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The real answer is Mobile which may be tied with Huntsville, but Huntsville believes it is #1, which would put Birmingham at #2 - but in reality Huntsville is too good to be considered part of Alabama so it doesn't matter. So...wait, I'm confused.
I'd say the second city of Massachusetts is Worcester, not Springfield. Maybe 10-15 years ago, Springfield would have been the second city, but I'd say it's now firmly in 3rd. And Worcester continues to grow.
For Illinois, Springfield, Rockford, and Aurora are all possibilities, with a case to be made for Champaign-Urbana. But not St. Louis. Only East St. Louis can count for Illinois.
For Florida, what's getting credit for the first city? Miami? If so, Jacksonville, the largest city by population in the state, has to be in contention for the second city.
Lol, no way. Jacksonville is largest in city population only because it has over 500 square miles of land. About 2-3 times as much as most cities. With a metro barely over 1 million it's less than half the size of Orlando and Tampa, and 1/5 the size of Miami. Jacksonville is way down the line in Florida cities.
The real answer is Mobile which may be tied with Huntsville, but Huntsville believes it is #1, which would put Birmingham at #2 - but in reality Huntsville is too good to be considered part of Alabama so it doesn't matter. So...wait, I'm confused.
I can't see anyone, even a Huntsville homer making a claim that Huntsville is better than Birmingham. It has a bright future and lots of high tech jobs from what I hear, but it's a sleepy little city.
Mobile's metro would be much larger if it included neighboring Florida counties, I think it only includes two counties right now, the CSA of Mobile is pretty decently sized actually and its position on the coast gives it something no other Alabama city has.
Arkansas--Fayetteville
Colorado--Colorado Springs
Delaware--Dover
Hawaii--Hilo
Idaho--Coeur d'Alene
Kansas--Topeka* (I'm not counting Kansas City because the MSA is centered in Missouri)
Minnesota--Duluth
Montana--Missoula* (This was the hardest one for me)
New York--Buffalo
North Dakota--Grand Forks
Ohio--Cleveland* (This was hard too; due to money, growth, and influence I'd place Columbus as No. 1, Cleveland as No. 2, and Cincinnati as No. 3, but I'm sure this has been debated ad nauseum)
South Dakota--Rapid City
Vermont--Rutland
Virginia--Richmond
Washington--Spokane
West Virginia--Morgantown* (Another hard choice. While Huntington is larger, I feel like Morgantown shines brighter due to its location and relative wealth)
Last edited by Dawn.Davenport; 04-10-2015 at 06:12 PM..
Side note, I think Sacramento is pretty close to SD, all things considered. At least closer than the general attitude on this subforum. I would pick SD 9 times out of 10 to live in though, but general importance n such makes it closer imo.
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