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Random question that just popped into my head: How much of an identity does your city have apart from its surrounding urban area?
To explain what I mean, I'll give examples of the two cities that I think are on the opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to this question: Los Angeles and New York. Los Angeles has a pretty consistent density throughout its metro area, and many of the most well-known areas in the LA metro are outside the LA city limits (Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood).
Compare this with New York, in which the city is separated by water from one of the biggest components of its metro area (New Jersey). The 5 boroughs also have a much higher population density than the rest of the metro area (Hudson county New Jersey notwithstanding) and the presence of the subway in NYC further serves to distinguish the lifestyles of the city with respect to those in the suburbs (even Staten Island has the railway).
So, I'd say that LA has much less of a distinct identity relative to its surroundings than does NY. What about other cities?
Eh, Rapid City is only really known for being the city you stay at when you visit the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. The city itself isn't a big tourist destination.
I think a lot of people would argue Boston stands out a lot from the surrounding area but I am going to go the other way with it. Since Boston is so tiny geographically, a lot of what is considered the city is actually in neighboring cities (notably Cambridge but also Somerville, Brookline, Newton, Quincy etc to some extent). The population density is much higher in Boston-Cambridge-Somerville than the rest of the metro but is it higher in Boston itself? No. Actually Somerville is the most densely populated city in the US outside of NY-NJ.
Also, think about what Boston is known for: Universities- Harvard and MIT are in Cambridge, BC is half in Newton, Tufts is in Medford and Somerville, Bentley and Brandies are in Waltham (I think). The list goes on. History- A lot of colonial history happened on the south shore (Plymouth) and the north shore (Gloucester, Salem). And the revolutionary war battles Boston is known for were in Lexington and Concord (in addition to Charlestown which is technically Boston). The first American flag was raised in Somerville. The industrial revolution took hold in this country in Lowell. Etc. Industries Boston is known for are also found in the surrounding area. High tech along the 128 belt and Fishing along the coast.
So I would actually say Boston has less of an identity outside of the metro area then say New York for example.
San Francisco is a lot different that the rest of the Bay Area and pretty much everything west of the Mississippi River. It's very dense and urban and the only western city with a really good comprehensive public transportation system. It's buildings are very old and have a lot of character. It's about 3-5x denser than the rest of the region. The weather in SF is also different than most anywhere else in the Bay Area. It's usually cooler and cloudier than all the most parts of the Bay Area. Where I grew up, in an inland valley 25 miles east of SF, it could be 100 degrees there but only 70 in SF. So SF is like NY in how its different that the rest of the metro area.
San Diego is like LA and many parts of the city are not that different from the surrounding area.
I would say that Portland does not really stand out at all to people. Most people just consider Portland to be a smaller Seattle, but I tend to disagree. Still, while I may think it is different, I do believe most people do not.
Random question that just popped into my head: How much of an identity does your city have apart from its surrounding urban area?
To explain what I mean, I'll give examples of the two cities that I think are on the opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to this question: Los Angeles and New York. Los Angeles has a pretty consistent density throughout its metro area, and many of the most well-known areas in the LA metro are outside the LA city limits (Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood).
I think I know what you may have been trying to illustrate in your head, but that's not the way it is at all. Los Angeles, metropolitan -wise, 88 seperate cities. Over 10 million people not counting the rest of the urban area- but let's do count them! Probably now knocking on 18 million and the center of this area is.....L. A. Los Angeles is the reason why the rest are there. L. A. is the 800 pound, 'xuse me- 8000 pound gorilla in the basin. So much so that the rest of the area can be referred to as 'L A'. Try as they might, they can't escape that. Funny how the three well known cities you chose are not actually outside city limits. They're completely encompassed by it, surrounded. As to physical boundaries, a good portion of Los Angeles is seperated from itself by a mountain range (San Fernando Valley) and those couple of million- plus the other cities on that side of the hill that lose their identity to Los Angeles, are completely different in character to the millions of others on the other side (Cuhuenga basin). Thus illustrating the diversity. You make it sound like Los Angeles doesn't have a strong world identity; it has one of the strongest. Naming suburbs known around the world like Beverly Hills, Pasadena or Burbank and offering them up for comparison doesn't work. Los Angeles manages to confuse people who may have thought they were still in L. A. County, but find themselves in another.
I think I know what you may have been trying to illustrate in your head, but that's not the way it is at all. Los Angeles, metropolitan -wise, 88 seperate cities. Over 10 million people not counting the rest of the urban area- but let's do count them! Probably now knocking on 18 million and the center of this area is.....L. A. Los Angeles is the reason why the rest are there. L. A. is the 800 pound, 'xuse me- 8000 pound gorilla in the basin. So much so that the rest of the area can be referred to as 'L A'. Try as they might, they can't escape that. Funny how the three well known cities you chose are not actually outside city limits. They're completely encompassed by it, surrounded. As to physical boundaries, a good portion of Los Angeles is seperated from itself by a mountain range (San Fernando Valley) and those couple of million- plus the other cities on that side of the hill that lose their identity to Los Angeles, are completely different in character to the millions of others on the other side (Cuhuenga basin). Thus illustrating the diversity. You make it sound like Los Angeles doesn't have a strong world identity; it has one of the strongest. Naming suburbs known around the world like Beverly Hills, Pasadena or Burbank and offering them up for comparison doesn't work. Los Angeles manages to confuse people who may have thought they were still in L. A. County, but find themselves in another.
No, I'm not saying LA doesn't have a strong world identity at all. Quite the contrary--it's obviously one of the most well-known places in the world. I mean the actual city proper of Los Angeles is not perceived as being very separate from the areas immediately around it, or within it. The fact that places like Santa Monica and Beverly Hills are surrounded by LA only underscores the point that there's a continuous urban fabric that doesn't depend on municipal boundaries at all. I mean, when you think of Los Angeles, do you think of that incredibly weirdly shaped city you can see on a map--the actual city limits? I'm guessing you think more about the area as a whole, probably the LA basin more than anything. That's all I meant.
I think I know what you may have been trying to illustrate in your head, but that's not the way it is at all. Los Angeles, metropolitan -wise, 88 seperate cities. Over 10 million people not counting the rest of the urban area- but let's do count them! Probably now knocking on 18 million and the center of this area is.....L. A. Los Angeles is the reason why the rest are there. L. A. is the 800 pound, 'xuse me- 8000 pound gorilla in the basin. So much so that the rest of the area can be referred to as 'L A'. Try as they might, they can't escape that. Funny how the three well known cities you chose are not actually outside city limits. They're completely encompassed by it, surrounded. As to physical boundaries, a good portion of Los Angeles is seperated from itself by a mountain range (San Fernando Valley) and those couple of million- plus the other cities on that side of the hill that lose their identity to Los Angeles, are completely different in character to the millions of others on the other side (Cuhuenga basin). Thus illustrating the diversity. You make it sound like Los Angeles doesn't have a strong world identity; it has one of the strongest. Naming suburbs known around the world like Beverly Hills, Pasadena or Burbank and offering them up for comparison doesn't work. Los Angeles manages to confuse people who may have thought they were still in L. A. County, but find themselves in another.
I think what you just said is the reason the OP juxtaposed the way he did. What he's saying is that with New York City, you know when you're in New York and when you're not. NYC is drastically different from neighboring LI, or Newark, for example. San Francisco is much different from surrounding suburbs on the peninsula, or in the East Bay. Even a tourist can tell the obvious difference. With LA, one cannot tell when he's in LA, or the next suburb. LA runs into suburbs, and those suburbs run into others, and there's no break. It takes a knowledgeable local to really know when you're crossing from LA into the next city. Of course all of these cities are the magnet, and the reason for the existence of the surrounding areas.
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