Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't consider cities like Orlando, Tampa, Austin, San Diego, Pittsburgh to be "major cities" unless the term "major" is to lose all meaning. All of the above feel like towns to me.
California has 2 (Los Angeles, San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland).
Texas has 2 (Houston, Dallas-Ft Worth). Austin-San Antonio is on the verge of becoming a "major" city.
For Florida, Miami-Ft Lauderdale is the only major city. Orlando and Tampa are on the verge of becoming "major" cities if they can sustain some growth.
I cannot think of any state but those 3 that would be a contender. Even New York State has only one major city, as does Illinois. I would say Ohio has no major cities, instead 2 cities struggling to become "major" cities. Same with Tennessee. Am I leaving off a state? Oh yeah, Pennsylvania. One major city, with another city that needs to grow some to become a "major" city.
I don't consider cities like Orlando, Tampa, Austin, San Diego, Pittsburgh to be "major cities" unless the term "major" is to lose all meaning. All of the above feel like towns to me.
California has 2 (Los Angeles, San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland).
Texas has 2 (Houston, Dallas-Ft Worth). Austin-San Antonio is on the verge of becoming a "major" city.
For Florida, Miami-Ft Lauderdale is the only major city. Orlando and Tampa are on the verge of becoming "major" cities if they can sustain some growth.
I cannot think of any state but those 3 that would be a contender. Even New York State has only one major city, as does Illinois. I would say Ohio has no major cities, instead 2 cities struggling to become "major" cities. Same with Tennessee. Am I leaving off a state? Oh yeah, Pennsylvania. One major city, with another city that needs to grow some to become a "major" city.
I respectfully disagree. You're discrediting places that have world class education, healthcare, and cultural institutions. New York, London, Tokyo etc... are WORLD cities, MEGA cities. Austin, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and the like, are definitely major cities. Andrew Carnegie helped give birth to a modern America, and Pittsburgh is a testament to that. You're talking about cities that pack a $100 Billion + punch. American cities hit hard!
Pennsylvania has the 5th largest population of all US states but has been largely omitted from this list. It has the following metro areas which locally are identified by the main city of the metro area:
Philladelphia (Metro 6 million)
Pittsburgh (Urban 1.7 million, Metro 2.4 million)
Allentown-Bethlehem ("The Lehigh Valley") (Urban area 665,000, Metro area 820,000)
Harrisburg (Urban area 440,000, Metro 560,000)
Lancaster (Urban area 402,000, Metro 508,000)
Scranton-Wilkes Barre ("The Wyoming Valley") (Urban 382,000, Metro 562,000)
Reading (Urban 266,000, Metro 413,000)
York (Urban 230,000, Metro 400,000)
Erie (Urban 102,000, Metro 276,000)
Altoona (Urban 100,000, Metro 130,000)
Smaller cities:
State College (Urban 86,000)
Johnstown (Urban 71,000, Metro 141,000)
Chambersburg (Urban 50,000, Metro 150,000)
Ohio has the following:
Cincinnati (Metro 2.1 Million)
Columbus (Urban 1.3, Metro 2 Million)
Cleveland (Urban 1.8 Million, Metro 2 Million)
Dayton (Urban 724,000, Metro 729,000)
Akron (Urban 560,000, Metro 705,000)
Toledo (Urban 507,000, Metro 608,000)
Youngstown (Urban 380,000, Metro 540,000)
Canton (Urban 280, Metro 404,000)
It looks like Ohio has one more 'major' urban area than PA, but Philadelphia itself is about as large as Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland combined. Ohio's other large cities are a bit larger than PA's, especially when comparing the size of the urban areas, which I argue is the best definition of 'city.' Metro areas can be a bit vague - I lived in the York, PA area for several years, and York (urban area) is all of 230,000 people but to include all of York County in it's metro area is a bit misleading. The city itself definitely ends at one point, and Hanover which is included in the metro area has 50,000 people itself but is definitely its own built up area.
Also of note, Pennsylvania is littered with small to medium size cities and boroughs (5,000 to 25,000) and many of them are close enough together to be considered one continuous entity though not really urban area. An example of this is the Berwick-Bloomsburg-Danville area, which has about 50,000-80,000 people depending on your definition.
But to not even include PA in the conversation while including states like Arizona and Tennessee is absurd.
I'd say California, though Texas is a close second.
LA
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
Oakland (bigger than New Orleans or Memphis)
Sacramento
Palm Springs
Texas, actually, has more major cities. Austin's about to get one million in population. California has a larger population but it's concentrated into a few enormous cities rather than being spread out into many midsized major cities like Texas.
Texas, actually, has more major cities. Austin's about to get one million in population. California has a larger population but it's concentrated into a few enormous cities rather than being spread out into many midsized major cities like Texas.
Cities over 100,000 population:
Texas: 38
California: 73
Cities over 200,000 population:
Texas: 13
California: 23
Cities over 400,000 population:
Texas: 6
California: 8
So no, it's really not Texas.
Last edited by Losfrisco; 01-17-2019 at 08:46 PM..
Reason: added info
Texas, actually, has more major cities. Austin's about to get one million in population. California has a larger population but it's concentrated into a few enormous cities rather than being spread out into many midsized major cities like Texas.
How are they not spread out? California has 6 metro areas over 2 million that's more than the entire country of Canada. Not to mention still has LA with 13+ million in just two counties.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
