this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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2NorthAmerican4You

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[–] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 27 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Houston over here getting ignored like usual, only 7.9 million people live here. It is awful though so I get it.

[–] MintyFresh@lemmy.world 37 points 1 month ago

It's not a city though. More a collection of suburbs.

[–] vrek@programming.dev 21 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I did a business trip there once. One of the few places I really didn't enjoy. Maybe it was the area I was in since I found out there was a run down strip club a few doors down from the hotel, getting dinner was like a few miles away but that was 3 hours in traffic. I think I was in far north west corner of Houston.

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

That area is called Houston. It's terrible everywhere.

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[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If it's any comfort, it's the first city this random dork on the other side of the world thought of.

...for a given value of "great". It's the only city I've visited that somehow manages to be a long distance away from itself.

[–] djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 month ago

hey you're definitely one of the ones rotating in and out

[–] TemPotato@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Houston and Dallas side eyeing everyone as they get passed up as usual.

What did they expect with all these giant highways everywhere, I can pass up lots of Texas at 90 mph now

[–] kibblebits@quokk.au 27 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I never think about Chicago.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Spoken like a true West Coast native.

[–] Psionicsickness@reddthat.com 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

East coast my whole life. I never think about Chicago.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (3 children)
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[–] kibblebits@quokk.au 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

You're not wrong, but Chicago has a lot to offer, and not just for their fabulous pies and comedy incubation. It's not Cleveland, for Christ's sake.

[–] EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I've been there twice, only once by choice, and I think about Seattle more than Chicago.

Hell I think about Gary Indiana more than Chicago.

[–] deacon@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I live in Chicago and I think about Gary a lot.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

No one warned you about Gary beforehand, I presume

[–] zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Everybody that leaves Chicago can't stop thinking about it.

[–] kibblebits@quokk.au 8 points 1 month ago

People in abusive relationships often have flashbacks

[–] 0ops@piefed.zip 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Honestly me too. I think a big part of it is cultural. With LA you have Hollywood, skate culture, and a music scene that dominated the last 3 decades or so, etc, and NYC, well, it's NYC. For a while Chicago was the center of the jazz world when jazz was the mainstream, but that was probably over a hundred years ago. I hear Chicago's nice, but that's basically all I hear, I really don't know what goes on over there these days compared to a lot of other American cities.

[–] Danquebec@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago

Chicago was also important in blues.

[–] megopie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Putting Chicago before LA is funny. Putting Chicago in the list but not DC is hilarious.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

It definitely goes NYC, LA, Chicago, SF.

DC doesn't get on there because DC is a one-trick pony. It's the seat of power for the federal government, at which point you may as well be saying that Sacramento makes top three major cities in California. NYC, LA, and Chicago have the first, second, and third-most populous MSAs (DC is 7th) and have a lot going for them individually.

Unlike the San Francisco Bay Area, its CSA with Baltimore etc. that makes it #3 lacks a coherent identity and presence. DC is still populous and does that one trick really well (and has value as a tourist attraction), so it is fighting with DFW for the fifth spot, imo, but probably goes somewhere below it just because unlike in many national capitals (Paris, Moscow, Jakarta, etc.), an outsize chunk of people who live there do so just to work for/around the government.

[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Eh, you could easily swap out SF with DFW, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle… hence why the 4th city rotates.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I don't think that's true at all. San Francisco has an especially major cultural, historical, and tourism presence. Moreover, given we're talking nationwide, I think it's not just appropriate but prudent to consider the San Francisco Bay Area (its CSA that I think has a coherent, pretty singular identity on a nationwide scale), which has both the 5th-highest population in the country of any CSA and has an enormous nationwide and global presence in technology and education.

Atlanta isn't even on the same level (and I don't mean based on the GaWC I'm about to discuss). Funnily, going by the GaWC classification, I was possibly overstating DFW (I consider globalization a big component given we're talking nationwide in such a globalized nation), but I think that's the only mistake I make there. I think New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco are solidly the first four.

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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 5 points 1 month ago

feels like its going by kinda date. New York was the first major city, then chicago, then LA but LA population wise overtook chicago. Its kinda funny because texas's major metros combined would surpass new york but then again you start combining cali and you get the same. Both states though are as big as several average sized states combined land wise. Personally I think NY and chicago are kinda special because they are the only ones for their state. Like if your in the state and you say your are going to take a trip to the city you would know what they mean.

[–] craftrabbit@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

NY, Chicago, LA, Rio de Janero

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[–] imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] bangupjobasusual@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

We are fourth most expensive, fourth worst traffic, third population density of cities with more than a million people. It’s obviously Boston.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I can confirm that this is a really trivial thing to obsess over.

[–] makefile@programming.dev 8 points 1 month ago

Anything to waste Americans' time rather than caring about the Epstein files

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So many people are forgetting Houston. It's humongous.

[–] MrEff@lemmy.world 27 points 1 month ago

That city is basically the definition of urban sprawl. It is slightly larger than the size of Connecticut. I have to explain to people that when you cross Houston during normal/low traffic times, it can take over two hours without stopping to get from one side to the other, highway the whole time.

[–] TemPotato@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Everyone forgets Houston in these things. We're the biggest real fake underdog, lol.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

Blowing on that Endo

Game cube Nintendo

Jet black tinting

All up in my window

[–] Delphia@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Everyone in the comments arguing and proving the meme right.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Philly, Philly, Philly, and Philly.

[–] makefile@programming.dev 4 points 1 month ago

Was looking for this comment. People are really saying Houston before Philadelphia

[–] FavouriteShapes@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

Fact check: TRUE!

Independently fact checked by non-american nationals.

[–] Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

NY, Chicago, LA, and Miami

[–] Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Houston / DFW makes sense to balance out the 4 regions of the US, Northeast, south, Midwest and west

SF / DC make the most sense for political / economic impact and that they actually feel like a major city and not a giant sprawled out suburb.

[–] meh@piefed.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

the 4th spot goes to the last city to cause ice agents the kind of nightmares law&order will make into sympathetic copaganda one day. minneapolis is hoping atlanta or hoston will take over soon.

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[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

NYC, Chicago, Boston, then LA (in that order)

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