dude, santa clara blows. just sayin.

You don't know what you're missing. This city rocks. This is from a dude who grew up in the swamps of south louisiana, then nola...

Have you gotten a chance to come back and see stuff?

I whole-heartedly endorse this.

And dri, your "sucks" is probably my "is tolerable." I don't need a lot more than good scenery, motorcycle weather, and low crime rates.

arbitron has the largest markets listed as such:
New York, NY
Los Angeles, CA
Chicago, IL
San Francisco, CA
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Philadelphia, PA
Houston-Galveston, TX
Washington, DC
Detroit, MI
Atlanta, GA

but those are "markets" which frequently include surrounding suburbs. then again, it doesn't list DC/baltimore as one entity. there's a bunch of different ranks out there...

As far as media Markets, Houston is #4, at least for the NFL, and believe me, if they though they could make more money by having another market at #4, they'd do it.

not trying to knock, just forwarding data that i rely on for radio and tv and such. in this data, sf is up on dallas by 1 million.

or i guess a better question is, are we going by population or "rank"?

no, you're right Katie---those are the Arbitron numbers used to set ad rates. The markets that get off scot free in this shit are down in FLA (the fourth, and about to be passing NY as the third) most populous state in the USA that spreads its population out like no other. Funny shit.

yeh for real. if kansas city only went by density, it'd be like, number bazillion as opposed to no. 29. everybody lives in the burbs and stuff.

i'm telling ya- it really depends on what part of la you live in, not all parts of la have high crime rates. and you really can't beat the weather in la. serious. just sayin.'

Yeah, its weird how they do that shit.

To wit: Jacksonville is the biggest city in America............

land-wise


and, this matters, how?

i'll be home on the 23rd... i'm quite apprehensive.. the videos get me emotional enough.

obviously, the only way to determine the best city is by having all the city's meet in the heartland for a no-holds-barred street brawl.

Where is your source? Here are mine counting ages 12+

1 New York NY 15,283,100
2 Los Angeles CA 10,724,900
3 Chicago IL 7,648,900
4 San Francisco 5,850,900
5 Dallas/Ft. Worth TX 4,672,000
6 Philadelphia PA 4,334,000
7 Houston/Galveston 4,296,900
8 Washington 4,114,900
9 Boston MA 3,878,000
10 Detroit MI 3,870,900

So that leaves the Bay Area number 4 markets with two NFL teams.

edit out quote.

shouldn't Mumbai have like 30 teams?

As far as Philly goes, I think it's under-represented when it comes to good cities to live in, mostly b/c it's so close to NYC and people don't pay much attention to it. Don't get me wrong, there's lot to complain about -dirty, the weather is either too hot or too cold, poor public transport network, and this feeling that I get that many things around here are just so half-assed - though I think much of that comes from living in PA- but there are a lot of positives.

It's a pretty pedestrian-friendly city- walking (or biking) is the easiest way around Center City, though it's still possible to have a car here. Even though SEPTA isn't great for getting around, Center City isn't that big and cabs aren't that expensive. We have good restaurants. Most tours make a stop here. But something that's starting to become more relevant to me lately is that housing is relatively affordable. Compared to Boston, NYC, or DC, your dollar goes a LOT farther here in the housing market. No, we're not as "cool" as those cities, but we're not all that far off.

Philly is weird b/c it's a city of haves and have-nots (though maybe that's like most cities). North Philly, parts of South Philly (though parts of South Philly are being built up now) and much of West Philly have been forgotten about and are pretty slummy. But Center City and the near parts of West Philly are very nice and have a lot to offer. Center City has countless blocks of row homes, many of which date from the late 1700s-early 1800s.

I thought it was kind of strange, but the NY Times recently called Philly the "next Brooklyn."

I think they just referred to Northern Liberties as the next Brooklyn, but yeah if I hear that "6th Borough" shit one more time I will wretch.

National Geographic just named it "america's next great city" or something, i have the article at home.

Philly is openly the bastard step child in the NYC-DC corridor (Bodymore don't count, its little more than a port )

And that is why people hate it. Its always cold, the people are ugly, and everyone has a chip on their shoulder because no one appreciates their shit hole town.

Also, the roads in Pennsylvania are worse than in the Sudan.

I'd rather live in New Delhi.

so you don't like philly? haha. jesus h. i've never been there.

Yeah, I can definately feel the step-child like relationship between Philly and NY/DC, and people sometimes do have a little chip on their shoulder about it. But I think that helps keep a lot of pretention in check.

And yeah, the roads here are a disgrace. Can't argue with that, either.

Please do not take the one thing San Diego has going for it

I must admit, where I was last month (Orange County), it sucked. But when Dri, Tania and Billy took me out to Los Feliz, I liked that area. I thought that was pretty nice actually. I enjoy neighborhoods with vibrant centers that I can walk to. I also enjoyed the nice weather!

As for rparis' fascination with Portland, well, I share that with him. I think you really have to be in the right mindset and content with the "less is more" attitude. Portland is one of the most literate towns I've ever lived in, and I like being around intelligent, well-read, cultured people. And at the same token, you can take off and go snowboarding or skiing, or chill out at the beach (literally... the beaches are cold here). The majority of Oregon coastline is state park, so there's limitations on what can be built. It's really beautiful. True we don't get ALL the cool college bands rolling through town, but Seattle isn't that far of a drive, and so far, no one's come to Seattle that I felt I needed to drive for. Another perk? 5 hours from Vancouver, BC, which while certainly not a US city, I would move there in a heartbeat if I could afford it.

Hell, I'd live in Portland forever just for the quality of beer alone.

All these population figures seem to include Metro area, because Baltimore City is a fair bit bigger population-wise than DC. Problem is, the suburbs for each overlap.