• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • Uniform/LA's latest collection of comfortable essentialls featuring clean cuts and subtle tones is now available. Our pick is this sky blue long sleeve tee sky blue long sleeved tee Check out the entire suite of new pieces in the collection here Uniform/LA is know for premium materials and meticulous pattern making. Support a small business built on quality and integrity.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Why is a certain city where it is?

crazyquik

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
8,984
Reaction score
44
I consider this an incredibly dumb question, but it's something I've been going over in my head a lot lately.

Why is a particular city where it is? Does it serve a useful purpose? Is there any reason it has to be where it is?

Geographically, the port cities are easy to justify, and a lot of cities on rivers. But what about cities that came into power 180-80 years ago because of a railroad line or something, and those old industries have shuttered, died, or moved on. How do those cities hang around?

I talked to a friend about this and he kind of shrugged it off and said 'well, people have to live somewhere. Commerce has got to cluster itself together somewhere. Even if the cornerstone industry of a city has been outsourced, commerce might as well go there than anywhere else."

Do you anticipate that major cities will stay vibrant and powerful (NYC, Chicago, San Fran, Houston, etc) while others slip or get caught in a middle-market crunch?

Also, does anyone feel like Philadelphia is relatively less influential than it was decades ago? It's certainly no where near as powerful as it was 225 years ago. Will it continue to slide relative to other large cities?
 

RedLantern

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
5,210
Reaction score
4,037
I would guess that once some kind of infrastructure is in place, it makes a lot more sense to just keep or expand on what is there than to start over somewhere different.
 

redcaimen

Bigtime
Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
6,787
Reaction score
552
Because if the Vatican were located somewhere in the middle east it would be a royal pain ********** for everyone involved.
 

crazyquik

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
8,984
Reaction score
44
Originally Posted by RedLantern
I would guess that once some kind of infrastructure is in place, it makes a lot more sense to just keep or expand on what is there than to start over somewhere different.

Bristol and Johnson City, TN would be a good example I would think.

But, with the increases in technology and being able to rapidly move information, is there really any reason for Pittsburgh to still exist? It was built there because of a confluence of three rivers and close proximity to a lot of coal used to make steel. Even if they have reinvented themselves into a health care center, and whatever else is there, does it really make since to have a major city there? With cities that have lost their core industry, is health care and research universities the only thing keeping them propped up?
 

crazyquik

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
8,984
Reaction score
44
Originally Posted by unjung
What's going to happen to Detroit?

Perfect example. In fact, the entire Rust Belt is full of cities, from about 100k residents and up I guess, that I wonder about. Further, how do you determine the winners from the losers? It seems like Cincy has put the worst behind them. But what is pushing it forward now? Why are people still moving there?
 

unjung

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
Messages
6,346
Reaction score
14
I think, as said, economics - corporations moving in, cities provided tax incentives, etc. I don't think under current global conditions these major cities would ever die out, although in the long term, they're likely to be impacted significantly. Of course, at some point, cities due take on a life of their own, in a sense, and the "critical mass" of inhabitants keeps the city going. How many cities in the Old World are four-plus millenia old?
 

tlmusic

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
928
Reaction score
8
Originally Posted by unjung
What's going to happen to Detroit?
Detroit originally grew because it was located on a deep and easily navigable river. It sits well above the river on high banks, so there is little threat of flooding (unlike other cites on rivers such as St. Louis and New Orleans). Detroit's location was in ideal proximity to the copper mines and lumber up the river and lakes, and the steel mills in Cleveland. Windsor, Ontario is just across the river to the south, and Detroit is still a major connecting point between the US and Canada. Detroit is also blessed with some of the mildest weather in the state of Michigan as well, with Winter temperatures often ten degrees warmer than the areas directly to the west.
 

Dakota rube

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
13,306
Reaction score
237
In my neck of the woods, "urban" development (as opposed to frontier development) followed the railroad as it stretched westward. My city is on the eastern border, a river town. Towns along the rail line grew up around water stops for the steam locomotives.

Today the main cities are almost exactly 100 miles apart spread east to west across the state. I don't know how far apart the early water stops were, I presume 25-30 miles. But as equipment and technology improved the distance a locomotive could travel without filling its water reservoir lengthened, meaning the intermediate towns had less impetus to grow.
 

acidboy

Stylish Dinosaur
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
19,672
Reaction score
1,556
yeah most cities historically evolved from where people can trade/do business- ergo waterways, roads and rail. some have also evolved from what used to be rural communities- farms, small counties that attracted a lot of people and was forced to go urban when it became too crowded.
 

zupermaus

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
314
Reaction score
0
London is where it is because it is on the first place inland that could be bridged by the Romans, where they set up a port and fort. Beijing was the meeting point between the Mongol empire and the Chinese colony (and a terrible place to build a city - freezing in winter, boiling in summer, dustclouds in spring). Many of the great world cities were ports or inland ports (read: river crossings and deep enough for docking), a few were oases.
 

rach2jlc

Prof. Fabulous
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Messages
14,663
Reaction score
1,163
I think Cincinnati falls into this category; it's irrelevant today, but historically was important because of river traffic way back when.

I guess for industry it might be important, given its relatively central location, but it seems to me like a city that's been in decline for a while and losing out to other cities around it... Indianapolis, Louisville, Columbus, etc.
 

Featured Sponsor

How Do You Feel About Pleated Trousers?

  • Love them, classic!

  • Occasionally, depending on the outfit

  • Prefer flat-front

  • Never wear them


Results are only viewable after voting.

Forum statistics

Threads
516,792
Messages
10,693,361
Members
227,510
Latest member
karenbeiton
Top