another perspective on U.S. cities

Idly watching a TV documentary about New Orleans the other night, I heard words attributed to an author whose name I have forgotten. The words, pretty nearly, were these:

There are three cities in the United States. There is New York. There is San Francisco. And there is New Orleans. Everything else is Cleveland.

There is something almost Mark Twain about the observation. It makes me giggle. I can feel some kind of dig intended.

Anyway it tickled my ivories.