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IMO the Washington MSA feels the biggest of the three b/c of both density in the core (inside the beltway- city plus dense suburbs) along with a very large commuter belt. Crowded transit lines, traffic choked roads, throngs of pedestrians, ubiquity of suburban skylines, and presence of 3 major airports make it feel the biggest of the 5-6 million MSAs. The DC Area feels more like an 8 million MSA.
Houston can feel massive in pockets (such as the West Loop), but it can very very rural/exurban in many areas, so the enormous freeways and ubiquity of stacks only carries its "feel" so far.
Miami's MSA also feels very large, probably tied with Philadelphia for 2nd in this group. Miami Beach is very vibrant and there are lots of semi-vibrant beach front districts along the Tri-County Area.
Philadelphia's MSA feels very large in the core (center city Philadelphia), but it feels decidedly smaller when you leave the core, particularly on the NJ side.
Atlanta's MSA feels the smallest of the group in my opinion because it lacks a very busy core and lacks the dense web of suburbia that DC and Miami have.
Though dated, the weighted density chart does a good job of listing which metros feel the biggest to the smallest, minus the small outliers like Honolulu and San Jose etc.
Though dated, the weighted density chart does a good job of listing which metros feel the biggest to the smallest, minus the small outliers like Honolulu and San Jose etc.
Ya, I've seen the chart before; while it's interesting, I don't think it does a particularly good job of bringing out how big a metro area "feels." The feel of a metro area is related many factors other than population density and weighted density. The extent of built-up area, the presence and distribution of freeway traffic volume (i.e. is only one section of the metro area very crowded and others virtually desolate), crowds on public transit, etc.
There are definitely a lot of outliers on that list. In short, both density AND sprawl contribute to a metro area's feeling large.
Though dated, the weighted density chart does a good job of listing which metros feel the biggest to the smallest, minus the small outliers like Honolulu and San Jose etc.
I've only been to DC and Philly, so I can't speak for the others, but there was a time when Philly felt much larger than DC, but now they feel about the same size, Philly feels larger in the city and DC feels larger in the surrounding metro.
Washington DC: The core is definitely very vibrant and offers that big city feel, but the surrounding areas lack density and give off a rustic feel unlike the burbs in Miami, Houston and Dallas. Whereas those usually maintain the same level of density from the city on out.
Houston/Miami: These are tied to me because while Miami appears bigger in certain angles and also overall is more vibrant. Houston feels faster-paced.
DFW: Obviously last considering the area is ran by two cities followed by multiple CBDs scattered throughout the city. Also it lacks a centralized core, but it's getting there.
Hard to say exactly. Philly and DC feel like they have a longer expansion but this basically flows directly into the next MSA and from this perspective feel like part of much larger area. To me especially Philly heading toward NYC, it just kind of keeps going
Houston visually can feel larger besed on the views as it is basically flat and maintains a decent development density (this is basically an optical illusion as in reality it is smaller and less developed than DC or Philly but those two metros have undulation that impedes views to sometimes only a half mile) - this visual can be more impactful because you can see more development with the naked whereas in actuality it is less developed overall and has far less people in the area when compared to DC or Philly (DC and Philly in many directions dont end they just become a new MSA)
Atlanta with the trees and less dense expanse feels smaller than others in many ways.
Houston and Atlanta are basically islands to themselves whereas Philly and DC are integrated and flow into other cities so from that perspective it is also hard to compare on this metric.
Overall though all four feel large, not huge thoigh and for the most seem mostly comprable on size give or take a bit and depending on the vantage point so to speak.
Miami's MSA can't sprawl like the others because it runs into barriers to its East, West and South. The land area that the 5.4 million people occupy is but a small fraction of the 3 counties in the metro. As the MSA adds population, it is doing so within the tight constraints of its developable land. In many places, virgin developable land has run out and the only way to grow is up. Unlike most other metros, it's very intersting to see the metro completely stop in development on its west side as it abuts the protected wetlands.
The MSA might grow to its North by adding counties if the traffic patterns justify it.
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Miami's MSA can't sprawl like the others because it runs into barriers to its East, West and South. The land area that the 5.4 million people occupy is but a small fraction of the 3 counties in the metro. As the MSA adds population, it is doing so within the tight constraints of its developable land. In many places, virgin developable land has run out and the only way to grow is up. Unlike most other metros, it's very intersting to see the metro completely stop in development on its west side as it abuts the protected wetlands.
The MSA might grow to its North by adding counties if the traffic patterns justify it.
The lack of ability to develop to the west has made the south-to-north development along the coastline very impressive. The nearly uninterrupted string of skylines from South Miami-Dade to North Central Palm Beach County is very impressive and unique among US metros.
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Hard to say exactly. Philly and DC feel like they have a longer expansion but this basically flows directly into the next MSA and from this perspective feel like part of much larger area. To me especially Philly heading toward NYC, it just kind of keeps going
Houston visually can feel larger besed on the views as it is basically flat and maintains a decent development density (this is basically an optical illusion as in reality it is smaller and less developed than DC or Philly but those two metros have undulation that impedes views to sometimes only a half mile) - this visual can be more impactful because you can see more development with the naked whereas in actuality it is less developed overall and has far less people in the area when compared to DC or Philly (DC and Philly in many directions dont end they just become a new MSA)
Really good observations, especially about Houston's development being much more visible to the naked eye. This is certainly due to the lack of trees around major freeways and the fact that many of the frontage roads of major freeways as well as the arterial thoroughfares are lined with/abutted by large skyscrapers. The Houston area just doesn't have the evenness of development that you see in the Philadelphia area and the DC area.
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Washington DC: The core is definitely very vibrant and offers that big city feel, but the surrounding areas lack density and give off a rustic feel unlike the burbs in Miami, Houston and Dallas. Whereas those usually maintain the same level of density from the city on out.
DC probably has the busiest most intensely developed suburbs right outside its course, particularly on the west, south and north sides of the city. The intensely developed suburbs, however, are mixed in with close-in bucolic suburbs covered by tons of foliage, which can make definitely lead to the feel of being in a smaller metro. I still feel like the DC metro as a whole feels a bit larger than the others on the list for a myriad of reasons, but Philly and Houston can both feel much larger than the DC metro in particular spots, but have too many areas where they don't feel so large.
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