Chicago's regional dominance: how unique?

I want to share a Chicago paradigm I have with you folks on the Chicago forum to find whether or not it has merit. This is one of the posts I purposely make on the Chicago board for a couple of reasons: • I'm most interested here in what Chicagoans have to say on the subject • I'm trying to avoid places where my post may seem offensive to outsiders OK, here's the perspective: Does Chicago dominate its own region in ways that no other US city does to their region? Is Chicago unique in this respect. There are many fine cities in the Midwest. None come anywhere near Chicago in importance, nor are any of the others viewed nationally as being that formidable. Minneapolis, at this point, may be the healthiest and most thrieving, but it is still small potatoes compared to Chicago. Pre-WWII Detroit shared Chicago's industrial might, but is a shaddow of itself today. You'd almost have to go back to ancient times to see when Cincinnati dominated the region.Truthfully, alot of people look at midwestern cities in two categories: Chicago is one and the other consists of the likes of KC, StL, Mpls, Milw, Det, Indy, Clev, Cin. This scenerio doesn't hold true in any other US region. New York may see itself as the dominant city in the universe, but in its own northeastern region, it shares the scene with the incredible power and importance of DC and the impressive offerings of Boston. That this region also contains Philadelphia is just icing on the cake. In the South, nobody dominates. Cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Houston, Dallas duke it out, with no clear winner and also no true world class city. New Orleans stays in the mix for historical reasons which, along with Savannah and Charleston, runs rings around the dominant cities in pure urbanity. Mountain West: Denver, Salt Lake, Phoenix, Vegas...who cares? West Coast: one dominant city (SF) was joined by and surpassed by another (LA), but both the California cities are incredible powerhouses today and unquestionably major players. Regionally Seattle must also be viewed on a serious level. So how about, am I reading the regions incorrectly and this is coming across as incredible BS, or is Chicago's regional dominance truly as unique as I think?>