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Let's say you were given a country and it was an island and only the size of New Jersey in land size. You were told you had to pick 5 American cities to move over to your new country. Those cities you select would have the exact same characteristics as they currently exist (ie demographics, economy, climate, layout, etc.).
Which 5 cities would you pick?
A couple of rules:
1. They have to be pretty different from each other. So picking Philly and Boston, or Dallas and Houston is not allowed. They have to be very different from one another in built environment, type of city, etc.
2. you can include neighboring cities that are smaller and really are a part of the city's identity. So including Beverly Hills if you pick LA, or Miami Beach if you pick Miami works. Key rule though is they have to be a neighboring city where borders touch. So for example Fort Lauderdale cannot be used for Miami.
3. Population of each city must have at least 250k people city proper.
4. Explain your choices.
My Choices for my island country:
1. Chicago + Evanston + Oak Park - A balanced urban city that is both beautiful and works.
2. Miami + Miami Beach + Coral Gables - The vacation city of the island.
3. New Orleans - The historical city with a unique culture and food.
4. San Diego + La Jolla - A calmer and quieter vacation city for the country.
5. Seattle - Great urban city on a smaller scale.
My country would have about 5.5 million residents. Thought it would be bigger but not too shabby!
Last edited by frimpter928; 02-22-2019 at 10:02 AM..
Philadelphia
Portland, Oregon
Portland, Maine
Montreal
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia would be the extremely dense, highly populated capital. It can be near the coast, but Portland, Maine, would be the primary port for the island (Port of Portland). Portland, Oregon would be slightly more inland, and better integrated with surrounding nature. Montreal could be a bit further from the other cities, allowing a Francophone "transition zone" where French or bilingualism is encouraged in rural/suburban areas leading up to the city. Pittsburgh, while not at its industrial height anymore, could have the industrial potential if required, especially so on an island.
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Portland (Maine), are generally very dense (I don't know about Montreal), allowing for a bit more space for nature in between cities. Government would be headed in Philadelphia. Even with hyperdense cities, these cities are large enough to make the island extremely dense, a bit more so than the actual state of New Jersey currently is (NJ is the densest US state).
4.2 million would be the minimal population (roughly) if only counting the immediate city, but if you are counting the MSA, then the population could balloon to 10-15 million, which is fine, depending on where the island is situated in relation to other countries (in regards to trading). Island nations, like New Zealand and Iceland, generally have to have smaller populations for the sake of resource conservation. Too big a population on a remote island, and you have a recipe for disaster if, for whatever reason, supplies coming in are cut off. The UK is an exception of course, but it is extremely close to Europe so is not lacking. This island of mine should ideally be located off the eastern coast of the United States.
However, if we can change the populations, than I would limit it to 6-10 million at most, but this would drastically alter the cities as we currently understand them. What is Philadelphia if you remove (yet another) 500,000 people, for example?
Last edited by sad_hotline; 02-22-2019 at 09:59 AM..
Philadelphia
Portland, Oregon
Portland, Maine
Montreal
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia would be the extremely dense, highly populated capital. It can be near the coast, but Portland, Maine, would be the primary port for the island (Port of Portland). Portland, Oregon would be slightly more inland, and better integrated with surrounding nature. Montreal could be a bit further from the other cities, allowing a Francophone "transition zone" where French or bilingualism is encouraged in rural/suburban areas leading up to the city. Pittsburgh, while not at its industrial height anymore, could have the industrial potential if required, especially so on an island.
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Portland (Maine), are generally very dense (I don't know about Montreal), allowing for a bit more space for nature in between cities. Government would be headed in Philadelphia.
4.2 million would be the minimal population (roughly) if only counting the immediate city, but if you are counting the MSA, then the population could balloon to 10-15 million, which is fine, depending on where the island is situated in relation to other countries (in regards to trading).
1. NYC + Jersey City + Atlantic City(can I include this?): NYC for obvious reasons, Jersey City for the food scene, Atlantic City for the beach and its nightlife. If I can't include AC, then Asbury Park for similar reasons of beach/nightlife. This is where everything would be centered and where I'd live.
2. Miami + Miami Beach: The Latin culture/food, nightlife, and beaches. This would be the tourist and beach vacation of the new country.
3. LA + West Hollywood: So I can still have the best Mexican food and WeHo for the nightlife. This would be the main port city and where those with families who still love urban NYC can move to since I only included urban cities with NYC.
4. New Orleans: For the culture and the food. This would be one of the original towns of the country that has been preserved.
5. Denver: Can I include this so I can get access to the Rockies for snowboarding? No mountain towns are large enough. If not, can Reno claim Lake Tahoe since they call the airport Reno-Tahoe? This would be the country's winter destination.
1. NYC + Jersey City + Atlantic City(can I include this?): NYC for obvious reasons, Jersey City for the food scene, Atlantic City for the beach and its nightlife. If I can't include AC, then Asbury Park for similar reasons of beach/nightlife. This is where everything would be centered and where I'd live.
2. Miami + Miami Beach: The Latin culture/food, nightlife, and beaches. This would be the tourist and beach vacation of the new country.
3. LA + West Hollywood: So I can still have the best Mexican food and WeHo for the nightlife. This would be the main port city and where those with families who still love urban NYC can move to since I only included urban cities with NYC.
4. New Orleans: For the culture and the food. This would be one of the original towns of the country that has been preserved.
5. Denver: Can I include this so I can get access to the Rockies for snowboarding? No mountain towns are large enough. If not, can Reno claim Lake Tahoe since they call the airport Reno-Tahoe? This would be the country's winter destination.
Naw can't include AC. It would have to border the city borders of NYC. So Atlantic City wouldn't count but Jersey City would count.
Naw can't include AC. It would have to border the city borders of NYC. So Atlantic City wouldn't count but Jersey City would count.
Oh right. Didn't see that. In that case, I still want as many beach destinations included in my new country, so NYC would also get Long Beach, NY.
I didn't include Santa Monica with LA since I honestly just don't like Santa Monica lol. I much prefer Venice Beach, but Manhattan and Hermosa Beach don't touch LA city boundaries so I couldn't include them.
4. San Diego + La Jolla - A calmer and quieter vacation city for the country.
FYI, La Jolla is part of city of San Diego, not a separate city. You could include Del Mar now with arguably the nicest race track in the country that sits right on the ocean. It also hosts the kaaboo music festival and one of the largest state/county fairs in the country when race seasons are off.
FYI, La Jolla is part of city of San Diego, not a separate city. You could include Del Mar now with arguably the nicest race track in the country that sits right on the ocean. It also hosts the kaaboo music festival and one of the largest state/county fairs in the country when race seasons are off.
Oh I didn't know that. I thought it was a neighboring city/town. Good to know!
Oh I didn't know that. I thought it was a neighboring city/town. Good to know!
Some residents don’t either, lol.
I don’t know if it counts for your game, but you could include Tijuana, MX. Part of the city of San Diego lies along the border even though it’s separated from the rest of the city by a couple of smaller cities. I believe TJ’s population is still smaller too.
1 San Francisco packs a worldly urban environment into 46 sq miles.
2 Honolulu is a completely different experience from SF and yet is very urban, very compact, Polynesian and Pan Asian influence.
3 New Orleans is another tightly packed urban experience that is very different from SF and Honolulu and is still a top shelf destination like the other 2.
4 Miami+Miami Beach like Honolulu offers a tropical feel and yet completely different because it's inspired and dominated by Latin America.
5 Pittsburgh(Yes Pittsburgh) is not as sexy as the other 4 but it has a beautiful setting, it snows, has a compact, walkable core, a large academic population, and a completely different vibe than the other 3.
I chose cities that I find interesting and also compliment each other but also bring something to the table-on smaller geographies because I want lots of open space in between the cities.
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