Just to add context that is a bit buried in the post the methodology used by r/geography OP was pretty shit and [this](https://old.reddit.com/r/geography/comments/18t69zv/results_from_asking_rgeography_to_pick_8_us/kfcjwmb/) is what they would have gotten using a better system.
Essentially they used each listing of a city as a point and then for the 'ten most upvoted comments" from the entire initial post and added those to each city included in those comments. I get what they were trying to do but in my opinion the other method results in a better top 8 (not just because of Chicago).
For simplicity here is the top 8 using just points by list inclusion:
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. LA
4. Miami
5. Boston
6. New Orleans
7. San Francisco
8. Seattle
New Orleans is charming but its unique charm mostly flows from the fast that it is *not* representative of the US -- it's a singular place with Acadian, Caribbean, and antebellum attributes that make it like noplace else in the country.
Birthplace of jazz a uniquely American art would also like differ. But Chicago should be number three! Ironically it's perhaps the lack of global awareness of Chicago that has probably allowed it to keep its down to earth vibe
Howdy neighbor! Belmont Cragin resident as well!!
Yep that's true and what I am saying is only anecdotal, but when traveling abroad very very very few people knew much about Chicago beyond Al Capone, Sears Tower and almost no one knew where it was. They can point to NY, LA on a map but not Chicago.
Agree with your point but man it is it surprising that even then New Orleans comes in at 6. That’s wild to me. It’s a known city almost because it’s not representative of the US.
Yeah, where's Fargo and Minot and Omaha and Des Moines. >:|
The prompt was "cities that represent the US", not a cross section of the US. The interior of the country sucks, dude. They were excluded for a reason. Only KC, MO and MSP would be decent enough to go to as a tourist, although I am surprised Las Vegas was left off.
I honestly dont love either method, but given the data was already gathered using a not great method i think using the one where everyone only has the chance for 1 vote (list submission) vs multiple votes (list plus upvotes on top comments) seems more balanced to me. I get that OP was trying to include some form of consensus assuming for folks that would only upvote and not submit, but given how reddit upvote/downvote cycles tend to work i find it more flawed.
Eh, I feel as if both lists largely misrepresent the US. Neither list has places that represent the rural and suburban areas that are prevalent throughout this country. Both lists just make the US look like a bunch of big cities.
Not sure if you're serious or not but something like 80% of Americans live within metro areas. That includes some suburban and even slices of rural areas but we're an Urban country these days
I have traveled a lot, and to me Chicago is the most American city. LA and NYC are things unto themselves, but Chicago takes everything that other cities have and takes it to another level.
As a Chicagoan, thank you 🙂
There's certainly a sense of pride that Chicagoans have for our city, and anyone who doesn't understand why should come visit, especially in summer.
**Chicago takes everything that other cities have and takes it to another level**
100% agreed. I couldn’t believe New Orleans made it to the top three and beat Chicago.
Let me guess, you think Americans invented English, too? /s
New York sucks in a lot of ways, but it's foolish to say it is anything less than the most influential city in the US. Historically and today.
I’d take these results with a heaping teaspoon of salt. These people think Phoenix is more a representation of the US than our nation’s capital or Philly, one of the most significant historical cities we have.
If I may add my 2 cents as a non American. Philly, DC and Chicago represent the US at its best. They're significant cities in the origin and expansion of the country and have impressive sights and landmarks. Phoenix is the epitome of another type of American city. A city filled with non places, situated in an area that doesn't limit its size and thus it sprawls. It's the worst of the US, but does represent it just as much as the best.
Phoenix is more emblematic of America than eastern cities in tons of ways, at least to some people. It's a picture of the "American dream." Urban sprawl, car ownership, lawns, pools, cul-de-sacs, big suburban homes, kids, sunshine, etc. Phoenix and other sun belt cities represent that idealized picture of Americana you see on postcards.
Ann Arbor is a question mark, but I could see Santa Cruz being somewhat known for its skateboarding/surfer culture in other countries.
Savannah above Miami is super odd to me
No disrespect to New Orleans or Boston but those cities are far more similar to Europe than the rest of America. Boston was built when horses were the main form of transportation.
Most of America is 8 lanes of highways, Walmarts, adult movie stores, gun shops, and fast food. I’d say somewhere between Rockford Illinois and Janesville Wisconsin is the truest representation of America. Maybe I’m on the road too damn much
I dunno, Denver/Boulder might fit the bill. Vast tracts of urban sprawl. Neighborhoods of identically manufactured housing separated by miles of stroads.
Forget about Chicago. The fact that Philadelphia (the birth place of our nation) is not high on the list is the most criminal tbh. There is so much American history there
Boston has a lot of character; most of it is bad (at least to people outside Boston), but it's character. What surprised me is that Baltimore didn't make top ten
Baltimore is not a hot designation for most folks in the US and less so outside of it.
A group of 5 Brits rolled through my local bar and didn't think Baltimore was a city. They were dead serious too. I had to pull up Google maps and show them it was legit and it existed.
I can understand 1, 2 and even 4 because of its historical significance...but New Orleans is random AF at #3 😂 you'd think it'd be like Miami or Houston 😂😂
Nah New Orleans is one of the most culturally significant cities in the United States. So much of African American culture (and subsequently American culture as a whole) directly stems from slave trades centralized out of NOLA.
Everything said here was facts!! I agree. I mean if you randomly ask people about a city that defines the US, I feel like New Orleans would be closer to the bottom of the list. That's all I was saying.
I think if you asked a bunch of people from other countries which US city they'd rather visit based on music and food and literature and history, NOLA would rank MILES above Houston.
Miami does not in any way meaningful way "represent the rest of the US". I lived in Chicago for 37 years and have lived in Miami for 15. Any time I leave Miami Dade county it feels like going back to the US. Lest you think I'm exaggerating or otherwise being negative, "As of 2021, 54% of Miami-Dade County, FL residents were born outside of the country". ( in Chicago it's 10%). It's the first Google result if you look up percentage of Miami Dade born in US. I'd be comfortable betting that it's actually the county/city least representative of the rest of the US, in terms of culture and climate.
I kinda look at it this way for the 3 biggest cities: NYC and LA are international cities that happen to be in the US, but Chicago is inarguably an American city. Maybe that’s stupid or doesn’t make sense, but that’s how I’ve always seen it.
It's absolutely incredible, but I probably wouldn't consider that a geographic bonus, but one of engineering. We as a city we're *ambitious* between that, raising downtown on jacks, and the world's fair
Correction: we are technically a giant bowl under sea level between two bodies of water. As a Chicago transplant from New Orleans this made my morning.
Welcome to Chicagoland brah! I'm in Logan Square/Avondale. Saints bar is Frontier (if you didn't know). Feel free to hit me up anytime if you've got Chitown questions. I've been here about 10 years now (time is insane). Happy New Year!
>Chicago's geography isn't much.
What are you talking about? Chicago's geography is the entire reason it grew to become one of the most important cities in the US. It's where the Great Lakes connect to the Mississippi River basin and is the transportation hub of the continent. I think you are confusing geography for topography.
This list is fine for what it is. New Orleans has some real history, if that's what it's about. The geography is wild, and climate change is absolutely going to destroy it, if that's what it's about. And its culture is deep and different: it's like no other city in the country. Why GAF about some other sub's silly list? Why do some Chicagoans feel so butthurt about lists that don't rank Chicago as highly as they think they should?
It would be great if we knew the uniform or randomly personal criteria the survey respondents used.
As it is we have no certainty how the individuals made these determinations AND the degree to which their individual choices are factually correct. Geology? Climate? Square footage? Demographics? Regional dominance? Dart board?
Chicago is literally one of the most underrated cities in the country. People seem to always forget about it, especially people outside of the country.
No mid-size city from the heartland in the top 25? lol okay.
Places like Lincoln NE, Des Moines IA, Kansas City KS, Independence MO, Minneapolis MN, or even Grand Rapids MI would be representative of a very large and meaningful portion of the US population. Urban-rural mix, agriculture/manufacturing leaning, rooted in common historical significance, and a strong sense of community and work ethic.
Similar could be argued that Denver is hardly representative of the medium-small communities of the mountain west of ID, WY, SD, ND, UT.
There are also zero small New England or Appalachian towns. Large cities are overrepresented and entire portions of the country are ignored. Most of the people here are complaining about the rankings because they're viewing it as a "best cities" list, but I think the bigger problem is that this isn't very representative of the breadth of where Americans live.
Good looking out. I was being lenient with imagining that perhaps the metro-outskirts of Boston or Philly would check the New England box, but you're spot on about Appalachia.
Chicagoan here. We like to think we’re the most American of cities, and to me New Orleans seems to be the most European like US city. Chicagoans are Midwesterner’s at heart so we tend to be nice & polite (not all of us, of course 😕)
I love New Orleans, but it doesn't make sense to me that it would be anywhere in the top 8. It almost feels like you're in a different country while you're there.
New Orleans really does smell like pee, but the garden district is lovely. Was on a NO trolley car & a wedding party got on with a brass band & the newly weds invited the entire trolley to their reception-only in NO would that happen. Best part was a random guy showed up w/his trombone to jam w/the wedding band 😀
Just to add context that is a bit buried in the post the methodology used by r/geography OP was pretty shit and [this](https://old.reddit.com/r/geography/comments/18t69zv/results_from_asking_rgeography_to_pick_8_us/kfcjwmb/) is what they would have gotten using a better system. Essentially they used each listing of a city as a point and then for the 'ten most upvoted comments" from the entire initial post and added those to each city included in those comments. I get what they were trying to do but in my opinion the other method results in a better top 8 (not just because of Chicago). For simplicity here is the top 8 using just points by list inclusion: 1. NYC 2. Chicago 3. LA 4. Miami 5. Boston 6. New Orleans 7. San Francisco 8. Seattle
New Orleans is charming but its unique charm mostly flows from the fast that it is *not* representative of the US -- it's a singular place with Acadian, Caribbean, and antebellum attributes that make it like noplace else in the country.
Which is perfect for melting pot of a country. I disagree with you.
Birthplace of jazz a uniquely American art would also like differ. But Chicago should be number three! Ironically it's perhaps the lack of global awareness of Chicago that has probably allowed it to keep its down to earth vibe
We get the second most tourists out of any city in the USA lol
Howdy neighbor! Belmont Cragin resident as well!! Yep that's true and what I am saying is only anecdotal, but when traveling abroad very very very few people knew much about Chicago beyond Al Capone, Sears Tower and almost no one knew where it was. They can point to NY, LA on a map but not Chicago.
Don't forget about Michael Jordan
I think it’s more so the fact that Chicago is very Vanilla compared to the other big cities.
This is IMO the best list
Agree with your point but man it is it surprising that even then New Orleans comes in at 6. That’s wild to me. It’s a known city almost because it’s not representative of the US.
Neither is NYC.
Oh my. NYC is very much inter-woven into the US (culture). No one place is entirely representative but many certainly are at least partially.
Other than Chicago this is missing a lot if the country’s interior.
Yeah, where's Fargo and Minot and Omaha and Des Moines. >:| The prompt was "cities that represent the US", not a cross section of the US. The interior of the country sucks, dude. They were excluded for a reason. Only KC, MO and MSP would be decent enough to go to as a tourist, although I am surprised Las Vegas was left off.
I don’t see why this method is any better, it just gives a list you like more
I honestly dont love either method, but given the data was already gathered using a not great method i think using the one where everyone only has the chance for 1 vote (list submission) vs multiple votes (list plus upvotes on top comments) seems more balanced to me. I get that OP was trying to include some form of consensus assuming for folks that would only upvote and not submit, but given how reddit upvote/downvote cycles tend to work i find it more flawed.
Eh, I feel as if both lists largely misrepresent the US. Neither list has places that represent the rural and suburban areas that are prevalent throughout this country. Both lists just make the US look like a bunch of big cities.
Not sure if you're serious or not but something like 80% of Americans live within metro areas. That includes some suburban and even slices of rural areas but we're an Urban country these days
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is this the list of cities to discourage people from visiting the US?
Spokane sucks though
I have traveled a lot, and to me Chicago is the most American city. LA and NYC are things unto themselves, but Chicago takes everything that other cities have and takes it to another level.
Agreed. Chicago is the American City. Its history emulates America.
As a Chicagoan, thank you 🙂 There's certainly a sense of pride that Chicagoans have for our city, and anyone who doesn't understand why should come visit, especially in summer.
Buddy this is in r/chicago lol
Ha, fuckin oops 🤣
Lmao I appreciate the enthusiasm tho
Hahaha holy shit that got me too... I was like yea chigago is pretty great .. . Oops
Yes - do not visit us in January or February or you’ll freeze
The John Hughes movies showed it perfectly
**Chicago takes everything that other cities have and takes it to another level** 100% agreed. I couldn’t believe New Orleans made it to the top three and beat Chicago.
You got it backwards. Chicago is where everything originates, NYC and LA bastardize it.
Let me guess, you think Americans invented English, too? /s New York sucks in a lot of ways, but it's foolish to say it is anything less than the most influential city in the US. Historically and today.
Chicago is definitely not better than NYC. You could argue LA, but NYC absolutely not. Chicago is very Vanilla.
I’d take these results with a heaping teaspoon of salt. These people think Phoenix is more a representation of the US than our nation’s capital or Philly, one of the most significant historical cities we have.
If I may add my 2 cents as a non American. Philly, DC and Chicago represent the US at its best. They're significant cities in the origin and expansion of the country and have impressive sights and landmarks. Phoenix is the epitome of another type of American city. A city filled with non places, situated in an area that doesn't limit its size and thus it sprawls. It's the worst of the US, but does represent it just as much as the best.
Phoenix is more emblematic of America than eastern cities in tons of ways, at least to some people. It's a picture of the "American dream." Urban sprawl, car ownership, lawns, pools, cul-de-sacs, big suburban homes, kids, sunshine, etc. Phoenix and other sun belt cities represent that idealized picture of Americana you see on postcards.
I mean, it is. Phoenix Metro is a giant strip mall with very little identity or soul. That's the majority of this country...
Ann Arbor and Santa Cruz being in the top 25 is absolute lunacy
Ann Arbor is a question mark, but I could see Santa Cruz being somewhat known for its skateboarding/surfer culture in other countries. Savannah above Miami is super odd to me
Quintessential college town, if not the picturesque college campus. From the midwest a Ann Arbor or Madison doesn't seem *too* outlandish to me.
I don't mind getting beat by New Orleans, I get that. I don't like being beat by fucking BOSTON tho
Boston isn't even really a city, it's just four college campuses in a trench coat
🥸 1 adult degree please
You don't think the place where the American revolution started is a good representation of America?
Back then, sure. But modern day? Probably not.
No disrespect to New Orleans or Boston but those cities are far more similar to Europe than the rest of America. Boston was built when horses were the main form of transportation. Most of America is 8 lanes of highways, Walmarts, adult movie stores, gun shops, and fast food. I’d say somewhere between Rockford Illinois and Janesville Wisconsin is the truest representation of America. Maybe I’m on the road too damn much
What a depressingly true comment
Boston universities:🤓 Boston public schools: 💀
Good lord don’t even try to rank CPS above Boston Public schools. CPS is such a huge, hot mess.
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I dunno, Denver/Boulder might fit the bill. Vast tracts of urban sprawl. Neighborhoods of identically manufactured housing separated by miles of stroads.
Forget about Chicago. The fact that Philadelphia (the birth place of our nation) is not high on the list is the most criminal tbh. There is so much American history there
I definitely agree cause why is Seattle or Phoenix ranked higher than Philly ??
Or the capital of the country being 15th lol
Well do you consider Springfield more iconic to Illinois than Chicago?
No, but DC is far more relevant nationally than Springfield is to the state. Not a fair comparison
Exactly I was looking at Cape Canaveral/Houston dorm NASA. There is nothing more American than NASA.
The real crime here is including Denver
yeah seriously, denver is surrounded by cool stuff but man is the actual city bleak af
Calling Denver bleak while living in Chicago is funny lol
New Orleans is an amazing city with a unique culture that reflects a lot of U.S. history. I'm more annoyed about Boston.
You appreciate that New Orleans reflects a lot of US history but you’re upset about Boston? What?
Name one historically significant thing that ever happened in Boston. (/s)
Plus they’ve got wikkid good chowdah!
Boston has a lot of character; most of it is bad (at least to people outside Boston), but it's character. What surprised me is that Baltimore didn't make top ten
Baltimore is not a hot designation for most folks in the US and less so outside of it. A group of 5 Brits rolled through my local bar and didn't think Baltimore was a city. They were dead serious too. I had to pull up Google maps and show them it was legit and it existed.
I can understand 1, 2 and even 4 because of its historical significance...but New Orleans is random AF at #3 😂 you'd think it'd be like Miami or Houston 😂😂
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Nah New Orleans is one of the most culturally significant cities in the United States. So much of African American culture (and subsequently American culture as a whole) directly stems from slave trades centralized out of NOLA.
Everything said here was facts!! I agree. I mean if you randomly ask people about a city that defines the US, I feel like New Orleans would be closer to the bottom of the list. That's all I was saying.
I think if you asked a bunch of people from other countries which US city they'd rather visit based on music and food and literature and history, NOLA would rank MILES above Houston.
I can’t think of anyone I know who has willingly visited Houston.
I also agree with this
Houston ain’t a city; Houston is a conglomeration of sprawling suburbs with favorable annexation laws
Almost every neighborhood in Chicago was also its own city at some point before being annexed.
Houston’s population density is no where near Chicagos 11,000 people per square mile
No would be random still—Philly, DC, SF would be my guesses before NO
And we've all just been waiting for r/geography to deliver it's learned opinion?
Miami does not in any way meaningful way "represent the rest of the US". I lived in Chicago for 37 years and have lived in Miami for 15. Any time I leave Miami Dade county it feels like going back to the US. Lest you think I'm exaggerating or otherwise being negative, "As of 2021, 54% of Miami-Dade County, FL residents were born outside of the country". ( in Chicago it's 10%). It's the first Google result if you look up percentage of Miami Dade born in US. I'd be comfortable betting that it's actually the county/city least representative of the rest of the US, in terms of culture and climate.
I kinda look at it this way for the 3 biggest cities: NYC and LA are international cities that happen to be in the US, but Chicago is inarguably an American city. Maybe that’s stupid or doesn’t make sense, but that’s how I’ve always seen it.
Let New Orleans have their shine. It won't exist in 50 years or so.
This is from r/geography? No sure of the criteria but Chicago's *geography* isn't much. A beautiful lake and then remarkable flatness
a river that flows backwards?!
It's absolutely incredible, but I probably wouldn't consider that a geographic bonus, but one of engineering. We as a city we're *ambitious* between that, raising downtown on jacks, and the world's fair
Deep Tunnel, too. Our city really does do very impressive things with engineering
Absolutely. I love learning about the Deep Tunnel. Downright prophetic to start it when they did
Geography is not just topography or geology. The city has fascinating urban geography.
Did their poll consider urban geography?
Why wouldn't it?
NOLA is just as flat lol
Correction: we are technically a giant bowl under sea level between two bodies of water. As a Chicago transplant from New Orleans this made my morning.
Where yat fellow nola to Chi homie??! 🙌⚜
Ayyyy!! ⚜️⚜️ Edit: I’m in River north, been here for about two years
Welcome to Chicagoland brah! I'm in Logan Square/Avondale. Saints bar is Frontier (if you didn't know). Feel free to hit me up anytime if you've got Chitown questions. I've been here about 10 years now (time is insane). Happy New Year!
I’m usually at Frontier :) not as much this season, definitely will hit you up ⚜️⚜️
Yall watch games at frontier too?
This year is actually the first year that I haven't. I intend to go back though, once work stuff settles down. Wattabout yall?
Bayou and Mississippi terminus though
I'm pretty sure Chicago would be #1 by far on r/CityPorn which seems like a better metric to me
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>Chicago's geography isn't much. What are you talking about? Chicago's geography is the entire reason it grew to become one of the most important cities in the US. It's where the Great Lakes connect to the Mississippi River basin and is the transportation hub of the continent. I think you are confusing geography for topography.
This list is fine for what it is. New Orleans has some real history, if that's what it's about. The geography is wild, and climate change is absolutely going to destroy it, if that's what it's about. And its culture is deep and different: it's like no other city in the country. Why GAF about some other sub's silly list? Why do some Chicagoans feel so butthurt about lists that don't rank Chicago as highly as they think they should?
It would be great if we knew the uniform or randomly personal criteria the survey respondents used. As it is we have no certainty how the individuals made these determinations AND the degree to which their individual choices are factually correct. Geology? Climate? Square footage? Demographics? Regional dominance? Dart board?
I’m more surprised Philly isn’t #1. Well not really because NY, but it should be top 5.
Philly sucks
I knew people would say NY was number one lmao
I feel like New York should simultaneously not be on the list but also #1.
Chicago is literally one of the most underrated cities in the country. People seem to always forget about it, especially people outside of the country.
I was highly surprised visiting you guys are amazing
Because I give a shit what other redditors think?
No mid-size city from the heartland in the top 25? lol okay. Places like Lincoln NE, Des Moines IA, Kansas City KS, Independence MO, Minneapolis MN, or even Grand Rapids MI would be representative of a very large and meaningful portion of the US population. Urban-rural mix, agriculture/manufacturing leaning, rooted in common historical significance, and a strong sense of community and work ethic. Similar could be argued that Denver is hardly representative of the medium-small communities of the mountain west of ID, WY, SD, ND, UT.
There are also zero small New England or Appalachian towns. Large cities are overrepresented and entire portions of the country are ignored. Most of the people here are complaining about the rankings because they're viewing it as a "best cities" list, but I think the bigger problem is that this isn't very representative of the breadth of where Americans live.
Good looking out. I was being lenient with imagining that perhaps the metro-outskirts of Boston or Philly would check the New England box, but you're spot on about Appalachia.
Seattle is a great city but a weird pick.
the food is awful
Chicagoan here. We like to think we’re the most American of cities, and to me New Orleans seems to be the most European like US city. Chicagoans are Midwesterner’s at heart so we tend to be nice & polite (not all of us, of course 😕)
I love New Orleans, but it doesn't make sense to me that it would be anywhere in the top 8. It almost feels like you're in a different country while you're there.
Based on the cent of urine
New Orleans really does smell like pee, but the garden district is lovely. Was on a NO trolley car & a wedding party got on with a brass band & the newly weds invited the entire trolley to their reception-only in NO would that happen. Best part was a random guy showed up w/his trombone to jam w/the wedding band 😀
This, like most lists, is based on opinion. For me, the top three are: Cape Canaveral (NASA launches), DC (home of the US and monuments), and NYC.