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In reading these forums it seems there are many criteria to compare city sizes; MSA seems too large let alone CSA and the borders of cities are so drastically different. To me urban seems to be a continuous area with a density above 10,000 ppsm but again I know many people would differ. What I find interesting is relative land area and population comparisons.
Below is my point (and I choose a couple of places to compare to my home town)
Philadelphia: 1.5 mil people over 143 sq miles = density of 10,612 ppsm
Atlanta: .54mi people over 132 sq miles = density of 4,082 ppsm
Philadelphia & Delaware County: 2.1 mil people over 334 sq miles = 6,193 ppsm
Dallas 1.3 mil people over 385 sq miles = 3,698 ppsm
Philadelphia, Delaware County and Camden County: 2.6 mil over 562 sq miles = 4,600 ppsm
Houston: 2.2 mil people over 600 sq miles = 3,667 ppsm
It just seems really hard to compare areas of different population concentration.
Does anyone have any thoughts or a better metric?
Last edited by kidphilly; 04-12-2010 at 01:47 PM..
Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
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What about a radius? 5 miles from downtown, 10 miles, etc. For cities like Miami and Chicago you can maybe make an exception to cover the same square mileage as a city that doesn't have geographical boundaries.
What about a radius? 5 miles from downtown, 10 miles, etc. For cities like Miami and Chicago you can maybe make an exception to cover the same square mileage as a city that doesn't have geographical boundaries.
That makes sense; wish there were a site that made this a little less cumbersome to calculate
In reading these forums it seems there are many criteria to compare city sizes; MSA seems too large let alone CSA and the borders of cities are so drastically different. To me urban seems to be a continuous area with a density above 10,000 ppsm but again I know many people would differ. What I find interesting is relative land area and population comparisons.
Below is my point (and I choose a couple of places to compare to my home town)
Philadelphia: 1.5 mil people over 143 sq miles = density of 10,612 ppsm
Atlanta: .54mi people over 132 sq miles = density of 4,082 ppsm
Philadelphia & Delaware County: 2.1 mil people over 334 sq miles = 6,193 ppsm
Dallas 1.3 mil people over 385 sq miles = 3,698 ppsm
Philadelphia, Delaware County and Camden County: 2.6 mil over 562 sq miles = 4,600 ppsm
Houston: 2.2 mil people over 600 sq miles = 3,667 ppsm
It just seems really hard to compare areas of different population concentration.
Does anyone have any thoughts or a better metric?
Two major cities can be in the same MSA like Dallas and FT Worth. No major city is stilling from Philly if New York was really integrated in the same social commuting region as Philly, it would be the New York- Philadelphia Metroplex. MSA represents commuting ties with a city or cities. If a city has a large city limit area it’s because the city annex! If a city has a larger Metro Area it’s because that city is the core of a larger social and economic integrated region. You can't take that way from that city density doesn’t matter. Atlanta commuting population is 62.4% over the resident population. You say some MSA seems too large, well the traffic say different that’s why sunbelt cities Freeways look the way they do.
I like the heat maps, though the densest (>1,000) concentration doesn't really demonstrate density or urbanity very well; it seems these maps might benefit from a few more density levels, potentially >5,000 (nearly urban) and >10,000 urban
In reading these forums it seems there are many criteria to compare city sizes; MSA seems too large let alone CSA and the borders of cities are so drastically different. To me urban seems to be a continuous area with a density above 10,000 ppsm but again I know many people would differ. What I find interesting is relative land area and population comparisons.
Below is my point (and I choose a couple of places to compare to my home town)
Philadelphia: 1.5 mil people over 143 sq miles = density of 10,612 ppsm
Atlanta: .54mi people over 132 sq miles = density of 4,082 ppsm
Philadelphia & Delaware County: 2.1 mil people over 334 sq miles = 6,193 ppsm
Dallas 1.3 mil people over 385 sq miles = 3,698 ppsm
Philadelphia, Delaware County and Camden County: 2.6 mil over 562 sq miles = 4,600 ppsm
Houston: 2.2 mil people over 600 sq miles = 3,667 ppsm
It just seems really hard to compare areas of different population concentration.
Does anyone have any thoughts or a better metric?
That's not a good way of looking at it though; regardless of size it's about commuting patterns and influence. Dallas, Atlanta, and Houston influence a greater area than Philadelphia (Blame NYC for that).
Two major cities can be in the same MSA like Dallas and FT Worth. No major city is stilling from Philly if New York was really integrated in the same social commuting region as Philly, it would be the New York- Philadelphia Metroplex. MSA represents commuting ties with a city or cities. If a city has a large city limit area it’s because the city annex! If a city has a larger Metro Area it’s because that city is the core of a larger social and economic integrated region. You can't take that way from that city density doesn’t matter. Atlanta commuting population is 62.4% over the resident population. You say some MSA seems too large, well the traffic say different that’s why sunbelt cities Freeways look the way they do.
You have a point; Dallas to Ft Worth is 35 miles and Philly to NYC is 46 miles
I like the heat maps, though the densest (>1,000) concentration doesn't really demonstrate density or urbanity very well; it seems these maps might benefit from a few more density levels, potentially >5,000 (nearly urban) and >10,000 urban
I put in an extra classification for over 5k:
LA:
Dallas:
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