Favorite Satellite City? (credit card, home, schools)

[btownboss4]

Rules defining a Satellite City
1) An urban Downtown, with some sort of individual economy
2) distantly separated from the principle Urban Core (eg. Jersey City)
3) Does not anchor its own MSA (eg. Worcester)
4) not a co-equal (eg. St, Paul)
examples: Lowell, MA (Boston); Murfreesboro, TN (Nashville); Niagara Falls, NY (Buffalo).
What things can you do in that city?
What makes that city unique compared to the central city of the metro
What sort of identity does the city have?

I'll do Lowell since I know about it
Lowell is a former mill town of about 110,000 25 miles NNW of Boston. Lowell has a lot of good restaurants downtown, as well as several bars and clubs.
Lowell's Downtown holds the 2nd largest Folk Festival in the Country over the summer, as well as a Southeast Asian Water Festival (the city is 2nd only to Long Beach, CA in Cambodian Population) on the cities canals. Winterfest is in February. The city hosts the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks athletics, whose Marquee program in their Hockey team, which has the highest attendance in its conference that includes BC and BU. Also a minor league Baseball Team (the Spinners).
Between a large Public University with a mostly local enrollment, a vibrant immigrant community, with a unique blend of cultures, and an industrial but no colonial history, it really feels much different than Boston.

[burg_phil]

I like Berkeley a lot, but it's almost as expensive as SF.

[Buckeye614]

Idk if Scottsdale would count since I'm pretty sure it borders the city of Phoenix but I choose Scottsdale.

[Natural510]

Avoiding large cities (i.e. Oakland, Long Beach, etc) I'd probably choose Ann Arbor MI (Detroit satellite). Highly intellectual population, great art scene, lots of green space and bike trails, etc.

[qworldorder]

Based on your criteria, I'd say Wilmington is a great choice.

1) It has an urban downtown that is home to every major credit card company in the nation (and the international Barclays), as Delaware is famous for its lax business regulation laws.
2) It is 25 miles from Philadelphia, which is enough distance to give it some breathing room while still maintaining close ties.
3) Anchors its own Metropolitan Division, but not its own MSA.
4) Dominates every other municipality (Newark, Claymont, Elkton, Pennsville, Middletown, Dover, New Castle) in its sphere of influence, and competes with the Philadelphia suburbs/exurbs of Delaware and Chester counties (West Chester, Kennett Square, Chadds Ford, Chester, Media).

To go more in-depth, Greater Wilmington offers quite a lot. Tax-free shopping is the main tourist draw for the region, but there's also Chateau Country, which is famous for its beautiful rolling hills, wooded groves and mansions (Joe Biden lives here). Makes for a great drive or bike ride, in addition to offering great museums like Winterthur. There's also Newark, which offers a cute college town experience, anchored by one of the best state schools in the country in the University of Delaware (with famous alumni to include Joe Biden, Chris Christie, and Joe Flacco). And the renowned Delaware Beaches are obviously a shorter drive away than from the rest of the Delaware Valley. Overall, Wilmington has carved out a unique identity from Philadelphia (and the rest of the metro) as being more business friendly, cheaper and more relaxed, while still offering a lot of the cosmopolitanism, colonial feel and natural beauty--just in a more manageable package.

[That_One_Guy]

I really liked Sausalito, CA. It's a really nice little city.

[iMarvin]

Not sure if it's my favorite but St Augustine is nice.

[rnc2mbfl]

Miami Beach

[kehkou]

I'll always have fond memories of Haltom City.

[DevanXL]

I would say Bellevue, Washington is a great satellite city.