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The 10 Most Economically Powerful Cities in the World

I wonder why NY is depicted with a two hundred year old drawing while all the other cities have modern photographs.
 
I have to vehemently disagree with Los Angeles being there. The city is shrinking drastically (at least the tax base). Business taxes are huge, roads are in disrepair, housing prices are still enormous, and no new businesses are starting up here. The loony state legislature in combination with the loopy city council have created a vortex of despair, and until something big changes politically, this city is going to hell. The Global Warming Final Solutions Act may be the final nail in the coffin. Rent control, out of control public works (I once heard that about 40% of the city works for some kind of government agency), depleted investment in transportation, a broken water and electric grid, race instability (though you won't hear it from the news, you'd know it if you lived here), etc. I love this city, but this government is killing it slowly but surely.
 
race instability (though you won't hear it from the news, you'd know it if you lived here),
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The race situation in LA (I lived there for many years), is almost entirely based in the street gang culture, which comes out of the history of depletion of economic oppurtinity.
 
RGacky3 said:
The race situation in LA (I lived there for many years), is almost entirely based in the street gang culture, which comes out of the history of depletion of economic oppurtinity.
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It's not just there. I noticed a lot of resentment of other races from the minority clubs at colleges around here. That's practically what the majors like Chicano Studies teach, that the problems of their community are due to the other races. It's pandering, and it's eaten up. There is a lot of hate in this city.
 
I noticed a lot of resentment of other races from the minority clubs at colleges around here. That's practically what the majors like Chicano Studies teach, that the problems of their community are due to the other races.
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Oh jesus Christ really? THATS your argument for a race problem? Chicano studies ...?

I thought your problem was the tensions between Hispanics and blacks, which is basically only tied to the street gang and prison gang culture, now I know what your getting at, your just a whining white guy, whining about .... I don't know what, listen man, your still priviledged as a white person.
 
phattonez said:
It's not just there. I noticed a lot of resentment of other races from the minority clubs at colleges around here. That's practically what the majors like Chicano Studies teach, that the problems of their community are due to the other races. It's pandering, and it's eaten up. There is a lot of hate in this city.
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It's happening in Minneapolis too. The racial tension is one broken bottle away from a full-blown race riot in some parts of downtown especially. And this is relatively new. It wasn't this bad just a couple years ago.

I swear some of these people want to re-segregate, though they'll tell you what they want to do is end racism. I don't see how that's possible when they hate other people for not being the same race as them.

It's getting bad. Seriously.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
It's happening in Minneapolis too. The racial tension is one broken bottle away from a full-blown race riot in some parts of downtown especially. And this is relatively new. It wasn't this bad just a couple years ago.

I swear some of these people want to re-segregate, though they'll tell you what they want to do is end racism. I don't see how that's possible when they hate other people for not being the same race as them.

It's getting bad. Seriously.
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We are a multi-racial society. We had our share of racial riots decades ago with many killed. Don't wait till the bubble bursts. Solution - nip the problem in the bud by coming up with harsh laws. People will always say its undemocratic, unconstitutional etc but don't play with fire. We have the Sedition Act in place.

The Sedition Act is in Chapter 290 of the Statutes of Singapore. It was last revised in 1985.

In September 2005, the Sedition Act was first used on individuals when three men, including a teenager, were charged for making seditious and inflammatory racist comments on the Internet.
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Sedition Act (Singapore) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
phattonez said:
I have to vehemently disagree with Los Angeles being there. The city is shrinking drastically (at least the tax base). Business taxes are huge, roads are in disrepair, housing prices are still enormous, and no new businesses are starting up here. The loony state legislature in combination with the loopy city council have created a vortex of despair, and until something big changes politically, this city is going to hell. The Global Warming Final Solutions Act may be the final nail in the coffin. Rent control, out of control public works (I once heard that about 40% of the city works for some kind of government agency), depleted investment in transportation, a broken water and electric grid, race instability (though you won't hear it from the news, you'd know it if you lived here), etc. I love this city, but this government is killing it slowly but surely.
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You are being generous, that's a pretty good endorsement of LA
 
RGacky3 said:
Oh jesus Christ really? THATS your argument for a race problem? Chicano studies ...?

I thought your problem was the tensions between Hispanics and blacks, which is basically only tied to the street gang and prison gang culture, now I know what your getting at, your just a whining white guy, whining about .... I don't know what, listen man, your still priviledged as a white person.
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And they are not? Whoever they is, are not privileged?
 
you mean hispanics and blacks?
 
RGacky3 said:
Oh jesus Christ really? THATS your argument for a race problem? Chicano studies ...?

I thought your problem was the tensions between Hispanics and blacks, which is basically only tied to the street gang and prison gang culture, now I know what your getting at, your just a whining white guy, whining about .... I don't know what, listen man, your still priviledged as a white person.
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I'm Hispanic, but nice try at an ad-hominem.
 
phattonez said:
I have to vehemently disagree with Los Angeles being there. The city is shrinking drastically (at least the tax base). Business taxes are huge, roads are in disrepair, housing prices are still enormous, and no new businesses are starting up here. The loony state legislature in combination with the loopy city council have created a vortex of despair, and until something big changes politically, this city is going to hell. The Global Warming Final Solutions Act may be the final nail in the coffin. Rent control, out of control public works (I once heard that about 40% of the city works for some kind of government agency), depleted investment in transportation, a broken water and electric grid, race instability (though you won't hear it from the news, you'd know it if you lived here), etc. I love this city, but this government is killing it slowly but surely.
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In my opinion, LA is a ****ty little piece of **** that taints my memories of the greatest state in the union.

And yet...

-Business taxes are huge, yet Category:Companies based in Los Angeles, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is a very incomplete list.
-Roads are in disrepair? Was this asking about best cities for a sunday drive or economic power? Roads being in disrepair is a sign of too many people driving cars, which alone is more property than many, many people have.
-Housing Prices being enormous is a good thing according to a survey that would measure cities based on economic standing. Hong Kong is the most expensive place to live in the English speaking world, and higher than LA on this list.
-Depleted investment in infrastructure? Please explain that one, I am wondering if you're refering to 5 lane freeways being crowded with cars all the time.
-Can't argue with the broken electric or water grid, though taking LA off for these reasons would be ridiculous.

And we haven't even gotten to LA's ace in the hole:

The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies 7,500 acres (3,000 ha) of land and water along 43 mi (69 km) of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately 20 mi (32 km) south of downtown. The Port of Los Angeles adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach, employs over 16,000 people,[2][3][4] and is the busiest container port in the United States.[2][3][4] For public safety, the Port of Los Angeles utilizes the Los Angeles Port Police to fight crime and terrorism, and the Los Angeles City Lifeguards to provide lifeguarding services for inner Cabrillo Beach......

The container volume was 7.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in calendar year 2010. The Port is the busiest port in the United States by container volume, the 16th busiest container port in the world and the 6th busiest internationally when combined with the neighboring Port of Long Beach. The top trading partners in 2010 were

China ($120.7 billion)
Japan ($35.3 billion)
Taiwan ($10.7 billion)
South Korea ($10.1 billion)
Thailand ($7.2 billion)
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Port of Los Angeles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Makes me wonder what you mean about depleted infrastructure spending even more, as I can guarantee that Harbor Railroad they built a couple of years ago that's mainly sub-surface wasn't cheap.
 
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Joby said:
In my opinion, LA is a ****ty little piece of **** that taints my memories of the greatest state in the union.
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I "liked" your post, but I disagree with the above sentence. I haven't lived in LA for about 5 years (I'm in SF now), but I liked pretty much everything about it except for the awful, awful driving. It should not take me an hour to get from Hollywood to downtown at 11pm on a Wednesday.
 
I bet if you compiled a list of the ten worst places to be in the event of a prolonged global economic meltdown, most of these cities would also be on that list.

At some point, people will have to once again live within the carrying capacity of their surrounding ecosystems. Perhaps it's just because I live in a remote part of Alaska that I think this way, but my god if I ever again visit any of these cities I hope it's not but for a few hours. I am not comfortable packed into an endless jungle of concrete, brick and steel.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
It's happening in Minneapolis too. The racial tension is one broken bottle away from a full-blown race riot in some parts of downtown especially. And this is relatively new. It wasn't this bad just a couple years ago.

I swear some of these people want to re-segregate, though they'll tell you what they want to do is end racism. I don't see how that's possible when they hate other people for not being the same race as them.

It's getting bad. Seriously.
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What do you reckon made it worse all of a sudden?
 
Joby said:
-Business taxes are huge, yet Category:Companies based in Los Angeles, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is a very incomplete list.
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How many Fortune 500 companies are based in LA? Yeah, they're all going to Texas.

-Roads are in disrepair? Was this asking about best cities for a sunday drive or economic power? Roads being in disrepair is a sign of too many people driving cars, which alone is more property than many, many people have.
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It's because the money meant for roads is instead going into the general fund. Transportation in this city is a pretty big problem. It takes me 2-3 hours on a Friday to get from the Westwood area out toward Ontario. That's about 50 miles, which I can do in less than an hour if there is no traffic. Nevermind just the traffic and potholes. Have you seen the parking issue over here? Yet good luck getting groceries without a car because the grocery store isn't that close. This is a big reason that people are leaving, along with the following.

-Housing Prices being enormous is a good thing according to a survey that would measure cities based on economic standing. Hong Kong is the most expensive place to live in the English speaking world, and higher than LA on this list.
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BS. Housing prices being high are not a good thing. This is the number one reason why people are leaving the city. In addition to housing, you have the cost of utilities which is enormous.

-Depleted investment in infrastructure? Please explain that one, I am wondering if you're refering to 5 lane freeways being crowded with cars all the time.
-Can't argue with the broken electric or water grid, though taking LA off for these reasons would be ridiculous.
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I was referring to this really.

And we haven't even gotten to LA's ace in the hole:

Port of Los Angeles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Makes me wonder what you mean about depleted infrastructure spending even more, as I can guarantee that Harbor Railroad they built a couple of years ago that's mainly sub-surface wasn't cheap.
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No it wasn't, but the city is in a tremendous amount of debt, so much so that they are raising the fines for parking on street sweeping days to nearly $100 (this happens every week). As if the parking situation wasn't bad enough, half of the city parking is gone for a few hours two days during the week. They try to close to deficit by first getting money from the LADWP (which is water and power) and now from traffic fines; in other words, trying to close the deficit by getting more money from the poor.
 
RGacky3 said:
Oh jesus Christ really? THATS your argument for a race problem? Chicano studies ...?

I thought your problem was the tensions between Hispanics and blacks, which is basically only tied to the street gang and prison gang culture, now I know what your getting at, your just a whining white guy, whining about .... I don't know what, listen man, your still priviledged as a white person.
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It's part of the problem. Diversity programs also increase tensions because of the animosity they cause. When people come together voluntarily, they appreciate each other. When they are forced together, it creates hostilities.
 
It's part of the problem. Diversity programs also increase tensions because of the animosity they cause. When people come together voluntarily, they appreciate each other. When they are forced together, it creates hostilities.
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Diversity programs don't force people to come together, race relations HAVE gotten better when you compare things to the 50s and such.

THe point is you'd be absolutely right, but the Us has an ugly history, I'm not for "forcing people" to come together, but you can't just ignore the history of institutional racism.

Also Chicano studies is by no means a "diversity program" ... its a study about Chicanos, who make up probably more htan half of LA yet have been marginalized historically.
 
Red_Dave said:
What do you reckon made it worse all of a sudden?
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I don't entire know because I wasn't here during the transition. I just moved back last year, after having left a few years ago.

But if I had a guess:
1. Tensions with Somali Muslim immigrants - I believe we have more of them in Minneapolis than anywhere else in the US.
2. Economic downturn and loss of employment. Not as bad here as a lot of places, but bad enough, and it hit the poor disproportionately of course.
3. The sudden rise of some extremely divisive race baiters in our community organizations.
4. The widening of the gap between the cities and the suburbs/towns in terms of political ideals, and the struggle that's turned into in our legislature.

I would still say the tensions are less here than in a lot of other places in the US that I've lived, but I've never seen it so bad in Minneapolis. We handled our multiculturalism pretty well and we were making progress, and it's sad to see that disappearing.
 
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RGacky3 said:
Diversity programs don't force people to come together, race relations HAVE gotten better when you compare things to the 50s and such.
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Really? Busing and government housing didn't force people of different races together?

THe point is you'd be absolutely right, but the Us has an ugly history, I'm not for "forcing people" to come together, but you can't just ignore the history of institutional racism.
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I'm not ignoring it, but Jim Crow laws were the real problem. We didn't need the Civil Rights Act to fix it, as it went to far. We simply needed to end Jim Crow laws and reestablish freedom of association, which Jim Crow laws tried to deny.

Also Chicano studies is by no means a "diversity program" ... its a study about Chicanos, who make up probably more htan half of LA yet have been marginalized historically.
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That's just condescending. Chicano studies is exactly that; it blames other people for the problems of "la raza" (though to be fair, I've only experienced this at one college).
 
Really? Busing and government housing didn't force people of different races together?
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government housing did'nt, and bussing just game poor students an opportunity to go to school where the schools have real funding (the public system of funding schools through property taxes is EXTREMELY regressive, and needs to be reformed).

I'm not ignoring it, but Jim Crow laws were the real problem. We didn't need the Civil Rights Act to fix it, as it went to far. We simply needed to end Jim Crow laws and reestablish freedom of association, which Jim Crow laws tried to deny.
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So its not ok for the public sector to discriminate, but it is ok for the private? Even if in the south most of the property was controlled by whites, and many of whome were racists.

Its just goes to show what libertarians have a real problem with, its not tyranny, its democracy, private tyrannies are totally fine.

That's just condescending. Chicano studies is exactly that; it blames other people for the problems of "la raza" (though to be fair, I've only experienced this at one college).
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if by "blame" you mean explain the historical context ... then yeah, probably.
 
RGacky3 said:
government housing did'nt, and bussing just game poor students an opportunity to go to school where the schools have real funding
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It didn't? So it's just a coincidence that where these things happened most that animosity is greatest between races?

So its not ok for the public sector to discriminate, but it is ok for the private? Even if in the south most of the property was controlled by whites, and many of whome were racists.

Its just goes to show what libertarians have a real problem with, its not tyranny, its democracy, private tyrannies are totally fine.
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Business owners who discriminated pass up on a lot of profit opportunity. As a result, eventually they let them in and appreciate them for the business. When they are forced, it only creates discord. And remember that much of the racism of the South was fueled by Jim Crow laws, much less so by individuals.

if by "blame" you mean explain the historical context ... then yeah, probably.
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How are whites keeping Hispanics down now? I have to say, being Hispanic, I haven't noticed it. In fact it's quite the opposite. People seem to go out of their way just because you are Hispanic (despite my aversion to the condescension).
 
It didn't? So it's just a coincidence that where these things happened most that animosity is greatest between races?
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The 1960s?

Business owners who discriminated pass up on a lot of profit opportunity.
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Not when you have a lot of racists around that have most of the money.

As a result, eventually they let them in and appreciate them for the business. When they are forced, it only creates discord. And remember that much of the racism of the South was fueled by Jim Crow laws, much less so by individuals.
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So before 1876 and after 1965, there was no discrimination?

If black people don't have a lot of money, and racists whits do have a lot of money, then guess what, being racists is pofitable.

How are whites keeping Hispanics down now? I have to say, being Hispanic, I haven't noticed it. In fact it's quite the opposite. People seem to go out of their way just because you are Hispanic (despite my aversion to the condescension).
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Really? They go out of their way because your hispanic, do you mean the police??? Anyway what I said was "historical context,"

Also if you don't mind me asking, when you say your hispanic, do you mean your mom was half puerto rican? I.e. basically light skinned, european looking and grew up speaking english, its like people saying "Zimmerman was hispanic," yeah, but he looks white, speaks perfect english without an accent, and is basically treated like a white person.

I don't know if thats the type of hispanic you are but I would'nt be suprised.
 
RGacky3 said:
The 1960s?
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And moving forward it has seemed to increase. Well, I should say that it was improving for a while after 1965 and racism came to be less socially acceptable, but now we have open racism against whites.

Not when you have a lot of racists around that have most of the money.

So before 1876 and after 1965, there was no discrimination?
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There was slavery before 1876. After 1965 it started to improve until welfare and affirmative action created a sense of entitlement, which is usually manifest in the next generation after adoption of a program. Since it was about 20 years later, that fits pretty well.

If black people don't have a lot of money, and racists whits do have a lot of money, then guess what, being racists is pofitable.
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Which is why Ford made cars only for the rich, right? :lol:

Really? They go out of their way because your hispanic, do you mean the police??? Anyway what I said was "historical context,"

Also if you don't mind me asking, when you say your hispanic, do you mean your mom was half puerto rican? I.e. basically light skinned, european looking and grew up speaking english, its like people saying "Zimmerman was hispanic," yeah, but he looks white, speaks perfect english without an accent, and is basically treated like a white person.

I don't know if thats the type of hispanic you are but I would'nt be suprised.
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Did you hear that? I'm Hispanic, but I'm not real Hispanic. You're a crack-up.
 
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