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And I've heard the term for years. It was first coined in 1939. We haven't too many discussion on relative city sizes, and the forum tend to be American focused, where there isn't a situation of "one city dominates" region-wide.
Perhaps this why the term "primary city" wasn't chosen. You're using "primary" to mean important rather than much more important than any other city, so using "primary city" instead would have been confusing.
Where was it discussed before that DC's growth is slowing?
It wasn't discussed that any city's growth is slowing. We discussed that population growth in general is slowing. That may have been on P&OC, though. The birth rate is at its lowest rate, ever. This may be due to recession, but it may also be due to changing cultural values, maybe a little bit of both.
Posted a question about it in the DC forums, but figured I would post it here as well:
Since DC is the nations capital and it's been growing for around the past 20 years or so, do you think it can also become a cultural capital considering it has (growing)economic and political power. What I mean in this regard is things like mass media, fashion, finance,etc...? Right now it's still in the process of expanding it's transportation network and it's the second largest network in the US behind NYC. As of right now, DC is a boom for people in young adulthood which is a good recipe for attracting those sorts of industries outside of politics.
The CSA of Washington, D.C. is 9 million according to the latest figures. It would have to be about 46 million for D.C. to be considered a primate city by definition - since that is twice the size of the current largest CSA, New York City.
So in short, the answer is no. D.C. will not be a primate city in the forseeable future.
No DC will not be taken over by monkeys anytime soon. That's my opinion, and that the term "primate city" was very poorly chosen considering that the primary definition looms large over this secondary definition. Someone into urban planning in my opinion should have a strong understanding of how people actually use things (cities) and not just floating around out in the textbook/collegiate world, and calling something "primate" strikes me as pretty far out into textbook-land. Sorry for the diatribe.
Anyways, by the offical definition "primate city as being "at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant" DC is not even close.
1) Why not? First of all, the term to describe monkeys, apes, baboons, etc is primate, not primape. It seems the urban planning people co-opted the word instead of using "primary", maybe b/c it sounds more "intellectual". I had never heard the term primate used in reference to a city before, not even on this forum. All of a sudden there are Wiki entries et al.
2) What does "most used" mean? How does one "use" a city?
3) I think DC, as the capital of the US, is definitely a primary city. Whether it will continue to grow is a matter of some conjecture. It's already well into MD and VA. As we've discussed before, the population is not growing anywhere near as fast as previously. We'll see.
1) I didn't hear of the word multivariable calculus until I was in 8th grade. Just because I didn't know about it doesn't mean it did not exist. In the same vain, using pretty low taste puns is the last thing I expected from a forum devoted to discussing urban planning. On the political forum maybe.
2) The metro is what people in the DC area refer to when they are talking about the transportation system. I'm from Va and I've never actually heard someone call it "the subway" like they would in NYC. The last time I checked, the metro has about a million rides on it daily
3). What do you mean? The area definitely has a huge journalism and media presence there along with cultural with world class museums, but pales in comparison to a city like London or Paris which has everything from government to fashion under its belt.
It wasn't discussed that any city's growth is slowing. We discussed that population growth in general is slowing. That may have been on P&OC, though. The birth rate is at its lowest rate, ever. This may be due to recession, but it may also be due to changing cultural values, maybe a little bit of both.
I don't see the connection you're trying to make? The DC area has been attracting a ton of young people in their 20s and 30s because due to high paying jobs. IIRC it's one of the most densest cities in the US when it comes to young adults who are single.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
The CSA of Washington, D.C. is 9 million according to the latest figures. It would have to be about 46 million for D.C. to be considered a primate city by definition - since that is twice the size of the current largest CSA, New York City.
So in short, the answer is no. D.C. will not be a primate city in the forseeable future.
If you don't mind me asking, where did the 46 million figure come from?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOverdog
Anyways, by the offical definition "primate city as being "at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant" DC is not even close.
When it comes to significance, DC is already in 4th place(behind Chicago, LA, and NYC) when we look at how much it produces which I think is significant given the cities size and current rate of growth.
1) I didn't hear of the word multivariable calculus until I was in 8th grade. Just because I didn't know about it doesn't mean it did not exist. In the same vain, using pretty low taste puns is the last thing I expected from a forum devoted to discussing urban planning. On the political forum maybe.
2) The metro is what people in the DC area refer to when they are talking about the transportation system. I'm from Va and I've never actually heard someone call it "the subway" like they would in NYC. The last time I checked, the metro has about a million rides on it daily
3). What do you mean? The area definitely has a huge journalism and media presence there along with cultural with world class museums, but pales in comparison to a city like London or Paris which has everything from government to fashion under its belt.
1)So you're saying I'm simply ignorant. That will keep the discussion going well. It always has in the past. Even in the Wikipedia definition of primate I posted, there is nothing about a "primate city". So nei says this term was "coined" in 1939. As I said, I have never seen it used on this forum, or in anything else I personally have read about urban planning, or anywhere. BTW, it's "vein", not "vain". If you're going to call people ignorant, learn to spell.
BTW, I was not the first, or only, person to bring up primates as animals in DC.
Post 2:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy
I think it already is. There are more primates working on capitol hill than in any zoo in the country.
Seriously though... DC won't be able to achieve the density of other big cities because it is built on a swamp, limiting the ability to build up.
I first brought it up in post #9
Post 12:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eddyline
The Capitol Hill Primate Zoo! lol
Seems DC also has the disadvantage of being a one industry "company" town, with a lot of turn over every 4 to 8 years. And zero chance of becoming a fashion / cultural center.
Post 23:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
Some of the "primates" in D C have yet to evolve beyond the hunter/gatherer/predator stage.
I don't see the connection you're trying to make? The DC area has been attracting a ton of young people in their 20s and 30s because due to high paying jobs. IIRC it's one of the most densest cities in the US when it comes to young adults who are single.
If you don't mind me asking, where did the 46 million figure come from?
When it comes to significance, DC is already in 4th place(behind Chicago, LA, and NYC) when we look at how much it produces which I think is significant given the cities size and current rate of growth.
The population of the US as a whole is growing more slowly.
US culture and history won't allow any one city to dominate. US society is just too decentralized and is skeptical of centralization, believing that centralization is the path to corruption and intolerable concentration of power. Consider for example the state capitols of the US. Most often, the state capitol is not the largest city in the state. Compare that with other "federated" countries which have states/provinces. Meanwhile, at the national level, D.C. may be the political capitol, but it began as a tiny outpost, and remained that way until well into the 20th century. In most nations, the capitol city is the largest, wealthiest and most prestigious. Even in Germany, which is federated and has never been centralized except for one dark 12-year period in the 20th century, Berlin (the capitol) is emerging as the far-and-away major city. The point is that the US is "exceptional" in its dislike of selecting its political capitol as nexus of affluence, population and prestige. OK, maybe not completely exceptional... Canada is similar, in that Ottawa is much smaller than Toronto or Montreal.
I don't see the connection you're trying to make? The DC area has been attracting a ton of young people in their 20s and 30s because due to high paying jobs. IIRC it's one of the most densest cities in the US when it comes to young adults who are single.
If you don't mind me asking, where did the 46 million figure come from?
When it comes to significance, DC is already in 4th place(behind Chicago, LA, and NYC) when we look at how much it produces which I think is significant given the cities size and current rate of growth.
Double the next largest city. NYC metro is 23 million people.
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Even in the Wikipedia definition of primate I posted, there is nothing about a "primate city". So nei says this term was "coined" in 1939. As I said, I have never seen it used on this forum, or in anything else I personally have read about urban planning, or anywhere. BTW, it's "vein", not "vain". If you're going to call people ignorant, learn to spell.
