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So here is my question? Can one take pride in their cities population even though their metro maybe small? For instance Milwaukee has 605,000 people in it's city but metro is 2,000,000 at best. So if we are going by city pop Milwaukee is one of the bigger cities right behind Boston at 609,000 and Milwaukee is bigger than Denver and Seattle and St.Louis. Milwaukee is 23rd in terms of city population and when it comes to metro well, we are #32 right next to Columbus, OH. However a lot of people don't consider Columbus a big city.
So can I take pride knowing Milwaukee has a decent city population but a rather weak metro population?
So what's more important? city pop or metro pop? or is city population just a side note?
I would say metro. Because people who live in the metro area mainly commute to the city, so the more people in the area the better, they dont have to live in the actual city limits, but as long as they contribute to the city thats all that counts.
So here is my question? Can one take pride in their cities population even though their metro maybe small? For instance Milwaukee has 605,000 people in it's city but metro is 2,000,000 at best. So if we are going by city pop Milwaukee is one of the bigger cities right behind Boston at 609,000 and Milwaukee is bigger than Denver and Seattle and St.Louis. Milwaukee is 23rd in terms of city population and when it comes to metro well, we are #32 right next to Columbus, OH. However a lot of people don't consider Columbus a big city.
So can I take pride knowing Milwaukee has a decent city population but a rather weak metro population?
So what's more important? city pop or metro pop? or is city population just a side note?
Metro population gives a much better gauge of the size and importance of the city because the boundaries are set in a uniform manner by a single entity - the Census Bureau. City boundaries vary widely in size depending on how much land the city can annex...so it would be difficult to compare a city like Milwaukee (97 square miles) to Houston (600 square miles) or Miami (36 square miles).
Using city population only, one might think that Jacksonville, FL (pop. 807,000) is a larger city than Boston (pop. 609,000).
Metros are really hard to define. For instance, Northeast Ohio is nearly 5 million people, but Cleveland's metro is only 2.3. I think metros are pretty silly, but interesting for stats and demographics.
I take pride in being from Milwaukee, I often tell people I am a Milwaukee guy through and through. To which I received a response
"You can't be a Milwaukee Guy b/c Milwaukee is too small" "there are Chicago people and New York people but not Milwaukee people, Milwaukee is not unique enough"
This was the response I got that prompted me from asking this question. I have side pride and neighborhood pride and extreme city pride vs not living in the suburbs.
One area I hear this a lot is in NY, you will often hear people say "I'm from New York" and usually followed up by "well are you from the city or the suburbs?" That is why I think it matters to actually live in the city.
Look I know Milwaukee isn't 5 million metro but our city population is up there with Boston, Baltimore, Denver and Seattle and there are just as many people actually in Boston that are in Milwaukee and I take pride in that. Milwaukee and Austin are basically the same in city pop and metro but many people really don't consider Austin and Columbus big cities. So in terms of population I say they are, but not in big city feel and amenities but that's for another thread.
I also have a problem with the the Milwaukee msa and csa. Our CSA should be our MSA since our metro is one complete area but that's another thread again also.
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