How big does a city have to be to have suburbs? (live in, land)
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I was wondering if there was an unwritten number of people that a city must have to be considered a suburb? I've heard of suburbs in Wyoming but it's biggest city hardly exceeds 50,000 people and other areas a city of 100,000 might not have any itself. I was hoping someone would have some insight to this.
I don't think there is some actual number or size a city has to be for it to have suburbs. It just needs an "urban" area that is distinct and different than the surrounding suburban communities and cities in a way. You need an "urban" or somewhat city like area then have lower density communities surrounding it for a place to have urban and suburban elements. Suburbs can also be within the main city like they are in Los Angeles, San Diego, and other large cities. It's not really population that determines whether a place is suburban or urban but more so the type of development, land use, density, etc..that is there. That's how I look at suburbs but some people consider them any nearby community/town/city outside of the largest city in the area.
I don't think there is some actual number or size a city has to be for it to have suburbs. It just needs an "urban" area that is distinct and different than the surrounding suburban communities and cities in a way. You need an "urban" or somewhat city like area then have lower density communities surrounding it for a place to have urban and suburban elements. Suburbs can also be within the main city like they are in Los Angeles, San Diego, and other large cities. It's not really population that determines whether a place is suburban or urban but more so the type of development, land use, density, etc..that is there. That's how I look at suburbs but some people consider them any nearby community/town/city outside of the largest city in the area.
it can't be said any better then this. close the thread!
But, there are people who say that everything surrounding the most populated city in a metropolitan area (with the obvious exception of completely undeveloped areas) is a suburb of that largest city.
An interesting thread would be "which cities' suburbs have grown more prominent and larger than the city itself?"
Is this the case that anyone can think of? I was thinking Mesa, AZ in pure population is rising rapidly--certainly not getting anywhere close to Phoenix population, but has just about become the state's 2nd largest city, passing Tucson. Any others?? I can't think of any...maybe there aren't any...lol
Harrisburg (population 48,000) has very prominent suburbs. One of the suburbs, Lower Paxton Township, has a population that is projected to actually exceed the city in several years.
WaKeeney, KS which has around 1,900 people is apparently classified as a city by the State of Kansas. Suburban communities are Collyer with 133 people, Ogallah with 214 people and a couple of smaller places like Trego Center with just a handful of people.
When I think of suburbs, I think of communities surrounding mid to large sized cities. I think that sometimes people who live in smaller cities will describe the outlying communities as "suburbs" to make their cities sound larger.
It's funny to see comments like "the suburbs of Rapid City." I think that in these types of instances, the term "bedroom community" is more appropriate.
WaKeeney, KS which has around 1,900 people is apparently classified as a city by the State of Kansas. Suburban communities are Collyer with 133 people, Ogallah with 214 people and a couple of smaller places like Trego Center with just a handful of people.
I wouldn't really call these "suburbs".
WaKeeney is a town located along highway 40, and the other two are simply other small towns that are about 5 miles down the highway in each direction. This happens in thousands of places all across the country.
All three of these area are over 100 years old, and they're just your basic small rural towns that grew up near the railroad.
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