There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs commerce surrounds it with her surf.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Moby-Dick'

But one shortcoming, admitted by Sir Richard Leese, leader of the city council, is its insular approach, regionally and globally.

ECONOMIST: A city with a mission, and still some way to go

The city had long been awash in new music, but too many events gave off an insular, unwelcoming vibe, whether the house style was university modernism or downtown experimentation.

NEWYORKER: The Long Haul