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Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 9 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 978,334 times
Reputation: 1406
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemean
Small nitpicks:
Albany, GA's an odd choice on the list, at least without Hilton Head, Destin, Lake Charles, Dothan, the Shoals, or Valdosta (Seriously, Dothan and Valdosta over Albany for Wiregrass towns). If we're putting micropolitan areas like Paducah, Tupelo should probably go on, too.
I'd also consider Athens or Auburn as separate from their CSAs before Gainesville, GA.
On the other hand, like Raleigh/Durham, Greenville/Spartanburg, Huntsville/Decatur, Mobile/Daphne and Macon/Warner Robbins, Kingsport/Johnson City is one where the CSA (or part of the CSA combo) makes a little more sense than the MSA and should probably go up a level.
Thanks for the input. To be honest, I need to fine-tune the "Runner up" / Small City / Large Town of my ranking (Tier 6). I did disclose that this tier was "not in order", unlike the other tiers-which are in order. But I fully agree with you that there are omissions. I should have disclosed that the tier is incomplete. I need to compile more data (: I also feel sometimes that with smaller cities and towns simply having a college, a civic institution, or a tourist drawing point can make up for a slight difference in size. Though with small cities and large towns, we are somewhat "splitting hairs" ranking them.
Is there a chance for any other metros to join the big 4? The only realistic (but very unlikely) case I can think of is if developments in Central Texas between Austin and San Antonio lead to a merger. Which would also go for a Tampa-Orlando sort of thing.
I don’t think it would happen. The big 4 have such a big lead over every other southern metro and the fact that they’re all growing and developing at a rapid pace would only make it even harder for the others to catch up. Tbh if Austin-San Antonio merge I still don’t think it would be enough to catch up to the others. What I do see happening is a split between tier 2 to 2 more tiers, where Austin and Charlotte (and potentially Tampa) pull ahead of the other tier 2 cities and form a new tier 2, thus demoting the others in the tier to tier 3 and making the current tier 3 a tier 4 and so forth.
Albany, GA's an odd choice on the list, at least without Hilton Head, Destin, Lake Charles, Dothan, the Shoals, or Valdosta (Seriously, Dothan and Valdosta over Albany for Wiregrass towns). If we're putting micropolitan areas like Paducah, Tupelo should probably go on, too.
I'd also consider Athens or Auburn as separate from their CSAs before Gainesville, GA.
On the other hand, like Raleigh/Durham, Greenville/Spartanburg, Huntsville/Decatur, Mobile/Daphne and Macon/Warner Robbins, Kingsport/Johnson City is one where the CSA (or part of the CSA combo) makes a little more sense than the MSA and should probably go up a level.
If you are pairing those groups, wouldn't you also pair Greensboro/Winston-Salem ?
Tier 1: International (in order)
Houston
Atlanta
Miami
Dallas
Tier 2: National Class A (in order)
Tampa
Charlotte
Nashville
Austin
San Antonio
Orlando
Tier 3: National Class B (in order)
New Orleans
Richmond
Raleigh
Norfolk
Jacksonville
Memphis
Louisville
Oklahoma City
Birmingham
Tulsa
El Paso (is this "the South" though? I think not, but will include since it is in TX)
Tier 4 Statewide Class A (in order)
Charleston
Knoxville
Baton Rouge
Little Rock
Savannah
Sarasota
Fort Myers
Columbia
Greenville
Huntsville
Greensboro
Winston-Salem
Jackson
Lexington
Mobile
Corpus Christi
Chattanooga
Augusta, GA
Pensacola
Daytona Beach
Melbourne
Tier 5 Statewide Class B (in order)
Columbus, GA
Fayetteville, NC
Shreveport
Montgomery
Fayetteville, AR
Asheville
McAllen (is this "the South"?)
Midland (is this "the South"?)
Lubbock (is this "the South"?)
Charleston, WV
Tallahassee
Roanoke
Port St. Lucie
Macon
Biloxi
Charlottesville
Beaumont
Amarillo (is this "the South"?)
Waco, TX
Brownsville, TX (is this "the South"?)
Laredo, TX (is this "the South"?)
Killeen, TX
Lakeland, FL
Huntington, WV
Wilmington, NC
Lynchburg, VA
Tyler, TX
Fort Smith, AR
Myrtle Beach
Gainesville, FL
Panama City
Tier 6 Small Cities / Large Towns (not in order)
College Station, TX
Abilene, TX (is this "the South"?)
Wichita Falls, TX
San Angelo, TX (is this "the South"?)
Jonesboro, AR
Texarkana, AR
Lafayette, LA
Hattiesburg, MS
Tuscaloosa, AL
Ocala, FL
Vero Beach, FL
Port Charlotte, FL
Leesburg, FL
Gainesville, GA
Albany, GA
Rome, GA
Florence, SC
Greenville, NC
Burlington, NC
Johnson City, TN
Clarksville, TN
Jackson, TN
Owensboro, KY
Bowling Green, KY
Paducah, KY
Morgantown, WV
Wheeling, WV
Fredericksburg, VA
Winchester, VA
Williamsburg, VA
I just spent two months working in El Paso. It is NOT a southern city. It's part of The West...
Those other Texas cities in question, never been, but my educated guess would be if the terrain in these cities is more desert and brown, they aren't southern. Just a guess. The South isn't characterized my desert terrain or climate anywhere, and it's the one characteristic above all, I'd argue with certainty, is easily a non-southern quality. And if the cities in question are brown and desert, chances are they aren't that southern in nature, either. Meaning southern accents and southern food are probably rare...
There are southern accents and food in EP but they are rare, those aren't the predominate accents nor cuisine in EP by a long shot...
You have a very inclusive list lmao. I think your tiers 4 thru 6 can definitely be subdivided into about 5 or maybe even 6 different tiers...
Tier 6 Small Cities / Large Towns (not in order)
College Station, TX
Abilene, TX (is this "the South"?)
Wichita Falls, TX
San Angelo, TX (is this "the South"?)
Jonesboro, AR
Texarkana, AR
Lafayette, LA
Hattiesburg, MS
Tuscaloosa, AL
Ocala, FL
Vero Beach, FL
Port Charlotte, FL
Leesburg, FL
Gainesville, GA
Albany, GA
Rome, GA
Florence, SC
Greenville, NC
Burlington, NC
Johnson City, TN
Clarksville, TN
Jackson, TN
Owensboro, KY
Bowling Green, KY
Paducah, KY Morgantown, WV Wheeling, WV
Fredericksburg, VA
Winchester, VA
Williamsburg, VA
These are not really southern cities. Wheeling is as far north as Columbus, OH and Philadelphia, PA and has nothing in common with any of the other cities on this list. Morgantown is fairly similar in that regard, only being 5 or so miles south of the Mason Dixon line.
Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 9 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 978,334 times
Reputation: 1406
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriscross309
These are not really southern cities. Wheeling is as far north as Columbus, OH and Philadelphia, PA and has nothing in common with any of the other cities on this list. Morgantown is fairly similar in that regard, only being 5 or so miles south of the Mason Dixon line.
Good point, I agree. Texas and West Virginia are Southern states in my opinion, but not ALL of these two states are entirely Southern (some of Texas is "the West" and some of WV is "the Midwest" I guess). I did not think to include disclosures for Wheeling or Morgantown, like I did for some of Texas cities on my list (El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo, McAllen, Laredo, Brownsville, Abilene, San Marcos).
Do you know what actually threw me off? I once looked up a list of the largest cities in the Confederacy during the Civil War. And Wheeling was listed as the #10 largest city. Though, WV did not exist until 1863.
Good point, I agree. Texas and West Virginia are Southern states in my opinion, but not ALL of these two states are entirely Southern (some of Texas is "the West" and some of WV is "the Midwest" I guess). I did not think to include disclosures for Wheeling or Morgantown, like I did for some of Texas cities on my list (El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo, McAllen, Laredo, Brownsville, Abilene, San Marcos).
Do you know what actually threw me off? I once looked up a list of the largest cities in the Confederacy during the Civil War. And Wheeling was listed as the #10 largest city. Though, WV did not exist until 1863.
Wow, I didn't realize that Wheeling was so big compared to other cities during that time period.
Wheeling was also the leading city in West Virginia's session from Virginia.
Albany, GA's an odd choice on the list, at least without Hilton Head, Destin, Lake Charles, Dothan, the Shoals, or Valdosta (Seriously, Dothan and Valdosta over Albany for Wiregrass towns). If we're putting micropolitan areas like Paducah, Tupelo should probably go on, too.
I'd also consider Athens or Auburn as separate from their CSAs before Gainesville, GA.
On the other hand, like Raleigh/Durham, Greenville/Spartanburg, Huntsville/Decatur, Mobile/Daphne and Macon/Warner Robbins, Kingsport/Johnson City is one where the CSA (or part of the CSA combo) makes a little more sense than the MSA and should probably go up a level.
Auburn is part of the Columbus CSA. That area is equal to the Augusta MSA, which are both over 500k. The Columbus/Auburn area should be bumped up a tier. Columbus has a larger city population than Augusta to begin with.
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