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I don't think "urban" is really the appropriate term to use to describe the living environments of 100% of the populations of CT and RI...
Those two states might not feel "urban" throughout, and CT has counties that are delineated as "micropolitan" by the Census Bureau. That is one notch below metropolitan, with inherent lower population densities.
I think the 100% urban figure is still fairly accurate for the two states based on population density. Neither state has a county that is entirely rural that is not urbanely influenced.
I love your area by the way, and if I ever did move back East, it would be close to there. I have a brother who lives in Cheshire County and Family in Hillsborough County also. I have friends who live in Overland Park, KS; I bet NH looks like a slice of heaven to you!
Don't read too much into the numbers. Remember, they are following county lines, no matter how broadly drawn they are.
Ever been to Boundary Waters Canoe area in Northern MN? 1.9 million acres with no towns, no structures, miles and miles of rivers, hundreds of lakes, few roads, mostly unpaved. Bears, timberwolves, moose, otter, lynx live here in abundance. Adjacent to the west is Voyageurs National Park, also a protected wilderness. Despite its wilderness status, this area is officially considered a part of the Duluth-Superior MSA because it is within the limits of St. Louis County, the same one Duluth is in, never mind that Duluth is ~100 miles away.
Don't read too much into the numbers. Remember, they are following county lines, no matter how broadly drawn they are.
Ever been to Boundary Waters Canoe area in Northern MN? 1.9 million acres with no towns, no structures, miles and miles of rivers, hundreds of lakes, few roads, mostly unpaved. Bears, timberwolves, moose, otter, lynx live here in abundance. Adjacent to the west is Voyageurs National Park, also a protected wilderness. Despite its wilderness status, this area is officially considered a part of the Duluth-Superior MSA because it is within the limits of St. Louis County, the same one Duluth is in, never mind that Duluth is ~100 miles away.
I agree with you, but most people who live in St. Louis County MN are within a close distance to the Duluth/Superior metropolitan area. The only other small population concentration in the county is in the Iron Range and the rural hinterlands. My point is that the counties that are completely rural are small in number as well as the number of people who live there.
No way in heck do 97% of New Yorkers live in non-rural areas!
As other posters have pointed out, "metro" and "micro" area designations often have nothing to do with the character of the entire area.
Metropolitan and micropolitan designations usually indicate a population concentration connected with a decent employment base. Rural counties tend to have a less diversified economic base and therefore a much lower population due to a lack of non-farm employment. Some rural counties like Nantaucket and Dukes in MA are wealthy because of the exclusivity of an island setting. Other rural counties with high population densities are concentrated in the Appalachian mountains. These counties tend to have a higher degree of economic disorganization or were former mining areas.
"United States Micropolitan Statistical Areas , as defined by the Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget, are urban areas in the United States based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999.[1] The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003. Like the better-known metropolitan area, a micropolitan area is a geographic entity used for statistical purposes based on counties and county-equivalents [1]. The bureau has identified 578 such areas in the nation. The term was created by author G. Scott Thomas for a 1989 article in American Demographics magazine, and was expanded in his 1990 book, The Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities.[2] It gained currency in the 1990s to describe growing population centers in the United States that are removed from larger cities, in some cases 100 miles (160 km) or more. Lower land and labor costs have led to many housing subdivisions and suburban cultures similar to those found in larger metropolitan areas developing in and around the micropolitan areas."
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