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Is Chicago at the same level as New York-London-Paris-Tokyo??

48K views 311 replies 72 participants last post by  Monkey 
#1 · (Edited)
Chicago must be one of the most awsome cities in the world. It has 10 million people in it's metro area, the tallest building in the US, an evergrowing skyline, it's and Alpha City, and it's the second biggest financial center of the largest economy in the world by far, with a highest income per head than Paris, London and Tokio.
So, why isn't Chicago considered at the same level of these 4 cities??

Here I left you some pictures:













 
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#4 ·
But the question is: If Chicago would be in England and London in Illinois, wouldn't Chicago be considered one of the big 4 and London overshadowed by New York??
Saying that the only reason that why Chicago isn't there is because of it's geographical position sounds silly.

And to my English friends, I love London, I think it's one of the best cities in the world, it was just an example.
 
#5 ·
I think people tend to underestimate Chicago as just some second-class Midwestern city. In fact it has some of the world's best museums and its universities are top-notch in the US and World (Kellogg, UofC, etc.). It has many financial institutions as well as CBOT, the world’s oldest (and America’s largest) future’s market and the Merchandise Mart. Add to that the architectural gems and important architects of Chicago and its diversity, along with it being the transportation hub of America and home to many HQs (both downtown and metro) and a counter culture to NY (deep dish, Broadway West) as well as shopping that rivals other cities and it should be up there.

Yes, it does not have the history of London and Paris, and yes it is smaller than NYC and Tokyo, but it holds it ground as a distinctive world, full-service city that is clean, something you can't say NY is. It's just as easy to attack the "Big 4" (really 5 with HK) as it is to attack Chicago.
 
#7 ·
gronier said:
But the question is: If Chicago would be in England and London in Illinois, wouldn't Chicago be considered one of the big 4 and London overshadowed by New York.
Saying that the only reason that why Chicago isn't there is because of it's geographical position sounds silly.

And to my English friends, I love London, I think it's one of the best cities in the world, it was just an example.
Then London wouldn't be London, and all its landmarks and institutions would be up in smoke. There wouldn't even be the Big Ben, lol.
 
#10 ·
What else should we take about then? :)

Music- home to many bands and musicians and to blues/jazz and House
Cuisine- like mentioned before, deep dish pizza, Eli's cake, hotdogs, etc.
Sports- two baseball teams, one NFL team, one NBA team, one NHL team, one soccer team
Stadiums- Soldier's Field was a magnificient stadium to begin with and with the modernization that I'm slowly liking, it has the best views in the league. I'd mention Comiskey but that's long gone, and Wrigley is just great, even if you don't like baseball. It's the second oldest in the league, the only pro stadium in the world to my knowledge that doesn't allow advertisements, doesn't use electronic signs and scoreboards, and for a long time didn't have stadium lights because Mr. Wrigley donated them to the war effort.
Candy capital of the world
Many national conventions are held in Chicago
NA's largest autoshow is in Chicago and CATA is larger than anywhere else in the US.
The Mayor of Chicago has long been considered the best in the country.
Chicago has more sister-cities than NY
Chicago is situated on Lake Michigan and is ranked higher than Paris, London, and Tokyo for skylines
Chicago is most likely #1 city for medical centers and schools
Chicago is featured in many movies and TV shows, and has/had large daytime audience shows like Oprah, Jerry Springer, and Jenny Jones.
Steppenwolf and Second City are just some of the more edgy theatre work Chicago produces, compared to NY.


I think that's quite impressive for a city in the middle of a country with less than 200 years of history (of course the Native Americans were there long before).
 
#11 ·
spyguy999 said:
I think that's quite impressive for a city in the middle of a country with less than 200 years of history (of course the Native Americans were there long before).
It is impressive, but most of your criteria is US oriented.. e.g. skyline, car shows, professional American sports teams, stadiums, sister cities(?!?),mayor, candy capital, etc. Looks more like a NYC - Chitown comparison to me..
Your efforts are laudable though. IMO, Chicago's music and nightlife scene is a bit behind the top 4.

Rather than striving to be an International city like the top 4, what Chicago does really well is establishing itself as the true American city. Bet it's because you're right smack in the middle of the country.. in the Midwest.
 
#14 ·
you must be living in la-la-land if you think chicago is on par with NYC, London, Paris or Tokyo....

it ain't.

it's on par with LA, HK, Singapore, Milan, and Osaka. look at the brookings institute for world city ranking.

chicago might be the second biggest business city in the US but it lacks the international prestige and cosmopolitan, multi-cultural depth of places like nyc and london and paris. chicago's too american.
 
#18 ·
^that's the usual ignorance of this whole board. A lot of cities are highly over inflated on this board because they are most important in given country. That doesn't make them more important than or even on the level of Chicago.

Most interesting is that in this very post, Chicago is accused of certain things it is not, while said criteria can be used against those cities too. Those cities that are called the big 4 on this board are simply that. Instead of people just posting that Chicago isn't on the level, I'd like to see some actual evidence or criteria to compare Chicago to these other cities with. That's my challenge for this board. Prove that Chicago isn't on par.
 
#20 ·
Okay then, below are some stats and info about London, taken from another thread.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

London
  • has the largest foreign currency exchange market in the world, handling more money than New York and Tokyo combined. Average
    daily turnover is more than $0.5 trillion.

  • Along with The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, there are more than 550 international banks and 170 global
    securities houses which have set up offices in London. By contrast Frankfurt has around 280, Paris 270 and New York 250.

  • World's largest insurance market.

  • More billionaires live in London than any other city in the world (44, compared with New York's 34 and Moscow's 21).

  • has the most expensive neighbourhood in the world (Kensington Palace Gardens), where the average house price is $85 million,
    compared with $5.6 million for the next most expensive (Jupiter Island, Florida).

  • has the world's most expensive office space, far ahead of Tokyo and New York.

  • has the world's largest (by route kilometres) and oldest (1865) subway system.

  • is the world's busiest international airport hub.

  • 300 languages are spoken in London, more than any other city in the world.

  • has more parks and green spaces than any other city of its size in the world. Almost 40% of its total area is green.

  • has an incredibly long and rich history, having been founded more than 2,000 years ago. Chicago by comparison is only 175 years old.

 
#21 ·
Isn't people who live in chicago call Chicagoan?

Anyways... from another opinion for a chicagoan and Chicagoist...

Chicago isnt on the same level, because of Lack of media...
with media, Chicago is much higher rank than it is right now, maybe even rank on the same level as them...
 
#23 ·
rantanamo said:
^that's the usual ignorance of this whole board. A lot of cities are highly over inflated on this board because they are most important in given country. That doesn't make them more important than or even on the level of Chicago.

Most interesting is that in this very post, Chicago is accused of certain things it is not, while said criteria can be used against those cities too. Those cities that are called the big 4 on this board are simply that. Instead of people just posting that Chicago isn't on the level, I'd like to see some actual evidence or criteria to compare Chicago to these other cities with. That's my challenge for this board. Prove that Chicago isn't on par.
Why should others be forced to carry the onus of proving Chicago's unworthiness to be in the top 4?

This thread is started by an American Chicago-supporter, and it is up to Chicago to prove that it has the International importance and prestige to stand up to the big four. And don't give me US based criteria only like skylines, NBA, the mayor, or sister cities. They're not qualities that supports the designation of being one of the top four.
 
#24 ·
The Chicago futures and options exchanges collectively dominate exchange-based derivatives trading in the U.S.
2003 U.S. Exchange-Traded Futures & Options
Chicago63%
New York16%
Philadelphia5%
San Francisco4%
Kansas City<1%
Minneapolis<1%

Top 2003 Global Derivatives Centers (by volume of trades)
Chicago1.38 billion
New York.59 billion
Frankfurt.48 billion
London.44 billion
Zurich.43 billion
Sao Palo.30 billion
Paris.28 billion
Mexico City.17 billion
Tokyo.13 billion
Philadelphia.11 billion

When it comes to scale, the U.S. derivatives market is still the biggest single market in the world and of course Chicago is at its center.
2003 Notional Value of Contracts Traded at Top 5 Exchanges ($ trillion)
Chicago Mercantile Exchange$334
EuronextLiffe$252
Eurex$80
Chicago Board of Trade$77
Chicago Board Options Exchange$5

Chicago's financial services sector added more jobs during the preceding business cycle than the other top U.S. finance centers.
1990-2000
Chicago+28,600 jobs (+23.1%)
New York-20,000 jobs (-6.1%)
Los Angeles-27,300 jobs (-21.3%)
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