Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know this was more a rhetorical flourish than a serious estimation of when it could occur, but given that, let's analyze it.
If resources continue to be concentrated into the hands of the federal government, DC could become the nation's primate city within 200 years. Opportunities follow money, and people follow opportunities. If the DC area consistently grew 1% a year faster than New York City metro, in 200 years it actually would be the primate city with a metro area population double New York's 20 million.
And think about it some more, if resources are being concentrated in DC, they are being drained out of other areas. A prime contributor would be the wealth of the New York area. If you think New York is invulnerable, just look at Detroit. So in such a scenario, it is easy to envisage New York stagnating or even declining in wealth and population.
The closest would be New York City. Ever notice that most anywhere in the USA you can find a daily copy of The New York Times? Many newspapers throughout the USA are owned by the NYT. This wields influence in political matters, economic trends, fashion, culture, travel, etc.. The Wall Street Journal as well as the NYSE are, of course, based in NYC.
Washington just doesn't have the status of New York City. It's not the same as Paris to France, but it's the closest the USA has to having a primate city.
2) The DC metro is the second most used in the nation behind NYC and is continuing to expand.
3) Thanks to whoever went ahead and defined it. The only other city that could be close to being a primate city in the US is NYC, but it's not a political center. Overtime I do think DC will become one as it(and I mean the entire metro) continues to grow out and into Virginia and Maryland. As of right now it's centered around government around the hill, but who knows what effects gentrifying will have as more people, especially young people without families, continue to move into the area.
2) The DC metro is the second most used in the nation behind NYC and is continuing to expand.
3) Thanks to whoever went ahead and defined it. The only other city that could be close to being a primate city in the US is NYC, but it's not a political center. Overtime I do think DC will become one as it(and I mean the entire metro) continues to grow out and into Virginia and Maryland. As of right now it's centered around government around the hill, but who knows what effects gentrifying will have as more people, especially young people without families, continue to move into the area.
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.
The closest would be New York City. Ever notice that most anywhere in the USA you can find a daily copy of The New York Times? Many newspapers throughout the USA are owned by the NYT. This wields influence in political matters, economic trends, fashion, culture, travel, etc.. The Wall Street Journal as well as the NYSE are, of course, based in NYC.
After leaving the New York metro and traveling more, I was rather surprised to see the New York Times found so much elsewhere. I think this relatively recent; the print media seems to have been "nationalized".
Quote:
Washington just doesn't have the status of New York City. It's not the same as Paris to France, but it's the closest the USA has to having a primate city.
I'd argue that New York City is closer to a primate city than DC. But neither really is.
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.
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.
Quote:
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.
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?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
