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FFS, just start a new thread titled "Charlotte's got a lot...of nothing!" and get it over with. At least then the thread content would match the title.
So "absolutely trivial and unimportant" that you decided to quote me lol.
Umm, no, I didn't actually. And even if I did, I fail to see the relationship. The topic truly is ridiculous, and you attachment to it is comically sad.
Add Cary and the other surrounding areas of Raleigh to that population count sweet beans.
That's the point: Charlotte doesn't need to add any other surrounding municipality. It is THE primary city of its metro and obviously the largest city in NC.
And we all know Charlotte isn't Atlanta, but neither is Raleigh (or Raleigh+Durham+Chapel Hill+Cary or whatever other town you want to add).
That's the point: Charlotte doesn't need to add any other surrounding municipality. It is THE primary city of its metro and obviously the largest city in NC.
And we all know Charlotte isn't Atlanta, but neither is Raleigh (or Raleigh+Durham+Chapel Hill+Cary or whatever other town you want to add).
Charlotte is also 300 sq miles. So that makes Raleigh the densest city in North Carolina. All four of the Triangles major areas are interlinked. If all of them were added together, that still doesn't equate to 300sq miles.
Charlotte is larger than Raleigh for far more reasons than city population/land area. You can start with GDP, metro pop, urbanized area pop, visitor spending, and built-environment. Raleigh is larger in higher ed and state government. That about sums it up.
Charlotte is also 300 sq miles. So that makes Raleigh the densest city in North Carolina. All four of the Triangles major areas are interlinked. If all of them were added together, that still doesn't equate to 300sq miles.
If you added all those cities, I'm sure it would be much more than 300 sq. Miles. Unless you just literally leave huge swaths of land unaccounted for inbetween the cities.
But Charlotte seems like a larger denser city just as Atlanta seems like a much larger city than Charlotte. Even though Charlotte is "bigger" than Atlanta and Raleigh is "more dense" than CLT.
Charlotte is also 300 sq miles. So that makes Raleigh the densest city in North Carolina. All four of the Triangles major areas are interlinked. If all of them were added together, that still doesn't equate to 300sq miles.
Of course the cities of the Triangle are interlinked, but they aren't one huge city nor do they feel like it--that's the point. And Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill combined is 325.8 square miles.
Of course the cities of the Triangle are interlinked, but they aren't one huge city nor do they feel like it--that's the point. And Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill combined is 325.8 square miles.
I don't agree with the premise that a fair comparison is all Triangle cities combined but I also don't agree that one compares limits of one city that has more than twice the land area of the other, especially when the vast majority of that area is suburban development. While I agree that Raleigh doesn't feel like it's one big city with Durham (and even less so with Chapel Hill), at the very least a real comparison to Charlotte's size should include Cary with Raleigh to get to more "apples to apples". One could argue other towns should be included with Raleigh like Garner, Morrisville and Knightdale, given that parts of them are closer to DT Raleigh than parts of actual Raleigh, but let's just leave it at Cary for now. With that baseline, Raleigh and Cary combine for about 205 square miles and about 610,000 people. Over those ~205 square miles, the density is hovering around 3000ppl/sm. Although often touted as "more urban" and "more city", Durham's metrics aren't telling that story. They lag in density metrics behind Raleigh, Cary and Chapel Hill.
No, Raleigh and the Triangle aren't the same size as Charlotte and Metrolina but the "real" de facto differences aren't what Charlotte boosters often make them out to be.
I don't agree with the premise that a fair comparison is all Triangle cities combined but I also don't agree that one compares limits of one city that has more than twice the land area of the other, especially when the vast majority of that area is suburban development. While I agree that Raleigh doesn't feel like it's one big city with Durham (and even less so with Chapel Hill), at the very least a real comparison to Charlotte's size should include Cary with Raleigh to get to more "apples to apples". One could argue other towns should be included with Raleigh like Garner, Morrisville and Knightdale, given that parts of them are closer to DT Raleigh than parts of actual Raleigh, but let's just leave it at Cary for now. With that baseline, Raleigh and Cary combine for about 205 square miles and about 610,000 people. Over those ~205 square miles, the density is hovering around 3000ppl/sm. Although often touted as "more urban" and "more city", Durham's metrics aren't telling that story. They lag in density metrics behind Raleigh, Cary and Chapel Hill.
No, Raleigh and the Triangle aren't the same size as Charlotte and Metrolina but the "real" de facto differences aren't what Charlotte boosters often make them out to be.
When it comes to city land area and population, Raleigh is comparable to Atlanta. If Charlotte were 142 sq miles, it too would be in the 450-500k population range. What you fail to calculate are the visitors and commuters that are always present in these 3 different cities. This is why all 3 have very different built-environments in their core areas. This is why all 3 are served by very different freeway structures and mass transit options. This is why all 3 are in different city leagues. The MSAs, urbanized areas, and visitor spending are the things you should be looking at; then everything else makes perfect sense.
For the record, uptown Charlotte and South End are only 3-4 sq miles large. The population of those two are around 25,000 total. However, the population of those two with commuters and visitors is close to 200,000 daily. That's 200,000 people in an area of less than 4 sq miles. If you're only looking at residential population (while ignoring business space and entertainment options) then you're missing vital elements that separate a city from a bedroom community. And YES, much of Cary and western/northern Raleigh are bedroom communities to Durham county. No part of Charlotte is a bedroom community to Gaston county, Concord, or Monroe.
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