We’ve been taking a look at how Americans rank compared to the rest of the world on various measures like entrepreneurship, human development, Olympic medals, tourism and other stuff. You can find out how Americans rank by looking at Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Make Americans Great Again series.
As part of that series, we learned that the rest of the world thinks that New York is the greatest place in America and that therefore New Yorkers are the greatest Americans. But…. how does New York rank compared to other major cities of the world? Is it the greatest city in the world as its boosters like to proclaim?
HOW DOES NEW YORK RANK COMPARED TO THE OTHER CITIES OF THE WORLD?
Uh, cough, well….
LARGENESS – POPULATION
One traditional measure of greatness is how large something is. In terms of largeness – well New York doesn’t rank in the top ten worldwide. How big the populations of various cities are varies depend on who you ask and when, but…
Asia has a lot of very large cities. Very large. Shanghai, Tokyo, Delhi. A lot of people live in the urban areas of these cities. A lot – like around 30 million people, give or take a few million.
New York city, by contrast, officially has a population of about 8 million people. The urban area of New York (which includes counties in other states like New Jersey) has a population of around 20 to 23.5 million people. That makes it technically a mega-city. Which means it has a lot more people than Dimebox, Texas but it’s still not nearly as many as the big Asian cities.
LARGENESS – LAND AREA
But maybe New York is very large in terms of land area?
Ding, ding, ding, yes it is! We have to fudge a little and include the surrounding metropolitan area, which stretches quite a distance into New Jersey and Connecticut and so on. But if we do that entirely justifiable fudging, then yes, New York is the biggest-ass city in the world. Or at least it can claim it is.
In fact, we have stumbled upon what Americans are good at when it comes to cities. Sprawling out. New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles – all champion sprawlers if you take into account the built up land area that includes suburbs and satellite cities and so on.
Yay American sprawlers. Americans are the manspreaders of the citified world.
LARGENESS – POPULATION DENSITY
Well, we can figure that if Americans are sprawlers and manspreaders, they’re not going to win the in the population density contest, and sure enough they don’t. Manila is generally considered to be the most densely populated city in the world.
Verdict on New York City largeness: New York cannot compete with traditional Asian strengths, such as sheer number of people, and sheer number of people packed into a small space. However, New York shines when it comes to American virtues like land area and sprawl. Go New York!
OKAY, SO HOW DOES NEW YORK FARE IN TERMS OF LIVABILITY? HAVE AMERICANS CREATED A CITY THAT’S GREAT TO ACTUALLY LIVE IN?
Well, New York is certainly known for things like its restaurants, its museums, its libraries, and cultural scenes (art, theater, literary). It has famous subways that seem to appear in an amazing amount of movies. It has famous events, like the Met Gala, in which various celebrities wear things designed to make them look like animals, or popsicles, or colorful barf, or whatever the year’s theme dictates. It also has Times Square, where, for unknown reasons, people make a very big deal out of lowering a colored ball of lights every New Year’s Eve. In other words, New York has some great parties. And food vendors on the streets!
But people who rank these kinds of things tend to rank Vancouver, Geneva, Zurich, Sydney, Frankfurt, and Singapore more highly for being actually great places to live. Even Wellington, New Zealand gets a shout-out in some rankings.
When people who run around ranking things (e.g., Global Finance) rank livability they tend to include things like public spaces, the job market, transit accessibility, sustainability (or eco-friendliness), and medical care.
Wanna guess which city often comes out on top in these rankings?
Vienna, Austria. Apparently, among other things, Vienna is a wonderful place to need medical care. If you live there. Just sayin’.
Then there’s Copenhagen, Denmark. Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen. Copenhagen has a great harbor that you can feast your eyes on every day if you live there – plus you can ride your bicycle like a bicycle-loving madman there because Copenhagen loves bicycles. Just sayin’.
NEW YORK COMPETING WITH SWISS CITIES!
Zurich has its fans because it is simultaneously rich and serene. Geneva, also in Switzerland, attracts attention because it is also rich, also serene, and quite important, with lots of job opportunities and international influence. Things like the Geneva Convention are named after Geneva because Geneva is the type of place muckety-mucks from around the world go to decide on important international things like the Geneva Convention. Switzerland is also home, not surprisingly, to Swiss banks. Swiss banks, due to strict Swiss banking secrecy laws, are where the world’s bad guys stash their money. Living in a place where bad guys stash their money has its perks. Particularly if they are being discreet and secretive about it.
But we have to give some credit to New York if Zurich and Geneva make the list. New York is home to the United Nations. That’s a worldwide conglomeration of muckety-mucks right there. And New York is also notorious for its bad guys: namely, the Mob. The Mafia. Organized crime. I don’t know if they stash all their money in New York, but they do add a colorful tint to the city’s bad guy cred. Aaaaaand….New York has the most expensive shopping street in the world – Fifth Avenue – at least according to Wikipedia. Although, come to think of it, I’m not sure a very expensive street makes a city more livable. So never mind.
Singapore ranks well because it is terribly modern while also being terribly clean. Vancouver makes the list because rankers have to acknowledge how nice Canadians are. Also, Vancouver is gorgeous, eco-friendly, and has a gazillion nature-y things to do. That you can do if you live there. Sydney, Australia rates well because it’s got sunny weather, nice beaches, and the Sydney Opera House. If you live there it’s the sunny weather that gives it a mellow, livable vibe. And there’s plenty of stuff to do if you get sick of all that ocean-y gorgeousness.
We’re finding a lot of places that rank highly on the livability scale that aren’t New York. And there are more! Toronto ranks partly because it’s multicultural, partly because it’s Canadian, and partly because it usually has a shit-ton of things going on for people who live there to do. Osaka, Japan makes the list partly because it’s in Japan while not being Tokyo. Osaka is a major Japanese city but it has a better reputation for being friendly, fun, and somehow more ‘authentic’ or down-to-earth than Tokyo. People also give the food high marks.
And while New York is known for its nightlife, the nightlife is even better in places like Rio de Janeiro.
But when all is said and done about other nice cities to live in around the world, New York still ranks as a very good place to live. Its cultural diversity adds to its livability, giving it a cosmopolitan accepting feel. It’s got Broadway and Central Park and a breathtaking skyline. And it’s got some ineffable excitement as well. When Frank Sinatra sings about it being a place where if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere – it feels like it rings true. There’s a sort of electric feeling to living there, as though you might be part of conquering the world. And perhaps you are, since the GDP of New York City alone is worth trillions of dollars. Trillions.
VERDICT ON NEW YORK LIVABILITY:
There are too many other cities in the world that are prettier, prosperous, serene, friendly, lively, sunnier, and have better access to medical care for their residents. So New York doesn’t rank as truly great in a category with so much competition. There are places that are cleaner and more modern, more eco-friendly, and more affordable. There are places with better weather for sure.
But if New York happens to be your cup of tea, nothing beats living there. How’s that for hedging my bets?!
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