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

[Musicman215]

Hi, I'm new here and I thought I might start a discussion. I've noticed some other countries (esp. in Europe) have declared cultural capitals but AFAIK the US doesn't officially have one or never had one nominated. I think my city Philadelphia is the perfect choice, since it has the best museums in the country and undoubtedly offers the finest musical ensembles and it's considered ground zero for classical music and high arts. Yes, you can say NYC has the largest collection of artistic activities and most money but most of it is bought rather than homegrown, where Philly excels at homegrown arts and culture. Same with DC, the federal gov't funds the arts and culture there and anything in DC most likely didn't originate locally.

I don't want to make a 1st post too long, so I'll nominate Philly to be the US's cultural capital for its excellent and extremely vibrant artistic scene that's second to none in quality and diversity. If you disagree, what other cities should be considered?

[Crawford]

Is this a serious post?

Yes, clearly Philly is the nation's cultural capital...

[ChiSoxRox]

Probably Los Angeles. The waves of music from the Doors to NWA, names like Rodeo Drive and Sunset, cruising down the highways, the surf rolling in, the Dodgers, and above all, around the world people watch the results of studio decisions and filming in Burbank or Culver City.... If there's a beacon for US culture, it's Los Angeles IMO.

More interesting IMO is a culture capital per capita. A smaller city with an outsized effect on US culture. For that, I'd say New Orleans. The birthplace of jazz, where the rhythm and blues gained the edge into rock and roll, the exuberance of Mardi Gras, the seafood that draws people worldwide.

(And yes, any justification for a pick is probably going to sound like a Lonely Planet blurb.)

[bossabreezes]

Not New York, it is not very “American” culturally or demographically.

I agree with LA- culture seems to start on the west coast and move East.

[hipster duck]

The cultural capital is a joint venture between NYC and LA.

But if you’re asking what city should get to host an “American cultural capital of the year” event if it was done in the spirit of the EU version, then considering these are economic development projects that usually go to help a small backwater place, Philly wouldn’t really be a good choice. This would usually go to some European equivalent of Scranton.

[Docere]

Jacksonville.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Docere

Jacksonville.

TWO THUMBS UP IT'S YUUUGGGEEE!

[iheartthed]

New York and it's not even a debate.

[mhays]

Just art or other things too?

Pop culture? Traditional "high" culture only?

Are we going for the top city or trying to boost a secondary place?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by mhays

Just art or other things too?

Pop culture? Traditional "high" culture only?

Are we going for the top city or trying to boost a secondary place?

The first two are pretty much not up for debate: New York and Los Angeles. There are some arguments to be made beyond those two, though.

[jmecklenborg]

Popular culture isn't going to involve many real, live people within 5 years. It's going to be AI-generated entities who keep going in perpetuity, like Disney cartoon characters. Innovation in popular music disappeared when CD sales collapsed, so its transition to being AI-generated isn't going to be so obvious.

[Quixote]

For cultural offerings in the way of the arts, obviously NYC.

As far as which city is the best representation of American culture, Chicago. Demographically, it’s a city of legacy European immigrants (German, Irish, Italian, Eastern European), African Americans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans. A very downtown-centric city with lots of tall, bold, and boxy skyscrapers organized on a grid, headquarters of McDonald’s, hub for United Airlines, football is the most popular sport (especially when you include NCAA D1), not car-unfriendly, home to the iconic “American Gothic” painting, quintessential-looking American suburbia and nearby farm country (architecture and landscape), world-class cultural institutions housed in grand, neoclassical-style buildings, Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” etc.

DC feels very American, but it’s too low-rise, post-war, and lacks the European heritage.

Philadelphia isn’t quite “put-together” enough and its urbanism too “fine-grained.”

Boston is too white and preppy.

[Nomad9]

The best way to answer this would probably be to ask a random sample of people from other counties to name the city that first comes to mind when they think of the United States.

Almost guaranteed to be NYC or LA.

Now, as for what city best represents America as a whole, that’s a different question. Probably something more like Dallas or Chicago, or even a smaller metro like Indy or Columbus.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by Quixote

headquarters of McDonald’s

This alone probably makes Chicago #1.

In all seriousness, though, maybe Atlanta?

[mavillav]

Greetings everyone, as a foreigner I have a different perception of American culture mm... every time I use the demonym of the USA in English it gives me a strange feeling because being Ecuadorian I consider myself American, but that's something else.

I was born in 79 and grew up in the 80's and 90's watching movies, series, music mainly from England and the USA, then in the early 90's cable channels in Spanish began to appear and among them MTV Latino and I began to appreciate the latin rock music of the time.

I think that Los Angeles, New York, Seattle generated an important part of the American culture that reached this part of the continent. But there were also musical groups from other cities that I liked from the first time I heard them.

There is no doubt that the US during the 20th century had an important generation of culture, unfortunately in the 21st century it has declined significantly and has lost its identity.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

This alone probably makes Chicago #1.

In all seriousness, though, maybe Atlanta?

Probably Chicago for its industrial and ethnic/racial history and Dallas since it's about brash and big USA/Texas and football. LA certainly made a big play, but I think that its time has passed. NYC is certainly a cultural capital with its amenities and prominence. It's kind of crazy how the Madison Square Garden is considered the most famous US arena but the NY teams barely have won championships.

[craigs]

The US is too decentralized to have a single "cultural capital," and that is part of what makes American culture so vital. Rather, we have many different cities that excel at specific aspects of our culture. Some have our best fine art museums and symphonies, while others are notable for pumping out movies and television. Some cities consolidate and produce a lot of popular music, others video games and streaming content, and yet others generate high and street fashion. No one city is the "capital" of all of those things.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

Not New York, it is not very “American” culturally or demographically.

Considering this is a nation of immigrants, I would say NYC is quintessentially American in both culture and demographics. New York is the very definition of American.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by DCReid

and Dallas since it's about brash and big USA/Texas and football.

I thought about Dallas.

[Quixote]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

This alone probably makes Chicago #1.

I think Chicago, more than any other major metro area, is in alignment with the nation's overall demographic profile while also having cultural aspects that make it relatable to just about every part of the country.

It's at the geographic center of the Midwest — not too far north or south, Appalachian or Great Plains. It's situated on a Great Lake in a state that is mostly dotted with plains, while the forested southern tip is adjacent to the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and bleeds into Kentucky. The metro area is also situated on two natural rivers, one of which connects with the Mississippi.

Chicagoland is racially diverse but still majority white. Its large and fairly large German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Jewish, and Puerto Rican populations establish a connection with the Bos-Wash corridor. Like much of the South, it has a large African American population/influence. It boasts a large Mexican/Chicano population like the southwestern quadrant of the U.S. Like the Pacific Northwest (looking specifically at Seattle and Portland), German is far and away the most predominant ethnic group and there are relatively sizable Scandinavian American (Swedish and Norwegian) populations. Seattle and Portland are also both very downtown-centric, laid out on grids, and have bungalow housing typologies that are clearly Midwestern-influenced by design (very much like Minneapolis).

Chicago's strong corporate base and high-pedigree academic and artistic institutions establish a connection with elites, intellectuals, and liberals on both coasts (i.e. Northeast and California), while college football popularity/fandom and the manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture-based facets of its economy (white and blue collar) imbue it with a more conservative and less "froufrou" image that resonates with much of middle and rural America.

Chicago is a "cleaner, friendlier, slower-paced" and therefore more familiar "version of NYC" for many Americans, while New Yorkers and residents of the other major Northeast Corridor cities (particularly Boston and Philadelphia) view it as their more "mild-mannered" peers who can bond over sports and complaints about the weather.

Chicago's temperament and attitude are just the right blend of everything. It even has beaches!