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Well, I go by city limits. If you go by that definition, any city with a population of 200,000 or more within the city limits would qualify as a major city. So, some of the smallest major cities that come to mind would be Columbus, GA; Fayetteville, NC; Birmingham, AL; Arlington, VA; etc. Akron, OH; Providence, RI; Knoxville, TN; Grand Rapids, MI; etc. are some examples of mid-sized cities that are close to achieving major city status (or held it at one time, but experienced a population shrinkage).
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Originally Posted by bawac34618
I think some people are confusing "major" city with "global" or "world class" city. The threshold for being a major city is much lower than being a world class or global city. I would consider Phoenix, Cleveland, and Minneapolis to be major cities but wouldn't consider them to be world class at all.
I agree with this, I get sick of people always giving the same three U.S. cities all of the attention as if they are the only true major cities in America. Now a world-class city would have to be a city with a population of at least a million people within the city limits (in which case Phoenix could slide), but maybe two million people is really the right criteria. If you go by the latter definition, there are only four world-class cities in the U.S.
Last edited by Metal To The Core; 10-23-2017 at 10:26 PM..
I never considered Las Vegas to really be a major city. Sure, it's a big city, but when you think about it, other than gambling, what really is the major industry there? It just doesn't seem like it has much of the features you would expect in a big city.
As far as the smallest major city it seems that Austin would qualify. Quite a bit going on there. I also wonder if Omaha would count as a major city.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Originally Posted by NDak15
I never considered Las Vegas to really be a major city. Sure, it's a big city, but when you think about it, other than gambling, what really is the major industry there? It just doesn't seem like it has much of the features you would expect in a big city.
As far as the smallest major city it seems that Austin would qualify. Quite a bit going on there. I also wonder if Omaha would count as a major city.
Law is the big Industry outside of gambling in Vegas, you trip over law firms left and right there
I'd say forget stats for a question like this. Anybody can look up numbers and draw a line. Seems this is an opinion question based on perception.
I'd say the largest major city I consider "small" is Indianapolis. I know its population is up there and it has tons of sports, etc, but it feels pretty small for a major city.
The non-major city that feels the biggest to me is Louisville. When you take I-65 south and cross the Ohio, there appears to be a major skyline along it that feels like a pretty massive city. Also, driving into Louisville feels like you are hitting a big place. I was shocked to see it had only 253,000 people in the city proper and 1.2M in the metro.
Louisville has 600,000 in city and 1.3 million metro, 1.5 million CSA. It's a big city IMO if you consider Indianapolis one
Well, I go by city limits. If you go by that definition, any city with a population of 200,000 or more within the city limits would qualify as a major city. So, some of the smallest major cities that come to mind would be Columbus, GA; Fayetteville, NC; Birmingham, AL; Arlington, VA; etc.
So you actually and truly believe that Columbus and Fayetteville are major cities while Salt Lake City is not???? That's asinine.
And Arlington isn't even a city; it's a county and functions as an extension of DC.
So you actually and truly believe that Columbus and Fayetteville are major cities while Salt Lake City is not???? That's asinine.
And Arlington isn't even a city; it's a county and functions as an extension of DC.
Well, if you go look up "best cities" or "worst cities" or "most dangerous cities" or whatever lists, they often say that they're looking specifically at cities with a population of 200,000 or more. If you look some place up on travelmath.com, they'll have a list of major cities nearby defined as cities with a population of 200,000, so there you go...
Salt Lake City is a more recognizable name for sure, and probably has more big city elements to it, but that's often the threshold. If that bothers you that much, why don't you convince 5,000 Columbus residents and 5,000 Fayetteville residents to move over to Salt Lake City? I didn't determine the population of those cities myself.
Well, if you go look up "best cities" or "worst cities" or "most dangerous cities" or whatever lists, they often say that they're looking specifically at cities with a population of 200,000 or more. If you look some place up on travelmath.com, they'll have a list of major cities nearby defined as cities with a population of 200,000, so there you go...
If you're basing your threshold for what's considered "major" on clickbait articles, then I really don't know what to say.
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Salt Lake City is a more recognizable name for sure, and probably has more big city elements to it, but that's often the threshold. If that bothers you that much, why don't you convince 5,000 Columbus residents and 5,000 Fayetteville residents to move over to Salt Lake City? I didn't determine the population of those cities myself.
Of course you didn't but that's not the point. When it comes to municipal population, much of that is determined by state laws that regulate how cities are able to annex, city-county consolidation, etc. Using a standard metric like MSA is a much, much better way to determine major city status.
Economy, amenities, infrastructure, etc. play much bigger roles when it comes to being "major" than just municipal population. Cities can annex to the hinterlands to get 200,000 people but that means next to nothing in the grand scheme of things.
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