Have America's most popular cities lost their "edge"?

Yes…unless a lot of things change quickly. But, I tend to think it is too far gone. Sorry.

Really? I was just reading an article about how new home buyers (people between 18–30) are looking for more of the “big city” feel and are willing to pay more to live closer to the big cities, or in areas that have that big city aura. That people in this age group don’t want the cookie-cutter suburban type homes that their parents live in, and really crave the city life.
Personally, I love to visit all of the cities you listed above, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live there. Or even close. But, I’m just a country girl at heart.

no one wants to visit or move to anymore

The 10s of millions of visitors each year and the price of real estate would indicate otherwise.

Wow….Rick and I just got back from a party weekend in Kansas City, and yes. It’s like all the trappings and stuff of the Power and Light District are there but…it’s getting seedy. There are the cool, hole in the wall jazz bars bars and stuff, but..the spirit is changing. It’s not fun, innocent and relaxed any more. There’s an under-current of beggary and hostility that seems to be moving in. Things are getting dirtier and dirtier. We’ve been there for three years in a row, and it just gets worse every year…..

911 has not helped the image of New York City.

I have no desire to visit New York City, must less move there.

New York City has too many toos. too many people, too many taxes, too much crime, and too much of a target for another attack.

@john65pennington I’m pretty sure Nashville has more crime per capita than NYC. I know Memphis ranks much higher for violent crime than NYC.

New York has always been a city that has little time for nostalgia. But at the same time, people always have time to believe that “things were better when…”.

The main problem with the article is that it really neglects the fact that general corporate homogenization is the same across the nation, if not the world. The difference with New York is that if people in a neighborhood really want to protect a business, or really don’t want a business in the neighborhood, they have a good amount of power to affect whether that business stays. Further, real estate costs and travel limitations in the city make “bulk” businesses harder to manage, so smaller bodegas and hardware stores have a place, as well as providing a unique service – late night shopping for whatever you want. Also, because distance is compressed in NYC, a larger business really has to offer something astounding to consumers to make people in the neighborhood get on the subway to get there when they could easily just go around the corner. And even if they do go less, they will still go to their local places. And price differences make a lower impact as salaries are generally higher, so the dollar value is lower.

Finally – one thing – New Yorkers are, if nothing else, fiercely loyal and proud of this city. They find the local bar and stick with it. They know the bartender and the regulars. And we know an outsider when we see one. We want you to enjoy the city…but anyone coming in and trying to tell us that they know what would be better for us than we do…well…not so much.

New York is a great blend of novelty and tradition – and has the population to support both.

@john65pennington – perfectly valid to feel like NYC is not your cup of tea…but it seems like in your statement that you’ve never been here. It’s definitely crazy busy here, so that’s a fair assessment. But 9/11 has as much provided a national insight into the community here in NYC as it has the danger. I’ve never lived anywhere where I felt safer. And rightfully so…as the murder rate here is the lowest it has been since the 1960s – and other crime trends similarly. As @JLeslie notes, NYC ranks 256 out of 400 cities according to FBI crime statistics, and has a rate below the national average (which means throw a dart at a map of the U.S., and more often the not the place the dart hits will be less safe than living in NYC), (@JLeslie – Nashville is ranked 56 and Memphis is number 10).

as Yogi Berra said, “no one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”. I love visiting NY, there is plenty of edge and individuality and excitement.

“edge” does not mean crime.

By the way, Los Angeles never had edge, ever.

@zenvelo – Never. Never ever. My brother moved to LA from NYC. He knows that he is not to talk about that place to me. ;-)

Thinking over that story, it’s funny that people want their “edgy” to be familiar and comfortable.

There is still edgy stuff. If it were in the same places as before, it wouldn’t be edgy now, would it?

New York always sucked.

I hope so. I want my city (L.A.) back from all those people who move here from somewhere else and then try to make it just like the place they came from. But since the median price for a 3 bedroom house is still around $500,000 and there are still people coming here from everywhere, I’d say those predictions are wrong.