Cities that most radically depart from and most closely resemble "typical" US demos

[Steely Dan]

^ that's by MSA, correct?

I'd be curious to know how high the German percentage is in Milwaukee. It might even beat minneapolis' %.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ that's by MSA, correct?

I'd be curious to know how high the German percentage is in Milwaukee. It might even beat minneapolis' %.

you would think, right? in any case the german triangle is more like a german diamond or whatever that shape is…add pittsburgh and its like a pointy sock or something…

[skysoar]

Originally Posted by Docere

Largest NHW ancestry group

Atlanta English/American 17%
Baltimore German 16.4%
Boston Irish 22.3%
Chicago German 15.2%
Cincinnati German 29.1%
Cleveland German 19.9%
Dallas English/American 13.9%
Denver German 19%
Detroit German 16.1%
Houston English/American 10.1%
Indianapolis German 20%
Kansas City German 22.6%
Los Angeles English/American 7.4%
Miami English/American 9.2% (though Jewish might be largest)
Minneapolis German 31.4%
New York Italian 13.1%
Philadelphia Irish 19.2%
Phoenix German 13.8%
Pittsburgh German 27.8%
Portland German 19.3%
St. Louis German 28.7%
San Diego German 10.5%
San Francisco English/American 8.7%
Seattle German 16.2%
Tampa English/American 18.1%
Washington English/American 11.7%

Very interesting, i wonder what New Orleans largest NHW ancestry group would be, i still see N.O as a large city.

[Docere]

With very few exceptions, German or English/American is the most commonly reported ancestry in every metro outside the Northeast core.

Some MSAs in the 1-2 million range:

Buffalo German 24.7%
Grand Rapids German 21.2%
Hartford Italian 16.5%
Milwaukee German 34.6%
Nashville English/American 23.1%
New Orleans French 13.2%
Providence Irish 18.3%
Rochester German 20.4%
Salt Lake City English/American 26.2%

[Docere]

Some smaller metros where German, "American" or English is not the most common reported NHW ancestry.

Albany Irish 22.4%
Baton Rouge French 15.2%
New Haven Italian 21.4%
Scranton Irish 20.8%
Springfield Irish 17.2%
Syracuse Irish 21.1%
Worcester Irish 19.4%

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

With very few exceptions, German or English/American is the most commonly reported ancestry in every metro outside the Northeast core.

Some MSAs in the 1-2 million range:

Buffalo German 24.7%
Grand Rapids German 21.2%
Hartford Italian 16.5%
Milwaukee German 34.6%
Nashville English/American 23.1%
New Orleans French 13.2%
Providence Irish 18.3%
Rochester German 20.4%
Salt Lake City English/American 26.2%

thanks!

as i suspected, Milwaukee: Kaiser of the German-American cities.


i'm guessing that german would be #1 in Columbus as well, following the midwest/rust belt theme.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

in any case the german triangle is more like a german diamond or whatever that shape is…add pittsburgh and its like a pointy sock or something…

even with the minneapolis and pittsburgh outposts, it's still somewhat triangular, just a bit expanded with a cincinnati kink:

[tech12]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Where are we drawing the line to be considered a "big city"?

I'd say anything over 1 million could be considered a big city. Everything is relative of course, so a city of 1 million is puny compared to LA or NYC. But if it's the biggest city in its region/state/country, then it's still the "big city".

[tech12]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I can see some similarities between Austin and the East Bay (both Berkeley and Oakland). Downtown Austin might also slightly resemble downtown San Francisco architecturally.

I'm looking at google maps, and am not really seeing any unique architectural similarities between SF/Oakland and Austin. The similarities they share seem to mostly be in regards to modern office towers, some 1 to 2 story commercial buildings and some of the detached single family homes, which are architectural styles that you see all over America (i did find one older building with bay windows in downtown Austin though).

SOMA is the part of downtown SF with the most 1-2 story commercial buildings, and it has modern towers mixed in, so i guess parts of it look kinda like parts of downtown Austin, but it also looks kinda like parts of other cities too, and is also full of architecture styles that you don't really see in Austin.

When i was a kid though, I knew someone from Austin, and he used to call it the "San Francisco of Texas" due to the relatively left wing politics.

[edale]

Originally Posted by tech12

I'm looking at google maps, and am not really seeing any unique architectural similarities between SF/Oakland and Austin. The similarities they share seem to mostly be in regards to modern office towers, some 1 to 2 story commercial buildings and some of the detached single family homes, which are architectural styles that you see all over America (i did find one older building with bay windows in downtown Austin though).

SOMA is the part of downtown SF with the most 1-2 story commercial buildings, and it has modern towers mixed in, so i guess parts of it look kinda like parts of downtown Austin, but it also looks kinda like parts of other cities too, and is also full of architecture styles that you don't really see in Austin.

When i was a kid though, I knew someone from Austin, and he used to call it the "San Francisco of Texas" due to the relatively left wing politics.

Yeah, Downtown Austin feels literally nothing like Downtown San Francisco. Like nothing at all. And I don't get any East Bay vibe in Austin, either. Oakland, Berkeley, and certainly SF are all MUCH denser than Austin. Austin transitions to SFHs on pretty large lots startling fast once you leave downtown. More akin to Nashville or Atlanta than anything in the Bay Area.

Really bizarre comparison.

[JManc]

Downtown Austin is a quintessential Texas town that grew up to be a huge city. There are a lot of 'little Austin's' in the vicinity with similar architecture in their historic downtown areas. I saw almost no resemblance to the Bay Area. Perhaps people are taking in Austin's liberal/ funky vibe with the tech scene as their basis of comparison.

[Docere]

Is Chicago the biggest "all-American" city? The Black, Hispanic, and foreign born % are a bit above the national average, but not dramatically so and pretty normal for a large city. German is the most common ancestry, just like in most places outside the South and Northeast. Mexicans are by far the largest Hispanic subgroup and nationality of immigrants. Asian percentage pretty much right at average. Main deviation is the large Polish American population, but I don't think they exude the same influence through the metro that say, Italian Americans and Jews do in metro NYC (as they probably make up the majority of the white population in NYC).

DuPage County for example seems a lot more "all-American" than say Nassau County.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

Is Chicago the biggest "all-American" city?

possibly.

i know that for the "big 4" macro-demographic groups (white, black, asian, latino), Illinois at large is most closely aligned with national averages out of all 50 states.

and since most of Illinois lives in Chicagoland......

Originally Posted by Docere

Main deviation is the large Polish American population, but I don't think they exude the same influence through the metro that say, Italian Americans and Jews do in metro NYC

and let's be honest, poles and germans aren't exactly earth-shatteringly divergent from an overall north-central european cultural perspective.

(to the hair-splitters: i'm not saying they're EXACTLY the same, just a fair bit of general similarity).

it's not like the differences between, say, the swedes and the portugese.

Originally Posted by Docere

DuPage County for example seems a lot more "all-American" than say Nassau County.

demographically, maybe.

but politically, Nassua seems closer to the middle these days, what with the hard left turn of the educated upper/upper middle class.

dupage county: +18.1

nassau county: +9.5

USA overall: +4.5

[Docere]

I was thinking more culturally. I actually think Nassau's "white ethnic" nature has made it less immune to the big D swing. On the other hand it wasn't as Republican as Du Page when white collar suburbs were bastions of Republicanism.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

I was thinking more culturally.

sure, but with the way that culture and politics are getting ever more inter-woven with each other, extracting one from the other is becoming more challenging.

throw in the ever-widening (urban/rural) geographic chasm, and "all american" starts to become a very fuzzy thing indeed. what does it even mean in this hyper-polarized era?

chicagoland's proportions of the 4 major skin colors might look pretty damn close to the national average, but politically speaking, it's anything but close to average.

it's fundamentally out of step with a HUGE swath of what makes america, america.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Docere

I was thinking more culturally. I actually think Nassau's "white ethnic" nature has made it less immune to the big D swing. On the other hand it wasn't as Republican as Du Page when white collar suburbs were bastions of Republicanism.

DuPage doesn't have Orthodox Jews, or Jews at all, really. And no major Italian population. It's pretty WASPy. It's somewhat like a Midwest Fairfield County, though not quite as wealthy, and minus the visible Irish/Italian influences. Still very much a white collar, affluent-leaning, railroad-oriented commuter county.

So it should have a bigger Dem shift in a populist era, like Fairfield, given that WASPs have swung wildly Dem, while white ethnics haven't.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Docere

Is Chicago the biggest "all-American" city?

What does 'all American' mean? Chicago is Chicago but New York, LA, etc are also still quintessentially American.

[Docere]

Du Page County

German 19.5%
Irish 14.1%
Italian 11%
Polish 11%
English/American 9.4%

Fairfield County

Italian 16.9%
Irish 14.5%
English/American 12.4%
German 9%
Polish 5.2%

[Segun]

The city of Chicago's demographics resemble America's, but they're bunched together in their own unique way, unlike America. It would be something if the the "South" of Chicago had the highest Black population, the North part of Chicago had the highest White population and concentration of wealth, the Southwest of Chicago had the highest Latino population, and the West to NW part had all the hipsters, super fashion conscious people and techies, ok I give up.

[ue]

To expand the topic a little, how about cities elsewhere that resemble American cities?

In Canada, Saint John (NB), Winnipeg, Kelowna, and Windsor can look kind of American. Calgary can feel kind of American. Cities like Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax, and St John's don't look very American, by comparison.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by ue

To expand the topic a little, how about cities elsewhere that resemble American cities?

In Canada, Saint John (NB), Winnipeg, Kelowna, and Windsor can look kind of American. Calgary can feel kind of American. Cities like Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax, and St John's don't look very American, by comparison.

Oh yeah...Toronto looks TOTALLY foreign. https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6460...4!8i8192?hl=en