Best Urban Med Schools

[veenut]

Where are all the winter pics? Haha

I don't see why some of you are being so hostile about this. Just because you like Chicago doesn't make LA a crappy city, and vise versa, that's such an illogical way to get your point across.

that's true. i just hate LA.

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[tank you]

some of those pics are very nice.
and lets all be nice, every city has their pros and cons, so whats the point arguing? also, everyone has their own personal preferences, so u cant really say one city is better than another.

 

[riceman04]

chicago is the best city in america, hands down. More culture than LA, nicer people than NYC. And probably the best city in the world to spend your 20s in

More culture???? Are you kidding!!!

Now I know you must be smoke'N that stuff.

 

[riceman04]

 

[Faust]

I just got back from chi town. Its cool, but damn there is some ugly a$$ pale people in chi town. Nothing compares to NYC, and LA (of course thanks to plastics), but damn what is up with that pale skin tone in chi town.

 

[tacrum43]

In the world it's Paris, London, NY, HK, Tokyo, LA, Berlin, SF, Sydney, those are the urban mover and shakers. Those are the straws that stir the drink and offer urban culture that is faster and more intense.

Where do you come up with this crap?

You are one arrogant and ignorant person to dismiss cities like Chicago so quickly just because they aren't on a coast. Did you go to USC?

 

[SoCalRULES!!!!!]

I don't know. I think I need to see some more pictures.

Please!!!!! I could show you Melrose Ave, Venice Beach, 3rd St. Promenade, the only difference is there would be a lot more diveristy and funkiness and fit people.

No disrespect to Chicago and especially the University of Chicago and Northwestern. They are fantastic schools. But LA, NY and SF just offer that little extra sumthin' sumthin' if you know what I mean (and frankly UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, Columbia are stronger than the Midwest's elite insutions). (and for real, LA won the battle for west coast primacy long ago and has also since surpassed Chicago. Now we challenge NY. Our peers are Tokyo, London, Paris, NY, HK.)

 

[tacrum43]

(and for real, LA won the battle for west coast primacy long ago and has also since surpassed Chicago. Now we challenge NY. Our peers are Tokyo, London, Paris, NY, HK.)

Remember when there was that competition for which city got the new stem cell center in CA? And LA didn't even turn in their application on time?

I'm not saying that LA isn't a world class city, I'm just saying it's not perfect, and you should settle down. What is the point? We get the idea from your username already.

 

[astrife]

I'm young and the biggest city I've been too is Chicago. I fell in love. When I was on the pier looking at the magnificent lit up skyline I made it my mission to set my roots down in the city when schooling permitted. However, I'm going to NYC for Xmas so I might change my mind about which city I will make my homebase. All I know is that hopefully after my undergrad I'll be somewhere besides Arkansas.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

ctwick: nice pics. thanks for posting.

riceman: it's possible to sub-divide the category of culture into "high" culture (e.g., theater, art, orchestra, opera) and "low" culture (television, popular film, music). la may score big in low culture with the likes of "Joey," "Alf," and the occasional meaningful (gasp) hollywood film, but chicago is thankfully content with its established high culture institutions (e.g. art institute, goodman theater, chi symphony orchestra, museum of contemp art, joffrey ballet, lyric opera . . .)

socalrules: i think it's clear that no one knows what you mean by the "sumpthin' sumpthin'" that supposedly chicago (the city you know nothing about) doesn't have, and la supposedly shares with nyc. in fact, you've been contradicted several times by those who think nyc has more in common with chicago than la.

 

[DrRads101]

I don't know. I think I need to see some more pictures.

Please!!!!! I could show you Melrose Ave, Venice Beach, 3rd St. Promenade, the only difference is there would be a lot more diveristy and funkiness and fit people.

Well do it then, because I'd love to see this Melrose Ave with all the elements of "urban lifestyle" like street performers and huge crowds of pedestrians who traversed (i.e., WALKED) through the city from their nearby apartment surrounded by skyscrapers, with maybe a backdrop of a nearby mass transit station that is actually being used by loads of urban dwellers with lots of hustle and bustle thrown in for good mix...

No disrespect to Chicago and especially the University of Chicago and Northwestern. They are fantastic schools. But LA, NY and SF just offer that little extra sumthin' sumthin' if you know what I mean

No I don't know what you mean. Having lived in New York City, and now living in Chicago for almost 2 years now, I have no idea what you mean by it lacking a "little sumthin' sumthin'"...

BTW University of Chicago is in Hyde Park, which is not that urban by Chicago standards. But I absolutely dare you to tour Northwestern's medical school location and neighborhood. There is NOTHING like it that exists on the entire West Coast.

(and frankly UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, Columbia are stronger than the Midwest's elite insutions).

Washington University and University of Michigan are considerably more elite than UCLA in medicine and arguably just as elite as the other schools you mentioned.

 

[DrRads101]

More culture???? Are you kidding!!!

Now I know you must be smoke'N that stuff.

It's pretty damn close.... I won't claim who has "more culture" but Bestplaces.net whose very job is to research and rank these things ranks Chicago above Los Angeles in "Arts & Culture."

 

[DrBowtie]

SHHHHHHHHHH.

Let the Coasters diss the Midwest.
More spots for us....

 

[Califlower]

I am in LA, and I love it. But after visiting some urban areas, I realize how unique and different LA is. That photo of streets filled with pedestrians -- that only happens during lunch and only in downtown. Other urban downtowns have people living and working -- LA doesn't have a lot of people living in downtown (although much is being done to change that) unless you count the homeless. As a medical student in So Cal, you will probably won't walk amongst other pedestrian in hustle-n-bustle streets. But we got the fab weather and miles of beaches and mountains and one of the diversest (is that a word?) neighborhoods around.

 

[UCdannyLA]

I've lived in NJ/NY for 8 years...Hong Kong....been to Chicago countless times....and now live in So.Cal (went to UCLA for undergrad)....and I have to say HANDS DOWN....that

So.Cal is the best place to live (my opinion, of course).

There's no vibe that can match that of So.Cal.


I don't ever wanna leave So.Cal.


Hahaha. yeah you can see how much I love it here. Just my OPINION.

Peace.

 

[DrRads101]

^

That's great and all but this thread is about the most urban medical schools.

 

[medstylee]

damn, i miss chicago a lot.

 

[dz88]

which city is the pictures ctwickman uploaded? LA? NY?

edit: nevermind: stupid me, I skipped the second page: answered my one question.

 

[bdubz]

so this thread quickly became, "my town is the best town" thread, with tons of pictures to overload bdubz's computer. I guess I should've been suspicious once I saw the word "best" in the thread title, trying to rank anything always stirs up controversy.

Nobody is going to budge on this thread. Nobody's going to convince me that LA is better than Chicago anymore than you can stop Ludacris and Outkast from repping Atlanta. You can continue to disagree with each other all you want, just how about doing some hot on-topic action?

 

[Law2Doc]

What are the best urban med schools in the best urban cities?

Personally I can't really pick 1,2,3...like US News but I can group them.

Tier 1) NYU, Cornell, Columbia, UCSF, UCLA, Keck Those are all great medical schools and NY, SF and LA are the premier world class urban cities, the places where most international motivated cosmopolitan people would want to live. (sorry Stanford ain't in SF though it is a great school)

Tier 2) HMS, Penn, Univ of Wash Great schools in respectable Boston, Philly and Seattle.

Tier 3) UCSD Great School SO-SO city but still not bad. Univ or Oregon So-So school decent urban coastal city.

Tier 4) Georgetown fair school in good urban city

Tier 5) Univ of Chicago, Norwestern, Case, Wash U. Pitt etc... Good to Great schools in urban cities but hurt by the boring midwest location and on top of that miserable weather. Fly Over Country

I'm really confused with your thread (pretty pictures of chicago notwithstanding). You are ranking cities and then the schools, rather than the best schools that happen to be in urban environments. JHU for example is a very highly ranked and regarded school in a very urban city, but fails to make your list. But even if you were ranking cities and then the schools within, Boston and SF, SD not to mention Seattle are not nearly as urban as, say, Philly or DC (nor are they as "urban" as many many other cities which didn't make your list - Detroit, Cleveland, Miami ) -- those cities you mentioned have fewer people in them and more of the populus above the poverty level. Being in a true urban environment is often advantageous in med school, as you tend to get more experience earlier when the local population is poor and underserved, and will accept whatever medical services are available. You get to see more drug and trauma related cases too. Plus it doesn't hurt as a poor med student or resident to have lots of less expensive housing options and public transportation around. Using that sentiment as a yardstick, you can pretty much remove Boston and SF from your list as really not urban enough. You may want to retitle your post -- "My favorite med schools in moderate to large cities, with a bias toward the west coast".

 

[riceman04]

ctwick: nice pics. thanks for posting.

riceman: it's possible to sub-divide the category of culture into "high" culture (e.g., theater, art, orchestra, opera) and "low" culture (television, popular film, music). la may score big in low culture with the likes of "Joey," "Alf," and the occasional meaningful (gasp) hollywood film, but chicago is thankfully content with its established high culture institutions (e.g. art institute, goodman theater, chi symphony orchestra, museum of contemp art, joffrey ballet, lyric opera . . .)

socalrules: i think it's clear that no one knows what you mean by the "sumpthin' sumpthin'" that supposedly chicago (the city you know nothing about) doesn't have, and la supposedly shares with nyc. in fact, you've been contradicted several times by those who think nyc has more in common with chicago than la.

LA's high cuture is overshadowed by it's "low-culture" b/c of how large the entertainment industry is. I guarantee you that if there was no "Hollywood" out here (there for now b/c I am in Philly) then it's "high-culture" would shine through.

Here let me get you pictures of LA's "high-culture"

Old Getty Meuseum

La Brea Tar Pits

New Getty Meuseum

Gardens at The Getty

Hollywood Bowl

Disney Concert Hall

Disney Concert Hall

Dorothy Chandler Concert Pavillion

The list goes on:
Oh and we have a large sports culture too:
LA Coliseum

Rose Bowl Parade

Yes, those float designs are made out of plants, flowers, seeds, and trees (all parts of these organic things are used)


Dang it Half my pictures would not work so I had to remove them

 

[DrRads101]

^

What do these pics have to do with urbanity again?

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

so this thread quickly became, "my town is the best town" thread, with tons of pictures to overload bdubz's computer. I guess I should've been suspicious once I saw the word "best" in the thread title, trying to rank anything always stirs up controversy.

Nobody is going to budge on this thread. Nobody's going to convince me that LA is better than Chicago anymore than you can stop Ludacris and Outkast from repping Atlanta. You can continue to disagree with each other all you want, just how about doing some hot on-topic action?

agreed. to slightly rearrange law2doc's suggestion, all west-coasters should continue with their list:

"Good med schools that happen to be in my favorite moderate to large cities, with a bias toward the west coast"

 

[SoCalRULES!!!!!]

^

What do these pics have to do with urbanity again?

Just like when CHicaog was influential and impressive in the 19th century, we are now the New City.

Disney Concert Hall is probably the US's most important piece of urban architecture since the empire state building. Plus LA is the new center for urban architecture. Ever heard of Thom Mayne and Gerry, the most important working architects in the US today. The days of Frank Wright and Burhnam are long gone.

 

[DrRads101]

hahaha Chi Town...a respectable city...hahaha

Chicago for the most part is full of ghetto's, tall & old buildings, and a wannabe beach. Did I mention no diversity in terrain. The sprawl of LA is so much better than being cramped up into small lots.

I think you are just mad b/c most people dont consider chicago as the ultimate destination. It's nothing more than a city surrounded by typical midwest scenery that is by a dirty arse lake!

It's posts like this people have a problem with. I mean look at this. It's like a joke. You can't take people like this seriously though.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

The LaBrea tar pits!! That is one seriously bad example of high culture. They need to go back to their old animals they used to have in there.

 

[DrRads101]

Just like when CHicaog was influential and impressive in the 19th century, we are now the New City.

Disney Concert Hall is probably the US's most important piece of urban architecture since the empire state building. Plus LA is the new center for urban architecture. Ever heard of Thom Mayne and Gerry, the most important working architects in the US today. The days of Frank Wright and Burhnam are long gone.

First of all, it's Frank GeHry not "Gerry." Second, I'd still like to see these pics of urban LA excitement that rival those Chicago pics. You talked the talk, now walk the walk. Otherwise just shut the hell up and at least give Chicago credit for what it truly IS and not what you perceive it to be. This isn't about the best place to live... you made a thread about urbanity and completely forgot about the 2nd most urban city in the country (not to mention you put Portland and San Diego as more urban than Chicago! LOL!)... so either deal or at least be a man and admit you were way off.

As far as this being the leader in "urban architecture" give me a break! No offense but it's hard to be a leader in urban architecture when your city isn't exactly urban to begin with. We are talking URBAN architecture, right? I have never seen more than a couple people at any given time walking around the Disney Concert Hall... nothing compared to the urban excitement that is Millenium Park which just opened last year which is now world famous outside of your bubble.... at any givem moment there are probably as many people in Millenium Park outside walking around as in the entire downtown of Los Angeles, to be real...

As far as Gehry's works... I'll take his concert hall in the middle of a world class urban park over one that is at a poorly traversed street corner where no one lives...

As far as urban architecture you forget about this which is happening in Chicago right now... besides Millenium Park, Block 37, the new Soldier Field, and the addition to the Art Institute, Chicago has a couple little buildings going up (3 of the tallest skyscrapers in the United States since the 1970's to be exact)....

...and maybe you've heard of a little known architect by the name of Santiago Calatrava who's responsible for the design of a small little 115 story 2000 foot urban landmark on the lakefront, which was worldwide news over the summer... not exactly a slouch for a city on the "decline of urban archicture"...

 

[riceman04]

It's posts like this people have a problem with. I mean look at this. It's like a joke. You can't take people like this seriously though.

Ok so you made the statement! Now prove your point. Why dont you try reading that in the context for which that response was written.

 

[riceman04]

First of all, it's Frank GeHry not "Gerry." Second, I'd still like to see these pics of urban LA excitement that rival those Chicago pics. You talked the talk, now walk the walk. Otherwise just shut the hell up and at least give Chicago credit for what it truly IS and not what you perceive it to be. This isn't about the best place to live... you made a thread about urbanity and completely forgot about the 2nd most urban city in the country (not to mention you put Portland and San Diego as more urban than Chicago! LOL!)... so either deal or at least be a man and admit you were way off.

As far as this being the leader in "urban architecture" give me a break! No offense but it's hard to be a leader in urban architecture when your city isn't exactly urban to begin with. We are talking URBAN architecture, right? I have never seen more than a couple people at any given time walking around the Disney Concert Hall... nothing compared to the urban excitement that is Millenium Park which just opened last year which is now world famous outside of your bubble.... at any givem moment there are probably as many people in Millenium Park outside walking around as in the entire downtown of Los Angeles, to be real...

As far as Gehry's works... I'll take his concert hall in the middle of a world class urban park over one that is at a poorly traversed street corner where no one lives...

As far as urban architecture you forget about this which is happening in Chicago right now... besides Millenium Park, Block 37, the new Soldier Field, and the addition to the Art Institute, Chicago has a couple little buildings going up (3 of the tallest skyscrapers in the United States since the 1970's to be exact)....

...and maybe you've heard of a little known architect by the name of Santiago Calatrava who's responsible for the design of a small little 115 story 2000 foot urban landmark on the lakefront, which was worldwide news over the summer... not exactly a slouch for a city on the "decline of urban archicture"...

We dont try to build many sky scrappers. Guess why? That's right...EARTHQUAKES! Have you even been in a big one?

 

[DrRads101]

We dont try to build many sky scrappers. Guess why? That's right...EARTHQUAKES! Have you even been in a big one?

That's all well and dandy, but skyscrapers are a huge integral part of urbanity, urban highrise lifestyle, and modern architecture, so I'm not sure your point other than to further prove that LA is not very urban or that Chicago is indeed a leader and epicentre in modern architecture.

 

[DrRads101]

Ok so you made the statement! Now prove your point. Why dont you try reading that in the context for which that response was written.

What point? My statement was that your message was totally ludicrous. Acknowledging your post of how Chicago is not even a respectable city, has a dirty arse lake, and is full of ghetto's would be like arguing with a child over the existence of Santa Clause. It's just not worth it because you are clueless to begin with.

 

[riceman04]

Ok so I have to say that in Chicago everything is centrally located. But outside of the city there is nothing to do.
I guess we are thinking of urban on two diff levels. I am thinking of overall culture, diversity (Chi town def. does not rival LA's diversity), economical factors, entertainment.
Chicago is an old city based on old-school city planning. LA is much younger, but somehow has more to offer due to its location. We have the best of both worlds in LA. We have the culture, we have the entertainment, we have the "urban" sectors, we have the beaches, and we have the skiing.

If you want to consider the best urban city for medicine alone then i would have to say New York or Houston. Houston Proper is exploding b/c of the healthcare. Plus the patient population is diverse as well. It's outskirts are exploding b/c of oil.

And New York...well...it is New York. Enough said.

 

[riceman04]

What point? My statement was that your message was totally ludicrous. Acknowledging your post of how Chicago is not even a respectable city, has a dirty arse lake, and is full of ghetto's would be like arguing with a child over the existence of Santa Clause. It's just not worth it because you are clueless to begin with.

I would be clueless if I had never visited Chicago. Why do you think the Southside is so notorious...definitely not b/c it was mentioned in a rap song. What about Harvey. And yes, lake Michigan is dirty. And please dont tell me you expect for me to believe that those pictures of the lake were not altered to make them appear much more blue than they really are.

Ok so this is stupid!
All I will say is that when people think of the US, the first two cities that come to mind are New York and Los Angeles.
Cya

 

[DrRads101]

^

Get a clue. Lake Michigan is WAY cleaner than you think. They drink out of it here, and swim in it! All the crap (literally) goes into the river which goes into the Mississippi—it does not go into Lake Michigan. These pics are NOT ALTERED and everyone that lives in Chicago or knows anything about the city knows how clean and blue Lake Michigan is, and it’s getting cleaner every year.

And the Southside is the ghetto, yes, what is your point. Are you saying there is no ghetto in LA? And the Southside is gentrifying RAPIDLY and is becoming less ghetto every year---since I moved here in the past 2 years ALL of the high rise projects have been torn down and replaced with mixed income mid-rise construction.

 

[Law2Doc]

IOk so this is stupid!
All I will say is that when people think of the US, the first two cities that come to mind are New York and Los Angeles.
Cya

That probably depends on where they are standing, but most would think of DC (the capitol, remember) first, then NYC (because it's the most internationally pervasive). LA probably comes in #3, but certainly not to all people. The fact that you assume people all have the same things come to mind as you is a bit scary.

 

[DrRads101]

Ok so I have to say that in Chicago everything is centrally located. But outside of the city there is nothing to do.
I guess we are thinking of urban on two diff levels. I am thinking of overall culture, diversity (Chi town def. does not rival LA's diversity), economical factors, entertainment.
Chicago is an old city based on old-school city planning. LA is much younger, but somehow has more to offer due to its location. We have the best of both worlds in LA. We have the culture, we have the entertainment, we have the "urban" sectors, we have the beaches, and we have the skiing.

Ahhh but you still can't give Chicago any credit can you... it does indeed "rival" LA's diversity. Look up the statistics. And there is more to do here on all levels of entertainment, nightlife, shopping, restaurants, etc. than a human being would know what to do with regardless. It's not like you will have all this excitement in LA and be completely bored in Chicago you know. I think you think Chicago is a lot smaller (and apparently rundown and dirty from your comments) than it ACTUALLY is.

Anyways this is hilarious but look at this thread I ran into on the page I was getting some of those skyscraper pics... it is seriously like a mirror of this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=276045

Seeing that thread and this one makes me realize I have better things to do than to convince a couple [apparently totally clueless] people from LA that Chicago is anything but a huge, exciting, clean, bustling, booming, diverse city.... because it is and it completely speaks for itself... it stands on its own... as you grow older I'm sure you'll head out here eventually on vacation during the summer and get to know it for what it is and actually spend some time here.... New York is its only rival in terms of urban excitement in this country. LA (and Houston for that matter) is a totally different animal and completely built around the automobile... trying to convince people it is more exciting IN AN URBAN WAY than Chicago is an impossible feat with those that know, because people associate "urban lifestyle" not with sprawl, traffic and houses... they associate it with highrise apartments, mass transit, urban parks they can walk to, and pedestrians with their ipods... and that other thread on that urban enthusiast forum demonstrates that... I mean look at that thread, that poll isn't even close and that is among people who love to discuss cities... case closed.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

Ahhh but you still can't give Chicago any credit can you... it does indeed "rival" LA's diversity. Look up the statistics. And there is more to do here on all levels of entertainment, nightlife, shopping, restaurants, etc. than a human being would know what to do with regardless. It's not like you will have all this excitement in LA and be completely bored in Chicago you know. I think you think Chicago is a lot smaller (and apparently rundown and dirty from your comments) than it ACTUALLY is.

Anyways this is hilarious but look at this thread I ran into on the page I was getting some of those skyscraper pics... it is seriously like a mirror of this thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=276045

Seeing that thread and this one makes me realize I have better things to do than to convince a couple [apparently totally clueless] people from LA that Chicago is anything but a huge, exciting, clean, bustling, booming, diverse city.... because it is and it completely speaks for itself... it stands on its own... as you grow older I'm sure you'll head out here eventually on vacation during the summer and get to know it for what it is and actually spend some time here.... New York is its only rival in terms of urban excitement in this country, and this is coming from a former New Yorker (and a guy who spent some time in San Francisco)... LA (and Houston for that matter) is a totally different animal and completely built around the automobile... trying to convince people it is more exciting IN AN URBAN WAY than Chicago is an impossible feat with those that know, because people associate "urban lifestyle" not with sprawl, traffic and houses... they associate it with highrise apartments, mass transit, urban parks they can walk to, and pedestrians with their ipods... and that other thread on that urban enthusiast forum demonstrates that... I mean look at that thread, that poll isn't even close and that is among people who love to discuss cities... case closed.

amen.

 

[riceman04]

Dont lie to yourself. The southside will always be ghetto. Look at the mentality of many of the youngsters that live there. My sister used to live there! Ok so Chicago is urban but still do not think of it being more culturally diverse.

I will give your city credit b/c everything is centrally located. But that holds true for every large city from Chicago eastward.

In terms of urbaness (is that a word? =o) ) chicago is very urban. However, to me, it has less to offer overall. I can run out of things to do in that city after a two days.

 

[riceman04]

That probably depends on where they are standing, but most would think of DC (the capitol, remember) first, then NYC (because it's the most internationally pervasive). LA probably comes in #3, but certainly not to all people. The fact that you assume people all have the same things come to mind as you is a bit scary.

Why even make snide remarks? You act like what I am saying is strange. Ask most international people what cities they think of when someone mentions USA to them. Usually Chicago is not one of those two cities.

Geez!!!!!!!!!! I'm no Rush Limbaugh! I'd like to think I am a regular person with some similar and some contrasting opinions.

 

[chandelantern]

I think the U of MN in Minneapolis deserves some credit on that list. It is much more urban that UCSD...La Jolla isn't a major downtown area, sorry. I'm not sure where UCLA is actually located either...is it downtown LA area?

It's funny because I do NOT prefer urban, but this would be my list of urban-feeling med schools that I've been to:

Northwestern
UCSF
U of Chicago
U of MN Twin Cities

Many of the NY schools would be up there too, but I've never been there. Also, Boston & DC schools, then UCLA, maybe some southern states in there, I don't know. My thing is it shouldn't make the list of a top "urban" school if the school isn't in an urban part of the city, do you know what i mean?

 

[LizzyM]

NY Urban med schools :
East side of Manhattan: Cornell (69th St & the East River), NYU (~31st St & the East River), Mt. Sinai (~98th St & Fifth Avenue = across the street from Central Park)

West side of Manhattan (Washington Heights, a neighborhood of poor folk in comparison with the three aforementioned schools): Columbia

Not sure about SUNY Downstate which is in Brooklyn (southeast of Manhattan) but I can't imagine anything in Brooklyn that is not URBAN.

Not sure about Albert Einstien which is in the Bronx (north of Manhattan) but that's quite URBAN as well.

NYMC is in Valhalla (Westchester County, immediately north of NYC) and is Suburban with a capital S.

 

[Gavanshir]

I'm going to nominate McGill University at the heart of downtown Montreal as the best urban medschool. It doesn't get any better.

 

[SoCalRULES!!!!!]

After doing a llittle reserearch, I found this http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb146.html#t11

GLOBAL CITIES

Well rounded global cities

Very large contribution: London and New York Smaller contribution and with cultural bias: Los Angeles, Paris and San Francisco
Incipient global cities: Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Toronto
Global niche cities - specialised global contributions

Economic: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo
Political and social: Brussels, Geneva, and Washington
WORLD CITIES

Subnet articulator cities

Cultural: Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Munich, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm Political: Bangkok, Beijing, Vienna
Social: Manila, Nairobi, Ottawa
Worldwide leading cities

Primarily economic global contributions: Frankfurt, Miami, Munich, Osaka, Singapore, Sydney, Zurich
Primarily non-economic global contributions: Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Atlanta, Basle, Barcelona, Cairo, Denver, Harare, Lyon, Manila, Mexico City, Mumbai, New Delhi, Shanghai


So that is what I'm talking about. LA may not have hundred of highrise housing projects nor 1000s of miles of subway tract (but we do have more subway miles than CHicago and almost as many rail miles even though we started in 1990, not 1890). LA may not be as subjectively urban as NY, Cleveland, Pittsburg, buffalo, but it say it is not urban is serious denial. LA offers the chance to live in one of the vanguard cities. It has excitement and a vibe that you won't find in Toledo, Cincy, Chicago, BUffalo, etc. Plus UCLA and Keck are in the heart of the urban collusus of LA, so that is why they belong with NYU, COlumbia, and UCSF.

 

[Law2Doc]

After doing a llittle reserearch, I found this http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb146.html#t11

GLOBAL CITIES

Well rounded global cities

Very large contribution: London and New York Smaller contribution and with cultural bias: Los Angeles, Paris and San Francisco
Incipient global cities: Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Toronto
Global niche cities - specialised global contributions

Economic: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo
Political and social: Brussels, Geneva, and Washington
WORLD CITIES

Subnet articulator cities

Cultural: Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Munich, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm Political: Bangkok, Beijing, Vienna
Social: Manila, Nairobi, Ottawa
Worldwide leading cities

Primarily economic global contributions: Frankfurt, Miami, Munich, Osaka, Singapore, Sydney, Zurich
Primarily non-economic global contributions: Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Atlanta, Basle, Barcelona, Cairo, Denver, Harare, Lyon, Manila, Mexico City, Mumbai, New Delhi, Shanghai


So that is what I'm talking about. LA may not have hundred of highrise housing projects nor 1000s of miles of subway tract (but we do have more subway miles than CHicago and almost as many rail miles even though we started in 1990, not 1890). LA may not be as subjectively urban as NY, Cleveland, Pittsburg, buffalo, but it say it is not urban is serious denial. LA offers the chance to live in one of the vanguard cities. It has excitement and a vibe that you won't find in Toledo, Cincy, Chicago, BUffalo, etc. Plus UCLA and Keck are in the heart of the urban collusus of LA, so that is why they belong with NYU, COlumbia, and UCSF.

Again, I think the title to this thread is a misnomer. Even assuming LA is one of the best "urban" environments (and I question this as I think "global", "world class", "worldly", "well rounded" and "cosmopolitan" are not really synonyms for urban), I'm not sure I would label SD or SF as particularly urban, and anyhow, the thread suggests a list of the best schools in urban places, and if that's the case, a lot of good schools in very urban environments got dumped out and a lot of CA schools in not nearly as urban environments put into their place. But at least we got to see a lot of very nice photos.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

So that is what I'm talking about. LA may not have hundred of highrise housing projects nor 1000s of miles of subway tract (but we do have more subway miles than CHicago and almost as many rail miles even though we started in 1990, not 1890). LA may not be as subjectively urban as NY, Cleveland, Pittsburg, buffalo, but it say it is not urban is serious denial. LA offers the chance to live in one of the vanguard cities. It has excitement and a vibe that you won't find in Toledo, Cincy, Chicago, BUffalo, etc. Plus UCLA and Keck are in the heart of the urban collusus of LA, so that is why they belong with NYU, COlumbia, and UCSF.

first, there is exactly one high-rise housing project in chicago (cabrini green) whose days are numbered due to its desirable location. i don't see any statistics for l.a. having more subway miles, but if it does that is a testament to how sprawled your city is. third, i never said l.a. isn't urban, but that chicago is more urban. fourth, you say it has an "excitement and vibe" that these many other cities don't have, and you know about the biggest one on your list (chicago) only what we've told you and you haven't denied.

the article you posted is interesting, and its results are not too suprising. Besides the overall rankings, one should keep in mind that they used separate dimensions of economic, cultural, social, and political. look at individual scores with the notion of site and situation in mind:

"Two measures are involved: computing the size of the city as a node in the network, which is the quantity of network agency that is found within a city; and computing how these network agencies link the city to other cities, which is the network connectivity of the city. These measures represent the site and situation properties of a city within a network as previously defined (Taylor, 2001, p.184-7)."

table 8 gives a breakdown of the cities' scores. won't paste in proper format, so here are four that we've been talking about:

city site situation overall

washington 5 3 8
l.a. 2 5 7
chicago 3 0 3
sf 2 1 3

first of all, that washington is ranked above the other three cities should remind us that "political" was one of their dimensions of globalization. so unless you are ready to state that there are more "movers and shakers" (in the non-political sense, which is what i think you had in mind) in d.c. compared to the other three, and that there is more "excitement and vibe" in d.c. than the other three (oh and let's not forget the very high levels of povery in d.c.), then these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt when applied to what we have in mind (which is focused more on the lifestyle the environment affords and not the likelihood of seeing putin being driven away to the airport).

l.a. overwhelms chicago in its "situation" of globalization (5 to 0), but chicago slightly overtakes l.a. as a "site" of globalization (3 to 2). so chicago originates more stuff relevant to globalization than l.a., but l.a. is much better connected with other global cities when it comes to where that stuff goes. i didn't see the article mention this directly, but it should be no stretch of the imagination to suppose that a lot of the global stuff l.a. produces is television and film media, i.e. "joey", "alf", and largely meaningless films that celebrate our horribly materialist culture and folks in other parts of the world sadly want to watch. so (i conjecture) l.a. is good at exporting crap at a global scale. awesome.

sf similarly is slightly less less a site of globalization than chicago (2 versus 3), but it is slightly more connected as a situation (1 versus 0).

althought this model overcomes our earlier problem of only considering economic factors, it includes political factors which are largely irrelevant to us and as a quantitative model can't tell us the quality of the global products at issue.

 

[hawkeey]

There are quite a few medical schools in Urban Chicago:
Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke (downtown)
University of Illinois at Chicago (downtown)
Feinberg (Northwestern University) (not in Evanston - in downtown Chicago)
Pritzker (University of Chicago) (in Hyde Park, South Side)
Loyola University Chicago (North side)
I might be missing a few others...

The schools downtown ususally give the opportunity to rotate through Cook County Hospital (have you seen ER? Yeah, that hospital)

Let's address the water issue. I'm looking at right now. It's blue and the picture is accurate. Does this mean that it's the cleanest water you've even seen, no. Can you swim in it, on most days yes. The city will tell you when there is too much bacteria in the water. Is there a beach in Chicago? Yes, and there is more beach in Indiana. Obviously the beach is not too useful during the winter, but hey no sharks.

Chicago has quite a bit to offer in terms of culture and food. It's really a city of many neighborhoods, each with its own character.

The South Side is a bit run down, but as a previous poster said, it is quickly being "gentrified" meaning that new development is rapidly expanding south from downtown and around Hyde Park.

Hyde Park itself is a bit of an oasis because of the University of Chicago. The administration has basically created a walled garden for Hyde Park by owning much of the property in the neighborhood and surrounding it with parks on three sides. There is some crime occasionally, but they only occur in short bursts which are ended by police crackdowns. This is to be expected in urban settings. Housing in Hyde Park is a real mix. There are low cost student housing buildings next to $500,000 and up townhouses. On a good day, transport to downtown takes about 17 minutes on the road. For public transportation, I would give it 30 minutes just to wait. Chinatown is very nearby.

As far as Cabrini Green, the housing project on the near north side, it's really getting much better around there recently. Literally, across Division Street, there are some very nice apartments and condominiums going up.

In comparison to other cities, it does not have the vastness of New York. If you go out far enough you will start running into corn fields. There is urban sprawl, but at the moment it takes about 45 minutes to escape to the country.

Compared to Los Angeles, the city has very clearly marked downtown area centered around the Loop business district.

The city is a transportation hub. Both airports are connected to the rest of the city by light rail, called the 'L'. On the north side, public transit is excellent and very clean. On the south side, public transit is a little bit slower in my opinion and facilities are cleaner, but this is changing for the better.

Overall, I have to say that Chicago is a first rate city with international flare. It is the third largest city in the United States of America (LA recently surpassed it in population, but many people still call Chicago "The Second City").

 

[SoCalRULES!!!!!]

l.a. overwhelms chicago in its "situation" of globalization (5 to 0), but chicago slightly overtakes l.a. as a "site" of globalization (3 to 2). so chicago originates more stuff relevant to globalization than l.a., but l.a. is much better connected with other global cities when it comes to where that stuff goes. i didn't see the article mention this directly, but it should be no stretch of the imagination to suppose that a lot of the global stuff l.a. produces is television and film media, i.e. "joey", "alf", and largely meaningless films that celebrate our horribly materialist culture and folks in other parts of the world sadly want to watch. so (i conjecture) l.a. is good at exporting crap at a global scale. awesome.

.

That might be part of it. LA is more globally connected so it is more exhilirating because of all the people coming here from all corners of the world. Chicago on the other hand is where you can go and get great polish sausage and applecakes.

There is no way around it, the creative community of LA is just soo much larger than any midwest town. It's definitely the cooler city, though not nearly as cold

Given a choice between UCLA and Northwestern or UCSF and University of Chicago, I doubt anyone, except people from Chicago or the Midwest would ever, pick Chitown over mighty California. And, I would expect a fair number of Midwesterners would relish the chance to go to LA, while no Californian would ever be happy about going to the MIDWEST

 

[veenut]

That might be part of it. LA is more globally connected so it is more exhilirating because of all the people coming here from all corners of the world. Chicago on the other hand is where you can go and get great polish sausage and applecakes.

There is no way around it, the creative community of LA is just soo much larger than any midwest town. It's definitely the cooler city, though not nearly as cold

Given a choice between UCLA and Northwestern or UCSF and University of Chicago, I doubt anyone, except people from Chicago or the Midwest would ever, pick Chitown over mighty California. And, I would expect a fair number of Midwesterners would relish the chance to go to LA, while no Californian would ever be happy about going to the MIDWEST

i spent the last 4 years in nyc and am living in dc right now. i'd choose chi-town in a heartbeat. judging from some of the other responses you've gotten, i'm not the only one.

and i WAS rooting for usc prior to this thread...but let's go longhorns!!!

 

[Napoleon4000]

hmmmm.....let me see:

NYC!!!!!! (Can't beat it!)
Chicago!!
LA!!!!
DC!!!! (if you live in Bethesda)
PITT!
Philly!
SF
Seattle!!!!!
Boston
Miami


I'm probably missing a few places so I apologize for that.

 

[frycek]

I found LA pretty depressing when I was there. It seemed like everyone was locked in their SUV's, their only communication to the outside world via cell phone.