequate. Elaborating on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's disclosure last month that city planners were drafting a strategy to cope with this expected growth, Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development, said the city could accommodate a million additional people or more, but only if it began planning for their needs now. "We have the capacity through rezoning and underutilized land to go well over that number," he said. "But you cannot simply divorce the issue of growth from the infrastructure required to support it. It opens up great opportunities only if the growth is smart, if we have the things that make cities worth living in." Mr. Doctoroff said the strategy would explore opportunities for growth both citywide and in 188 individual neighborhoods. It would determine how land use regulations and other constraints might be altered to create sufficient housing, schools, subway routes and parks, preserve factory jobs and identify sites for less desirable but necessary structures, including power plants. Last month, the New York Building Congress, a trade group, estimated that proposed development, including the World Trade Center site and the Hudson Yards in Manhattan and the Atlantic Terminal area in Brooklyn, would generate a 21 percent increase in jobs by 2025. That, the group said, would require new sources of electricity. In his State of the City address last month, Mr. Bloomberg said that he would present a "strategic land use plan" in April. That will explore the potential for growth, identify the constraints and recommend how to provide the housing, transportation, energy and other public works, including parks, to accommodate a larger population, the mayor said. "Making sure that every community shares in the New York we are building also requires us to look to the future and plan for the future in ways we haven't dared in decades," the mayor said. Among the goals of the plan, Mr. Doctoroff said, are to produce greater geographic diversity — more jobs in Downtown Brooklyn, Flushing and Jamaica in Queens, the South Bronx, Harlem and the Far West Side — and to preserve manufacturing jobs. City officials rarely engage in long-range planning, particularly for growth. A short-lived proposal for "planned shrinkage" was advanced in the mid-1970's, sandwiched between a comprehensive statement of urban challenges and potential solutions in 1969 and a candid but still largely optimistic assessment in 1987. "This will be different," Mr. Doctoroff said. "Much more practical." New York has ranked first in population among American cities since the first census in 1790. Almost steadily since the 1940's, more people have been leaving the city for other parts of the country than have arrived here from other areas of the nation. Growth in the 1980's and especially the 1990's has been largely driven by immigration. Foreigners are expected to account for much of the growth in the next two decades, growth that, according to the forecasts, would keep New York in first place among the nation's cities and maintain the New York metropolitan region either as the largest or, at least, tied with Los Angeles. One recent study, by Regina Armstrong of Urbanomics, a consultant to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, an intergovernmental planning group, also projects that by 2025, the Bronx will be home to 1.5 million people and Brooklyn to 2.8 million — surpassing their mid-20th century peaks. Queens will have 2.8 million people, the study says, and Staten Island nearly 600,000 — records for both boroughs. Manhattan, with 1.7 million, will still be short of the more than two million people who lived there early in the last century, many in densely packed tenements. Other projections computed by state demographers suggest that by 2020, Queens will overtake Brooklyn as the most populous borough. The Urbanomics projections say that among non-Hispanic whites, births will again outnumber deaths beginning after 2010 and that their net migration from the city will peak by 2015 and that the number of black residents will begin to decline in 2015. They also say that after 2010 more Hispanic people will be leaving New York than arriving but that their birthrates will remain high, and that the number from Asia will continue to increase. After 2025, the population is projected to then expand more slowly, to nearly 9.5 million in 2030, for a 16 percent increase since 2005. Compared to the last five years, according to the projections, between 2025 and 2030 among Asians the total of births over deaths will more than double, and the net migration — people arriving versus leaving — will more than triple. Population projections are notoriously subject to caveats and variables — no one can predict the impact of terrorism, a possible resurgence in crime, medical advances or epidemics, the global economy or the effects of technological changes on jobs. Historically, those predictions tend to have overestimated growth, inspired, in part, by the optimism of the moment or to justify the ambitious agendas of developers and utility executives. "The overall driving concept is that a favorable employment situation in the New York region will attract an increase in population," said Prof. Joel E. Cohen, who heads the Laboratory of Populations at the Rockefeller University. "I am not saying these projections are better or worse than lots of local area projections. They just should be taken with large grains of salt. Historical analyses of how projections made in the past have done when the future came around have shown much larger errors than anticipated by the people who made the projections." The latest official census figures actually showed a slight decline in New York State's population. But, on the basis of housing construction, the city has successfully challenged recent city estimates, and the Census Bureau has accepted the city's figure of 8,168,338 as of 2004. New census estimates are due out next month. While some demographers question how long growth will continue, state and city officials say they generally agree with the overall projections. "We're in the same ballpark," said Joseph J. Salvo, director of the Department of City Planning's population division. Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, said that with nearby suburbs nearly saturated, the city was no longer at as much of a competitive disadvantage. Still, he said, "New York's got to find a place to put another 1.2 to 1.5 million New Yorkers," adding, "One way to keep these forecasts from happening is to make it prohibitively expensive to live and work here.">

"loose change"

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...59923762628848>

The Boycotting of San Francisco

A precursor of things to come? HIGHLAND, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY S.F.'s stance on military gains enemies City bans trips to land of 'kooks' in wake of supervisor's resolution Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, February 19, 2006 Barber Daniel McGee, 22, stands outside his family barber shop with David Lam, 33, (in wheelchair), who works at a nearby business in the city of Highland, California. Chronicle photo by Chris Stewart Highland, San Bernardino County -- The faded sign outside Kay's Cafe in the city of Highland sports a cartoon caricature of a grinning chef holding a frying pan. City officials, who use the drab yellow diner as a kind of impromptu town center, are looking a lot like the diminutive chef on the sign these days as they hold San Francisco's feet to the fire. The prod that woke this bedroom community at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains, whose 2005 population city officials estimate at 50,860, was a decision by San Francisco voters to pass an advisory measure banning military recruiters from schools. Calling San Franciscans a bunch of "kooks and nuts" and castigating supervisors for their "tomfoolery," the City Council unanimously approved a resolution "prohibiting the expenditure of city funds for attending conferences, training seminars and/or workshops to be held in the City of San Francisco." It was a bold move for a city that is virtually unknown outside of San Bernardino County, but it turns out little Highland was simply the first to pile on. San Francisco Supervisors fanned the flames of middle American contempt for the city by the bay with talk about impeaching President Bush. Then Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval opened the floodgates of national ridicule this past week on the "Hannity & Colmes" show on Fox News when he said the United States should not have a military. That did it. San Francisco, itself, is being depicted by conservative talk radio hosts all over the nation as a place full of loonies. Highland, meanwhile, has been thrust into the public eye. The city hasn't gotten this much press, according to City Manager Sam Racadio, since 1992, when the city offices were temporarily moved into a building historically occupied by a mortuary. Highland officials are eagerly passing out to the media, and anyone else interested, copies of e-mails they've received from people all over the country, many expressing support for their position. San Francisco's government "is full of a bunch of whacked-out liberals," shrieks one e-mail from a resident of Napa. Another commends Highland for boycotting "this city of derelicts, drug addicts and ultra-left-wing liberals" who should be "quarantined so (their disease) doesn't have a chance to infect any of our other cities." Getting into the spirit of things, City Councilman Larry McCallon railed against San Francisco last week for sins including a lack of support for traditional marriage, family, the Bush administration and the military, if not God himself. "I was raised in Kentucky and everybody all over that area calls California 'the land of the kooks and nuts' or 'the left coast' because of the things that happen in San Francisco," said McCallon, the retired owner of a laundry chain who does Baptist missionary work in his spare time. "There are a lot of people up there who have some weird ideas, who are extreme in their views." San Francisco city officials have tried to shrug off the fiery rhetoric as the jealous rantings of extremists. Mayor Gavin Newsom referred to the council members in Highland as "errant leaders" and implied that they are out of touch with their constituencies. "It is San Bernardino, after all," said Supervisor Tom Ammiano, adding that anti-gay protesters greeted him the last time he was in that county, about 10 years ago. "They're welcome to join us in the 21st century whenever they are ready." Lady Liberty patriotically advertises the Liberty Tax Service company in Highland, California. Chronicle photo by Chris Stewart It appears, nevertheless, that Highland is the community with the most to gain in this David and Goliath battle. The community, once home to the Serranos Indians, was once one of the best orange growing regions in the world. The first oranges were planted there in 1859. By 1920, there were 3,500 acres of citrus in the area, which became known as the Highland Citrus Belt. Highland was famous for its delicious navel oranges that were shipped around the world under the brand name Gold Buckle. But by 1950, agriculture in the region was in serious decline. Highland's last great orange grove was sold in 1980. The city, which incorporated in 1987, is like many suburbs, a flat monotonous expanse of mostly tract homes. Highland's busiest streets are a collection of auto shops, nail salons, diners and discount shops. The closure of the Norton Air Force Base in 1991 was a major blow to the region, costing 10,000 jobs. City officials have worked hard since then trying to build Highland up as a good place for businesses to set up shop. The passage of Measure I in San Francisco stuck in the craw of the many Air Force retirees living in Highland. The City Council first learned about San Francisco's stance against military recruiters after the infamous outburst by Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly suggested after the vote that the rest of the nation should ignore an al Qaeda terrorist attack on Coit Tower. "You want to be your own country?" he taunted. "Go right ahead." Still, the imbroglio has had little effect on the regulars at the old Bella Highland Cafe and Bar, a crumbling, windowless place with a sign outside touting its tap beer. The "Bell," as it is known to regulars, is one of the few remaining businesses in the historic downtown, a dusty collection of frontier-style wood, brick and stone buildings, some stuccoed over or boarded up. Bartender Kasey Glover said she hadn't even heard of the spat with San Francisco and doesn't much care. "I've never been there," she said as she poured a morning beer for a tattooed patron. "I hear it's always cold there." Most of the patrons and employees at Kay's one recent day said they supported the military but have nothing against San Francisco. "I think they should allow recruiters on campuses, but I still like the town," said Linda Sparrow, 50, a waitress at Kay's and a longtime resident of Highland. "It's a pretty town, and it's fun to go visit." Across the street from City Hall, on Base Line Street, Daniel McGee took a break from cutting hair to express his support for San Francisco's cause. "I don't think the military should be in our high schools, and I don't think they should be in Iraq," said McGee, 22, an apprentice in his father's business, Plaza Barber Shop. "It's another Vietnam War. People are over there just dying for nothing and we're not taking care of anything over here in the United States. San Francisco is right." Although most Highland city employees were supportive of the resolution, several confessed to being perplexed by the position of the Highland City Council. "I like San Francisco," said one woman who works on real estate projects with the city and feared retribution if she openly expressed her opinion, "but don't tell anyone I said that." The outspoken McCallon was not willing to cut San Francisco any slack, especially after Sandoval's statement. "It's a beautiful city," he acknowledged, "but I subscribe that to God, not to anyone up in San Francisco. "It's important to let people in the country know that the opinion of San Francisco does not represent the opinion of most Californians," he said. "The majority of Californians support our military and support traditional values and our way of life and our government.">

Americans are lucky

...while we complain about globalization, the border, Iraq, and the Bush gov't, we almost never stop and look at how fortunate we are compared with the rest of the west: The Decline and Fall of Europe Talk to top-level scientists and educators about the future of scientific research and they will rarely even mention Europe. Fareed Zakaria Newsweek Feb. 20, 2006 issue - Cartoons and riots made the headlines in Europe last week, but a far less fiery event, the publication of an academic study, might shed greater light on the future of the Continent. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, headquartered in Paris, released a report, Going for Growth, that details economic prospects in the industrial world. It is 160 pages long and written in bland, cautious, scholarly prose. But the conclusion is clear—Europe is in deep trouble. These days we all talk about the rise of Asia and the challenge to America, but it might well turn out that the most consequential trend of the next decade will be the economic decline of Europe. It's often noted that the European Union has a combined gross domestic product that is approximately the same as that of the United States. But the EU has 170 million more people. Its per capita GDP is 25 percent lower than that of the U.S. and, most important, that gap has been widening for 15 years. If present trends continue, the chief economist at the OECD argues, in 20 years the average U.S. citizen will be twice as rich as the average Frenchman or German. (Britain is an exception on most of these measures, lying somewhere between Continental Europe and the U.S.) People have argued that Europeans simply value leisure more and, as a result, are poorer but have a better quality of life. That's fine if you're taking a 10 percent pay cut and choosing to have longer lunches and vacations. But if you're only half as well off as the U.S., that will translate into poorer health care and education, diminished access to all kinds of goods and services, and a lower quality of life. Two Swedish researchers, Frederik Bergstrom and Robert Gidehag, note in a monograph published last year that "40 percent of Swedish households would rank as low-income households in the U.S." In many European countries, the percentage would be even greater. In March 2000, the EU's heads of state agreed to make the EU "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010." Today this looks like a joke. The OECD report goes through the status of reforms country by country, and all the major continental economies get a B-minus. Whenever some politician makes tiny, halting efforts at reform, strikes and protests paralyze the country. In recent months, reformers like Nicolas Sarkozy in France, Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels and Angela Merkel in Germany have been backtracking on their proposals and instead mouthing pious rhetoric about the need to "manage" globalization. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson's efforts to liberalize trade have been consistently undercut. As a result of the EU's unwillingness to reduce its massive farm subsidies, the Doha trade-expansion round is dead. Talk to top-level scientists and educators about the future of scientific research, and they will rarely even mention Europe. There are areas in which it is world-class, but they are fewer than they once were. In the biomedical sciences, for example, Europe is not on the map, and it might well be surpassed by much poorer Asian countries. The CEO of a large pharmaceutical company told me that in 10 years, the three most important countries for his industry would be the United States, China and India. And I haven't even gotten to the demographics. In 25 years, the number of working-age Europeans will decline by 7 percent, while those over 65 will increase by 50 percent. One solution: let older people work. But Europe's employment rate for people over 60 is low: 7 percent in France and 12 percent in Germany (compared with 27 percent in the U.S.). Modest efforts to allow people to retire later have been met with the usual avalanche of protests. And while economists and the European Commission keep proposing that Europe take in more immigrants to expand its labor force, it won't. The cartoon controversy has powerfully highlighted the difficulties Europe is having with its existing immigrants. What does all this add up to? Less European influence in the world. Europe's position in institutions like the World Bank and the IMF relates to its share of world GDP. Its dwindling defense spending weakens its ability to be a military partner of the U.S., or to project military power abroad even for peacekeeping purposes. Its cramped, increasingly protectionist outlook will further sap its vitality. The decline of Europe means a world with a greater diffusion of power and a lessened ability to create international norms and rules of the road. It also means that America's superpower status will linger. Think of the dollar. For years people have argued that it is due for a massive drop as countries around the world diversify their savings. But as people looked at the alternatives, they decided that the chief rivals, the euro and the yen, represented economies that were structurally weak. So they have reluctantly stuck with the dollar. It's a similar dynamic in other arenas. You can't beat something with nothing. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11298986/site/newsweek/page/2/ --------------------- We have problems too, but nothing like what the Euro's or Japanese face! Their structural problems (bloated welfare system, little motivation to innovate or create, little incentive to work, dying population) will be very hard to correct. Meanwhile, we Americans are worried about a manufacturing job going overseas, gas prices, social security, and healthcare. None of those things are serious enough to create bring down the U.S. Other nations should be so lucky. I will even place a bet that China will fall flat on its feet with its huge ageing population.>

Post you Ad on the Great Wall

Doing business with China might be difficult amid culture barrier and complex market inside this eastern country with ancient history. But, advertising in China may have an easy way to deal with. No matter where your business is located, what type of business you are, now you can set up your Ad post in China for almost 4 years, until the end of December 31, 2009. The minimum cost is only100 euro. This is what promised by PixTrip PixTrip is an advertising system provided by Pintrip.com, which is an internet publisher and advertiser with initial focus on tourism industry. The webpage of PixTrip looks familiar, like another newcomer amongst thousands pixel advertising pages driven by one-night millionaire dream spurt by Alex Tew. However, PixTrip has integrated many key features and convert the simple pixel advertising into a fast and cost-effective global advertising platform. Every advertiser can have his own account at PixTrip, which means the advertiser can publish or update his ad at anytime as he wishes. The English to Chinese translation is also available to those posting ad. at PixTrip China page. Pintrip Technology Inc, the company owns PixTrip claims that they developed alliance with China General Chamer of Commerce (CGCC) and other government organization and commit to tie western companies with local enterprises. The mother site of PixTrip, www.pintrip.com, is a publisher of internet travel and shopping deals. This will benefit advertisers to catch touristÂ' eyeball. Believe or not, what can we really buy at 100 euro? A watch, a shirt, or a brand in the country with 1.3 billion population, more than 100 million internet users, the 4th largest economy with the fastest growing pace, and will be the biggest outbound tourism country in the world (reach 100 million in 2020). Then, what can we really lose?>

US Cities Ranked by Number of Murders, FBI 2004

US Cities Ranked by Number of Murders, FBI 2004 Murders and Non-Negligent Manslaughter, 2004 New York, NY......................570 Los Angeles, CA..................518 Chicago, IL.........................448 Detroit, MI..........................385 Philadelphia, PA....................330 Baltimore...........................276 Houston, TX........................272 Dallas, TX...........................248 New Orleans, LA...................264 Phoenix, AZ.........................202 Washington, DC....................198 Las Vegas, NV......................131 St Louis, MO........................113 Atlanta, GA..........................112 Indiapolis, IN........................109 Memphis, TN........................105 Jacksonville, FL.....................104 San Antonio, TX.....................94 Richmond, VA........................93 Kansas City, MO....................89 Columbus, OH........................88 San Francisco, CA..................88 Denver, CO............................87 Milwaukee, WI........................87 Newark, NJ............................84 Oakland, CA..........................83 Cleveland, OH........................78 Miami, FL .............................69 Louisville, KY..........................66 Cincinnati, OH........................64 San Diego, CA.......................62 Boston, MA............................61 Birmingham, AL.......................59 Charlotte, NC.........................59 Nashville, TN.........................58 Tucson, AZ...........................55 Gary, IN................................54 Jackson, MS...........................53 Minneapolis, MN......................53 Fresno, CA.............................53 Ft Worth, TX..........................52 Buffalo, NY.............................51 Sacramento, CA......................50 San Bernardino, CA ..................50 Camden, NJ............................49 Long Beach, CA.......................48 Tulsa, OK ...............................48 Baton Rouge, LA......................47 Pittsburgh, PA..........................46 Albuquerque, NM......................41 Little Rock, AR........................40 Stockton, CA.........................40 Compton, CA..........................39 Flint, MI.................................39 Oklahoma City, CA...................39 Kansas City, KS......................37 Rochester, NY........................36 Norfolk, VA............................35 Richmond, CA.........................35 Shreveport, LA.......................33 Dayton, OH...........................32 Durham, NC............................30 Tampa, FL.............................30 Portland, OR...........................29 Wichita, KS............................29 Austin, TX..............................27 Mobile, AL................................27 Honolulu, HI...........................26 Inglewood, CA.......................26 Irvington, NJ..........................26 Columbus, GA..........................25 Corpus Christi, TX....................25 Montgomery, AL........................25 Santa Ana, CA.........................25 Lexington, KY.........................24 San Jose, CA...........................24 Seattle, WA..............................24 Bakersfield, CA...........................23 Jersey City, NJ..........................23 Savannah, GA...........................23 Youngstown, OH.........................23 Ft Wayne, IN..............................22 Mesa, AZ..................................22 Toledo, OH................................22 Pomona, CA...............................21 Winston-Salem, NC .....................21 Knoxville, TN..............................20 Omaha, NE................................20 Saginaw, MI...............................20 St Paul,MN.................................20 Chester, PA................................19 Modesto, CA...............................19 St Petersburg, FL........................19 Columbia, SC..............................18 Glendale, AZ...............................18 Lynwood, CA..............................18 Oxnard, CA.................................18 Trenton, NJ...............................18 West Palm Beach, FL....................18 Aurora, IL..................................17 East Orange, NJ...........................17 Newport News, VA........................17 Orlando, FL..................................17 Providence, RI.............................17 Riverside, CA................................17 Salinas, CA ................................17 Springfield, MA...........................17 Waco, TX....................................17 Hartford, CT..............................16 Lubbock, TX................................16 Macon, GA.................................16 Raleigh, NC.................................16 Syracuse, NY..............................16 Anchorage, AK..............................15 Ft Lauderdale, FL.........................15 Ft Myers, FL................................15 Lancaster, CA.............................15 Laredo, TX...................................15 Chula Vista, CA.............................15 Salt Lake City, UT..........................15 Virginia Beach, VA..........................15 Yonkers, NY..................................15 Arlington, TX..................................14 Bridgeport, CT.................................14 Colorado Springs, CA.......................14 East Chicago, IN............................14 Fayetteville, NC.............................14 Greensboro, NC............................14 Hampton, VA................................14 North Las Vegas, NV.....................14 Peoria, IL....................................14 Reading, PA................................14 Akron, OH..................................13 Aurora, CA...................................13 Rialto, CA....................................13 Riviera Beach, FL..........................13 Somerville, NJ............................13 Tacoma, WA..............................13 Chesapeake, VA...........................12 Grand Rapids, MI..........................12 Hialeah, FL....................................12 Merced, CA....................................12 Tallahassee, FL..............................12 Allentown, PA................................11 Amarillo, TX...................................11 Chattanooga, TN............................11 El Paso, TX....................................11 Harrisburg, PA.................................11 Miami Gardens, FL...........................11 Wilson, NC.....................................11 Worcester, MA...............................11 York, PA.......................................11 Albany, NY...................................10 Anaheim, CA..................................10 Clovis, NM......................................10 Elizabeth, NJ..................................10 Garden Grove, CA............................10 Hammond, IN..................................10 High Point, NC.................................10 Irving, TX.......................................10 Lansing, MI....................................10 Opa Locka, FL.................................10 Palmdale, CA..................................10 Patterson, NJ...............................10 South Bend, IN............................10 Springfield, IL..............................10 Tuscaloosa, AL............................10 Source: FBI http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offen.../table_08.html>

On the cultural divide that is the Ohio River...

Here's a question for you folks who know the Ohio River from both sides: • those of you south of the river in WV, KY -and- • north in OH, IND, IL I know your region is a mixture of cultures. I also know that to many of us further north, Cairo, IL, and Nashville, IN, can feel almost southern. So which of he following do you think is a stronger influecne: • the feel of the south in southern IL, IN, and OH -or- • the feel of the north in northern KY, WV ?????>

NYC: light years away...or one of the pack?

THIS THREAD IS NOT ABOUT THE GREATNESS OF N.Y.C.. A GREATNESS TOO EVIDENT TO EVEN BE DISCUSSED. THIS THREAD IS ABOUT HOW N.Y.C. FITS IN WITH ITS FELLOW U.S. CITIES. You get a sense from many forumers on this board that New York City is in a category of its own, an incomparable place that divides American cities into two groups: • New York • others In other words, "A-#-1, king of the hill, top of the heap", leaving even cities like LA, Chgo, SF, and Boston in its dust. As an American, do you see New York City in such a light....the star above all others in some sort of a hierarchial rating system? -or- Do you preceive that in the last half century, that total control that New York seemed to have had over every aspect of US life (save for government.... and that one it often shared with DC behind the scenes anyway) has been reduced, that power has spead out greatly from its old Eastern Establishment (Bowash) days, that our cities in the last half century have been invigorated with a sophistication unknown to them prior to WWII...so that New York, while still our greatest city, needs to be spoken of in the same breath as other US cities? So, which is it...New York leaves the pack in its dust, or that one is an old paradigm: other US cities have grown too sophisticated, have been acquired too many ammentiies, too many aspects of quality urbanism that no city, even New York, is immune from being grouped with the others?>