A few weeks ago in a Planetizen blog post (http://www.planetizen.com/node/39364 ) I proposed a way of grading cities by the quality of their urban Jewish life. Basically, an "A" city has lots of urban Jewish life, a "B" city usually has a minimal downtown or near-downtown presence and some nearby urban Jewish life, a "C" city has synagogues which are suburban but accessible via public transit, and a "D" city has almost nothing that is even on a bus line.
So here's my read on the cities I am most familiar with:
New York City: A+. Everything you could possibly want is in Manhattan.
Philadelphia: A- . Lots of congregations downtown; only thing missing is a Jewish day school.
Washington: B+. At least three (small) synagogues (counting Chabad, but not counting the mini-congregations meeting at the old 6th and I shul) in what I think of as downtown. But definitely not the level of Jewish life you would find in Center City Philadelphia.
Atlanta: C+. Chabad Intown is a couple of miles from downtown, a very long walk but still sort of doable. Lots of other congregations on bus lines, not much real close to the subway.
St. Louis: C. A Reform congregation and a traditional minyan are in the Central West End, a few miles from downtown (but to a much greater extent than in Atlanta I would not feel safe making the walk).
Buffalo: C. Pretty comparable to St. Louis.
Cleveland: C. Very suburban Jewish community, though significant transit accessibility in Cleveland/Shaker Hts. Only one (Reform) synagogue within city limits.
Little Rock: C-. One suburban synagogue is pretty close to a bus line, two others are less so.
