Quote Originally Posted by TexasT View Post
Chicago is a great American city and I loved living there, but it's too provincial to be considered "world class."
I've heard a few people [[usually foreigners) refer to Chicago as the most American city they've ever seen. It's probably the big city vision of generic America to non-Americans.

I don't quite put Chicago in that category of "world class" because its cultural offerings to the world have been pretty limited. It's never really set any type of global trend of its own. I know they claim to be the birthplace of the skyscraper, but who really associates skyscrapers to Chicago?

This is where Detroit trumps Chicago, IMO, and punches far above its weight. Detroit has produced quite a few "global movements" that are still closely identified with Detroit. It's hard to think of something from mainstream culture that screams "Chicago". If you could combine Detroit's history with Chicago's urban environment then you'd have something truly resembling a "world class" city.