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That's the one I was being facetious about. Fort Worth is probably more in line with a Sacramento, San Antonio, Columbus, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Charlotte, San Jose, possibly Denver. Inland Empire started off as some small towns along the railroads and is now a massive suburb/bedroom community.
I'll hold on to the Houston-New Jersey one though. Yeah major differences but lots and lots of weird similarities too.
New Jersey is an entire state and Houston is one city. North and South Jersey vary greatly from one another then there's the whole coast which is a mix of the two, New York, and Philly, with its own charm and vibe. Maybe picking one area of NJ would be more convincing?
New Jersey is an entire state and Houston is one city. North and South Jersey vary greatly from one another then there's the whole coast which is a mix of the two, New York, and Philly, with its own charm and vibe. Maybe picking one area of NJ would be more convincing?
No, Houston the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Houston looks and is different north and south too. Coming in from north to south, it starts off at the foothills of the hill country to the northwest in a forest sort of setting. South of I-10 it becomes less tree covered and palm trees become more noticeable and occurant in random areas. Houston has it's own piers and boardwalks, stuff of what nature. Has lots of industrial areas to its east end like Newark. Has lots of areas similar to the Pine Barrens, on it's east side. Long shoreline on the metropolitan area, cute little towns, stuff like that. Same sort of shopping. Same sort of diversity feeling. Same sort airline options, United hubs of course, similar sort of old money and new money divide. Aside from the feeder roads, similar freeway set ups, especially in regards to development around them.
Of course lots and lots of differences, particularly transit (PATH) and urbanity of Hoboken or Jersey City and such.
I'm just noting something as my eyes saw it and my instincts felt of it.
No, Houston the Greater Houston metropolitan area.
Houston looks and is different north and south too. Coming in from north to south, it starts off at the foothills of the hill country to the northwest in a forest sort of setting. South of I-10 it becomes less tree covered and palm trees become more noticeable and occurant in random areas. Houston has it's own piers and boardwalks, stuff of what nature. Has lots of industrial areas to its east end like Newark. Has lots of areas similar to the Pine Barrens, on it's east side. Long shoreline on the metropolitan area, cute little towns, stuff like that. Same sort of shopping. Same sort of diversity feeling. Same sort airline options, United hubs of course, similar sort of old money and new money divide. Aside from the feeder roads, similar freeway set ups, especially in regards to development around them.
Of course lots and lots of differences, particularly transit (PATH) and urbanity of Hoboken or Jersey City and such.
I'm just noting something as my eyes saw it and my instincts felt of it.
Fair enough. If it's something you saw and experienced I can't say you're wrong, but I may be a bit defensive because this isn't the first time someone has grouped the whole of NJ as similar to one city or something (but the metro area is definitely fairer). Someone on another thread recently called New Jersey a city, not even a state, grouping it with NYC, LA, and Chicago - in a negative light, mind you. Things like that can be a bit frustrating, especially given typical stereotypes against us. Sometimes people don't realize the diversity NJ has. Carry on.
I can see why people try to pair Cleveland and Detroit together (heavy industry cities in the Great Lakes region that have lost well over half of their population), but the comparison falls apart upon closer examination. Detroit is unique in being the only auto-centric city that has experienced massive decline, while Cleveland has an extensive heavy rail/light rail/BRT network for a city of its size. In fact, if you multiplied Cleveland, its infrastructure, and its metro area by 5x, it would look eerily like a sideways Chicago (large black and Eastern European populations, heavy rail, lakefront + river setting, great arts scene, major private university surrounded by a dangerous neighborhood a few miles from downtown, demographics dramatically different on opposite sides of town, very uneven distribution of crime, Federal Reserve banks, etc.). Without having to scale up or down more than 2x, Cleveland's twins = Buffalo and Milwaukee. Great Lakes cities that have declined but still have good urban bones.
If Phoenix, Las Vegas, or Atlanta implode sometime in the next half century, then Detroit might get a twin. Until then, Detroit deserves its own category as a catastrophe unrivaled in scale anywhere else in the country.
Other pairings:
Pittsburgh-Cincinnati-St. Louis (river cities that have declined from their peak but still have good architecture and institutions)
Columbus-Indianapolis (midwestern state capitals, deceptively large populations due to annexation, flat landscape, surrounded by a beltway, nearly identical city/metro populations and growth rates, diversified economies)
St. Louis-Memphis (both are located on Mississippi River, East. St. Louis and West Memphis have both experienced population losses, decline of industry and have high crime rates.)
Baltimore-Washington (both have similar populations, have access to the Chesapeake Bay, share a airport (Baltimore-Washington International), share suburbs and are only 40 miles apart from each other.)
Dallas-Fort Worth (both are big cities, share suburbs and an airport (Dallas-Fort Worth International) and are only 30 miles apart from each other.)
New York-Los Angeles (both are the largest cities in the US, New York is to the east coast while Los Angeles is to the west coast, both have influence over most of the US, etc.)
I could see SF "twinning up" with 4 difference cities:
NYC (lots of reasons to list...too many actually)
Philadelphia (old, gritty cities that have sort of blue collar feels to many parts, outdoor cafe scenes and restaurant scene)
Boston (economies and certain demographic traits, size, etc)
Seattle (economy...least amount of similarities, though)
As an Atlanta native now in the Dallas area, I have thought Dallas and and Atlanta have striking similarities. Take the Fort Worth part out of the mix and they are almost identical in population, both are the fastest growing metro areas in the country, both are growing disproportionately to the north, the area south of the downtowns are more depressed and larger in minority populations, both have the old money neighborhoods just north of downtown (Highland Park and Buckhead) both have the most prosporous suburbs directly in a line north of that and a little more middle class the more northeast and northwest of that due north line. Weather is similar, little more warm in Dallas, a little more humid in Atlanta, mild winters in both.
Just add some hills and more trees to Dallas and they become almost identical.
I was thinking much the same thing.
What really sticks out about Dallas-Atlanta to over say Houston is what they are economically.
They are both inland freight hubs, both huge airport hubs, and both well positioned to focus on business throughout the country with a high amount of business travelers and convention traffic.
They house many of the same types of companies, because of their positioning. They both have the headquarters of major hotel chains, restaurant chains, fast food chains, etc...
They are both the home to a huge amount of telecommunications jobs.
The overall economic footprint to their cities are unbelievable similar.
They are also similar, in this regard at least, to Chicago, which a huge inland freight hub, air hub, central location, etc....
Scranton, Pennsylvania and Duluth, Minnesota are a fairly good match.
Scranton leeches off of NYC, which is about two hours from the city. Likewise, Duluth leeches off of the Twin Cities to an extent. Both have roughly 75,000-85,000 residents in their urban cores, although Scranton's metropolitan area is much larger. Both cities have hilly topographies, residents with unfair generally pessimistic and self-deprecating attitudes, and a plethora of historic architecture. Both cities have sketchy white-collar employment opportunities and generally low crime rates.
It does?
Edit: HA! Realized I already posted this earlier in the thread. Guess I was equally shocked by that claim when I clicked on this thread for the first time in months as I was when I first read it.
Edit: HA! Realized I already posted this earlier in the thread. Guess I was equally shocked by that claim when I clicked on this thread for the first time in months as I was when I first read it.
Haha yeah-I don't see how that is the case at all. The two cities have very little to do with one another.
I've always thought Minneapolis/St. Paul were good matches with Seattle. Both are somewhat similar in culture (physically active, literate and highly educated, etc.); both have strong diversified economies but aren't exploding like sunbelt cities; both are fairly liberal; they're similar in size; and both are home to large, well regarded, flagship research universities (U of Minnesota and U of Washington).
If Minneapolis and Seattle had a baby, it would be Austin.
Others:
Mobile and New Orleans (culture, port cities, same climate)
Birmingham and Pittsburgh (same industries built the cities, similar terrain)
San Fran and Boston
Nashville and Austin
Chicago and Toronto
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It does? 
