If you had to rank the "best big cities" in America, what would your list look like?

I’m doing this research b/c I’m thinking of moving and I want to live in an area that offers big city living. I think the ideal “big city” not only has a large, dense population with a sprawling metro area, but also great nightlife/culture and restaurants, a bustling job market, big time sports, a “global city” reputation w/ lots of diversity, good public transportation and is also a tourist destination. With these parameters in mind, I created a five-tiered list of my own that classifies U.S. cities in terms of their urban appeal. Any feedback or arguments? Which cities should have made my list but didn't?



Tier 1

-New York

-Los Angeles

-Chicago



Tier 2

-Boston

-San Francisco

-Washington, DC

-Miami

-Dallas



Tier 3

-Houston

-Philadelphia

-Atlanta

-Seattle

-San Diego



Tier 4

-Denver

-Phoenix

-Minneapolis

-Baltimore

-Las Vegas

-Detroit



Tier 5

-Pittsburgh

-Cleveland

-Austin

-St Louis

-Portland, OR

-Charlotte

-Nashville

-Milwaukee

-New OrleansIf you had to rank the "best big cities" in America, what would your list look like?
Houston is definitely Tier 2. Boston isn't. Aside from the Boston Pops and lots of strip joints there isn't a whole lot to do there (you see the historic stuff once and then it is BTDT).



The problem with your Tier 1 cities is that they're all incredibly expensive to live in. Houston and Dallas are not.
only one that is New York City but only Brooklyn every other part of NYC sucksIf you had to rank the "best big cities" in America, what would your list look like?
Tier 1 Should def be

-NY

-Chicago

-LA
I think Philly should be in tier 2. That's my only problem...otherwise, great job!
You might want to consider San Antonio on your list. San Antonio has lots to offer including a decent job market and housing market. It also has lots of neat restuarants and night life offerings and is often considered the "oddball" in Texas because of that along with the city culture.



In your top tier, LA really has no public transportation to speak of and is more of a giant suburb as opposed to the metro areas you find in Chicago and New York. Chicago and New York both offer lots of what your looking for but Chicago has more of a relaxed culture as compared to New York where the people are more on the go and brisk in their conversations. Its basically the diffrence between east coast and midwest.



San Fran also offers lots of great city culture but it stays relatively cool so if your a warm weather fan prolly not the best choice.