There's Airbnb and Uber. Add spotty cellphone service, higher cost of living, higher cost of supplies, crumbling infrastructure, substandard internet as well as JFK/LAX/ORD airport.

From the hype I've been hearing about, big American cities should be the innovative beacons of the world but they aren't. The most relevant example of this? Silicon Valley (Hint: Apple is named Apple for a reason).

Why are big American cities so conservative in thinking and seem to detest change so much? When it starts taking years to build a simple cellphone tower compared to a few months elsewhere, you know something is going on.

Compare these cities to Seoul, Taipei, etc.