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I don't think of Riverside/San Bernardino, or Norfolk/Va Beach as major metros, regardless of size. On the other hand, I think of Memphis and New Orleans as major cities.
Going by the common two million standard, and population, of course, Austin is the smallest major metro while Indianapolis is the largest minor metro.
That aside, I also do not think of Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (4.5M) as a major metro, which seems more like a large suburban region of Los Angeles, for the most part. Besides that, which may be the most obvious, neither Tampa (3.0M) nor Orlando (2.4M) really "sounds" like major cities to me, but that may be because they have always been so overshadowed by Miami in my mind.
There are plenty of metropolitan areas I thought were bigger than they are, based on reputation or name recognition, though I am hesitant to say I thought of them as particularly "major." These include Albany (Throw in all the other "large" cities in Upstate New York), Albuquerque, Bakersfield, Honolulu, and Madison, among others.
Since I go my metro, I consider cities major or non-major by the following criterial.
1) All MSAs above 1.5 million in population are major cities
2) All MSAs below 1 million in population are not major
3) MSAs between 1 and 1.5 million are major or non major depending on what they offer. Cities in that tier that are regional economic and cultural destinations are usually major cities while cities the punch far below their weight or are overshadowed by other cities in the region are non-major. Oklahoma City is the largest non-major city and Salt Lake City is the smallest major one.
For #3, here is how I break it down.
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI - Major
Jacksonville, FL - Major
Oklahoma City, OK - Non-major
Memphis, TN-MS-AR - Major
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN - Non-major
Raleigh, NC - Major
Richmond, VA - Major
New Orleans-Metairie, LA - Major
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT - Major
Salt Lake City, UT - Major
Birmingham-Hoover, AL - Non-major
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY - Non-major
Rochester, NY - Non-major
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI - Non-major
Since I go my metro, I consider cities major or non-major by the following criterial.
1) All MSAs above 1.5 million in population are major cities
2) All MSAs below 1 million in population are not major
3) MSAs between 1 and 1.5 million are major or non major depending on what they offer. Cities in that tier that are regional economic and cultural destinations are usually major cities while cities the punch far below their weight or are overshadowed by other cities in the region are non-major. Oklahoma City is the largest non-major city and Salt Lake City is the smallest major one.
For #3, here is how I break it down.
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI - Major
Jacksonville, FL - Major
Oklahoma City, OK - Non-major
Memphis, TN-MS-AR - Major
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN - Non-major
Raleigh, NC - Major
Richmond, VA - Major
New Orleans-Metairie, LA - Major
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT - Major
Salt Lake City, UT - Major
Birmingham-Hoover, AL - Non-major
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY - Non-major
Rochester, NY - Non-major
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI - Non-major
I would argue that Buffalo is a major city. It is the cultural heart of Western NY. It certainly has a national profile; Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Wings, Beef on Weck. Also its weird, Buffalo seems to have a lot of pull over the Rochester area, it almost makes Rochester feel like Worcester or Providence is to Boston, which is impressive because Buffalo really isn't much larger than Rochester.
And also with the Canadians, Buffalo is pretty close to a region of 1.5 million.
Since I go my metro, I consider cities major or non-major by the following criterial.
1) All MSAs above 1.5 million in population are major cities
2) All MSAs below 1 million in population are not major
3) MSAs between 1 and 1.5 million are major or non major depending on what they offer. Cities in that tier that are regional economic and cultural destinations are usually major cities while cities the punch far below their weight or are overshadowed by other cities in the region are non-major. Oklahoma City is the largest non-major city and Salt Lake City is the smallest major one.
For #3, here is how I break it down.
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI - Major
Jacksonville, FL - Major
Oklahoma City, OK - Non-major
Memphis, TN-MS-AR - Major
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN - Non-major
Raleigh, NC - Major
Richmond, VA - Major
New Orleans-Metairie, LA - Major
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT - Major
Salt Lake City, UT - Major
Birmingham-Hoover, AL - Non-major
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY - Non-major
Rochester, NY - Non-major
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI - Non-major
I would say that OKC, Louisville, and Birmingham are all major cities.
I would argue that Buffalo is a major city. It is the cultural heart of Western NY. It certainly has a national profile; Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Wings, Beef on Weck. Also its weird, Buffalo seems to have a lot of pull over the Rochester area, it almost makes Rochester feel like Worcester or Providence is to Boston, which is impressive because Buffalo really isn't much larger than Rochester.
And also with the Canadians, Buffalo is pretty close to a region of 1.5 million.
With major-league representation in two of the four big U.S. sports, it's pretty hard to argue against Buffalo as a major city.
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