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What's the greatest city on earth, and why?
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AuthorMessage
Boozilla sh.itjust.works Boozilla@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-16
Quote

If you answer with New York, you're a basic bitch.

27   Original
EmoPolarbear lemmy.ca EmoPolarbear@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2024-05-07
#2 · (edited) Quote Reply

Purpee Oregon

2
WhoIzDisIz lemmy.today WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today
Joined: 2026-04-27
#3 · Quote Reply

Atlantis. It's so exclusive that nobody knows how to find it.

47
zeppo lemmy.world zeppo@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-16
#4 · Quote Reply

New York, NY USA

5
actionjbone sh.itjust.works actionjbone@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-09-12
#5 · Quote Reply

New Amsterdam

(because it became New York)

20
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 pawb.social Kolanaki@pawb.social
Joined: 2024-10-06
#6 · Quote Reply

Clearly it's Best. That's why they named it that.

10
WhoIzDisIz lemmy.today WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today
Joined: 2026-04-27
#7 · (edited) Quote Reply

Clearly it's Best. That's why they named it that.

Clearly it's Best. That's why they named it that.

That's not what the OP asked. "Greatest" in what capacity, I dunno.

1
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 pawb.social Kolanaki@pawb.social
Joined: 2024-10-06
#8 · Quote Reply

Clearly it's Best. That's why they named it that. That's not what the OP asked. "Greatest" in what capacity, I dunno.

"Best" and "greatest" are synonyms. Also I couldn't find any city named "Greatest." 🤷‍♂️

6
Whirling_Cloudburst lemmy.world Whirling_Cloudburst@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-06
#9 · Quote Reply

Ecologically speaking, it must me Singapore.

15
WhoIzDisIz lemmy.today WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today
Joined: 2026-04-27
#10 · (edited) Quote Reply

"Best" and "greatest" are synonyms. Also I couldn't find any city named "Greatest." 🤷‍♂️

Not quite. Greatest also means "largest" or "biggest" - whether that means most land area, most residents, biggest buildings, biggest crime rate, etc. is all up to context.

0
eightpix lemmy.world eightpix@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-04
#11 · (edited) Quote Reply

TL;DR: Seoul, Korea. I loved living there.

I've not seen many cities on Earth. But, in making my choices, I'll share what Im considering.

Caveat: I've never been to any place on the African continent. This is an admitted blind spot. I've also been to only three European cities.

Not New York, Toronto, San Fransisco, Ottawa, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Miami, Québec, Atlanta, or Halifax (sorry Nova Scotia, we love you!)

Not London (UK). Not Frankfurt. Not Sydney (Aus). Not Beijing. Not Kathmandu. Not KL, KK, Bangkok, or Singapore. Not Dubai. Not Colombo, Male, Kuwait, Doha, or Muscat (sorry Oman, we love you!)

No La Habana, ni Santiago de Chile, Cali, Arequipa, Cusco, y no á ciudad de Guatemala (disculpame mis hermanos de Guate!)

I think that the greatest cities on Earth have DEEP histories, offer diversity, and have been at the crossroads of the human condition.

Of the cities I've spent at least a week in (in no particular order):

  • La ciudad de México, México. (Pyramids, gardens, art, and food)

  • Istanbul, Türkiye (Hagia Sofia, Bosphorus, history)

  • Seoul, Korea (functionality, history, food, mountains, music)

  • Cartagena, Colombia (music, seaside, fortress, art)

  • Beirut, Lebanon [at least, when (2012) and how (with well-connected locals) I was there. Certainly, it's faced repeated harms in the past 7 years.]

  • Berlin, Germany (architecture, functionality, history, walking tour, art, festivals)

  • Montréal, Québec (one Canadian city needed to be on)

Ones I've not been to, but might list if I had:

  • Tehran, Iran (history)

  • Barcelona, Spain (Al-Analous)

  • Mumbai, India

  • Hong Kong

  • Tokyo, Japan

16
Boozilla sh.itjust.works Boozilla@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-16
#12 · Quote Reply

TL;DR: Seoul, Korea. I loved living there. I've not seen many cities on Earth. But, in making my choices, I'll share what Im considering. Caveat: I've never been to any place on the African continent. This is an admitted blind spot. I've also been to only three European cities. Not New York, Toronto, San Fransisco, Ottawa, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Miami, Québec, Atlanta, or Halifax...

Thank you for the in-depth answer.

5
deadbeef79000 lemmy.nz deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
Joined: 2023-06-17
#13 · Quote Reply

NY.

Because Voldemort was a great wizard.

1
GonzoAtBarstow lemmy.world GonzoAtBarstow@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-10-01
#14 · Quote Reply

I want to say another city to be cool, but New York City, New York State always makes me proud. I live in Rochester lol.

3
eurodyne piefed.world eurodyne@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-07-25
#15 · Quote Reply

New York, obviously, and fuck you

54
FilthyHands sh.itjust.works FilthyHands@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-29
#16 · Quote Reply

New Amsterdam (because it became New York)

Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.

22
Lighttrails sh.itjust.works Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-11-07
#17 · Quote Reply

TL;DR: Seoul, Korea. I loved living there. I've not seen many cities on Earth. But, in making my choices, I'll share what Im considering. Caveat: I've never been to any place on the African continent. This is an admitted blind spot. I've also been to only three European cities. Not New York, Toronto, San Fransisco, Ottawa, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Miami, Québec, Atlanta, or Halifax...

I’d love to go back to Cartagena. I proposed to my wife there and we had an absolutely amazing trip

4
SGGeorwell lemmy.world SGGeorwell@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-01-09
#18 · Quote Reply

New York, obviously, and fuck you

This is the most authentic answer

26
Soulcreator programming.dev Soulcreator@programming.dev
Joined: 2025-05-26
#19 · Quote Reply

Ecologically speaking, it must me Singapore.

I'm intrigued, please clarify what you mean by ecologically speaking?

11
Ithorian lemmy.ml Ithorian@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2026-09-04
#20 · Quote Reply

Belgrade Serbia. It's the perfect size, not crowded but always busy, big enough that it has everything you could want small enough you can get anywhere in under an hour on free public transportation. The food is great and cheap and there's plenty of places open all night. Lots of green space and a couple huge parks. I live as a nomad but if i had to pick a city to settle in Beograd is the easy choice.

8
neidu4 piefed.social neidu4@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-09-10
#21 · Quote Reply

Ecologically speaking, it must me Singapore.

Been there. It's hard to pick a "greatest" city, but Singapore is definitely up there. Amazing place.

4
neidu4 piefed.social neidu4@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-09-10
#22 · (edited) Quote Reply

Depends a lot how you interpret "great". My personal favorites are, without picking a winner:
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Edinburgh, Brno

2
Nomecks lemmy.ca Nomecks@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-12-27
#23 · (edited) Quote Reply

Canmore, Alberta. You're minutes from all the places that make up 90% of the Earth porn pictures on the internet, nestled right in the Rocky Mountains. Nobody is ever going to nuke, invade, occupy or otherwise come anywhere near Canmore during a war. Even if they did you could just escape into the vast Canadian wilderness which surrounds it. Lots of good food, shops, recreation and a generally great place to live and raise a family. Cheaper than Banff too!

Nobody said it had to be a major city.

12
micgerne lemmy.dbzer0.com micgerne@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2026-08-14
#24 · (edited) Quote Reply

Istanbul, although maybe not anymore since Erdogan is doing his best to ruin it.

The food is amazing, it (was) an open and tolerant city and its several thousand years of settlement mean there's fascinating history no matter where you look.

5
eurodyne piefed.world eurodyne@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-07-25
#25 · Quote Reply

This is the most authentic answer

Bed-Stuy

1
Gt5 lemmy.zip Gt5@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-07-03
#26 · Quote Reply

Bed-Stuy

QGTM!

2
Pratai piefed.ca Pratai@piefed.ca
Joined: 2026-02-12
#27 · Quote Reply

New Amsterdam (because it became New York)

And because fuck Old Amsterdam!

-2
Pratai piefed.ca Pratai@piefed.ca
Joined: 2026-02-12
#28 · Quote Reply

Ecologically speaking, it must me Singapore.

If you don’t mind being executed for smoking weed.

10
eurodyne piefed.world eurodyne@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-07-25
#29 · Quote Reply

QGTM!

Mostly the G and the JMZ

1
Pratai piefed.ca Pratai@piefed.ca
Joined: 2026-02-12
#30 · Quote Reply

Seattle WA is pretty cool.

11
Default Username lemmy.dbzer0.com defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2025-06-12
#31 · Quote Reply

Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

They have the least authoritarian government and the most amount of food available for the non-elite class.

3
Michael Douglass thelemmy.club MichaeleanDouglasse@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2026-09-15
#32 · Quote Reply

Los Angeles. In spite of all the anti-homeless initiatives, it's still the least wlrst place in the world for someone to be on the streets.

1
Quilotoa lemmy.ca Quilotoa@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2025-04-01
#33 · Quote Reply

I really don't like cities, but the cities I have disliked the least (in order) are: Singapore, Istanbul, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Quebec City, Granada Spain, New York, Montreal, Cartagena, Cuenca Ecuador, Washington D.C.(although it was many years ago I was there), Ottawa.

7
RockBottom feddit.org RockBottom@feddit.org
Joined: 2025-03-15
#34 · Quote Reply

An affordable and walkable one, with every corner a third place and lots of trees.

1
isleepinahammock lemmy.blahaj.zone isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2024-09-06
#35 · Quote Reply

Not Cheyenne, Wyoming. Go there. Walk the streets of its downtown. Walk those desolate streets and say to yourself, "this place is actually the capital of an entire state?"

Cheyenne, Wyoming, the town that God forgot.

12
darklamer feddit.org darklamer@feddit.org
Joined: 2026-02-19
#36 · Quote Reply

Bielefeld, obviously.

11
toiletobserver lemmy.world toiletobserver@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-08
#37 · Quote Reply

New York, obviously, and fuck you

I'll ask you kindly to reconsider those remarks

12
Rason_Facts lemmy.zip Rason_Facts@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-08-07
#38 · Quote Reply

TL;DR: Seoul, Korea. I loved living there. I've not seen many cities on Earth. But, in making my choices, I'll share what Im considering. Caveat: I've never been to any place on the African continent. This is an admitted blind spot. I've also been to only three European cities. Not New York, Toronto, San Fransisco, Ottawa, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Miami, Québec, Atlanta, or Halifax...

I like Seoul, but I liked Tokyo just a bit more. I recommend it if you get a chance. But like any city that big, your mileage may vary based on what you actually do and see.

I didn't live in Tokyo, but I did live near it for a little while. It was beautiful, but I'm a bit glad I wasn't in the city all the time. Just too much going on for my tempo.

5
eurodyne piefed.world eurodyne@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-07-25
#39 · Quote Reply

I'll ask you kindly to reconsider those remarks

Back off, Boston

11
hope lemmy.blahaj.zone hope@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-06-07
#40 · Quote Reply

Philadelphia, easy.

5
volore scribe.disroot.org volore@scribe.disroot.org
Joined: 2026-03-25
#41 · Quote Reply

Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.

SO

take me back to Constantinople!

10
susieq0044 sh.itjust.works susieq0044@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2026-09-13
#42 · Quote Reply

Oslo

4
toiletobserver lemmy.world toiletobserver@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-08
#43 · Quote Reply

Back off, Boston

HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK

7
Boozilla sh.itjust.works Boozilla@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-16
#44 · Quote Reply

Belgrade Serbia. It's the perfect size, not crowded but always busy, big enough that it has everything you could want small enough you can get anywhere in under an hour on free public transportation. The food is great and cheap and there's plenty of places open all night. Lots of green space and a couple huge parks. I live as a nomad but if i had to pick a city to settle in Beograd is the easy choice.

Thanks for including the "why" part of the answer.

2
fubarx lemmy.world fubarx@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-06-07
#45 · Quote Reply

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellorizo

The island's official name, Megisti (Μεγίστη) means "biggest" or "greatest".

1
Zwuzelmaus feddit.org Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-12-14
#46 · Quote Reply

Atlantis. It's so exclusive that nobody knows how to find it.

Came here to say this :)

2
eurodyne piefed.world eurodyne@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-07-25
#47 · (edited) Quote Reply

HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK

Yeah, yeah. Ya got your hockey and your Harvard. And some nice bridges and schools and hospitals.

Just be glad you’re not Philly. Lol

4
HobbitFoot thelemmy.club HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2023-06-16
#48 · Quote Reply

Not Cheyenne, Wyoming. Go there. Walk the streets of its downtown. Walk those desolate streets and say to yourself, "this place is actually the capital of an entire state?" Cheyenne, Wyoming, the town that God forgot.

Cheyenne isn't that bad, especially compared to other Wyoming towns.

6
Goldholz lemmy.blahaj.zone Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-12-12
#49 · Quote Reply

Bielefeld, obviously.

That doesnt exist. We mean a real city

10
psx_crab lemmy.zip psx_crab@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-01-11
#50 · Quote Reply

Wakanda, easy.

0
MalReynolds slrpnk.net MalReynolds@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-25
#51 · Quote Reply

SO take me back to Constantinople!

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

9
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