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But the change usually isn't abrupt. Aside from street signs saying the municipality, you don't really know when you hit what, since Dallas isn't just the urban core and is primarily suburban like its neighbors.
Some places it is noticeable, like Hartford has suburbs 1/5th the density of the city directly adjacent to it. because of zoning laws there is a line that is quite clear.
Still, I see Boston as being a weird city. It's not like the majority of the country where the entire urban core, plus some suburbs are part of the city. It goes back to the 1800s, when Brookline voted to remain separate from Boston. Because of this Boston did not annex any further northern suburbs other then Charlestown.
So you've got many places north of the city, Somerville, Cambridge, Malden, Medford, Cheslea, Revere, etc that are very urban and easily accessible to downtown Boston. Without looking at a map you'd think that they are part of the city. However due to historical events they are not. Then you've got some places further out in Boston like West Roxbury or Hyde Park, which are pretty suburban in nature and not at all easily accessible to downtown Boston.
Readville, the southernmost neighborhood in Boston, is 9.9 miles away from downtown Boston as the crow flies. There are 18 separate municipal city halls located closer to Boston's city Hall then Readville (Quincy, Milton, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, Waltham, Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Medford, Belmont, Chelsea, Revere, Everett, Malden, Melrose, Saugus, Winthrop). If Boston went on an annexing spree like most other cities in the country did it would be over double its current size. That's why its population of around 675k people is misleading, the urban core of Boston is much larger. Plus most people within 128, when they visit other states, just say that they're from Boston even though they live in dense suburb one or two municipalities removed from Boston proper.
I think that's what the OP was referring more to. Areas that aren't technically part of a city, but for most practical and non-governmental purposes are.
While that is unique, go to Northern New Jersey and it is a different story. In fact Northern New Jersey by itself is probably the second most urban and city-like area of the country after NYC, you can't beat the density in Hudson County.
Almost all of Miami-Dade County acts like a city. The suburbs are more like neighbourhoods and its nothing but sprawl with no natural landscape in between. But then you cross 997 and all of a sudden its nothing but Everglades and Indian reservations until Naples.
Many other metro areas have the suburbs broken up by a bit of countryside. Even DFW, which is known for continuous sprawl has some countryside between suburbs like Weatherford and Denton. The I-35E corridor in DFW is more developed than the I-35W corridor that runs from Fort Worth to Denton.
The Miami-Dade county government is run under the "Home Rule" charter established in 1957 by the Florida legislature which lets the county operate like a vast city where they service & provide all of the county's transportation, schools, water / sewer / garbage and emergency services.
It's a two-tier government where the county rules but any of the 36 incorporated cities in the county can duplicate those services as well and tax their citizens accordingly.
This is unique in the state since no other county has these powers.
Hence why Miami -Dade has a police department instead of the state dictated Sheriff's Office like the other counties.
You can't tell where a suburb begins or ends in Miami unless there is a sign that identifies because of the solid development that is continuous & this includes the metro areas of Ft. Lauderdale and W. Palm Beach as well.
First They both connect directly to a Boston neighborhood via Charlestown (which is itself a Boston neighborhood) without any river. Also the river around bu bridge is very narrow.
Also, they are one-ish subway stop from the center of downtown. No other places being mentioned in other cities are as integrated with the center of downtown of the major city. Most are attached in the outskirts.
Even if they didn't have a land connection which they do...Would you say river north is not connected to the loop,queens not connected to Manhattan? I would argue Cambridge is as much if not more a part of Boston than queens is a part of Manhattan etc. I'm talking from a livability standpoint, obviously boundary wise they aren't bostin
i dont know why city-data refers to these places as suburbs. similar thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanley-88888888
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for e.g.- i wouldnt consider a place like brooklyn, ny to be a suburb. its not downtown n.y.c. but it is far from suburban.
Las Vegas the largest city in the state, neighboring Henderson the 2nd and the city of North Las Vegas the 3rd and all bordering each other! Reno is tied with North Las Vegas for 3rd
i heard the sunset strip is actually in another city ?
All I'm saying is nobody says "I wonder when I've gone from Boston to Cambridge" It's very clear. Cambridge to Somerville sure. Boston to Coolidge Corner in Brookline sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ne999
Cambridge was listed as an example by the op for the thread topic. Of course it's clear because you know Cambridge is north of the Charles. If you didn't know Cambridge was north of the river it may not be so obvious. The two cities interact as one.
i know of several college students who rent in camberville and have no conception they are technically outside of boston. all they care about is they can take the t to their classes.
i dont know why city-data refers to these places as suburbs. similar thread:
Suburb has nothing to do with density and everything to do with commuting patterns. All of Tokyo’s built out suburbs have a density between 15,000 ppsm and 40,000 ppsm, that doesn’t make them any less suburbs or suburban they just have a high density of apartments and houses.
Suburb has nothing to do with density and everything to do with commuting patterns. All of Tokyo’s built out suburbs have a density between 15,000 ppsm and 40,000 ppsm, that doesn’t make them any less suburbs or suburban they just have a high density of apartments and houses.
So how is Kendall square Cambridge for commuting 2 red line stops to the heart of downtown Boston?
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