Author Topic: DC is a "second tier city"  (Read 6430 times)

ggw

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DC is a "second tier city"
« on: May 12, 2011, 12:25:04 pm »
Fedora-clad DC restaurateur and TV food personality Spike Mendelsohn proclaims that it's "nice to be in a second-tier city where you can be a big fish in a small pond."

Local bloggers get snitty.
http://www.thehillishome.com/2011/05/get-over-yourself-mr-mendelsohn/
http://donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=16359
http://dcist.com/2011/05/spike_mendelson_dc_is_a_second-tier.php

Discuss.

godsshoeshine

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2011, 12:31:08 pm »
i like that spike was like third best dc contestant on top chef allstars. guess that makes him second tier
o/\o

Frank Gallagher

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2011, 01:07:27 pm »
So DC moved up a notch then?

Justin Tonation

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2011, 01:11:36 pm »
New York City: 468.9 sq mi, pop. 8,175,133
Los Angeles: 498.3 sq mi, pop. 3,833,995
Chicago: 234.0 sq mi, pop. 2,695,598

Washington, DC: 68.3 sq mi, pop. 601,723
😐 🎶

vansmack

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2011, 01:44:38 pm »
New York City: 468.9 sq mi, pop. 8,175,133
Los Angeles: 498.3 sq mi, pop. 3,833,995
Chicago: 234.0 sq mi, pop. 2,695,598

Washington, DC: 68.3 sq mi, pop. 601,723

So what?

San Francisco, CA: 46.7 sq mi, pop. 805,235

Nobody thinks this place is second tier, especially not chefs.
27>34

fatskippy

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2011, 01:58:28 pm »
Is DC not a 2nd tier city?  It's certainly not on the level of NYC, Chicago, SF, and LA.

Got Haggis?

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2011, 02:05:31 pm »
José Andrés > Spike

godsshoeshine

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2011, 02:10:47 pm »
andres is an unfair bar to clear

mike isabella > spike
o/\o

ggw

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2011, 02:14:45 pm »
I think Mendelsohn's quote is pretty accurate.  He would be a nobody in NY, Chicago, SF, or LA.  Judging by the amount of words he gets on local blogs, he is a relatively big fish in DC.  But it is probably best not to point that out to the residents of a city that attracts so many self-important types.

Relaxer

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2011, 02:15:06 pm »
How are cities being tiered? If it's population, then of course DC and SF aren't 1st tier.

And just because DC is the nation's capital, that doesn't necessarily make it Tier 1. That's like saying Albany, NY is on the same level as NYC because it's where the governor sleeps.
oword

Relaxer

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2011, 02:16:39 pm »
And what exactly makes SF a Tier 1 city? What does SF have that, say, Seattle doesn't?
oword

ggw

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2011, 02:16:52 pm »
Sometimes the governor of NY "sleeps" in more places than just Albany.  

nudge-nudge-wink-wink

ggw

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2011, 02:17:33 pm »
And what exactly makes SF a Tier 1 city? What does SF have that, say, Seattle doesn't?

vansmack.

godsshoeshine

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #13 on: May 12, 2011, 02:22:31 pm »
I think Mendelsohn's quote is pretty accurate.  He would be a nobody in NY, Chicago, SF, or LA.  Judging by the amount of words he gets on local blogs, he is a relatively big fish in DC.  But it is probably best not to point that out to the residents of a city that attracts so many self-important types.
maybe

i'd still know who he is either way

top chef is pretty popular
o/\o

reggie

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Re: DC is a "second tier city"
« Reply #14 on: May 12, 2011, 02:57:49 pm »
DC is a world class city, a cultural tastemaker like Paris, London,Tokyo, and Berlin.  ::)