Good question. I have a feeling it will be many years before I establish the answer to this question. There seem to be a great many factors.

Cities that are good for architects are often cities that are far too expensive for an architect... At least for now.

Best as in what? Job growth? Wages? Design culture?

As archmed pointed out some of the popular cities have a prohibitive cost of living. I don't think any city can objectively be selected as "best"

berlin used to be great

definitely no prohibitive cost of living

chicago is pretty good i think... and also not prohibitively expensive

As far as "heart for design" and "quality of living" are concerned, I think Zürich ranks pretty high up there. The downside might be that can be a bit boring...

Berlin is definitely great, but the thing is that there are just not that many decent jobs for architects there. At least, not as much as there are architects...

Amsterdam is also definitely a good city...

Best place for an architect to work? Who knows?

But greater Los Angeles been good for the likes of (in no particular order) Hunt, Wright, Greene & Greene, Schindler, Neutra, Ellwood, Eames, Pelli, Gehry, Moore, Mayne & Rotondi, Moss, Gill, Gruen, Pei, Mangurian, Lescaze, Johnson, Ain, Parkinson, Martin, Goodhue, Hodgetts, Q. Jones, Kappe, Koenig, Lautner, Pereira, Soriano, Isozaki, Harris, Williams.... the list grows.

... not to mention planners like Olmsted, Jr., Nolen, Bartholomew, Cheney (Charles, not Dick) Stein, and Lynch.

zürich's cost of living is fairly prohibitive!

I think Seattle has the potential to get there someday... :)

detroit, michigan

hmmm good question. i havent worked in loads of places but i have moved around a bit - australia, germany, the netherlands. and so far i would say NL is the best so far. alot of good office, good working conditions and a healthy design culture.

but of course the grass is always greener. i would love to work in LA, i can't really explain why, just a desire. and not an easy one to follow up.

hahha puddles beat me to it..

detroit.... alot of land to mess with........ but dont be surprised if you cant find any investors/funding.....

exactly...still lots of room left for more of these

@Holz.box: but the salary you can get there definitely makes up for it...

Monetarily speaking, you have to consider wage:cost of living ratio.

as far as number of firms london is pretty great. my office is a 10 minute walk from home... and i pass 3 other mid-sized arch firms on the way. and my area isn't where most of the firms are either.... there are arch firms everywhere here!

i still feel the quality is above most US cities for design.... though it is Big Brother CCTV England.

Of the two places i've worked, Shanghai and NYC, Shanghai gets my vote hands down. I got paid peanuts as an intern there, but I really enjoyed it. However, that choice is definitely not for most people, like if you hate Chinese food and have asthma.

I like working at my desk the most...I have tried it on planes, in a car and even tried getting stuff done in the bathroom once, but the desk just seems like the best place for me to work. I have had some limited success in a bar, so that would be my vote for second best.

Ilazy, I disagree. While a desk is great, the ADA stall in studio bathroom back at school was the best place for me to work. It was spacious, well-lit, private, and surprisingly comfortable. A zen-like space despite the occasional heaviness in the air.

or Celebration, Florida.