Which city would you declare as the US cultural capital if there is one?

[Quixote]

LA urbanism and its influence:

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[Segun]

NYC has little in common with cities such as Paris and London, cities which are the capitol of their own countries in nearly every way, but, NYC does have America's most famous outdoor gathering place, except nobody does nothing political in it, or do they....(cue dark, ominous sounding conspiracy music)

[ocman]

Originally Posted by Segun

NYC has little in common with cities such as Paris and London, cities which are the capitol of their own countries in nearly every way, but, NYC does have America's most famous outdoor gathering place, except nobody does nothing political in it, or do they....(cue dark, ominous sounding conspiracy music)

London and Paris have certain advantages being the capitals of their countries, and therefore a lot of resources and tax dollars from the rest of their respective countries subsidize the cultural institutions of their cities. But that just makes cities like LA and NYC especially impressive (although NYC once enjoyed being the capital of the US for a short time) because they’re not even capitals of their own state. They were are able to will themselves as cultural capitals without much help from the state or nation but almost exclusively thanks to their own residents purely out of ambition.

[iheartthed]

London isn't the UK's music capital.

[edale]

Originally Posted by ocman

London and Paris have certain advantages being the capitals of their countries, and therefore a lot of resources and tax dollars from the rest of their respective countries subsidize the cultural institutions of their cities. But that just makes cities like LA and NYC especially impressive (although NYC once enjoyed being the capital of the US for a short time) because they’re not even capitals of their own state. They were are able to will themselves as cultural capitals without much help from the state or nation but almost exclusively thanks to their own residents purely out of ambition.

Girl. Are you serious??

LA didn't have help from the state or feds?? Nevermind the fact that almost all of our water comes from other parts of the state. Or the massive investment the feds made in the defense industry in Southern California in the WWII era. Or the huge amount of federal funding used to build the most extensive freeway network in the country. I could go on and on.

Also, I don't think states or nations have much influence in cultural capital. Unless you're in North Korea, culture usually is something at odds with the state/establishment. I guess high arts can be propped up by the state, but the people who shape culture tend to come from the fringes.

[Crawford]

CA is probably the innovation capital of the planet, but to pretend it sprung up out of the blue is weird. Silicon Valley, especially, was seeded with massive postwar federal spending. There was gigantic CA military/contractor/research spending in the postwar decades. SoCal had a huge aerospace industry. Jet Propulsion Laboratory was (and is) a gigantic generator of investment/innovation. In NorCal you have Lawrence Livermore and the Department of Energy is right on Sand Hill Rd. CA has more or less been a Pentagon annex.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Crawford

CA is probably the innovation capital of the planet, but to pretend it sprung up out of the blue is weird. Silicon Valley, especially, was seeded with massive postwar federal spending. There was gigantic CA military/contractor/research spending in the postwar decades.

There's also the fact that it's one the greatest natural harbors in the world. Then there was the gold rush too. All together with one of the most desirable climates on the planet, the Bay Area was literally a gold mine waiting to be discovered.

[iheartthed]

Wasn't silicon easily mined from the Santa Clara Valley, or was that just an urban legend?

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Wasn't silicon easily mined from the Santa Clara Valley, or was that just an urban legend?

Don't think so. The name is purely from the element used in semiconductor chips.

Santa Clara Valley was mostly agricultural back then, with Chinese and Japanese immigrant workers, before the primary industry transitioned to defense. When the Japanese got interned, the Mexican braceros came in and East San Jose became a large Mexican barrio. After the war, that's when tech really took off, led primarily by Stanford University. The city manager during this era decided to model post war developments after LA since he was from there, so that's why Silicon Valley resembles LA more so than the SF MSA. He believed single story ranch style houses with shopping malls and industrial parks, connected with freeways and lots of annexations was the ideal way to grow the area. This led to a large sprawling valley dependent on the automobile.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Don't think so. The name is purely from the element used in semiconductor chips.

Santa Clara Valley was mostly agricultural back then, with Chinese and Japanese immigrant workers, before the primary industry transitioned to defense. When the Japanese got interned, the Mexican braceros came in and East San Jose became a large Mexican barrio. After the war, that's when tech really took off, led primarily by Stanford University. The city manager during this era decided to model post war developments after LA since he was from there, so that's why Silicon Valley resembles LA more so than the SF MSA. He believed single story ranch style houses with shopping malls and industrial parks, connected with freeways and lots of annexations was the ideal way to grow the area. This led to a large sprawling valley dependent on the automobile.

For some reason I thought the transistor radio industry was established there because the area was rich in silicon or something. I could've sworn I read that somewhere...

[Bailey]

So, the question is.....Which city would you declare as the US cultural capital if there is one?

The question asks about US cultural capital...not most cosmopolitan...not most urban...not most respected outside of the Unites States.

If we think of those terms ..which cities define US culture then we are NOT looking at the outliers of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, DC, or San Francisco.

Those cities have more in common with International Culture and high quality cities, than US American Culture which is obviously anti-city.

In all honesty, a city that is more representative of the blandness of American Culture would have to be reflected in the one of the larger Sun belt Cities and their Cheap housing, little urbanity, diversity, capitalism first, little investment in grand public spaces, little mass transit, sprawl...

That leaves us with the bland list of booming Sunbelt cities- Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, etc.

Take your pick.......... but there is a "reason" why "American Culture" has designed these type of cities the way they have over and over again...They are perfect representatives of how bland US Culture is!

[Steely Dan]

^ I reject the notion that the Sunbelt cities are intrinsically more "American" than the Legacy cities.

If we're looking for the best mash-up between those two realms, then the answer is easy: LA.

[SIGSEGV]

Breezewood, PA

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Breezewood, PA

That's the gas station/fast food capital of the PA turnpike. It's where you stop between DC and points west.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Breezewood, PA

We stopped there in the middle of the night on a school trip back from Bill Clinton's Inauguration. The truck stop had a Playboy-themed pinball machine, with interesting sound effects.

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ I reject the notion that the Sunbelt cities are intrinsically more "American" than the Legacy cities.

If we're looking for the best mash-up between those two realms, then the answer is easy: LA.

I'd say Chicago is a better middle ground city than Los Angeles...even though LA does sprawl.

Legacy cities are extreme outliers, though, yes..that is true.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by Bailey

So, the question is.....Which city would you declare as the US cultural capital if there is one?

The question asks about US cultural capital...not most cosmopolitan...not most urban...not most respected outside of the Unites States.

If we think of those terms ..which cities define US culture then we are NOT looking at the outliers of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, DC, or San Francisco.

Those cities have more in common with International Culture and high quality cities, than US American Culture which is obviously anti-city.

In all honesty, a city that is more representative of the blandness of American Culture would have to be reflected in the one of the larger Sun belt Cities and their Cheap housing, little urbanity, diversity, capitalism first, little investment in grand public spaces, little mass transit, sprawl...

That leaves us with the bland list of booming Sunbelt cities- Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, etc.

Take your pick.......... but there is a "reason" why "American Culture" has designed these type of cities the way they have over and over again...They are perfect representatives of how bland US Culture is!

Las Vegas... especially love the trashy downmarket charm of some of those off strip casinos.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Bailey

Legacy cities are extreme outliers, though, yes..that is true.

No they are not, though, yes..that is true.

[iheartthed]

I do agree that Chicago is more in the middle, though. L.A. skews too car centric Sun Belt, albeit a dense version of it. Chicagoland has strong representation of pre-war urban and car centric suburban.

Most Americans do live in car centric environments, but we all at least like to pretend that most of our city centers look like Manhattan.

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

No they are not, though, yes..that is true.

Seriously?

More US cities sprawl with endless suburbia as compared to the Legacy cities with their compact urban footprint with mass transit and grand public spaces with no desire of being a quality "city".

That is is why the Legacy Cities ARE outliers.

For 1 New York City, there are a dozen Oklahoma City type of cities.

The 10, or so, Legacy cities are the definition of outliers.

The United States is just anti-city.
They have been for a long time.