Why are the densest places in America suburbs? (metro, largest, suburban)
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I thought this was kind of funny. I looked up the densest cities in America on wiki for a different thread, but got a little bit confused because I didn't recognize any of the names. That's because they're almost all suburbs; places like Guttneberg, Union City, West New York, Hoboken, NJ; Maywood and Huntington Park, CA. Even the densest state is nothing but a huge suburb of New York and Philadelphia - New Jersey. Interesting.
those are not suburbs.... look at those tightly packed blocks in guttenberg and union city. There is nothing suburban about it plus most people live in apartments
Big cities have a large area that often include non-residential parts such as airports, ports, industrial and commercial land. And sometimes city boundaries are drawn arbitrarily, with some dense places close to the center of the city not part of the city. For example, there parts New Jersey right on the other side of Hudson from Manhattan (only 3-4 miles away) that are built up similar to the denser parts of Brooklyn and Queens while Staten Island, a mostly borough (and a long train / drive to Manhattan) is part of NYC.
All of the places you listed are towns / cities that are close to the center city of the metro area and contain mostly multifamily residences and little non-residential sections. And they are the area of city neighborhoods. I could find a city neighborhood of similar size to those towns that are much denser. Here are a few examples:
LA metro:
Densest city: Maywood, CA (23k people /sq mile, 1.18 sq miles)
Largest city: Los Angeles, CA (8.2k people / sq mile, 469 sq miles)
Densest neighborhood in Los Angeles: Koreatown (43k people /sq mile, 2.7 sq miles)
NYC metro:
Densest city: Union City, NJ (53k people/ sq mile, 1.25 sq miles)
Largest city: New York City, NY ( 27.5k people / sq mile, 305 sq miles)
Densest neighborhood in NYC: Upper East Side (126k people /sq mile, 1.75 sq miles)
Boston metro:
Densest city: Sommerville, MA (18k people/ sq mile, 4.2 sq miles)
Largest city: Boston, MA ( 13.3k people / sq mile, 48 sq miles)
Densest neighborhood in Boston: Back Bay ? (28k people /sq mile, 1 sq miles)
I'm not completely sure if Back Bay is the densest neighborhood in Boston, but it's probably close. I didn't count the North End because it's tiny (1/3 square mile). Also, Los Angeles' density is a bit lower because there's a mountain range in its city limits. Anyhow my point is the only reason the places you listed are the densest is because of boundaries. If you could draw a 1 square mile in the densest place in these (and most) metro areas, you find it that it would lie in the large city very close to downtown, not in a "suburb".
those are not suburbs.... look at those tightly packed blocks in guttenberg and union city. There is nothing suburban about it plus most people live in apartments
If a suburb isn't a community that developed outside of a major city's limits because of its proximity to that major city, what is a suburb? Perhaps New Jersey isn't the most suburban state?
If a suburb isn't a community that developed outside of a major city's limits because of its proximity to that major city, what is a suburb? Perhaps New Jersey isn't the most suburban state?
As I said, city limits are weirdly drawn. Which feels more city to you?
Its because they once were sub burb many cases. The sub burb have been aroud since shortly after WWII when they became popular with so mnay that had seen anther world larger than their hometwon. It reallty has not stopped since but the areas are much different. Cities often annnexed but now mnay sub burbs have become their own towns and incorporated.IMO ;mnay cities have annexed unitl they can't govern the area they control with mnay older areas being high depednent on new areas.
Americans have been moving out of cities and into suburbs in huge numbers since the 1930s, and government advocated the emptying of central cities for about the same length of time. For the same length of time, the suburban model was the only allowable form of development aside from a token level of poorly-supported public housing (whose construction generally followed the destruction of housing in urban neighborhoods.) After 7-8 decades, it is any surprise that so many people are now in the suburbs?
Also, recall that not all suburbs are alike--those high-density, high-population suburbs are not the kind with multi-acre lots of single-family homes. Some suburbs have rows of multi-story townhomes, mid-rise apartments, and other high-density housing--back when a suburb was someplace you rode to on the streetcar.
Americans have been moving out of cities and into suburbs in huge numbers since the 1930s, and government advocated the emptying of central cities for about the same length of time. For the same length of time, the suburban model was the only allowable form of development aside from a token level of poorly-supported public housing (whose construction generally followed the destruction of housing in urban neighborhoods.) After 7-8 decades, it is any surprise that so many people are now in the suburbs?
Also, recall that not all suburbs are alike--those high-density, high-population suburbs are not the kind with multi-acre lots of single-family homes. Some suburbs have rows of multi-story townhomes, mid-rise apartments, and other high-density housing--back when a suburb was someplace you rode to on the streetcar.
Most of the places in New Jersey listed peaked or are only slightly less than today's population than today' population in 1930.
So how can an urban place be SUB- urban if it is urban?
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