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I was talking with someone recently about Columbia, South Carolina and mentioned it had a metro of nearly 850K people. This person, not being from the state was floored at how big the city was as he assumed it was more the size of an Athens, GA or Gainesville, FL.
So I would be curious, what cities that may seem or you percieve as smaller or larger than they actually are based on something other than relative population to where you live/ what you are used to? (i.e. I live Atlanta and Raleigh seems small because I'm used to Atlanta).
For me, a few that stick out are:
Thought they were larger:
- Tallahassee. Being the capital of Florida and being a fairly well-known city I was shocked to learn how small it was
- Jacksonville. The skyline way the freeways are laid out in Jacksonville, plus having a pro team made me think the city was much larger than it was. I thought Jacksonville and Orlando were more peer cities than they were.
- Oklahoma City. Not sure why but I always assumed OKC was more like a Charlotte.
- Milwaukee. I know its lost population but I thought it was more like a Cleveland or Pittsburgh
- St. Louis. Was surprised to learn it was nearly half the size of Atlanta.
Thought were Smaller:
- Columbus, OH. Thought it was more the size of a Louisville or Richmond. More than likely due to it being a college town with only 1 major sports team, I was surprised to learn it was larger than Cleveland.
- Fort Myers, FL. It being on the beach, I figured it was just a small tourist town. Didnt realize it's one of the largest Metros in Florida
- Madison, WI. Same thing with it being a college town. Thought it was much smaller than 600k people.
St. Louis may seem either larger or smaller depending on who you ask.
St. Louis is a city of 300k residents in a metro of nearly 3 million. If you are expecting a city of 300k you will be shocked at how urban and large it is. If you are expecting a msa of 3 million, you will have a correct assessment of what the area is or isn't. If you are thinking it's a city of the same prominence it had 50 years ago, you are sadly mistaken.
Because it punches below its weight in many categories, people tend to think Detroit is smaller than what it really is.
Honestly most cities that lost 60+% of their population (St Louis, Detriot) seem smaller than they are IMP because you generally can walk about 15-20 minutes and be in a completely abandoned or largely depopulated neighborhood. Even though there are suburbs it's across a desolate land. Although their Downtown propers might feel grand they also feel limited.
Now cities that lost 30-50% of their population seem to have kept most of their urban fabric together and seem larger than their population (e.g. Baltimore)
Greensboro (761k) feels slightly smaller than its size. I was very disappointed with how it compared to Perry cities like Knoxville, Little Rock, Columbia...
Albany (886k) does feel smaller than its stated size, but I attribute most of this to the fact that it's a multinodal metro. The true size of Albany is probably closer to 500,000. Its still a leader for its weight class, though...
Buffalo (1.137m) feels about right for its size, but absolutely does not feel as large as fanatics of its heyday want it to. It is placed correctly...
Norfolk-Virginia Beach is a tricky one. The MSA has 1.725 million people, but that is an entirely misleading figure and you'll be disappointed if you came here expecting a city of that size. There are two obvious centers of gravity in Hampton Roads that yes, are part of the same metro. But Nfk/VB (aka Southside Hampton Roads) is a metropolis at 1.195 million. They are "twin cities" in the mold of Tampa/St. Pete, or MSP, in that the two cities can't be separated. But they can and should be separated from The Peninsula when discussing "real feel". At 1.195m they fit with like-sized cities...
Nashville (1.903m) probably fits as slightly larger than its size because of its outsized pop culture relevance...
Cleveland (2.059m) feels correctly placed but DOES NOT feel larger than that, as so many Cleveland Homer's want people to believe...
Pittsburgh (2.333m) has the downtown of an almost-major city and has the atmosphere of a larger city...
San Francisco (4.727m) feels noticeably larger than its MSA. Its CSA is 8.838 million, but it doesn't feel that large (which would put it at larger feeling than Dallas and damn near Chicago sized; that's a negative on both). I think the true size of SF is more accurately reflected in the middle, somewhere in the range of Philly/DC/Miami...
Dallas is another one of these multicore metros. It does not feel as large as its MSA. Its MD has a population of over 4.9 million. I think it feels larger than that. Its somewhere around Atlanta's range, but not quite Philly/DC large...
Greensboro (761k) feels slightly smaller than its size. I was very disappointed with how it compared to peer cities like Knoxville, Little Rock, Columbia...
Greensboro can be tricky. Its downtown/commercial core is smaller than several of its peers, but it's also flanked by one of the country's largest HBCUs and a sizable state university (just like Tallahassee). It also has the highway infrastructure and venues (KCC, coliseum, the future PAC) befitting a larger city.
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