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Old 08-16-2017, 03:47 PM
 
Location: GA
178 posts, read 497,382 times
Reputation: 85

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I can understand if it's a rural town that just has a Wal-Mart, if that, but once a metro reaches a certain size, around 300,000+ or so, it has pretty much all most people need or frequent. Strip Malls, Bars, restaurants, department stores, etc.

What makes many of these larger metros like Atlanta or Charlotte, so much better for day to day living. Being larger?

Most of the differences are things that people dont even frequent daily. I know many people in Atlanta who havent even heard of certain suburbs in other parts of metro, let alone go there. They mostly live within their own bubble within the metro, so what difference does the larger population truly make?

What difference does it make if the "major metro" has 15-20 Targets and 50 Chick-Fil-A's Vs. 2-5 Targets and 5-10 Chick-Fil-As in the smaller metro? Does that really make ones quality of life better? I get that there are some clothing stores here and there the smaller metro doesnt have, but does it matte that much? It's just more headache and traffic to get to most of the same type of stuff.

Culture and Unique traits make much more of difference than size to me. Many of the larger metros (especially in the Sunbelt) are just a copy and paste several times over of the same things you'd find in a smaller metro.

It not worth it to me, and doesnt make much of a difference, especially with the traffic.
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Old 08-16-2017, 04:16 PM
 
11,289 posts, read 26,095,413 times
Reputation: 11354
Most of the stuff you list is just carbon copy chain stores, strip malls and the same stuff over and over. That's why I don't really get excited about suburban areas, they can be large or small, some extremely massive - but as you said it's just the same crap over and over.

I don't care how many people there are, I only pay attention to the urban fabric and the uniqueness of an area, how walkable it is, how much character it has.

That's why I tend to spend most of my time in Chicago where I live and the city I love, and when I travel around the country I go to places like New Orleans, Philadelphia, Savannah, New York, Boston or the national parks.
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Old 08-16-2017, 04:30 PM
 
Location: Buckhead Atlanta
1,180 posts, read 975,244 times
Reputation: 1727
It makes a difference for me living in Atlanta vs elsewhere in Georgia: I don't have to drive. I have everything within 15 minutes by walking or public transit. The other aspect is networking. There is no better place to be when you're trying to grow your career. Then there's access to institutions of higher education. I like going to talks given by visitors or professors. I know online learning is making it more accessible but even with my online classes I still like a physical library for studying and researching. Bigger cities tend to have better transit in/out and around the city. Atlanta allows me to get anywhere. The cultural aspect is access to many different types cuisine, museums, and festivals. I go to a few concerts a year.


I am guilty of living in my own bubble. I'm making an effort this year to visit other parts of the metro and Georgia. I've lived in bigger cities and smaller cities and Atlanta provides me the perfect balance of urban and suburban.
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Old 08-16-2017, 04:31 PM
 
Location: GA
178 posts, read 497,382 times
Reputation: 85
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago60614 View Post
Most of the stuff you list is just carbon copy chain stores, strip malls and the same stuff over and over. That's why I don't really get excited about suburban areas, they can be large or small, some extremely massive - but as you said it's just the same crap over and over.

I don't care how many people there are, I only pay attention to the urban fabric and the uniqueness of an area, how walkable it is, how much character it has.

That's why I tend to spend most of my time in Chicago where I live and the city I love, and when I travel around the country I go to places like New Orleans, Philadelphia, Savannah, New York, Boston or the national parks.
I see you know exactly what I mean. Take Atlanta for instance. I swear, most of metro Atlanta, even much of the city, looks like somewhere like Warner Robins, GA copy and pasted over and over again. I dont see how that truly makes it any better than actually living in somewhere like Warner Robins, actually worse because it's more traffic
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Old 08-16-2017, 04:50 PM
 
Location: Louisiana to Houston to Denver to NOVA
16,505 posts, read 26,148,210 times
Reputation: 13283
I mean everything is smaller and lesser, that's why. There's a big difference in what about city like Knoxville can offer versus a city like Dallas or Philadelphia, even though Knoxville has everything you need, it might not have everything you want.
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Old 08-16-2017, 05:17 PM
_OT
 
Location: Miami
2,183 posts, read 2,397,357 times
Reputation: 2048
Depends, there's Houston large...then Boston and San Francisco large.

Houston's Metro is HUGE.
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Old 08-16-2017, 05:46 PM
 
3,332 posts, read 3,668,120 times
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Neither... nowhere is overrated or underrated by choice.. it's all a matter of being on the radar of a common citizen i.e. no matter how underrated someone says Oklahoma City is, not that many people have a burning to move there.
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Old 08-16-2017, 07:32 PM
 
Location: Houston
218 posts, read 218,531 times
Reputation: 329
Cities are generally where wealth is created. Traditionally, they are the places to which people congregate in order to exchange ideas. Cities are like funnels, all goods flow through them. Civilization, and by extension cities, are some of humanities greatest creations. Even their physical make up is a reflection of the civilizations that built them. They demonstrate certain ideologies such as the growth of sprawl in modern US cities. Personal space and privacy are more desired. This is also reflected in the traditional Chinese tenancy to have a courtyard and walls separating the inside from the outside. Privacy is preeminent. However, some cultures such as Amazonian tribes choose to live communally and the layout of their villages demonstrate this. This tenancy to reflect ourselves in the layout of our cities is so dominate that cities from distinct regions tend to resemble each other in physical build out. For example, I know a Southern city by the many, many trees everywhere. In the South they love their trees. I do too. I love Southern cities. This is true of Texas as well, not the tree part, although there are places in the eastern parts of Houston that do look very southern. In fact when you mentioned cities of about 300,000 comparing to bigger cities I immediately thought of Corpus Christi and Houston. If you were blindfolded and dropped off in some random neighborhood and were told to guess if you were in Corpus or Houston some people would have a hard time choosing. They both have similar looking residential neighborhoods, they both have lots of stripmalls and freeways. In fact, I go to Galveston, Corpus, and SPI so often that I get them confused when reccomending things to do when people ask me. My partner, thank God for him, always has to correct me. Only, there are things in Houston that I could never experience in Corpus or any other similar sized place in Texas. That's the difference between living in Houston vs. Corpus. Its more than just, oh I never do those things or go to that particular place. For example, in Houston you are exposed to other cultures and ideas. Literally, it is in your face. There is a guy from Pakistan that works in several of the corner stores around my neighborhood. I enjoy it immensely when he's there. We always debate Islam and Christianity. Not that I'm religious, but I do know my stuff, I was raised Baptist lol. It's amazing. I love that about Houston. I'm always meeting someone from some far off place in the world. All these different cultures are everywhere and you can't help but learn something new from them. Even if it's just observing, you can learn something. Another difference is opportunity. A friend that I grew up with in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas (RGV) was forced to move here to Houston because he lost his job down there. He used to work in the oil fields, but now he works at the Port of Houston. There are more opportunities in bigger cities than smaller ones.
Those are just a few examples of the differences between true "big" cities and places that are just big and regionally important. Those are great places too and have so much to offer that "big" cities don't have, but they are in no way replaceable.
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Old 08-16-2017, 07:41 PM
 
Location: Texas
1,982 posts, read 2,074,037 times
Reputation: 2185
I don't know. Based on what I've read about Oklahoma City or even Corpus Christi (for example), there are many things available in larger metros like DFW, especially as an ethnic minority. Truth is, even if sprawl may just look the same, there is a lot of culture in larger metros that are just nonexistent (or nearly so, relatively) in smaller cities.
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Old 08-16-2017, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Houston
218 posts, read 218,531 times
Reputation: 329
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parhe View Post
I don't know. Based on what I've read about Oklahoma City or even Corpus Christi (for example), there are many things available in larger metros like DFW, especially as an ethnic minority. Truth is, even if sprawl may just look the same, there is a lot of culture in larger metros that are just nonexistent (or nearly so, relatively) in smaller cities.
were you responding to me?
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