The Ten Most Important US Cities (and in Canada)

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

A surprising number of Americans (and non Canadians in general) think that you need to know French to get by in Canada across the country, even if they are aware that the whole country doesn’t always speak it.

You see posts on Reddit all the time asking questions like “I’m going to school in London, ON, do I need to know French?”… which is just hilarious from a Canadian perspective.

We heard the falls were prettier on the Canadian side but didn't cross over because we don't speak French!

[Crawford]

Growing up in Metro Detroit, and with GTA relatives, Canada was very front-and-center, but to most Americans not right on the border, Canada is pretty peripheral in their worldview.

[DCReid]

Maybe these are the six most important US cities:

https://www.businessinsider.in/scien...more%20stories.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

A surprising number of Americans (and non Canadians in general) think that you need to know French to get by in Canada across the country, even if they are aware that the whole country doesn’t always speak it.

Most of the Americans that visit the Maritimes aren't very aware of Canadian culture in general and that would go for French, as well. A lot of the reddit posts asking things like that in New Brunswick are people from Ontario asking if it's required in X area of the province, or at all.

There were always stories of Americans visiting Canada in the 70s-90s being surprised that we had electricity or paved roads but I think those are more urban legends than real stories, although occasionally you'll meet someone who genuinely thinks Canada is just ice floes and polar bears.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

A surprising number of Americans (and non Canadians in general) think that you need to know French to get by in Canada across the country, even if they are aware that the whole country doesn’t always speak it.

You see posts on Reddit all the time asking questions like “I’m going to school in London, ON, do I need to know French?”… which is just hilarious from a Canadian perspective.

I think this is a New England perspective. Most Americans probably think Canada is a thoroughly English speaking country.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I think this is a New England perspective. Most Americans probably think Canada is a thoroughly English speaking country.

Americans' views of Canada can be all over the map both literally and figuratively.

Though you're probably right that perceptions that it's all or mostly French are concentrated in the northeast - I actually think it extends further than New England though, into other parts of the BosNYWash corridor.

I find that even in the NYC area a lot of people seem to overestimate the overall Frenchness of Canada. Of course Montreal is closer to NYC and a straight shot north, whereas Toronto is further away and the routing to get there is kinda complicated.

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Americans' views of Canada can be all over the map both literally and figuratively.

Though you're probably right that perceptions that it's all or mostly French are concentrated in the northeast - I actually think it extends further than New England though, into other parts of the BosNYWash corridor.

I find that even in the NYC area a lot of people seem to overestimate the overall Frenchness of Canada. Of course Montreal is closer to NYC and a straight shot north, whereas Toronto is further away and the routing to get there is kinda complicated.

Here in South Florida we are used to seeing a bump in population in the winter time from all the Québécois that live here part time.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Americans' views of Canada can be all over the map both literally and figuratively.

Though you're probably right that perceptions that it's all or mostly French are concentrated in the northeast - I actually think it extends further than New England though, into other parts of the BosNYWash corridor.

I find that even in the NYC area a lot of people seem to overestimate the overall Frenchness of Canada. Of course Montreal is closer to NYC and a straight shot north, whereas Toronto is further away and the routing to get there is kinda complicated.

I think there's too much interaction with English speaking Canada for people in NY overestimate French Canada. My sense is that NYC is aware that Quebec is a French speaking place, but I think more people would be surprised that it isn't like NYC in which many/most people are bilingual but English is the lingua franca. Also, I know a fair number of Quebecois and they all have standard North American English accents.

I think this might also be generational. I wouldn't be surprised if older American Boomers and up have a perception of French Canada being larger since they are old enough to remember when Montreal was the primary city.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

Here in South Florida we are used to seeing a bump in population in the winter time from all the Québécois that live here part time.

Yes that's true, and this might be another sub-region where French Canada looms larger in the American consciousness. (People from Ontario and other parts of Anglo-Canada are more likely to frequent the Florida Gulf Coast.)

Louisiana might be another for obvious reasons.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Also, I know a fair number of Quebecois and they all have standard North American English accents.
.

Interesting subset of Québécois you know because maybe only 20% of Québécois would have standard North American English accents when speaking your language. Even the majority of bilingual ones don't. This includes almost all of my friends who are Québécois. They can speak English for sure but would instantly sound "foreign, from somewhere" to American ears.

My wife and I probably can pass for native English speakers but we're not really Québécois born and raised, having grown in up in "Anglo-Canada".

My kids certainly don't, even though they can speak English pretty well. They could never pass for native North American speakers of English, and neither could their friends who are bilingual. And we live right on the border with Ontario.

Here is an example of what I could call typical high fluency in English among Québécois. The host is an Anglo-Montrealer so yes he could pass for a random North American anglophone, but the guest obviously couldn't pass for one.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=580742516315208

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Interesting subset of Québécois you know because maybe only 20% of Québécois would have standard North American English accents when speaking your language. Even the majority of bilingual ones don't. This includes almost all of my friends who are Québécois. They can speak English for sure but would instantly sound "foreign, from somewhere" to American ears.

My wife and I probably can pass for native English speakers but we're not really Québécois born and raised, having grown in up in "Anglo-Canada".

My kids certainly don't, even though they can speak English pretty well. They could never pass for native North American speakers of English, and neither could their friends who are bilingual. And we live right on the border with Ontario.

Yeah, I've honestly wondered if the French speakers avoid coming to NYC or something. I thought it was odd that everyone I know from Quebec has a standard NA English accent.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Yeah, I've honestly wondered if the French speakers avoid coming to NYC or something. I thought it was odd that everyone I know from Quebec has a standard NA English accent.

Could they be anglophone (or "allophone") Montrealers? The standard anglo accent is way more common among these groups.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by TempleGuy1000

GaWC has been discussed to death.
What about Schroders’ Global Cities Index released this week that doesn't have NYC ranked number 1 but actually behind SF and Boston.

https://www.schroders.com/en/global/...-cities-index/

Has San Fran passed NYC on the world's stage because of Tech and everything that comes along with it?

In real life, no, but the criteria of this ranking is 4-fold:Economic, Environmental, Innovation and Transport.

And so San Francisco has a stronger economy than NYC if we're talking about GDP growth rate, unemployment rate, income growth, etc. SF's GDP doubled in the past decade, only San Jose and Austin likewise doubled.

San Francisco is also stronger than New York when it comes to innovation as far as the creation of successful start ups, as far as patents issued, as far as venture capital, etc. That isn't news.

I don't know what they mean by environment but Im sure NYC resoundingly beats SF in Transport.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Could they be anglophone (or "allophone") Montrealers? The standard anglo accent is way more common among these groups.

Most probably are, but I know that at least two are Francophone Montrealers and their accents sound like they're from the US. They don't even give off the linguistic cues that identify English speaking Ontarians to Americans.

[iheartthed]

From the Schroders link:

The elevation of San Francisco follows the introduction of a specific venture capital score to the Index. In short, the Innovation measurement, which previously assessed the strength of universities in a city, now also monitors the amount of venture funding directed to businesses in a specific location.

Not sure I agree that venture capital allocation should be a prominent metric for a global city ranking list. Venture capital isn't really a global industry.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

From the Schroders link:



Not sure I agree that venture capital allocation should be a prominent metric for a global city ranking list. Venture capital isn't really a global industry.

Well, it's not an industry per se, but VC has spawned company after company that has had global implications.

Anyhow, here are the world's largest Unicorns as of Feb...

Rank-Company--HQ city---2023 Market Value
1 ByteDance, Beijing, China $140B
2 SpaceX, Hawthorne, CA, USA $127B
3 Shein, Shenzhen, China $100B
4 Stripe, San Francisco, USA $95B
5 Canva, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia $40B
6 Checkout.com, London, UK $40B
7 Instacart, San Francisco, USA $39B
8 Databricks, San Francisco, USA $38B
9 Revolut, London, UK $33B
10 Epic Games, Cary, NC, USA $31.5B

11 Fanatics, Jacksonville, USA $31B
12 Chime, San Francisco, CA $25B
13 BYJU's ,Bengaluru, India $22B
14 Xiaohongshu, Shanghai, China $20B
15 J&T Express, Jakarta, Indonesia $20B
16 Miro, San Francisco, USA $17.5B
17 Yuanfudao, Beijing, China $15.5B
18 DJI Innovations, Shenzhen, China $15B
19 Discord, San Francisco, USA $15B
20 goPuff, Philadelphia, USA $15B

21 Yuanqi Senlin, Beijing, China $15B
22 Ripple, San Francisco, USA $15B
23 Blockchain.com, London, UK $14B
24 Plaid, San Francisco, CA $13.5B
25 OpenSea, New York, USA $13.3B
26 Celonis, Munich, Germany $13B
27 Grammarly, San Francisco, USA $13B
28 Devoted Health, Waltham, MA, USA $12.6B
29 Faire, San Francisco, USA $12.59B
30 Brex, San Francisco, USA $12.3B

31 Juul Labs, San Francisco, USA $12B
32 Bitman Technologies, Beijing, China $12B
33 Biosplice Therapeutics, San Diego, USA $12B
34 GoodLeap, Roseville, CA $12B
35 Xingsheng Selected, Changsha, China $12B
36 Deel, San Francisco, USA $12B
37 Getir, Istanbul, Turkey $11.8B
38 Airtable, San Francisco, USA $11.7B
39 ZongMu Technology, Shanghai, China $11.4B
40 Rippling, San Francisco, USA $11.25B

41 Global Switch, London, UK $11.1B
42 Bolt, San Francisco, USA $11B
43 Alchemy, San Francisco, USA $10.2B
44 Weilong, Luohe, China $10.88B
45 Swiggy, Bengaluru, India $10.7B
46 Lalamove, Hong Kong, China $10B
47 Gusto, San Francisco, USA $10B
48 Chehaoduo, Beijing, China $10B
49 Reddit, San Francisco, USA $10B
50 Talkdesk, San Francisco, USA $10B

51 Notion Labs, San Francisco, USA $10B
52 Thrasio, Walpole, MA, USA $10B
53 Digital Currency Group, New York, USA $10B
54 KuCoin, Victoria, Seychelles $10B
55 OutSystems, Boston, USA $9.5B
56 ServiceTitan, Glendale, CA, USA $9.5B
57 HEYTEA, Shenzhen, China $9.28B
58 N26 Berlin, Germany $9.23B
59 Klaviyo, Boston, USA $9.2B
60 TripActions, Palo Alto, CA, USA $9.2B

61 Northvolt, Stockholm, Sweden $9.08B
62 Tanium, Kirkland, WA, USA $9B
63 Niantic, San Francisco, USA $9B
64 OYO Rooms, Gurugram, India $9B
65 Rapyd, London, UK $8.75B
66 Kavak, Lerma de Villada, Mexico $8.7B
67 Nuro, Mountain View, CA, USA $8.6B
68 Chainanalysis, New York, USA $8.6B
69 Pony.ai, Fremont, CA, USA $8.5B
70 Personio, Munich, Germany $8.5B

71 Anduril, Irvine, CA, USA $8.48B
72 SumUp, London, UK $8.5B
73 Bolt, Tallinn, Estonia $8.4B
74 Lacework, San Jose, USA $8.3B
75 Tipalt, San Mateo, CA USA $8.3B
76 Tempus, Chicago, USA $8.1B
77 Ramp, New York, USA $8.1B
78 Dream11, Mumbai, India $8B
79 Fireblocks, New York, USA $8B
80 Flexport, San Francisco, USA $8B

81 FalconX, San Mateo, CA, USA $8B
82 Caris Life Sciences, Irving, TX, USA $7.83B
83 Dapper Labs, Vancouver, Canada $7.6B
84 Hopin, London, UK $7.75B
85 Netskope, Santa Clara, CA USA $7.5B
86 Razorpay, Bengaluru, India $7.5B
87 Automattic, San Francisco, USA $7.5B
88 Carta, San Francisco, USA $7.4B
89 Snyk, Boston, USA $7.4B
90 Scale AI, San Francisco, USA $7.3B

91 Argo AI, Pittsburgh, USA $7.25B
92 Gong, Palo Alto, CA, USA $7.25B
93 Gemini, New York, USA $7.1B
94 Toss, Seoul, South Korea $7B
95 We Doctor, Hangzhou, China $7B
96 Ro, New York, USA $7B
97 ConsenSys, New York, USA $7B
98 Automation Anywhere, San Jose, USA $6.8B
99 1Password, Toronto, Canada $6.8B
100 Klarna, Stockholm, Sweden $6.7B

https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Most probably are, but I know that at least two are Francophone Montrealers and their accents sound like they're from the US. They don't even give off the linguistic cues that identify English speaking Ontarians to Americans.

Maybe they went to McGill?

Anyway, I find that Anglo-Montrealers can be the most American-sounding of English-speaking Canadians, possibly because living in a francophone environment they don't have as much ambient societal reinforcement of classic Anglo-Canadian speech traits like "eh" and "aboat", etc. At least that's always been my theory. A lot of Anglo-Montrealers (especially those of Jewish or Italian origin) almost have a NYC-style nasal accent when speaking in English.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I think this might also be generational. I wouldn't be surprised if older American Boomers and up have a perception of French Canada being larger since they are old enough to remember when Montreal was the primary city.

There is always a lag for such things, and it can last a surprisingly long time.

If I went and knocked on all my neighbours' doors and asked what the biggest city in Brazil is, pretty sure the majority answer would be "Rio de Janeiro".

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Maybe they went to McGill?

Anyway, I find that Anglo-Montrealers can be the most American-sounding of English-speaking Canadians, possibly because living in a francophone environment they don't have as much ambient societal reinforcement of classic Anglo-Canadian speech traits like "eh" and "aboat", etc. At least that's always been my theory. A lot of Anglo-Montrealers (especially those of Jewish or Italian origin) almost have a NYC-style nasal accent when speaking in English.

It's odd that you view it as the most American sounding as it used to be viewed as the standard Canadian accent. That accent is what was called CBC English.

As you know, Montreal was historically Canada's top dog and the city's anglophones were very influential right across Canada. Despite being in the minority, they controlled many things including media and broadcasting. CBC newscasters were often anglo Montrealers. They deemed it to be the most neutral accent as it was free of regional cues. Over decades, millions of Canadians grew up listening to that accent on tv and it became viewed as standard Canadian.

A far lower % of Americans than Canadians have a neutral accent. When I hear a neutral North American accent, I associate that with Canada and the anglo Montreal accent, not the United States. Eugenie Bouchard is a good example of that anglo Montreal accent. It still sounds less jarring to my ears than practically any other accent in anglophone North America. It's not Newfie, it's not Toronto, it's not US South, it's not Texas, it's not Midwest, it's not Jersey., it's not Boston, it's not NYC. I've always liked it.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It's odd that you view it as the most American sounding as it used to be viewed as the standard Canadian accent. That accent is what was called CBC English.

As you know, Montreal was historically Canada's top dog and the city's anglophones were very influential right across Canada. Despite being in the minority, they controlled many things including media and broadcasting. CBC newscasters were often anglo Montrealers. They deemed it to be the most neutral Canadian accent as it was free of regional cues. Over decades, millions of Canadians grew up listening to that accent and it became viewed as standard Canadian.

In 2023 that view is less prevalent but it still sounds less jarring to my ears than practically any other accent in anglophone North America. Eugenie Bouchard has an example of that typical anglo Montreal accent. I've always liked it.

Pierre Elliot Trudeau, born of a francophone-anglophone marriage, also had that accent when speaking in English I'd argue.