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I was just thinking of interesting things you see in different cities and sizes.
I was thinking that Destin, FL is the smallest city I know of with a good sized airport. I can't think of anything smaller. Smallest city with a hospital I know of is my last city I lived in and it has 8,000 population and technically it wasn't a city.
I think with cities of 100,000 population you more commonly see malls. I think cities with 20,000 population you at least see a big box store like Target, Wal-Mart, or Home Depot. Populations 20,000 and less you just have a chain grocery store.
Smallest city I've seen with a movie theater had a population of 5,000.
I know of cities big and small with four year universities. However, only cites with 40,000 population I know to have colleges of 18,000 students + and cities with 500,000 pop+ I know to have colleges with 30,000+ students.
I know certain retailers require certain population requirements and the ICSC has determined new malls with department stores require 150,000 population within a 20 mile radius.
I also know some interesting things happen when a city develops like some college towns prefer to keep out big retailers, so neighboring smaller cities will have all the retail.
I also have seen cities split into two. Monterey divided into East Monterey and Monterey.
I've also seen census designated places with 50,000 population like Goleta, CA and when Goleta incorporated some population went into Santa Barbara and some areas didn't incorporate and only 30,000 population becomes the actual city.
I've also seen interesting things happen like cities losing population and having residential areas turned into businesses or other uses.
I still do think some amenities only go in larger cities-subways, major airports, large colleges, certain retailers like Sak's
Where as I think some amenities like small colleges, malls, community colleges, and certain retailers have been going into smaller cities more often than they used to. However, I know certain community colleges in rural locations sometimes struggle financially.
Regionally, I think 500,000 population between two or more cities should be considered a metropolitan region.
The whole MSA and MicroSA thing just confuses people and I don't think calling an area with 50,000 population is a metropolitan region as I think metro refers to an actual "big city"
Depends, Augusta, Maine will have a lot more to offer than Winchester, MA because one Relies on Boston/Cambridge for its cultural/commercial amenities, while Other towns rely on Augusta for their needs.
Depends, Augusta, Maine will have a lot more to offer than Winchester, MA because one Relies on Boston/Cambridge for its cultural/commercial amenities, while Other towns rely on Augusta for their needs.
Ho big would a town need to be though so it doesn't rely on Augusta or Boston for it's cultural, commercial, and other urban amenities?
One other example I am thinking of is that I know a county with a million people, and only one of the cities with 100,000 population has a mini golf course.
I also tend to see cities with 40,000 population have their own hospital.
I know two towns with 30,000 population and a small un-incorporated community with only one hospital. So the small community houses the only hospital for a region of 70,000 population.
On the other hand, I know several cities with 40,000 pop. and the nearby towns and small communities with 10,000 pop. will go to the hospital as a regional need.
I was just thinking of interesting things you see in different cities and sizes.
I was thinking that Destin, FL is the smallest city I know of with a good sized airport. I can't think of anything smaller. Smallest city with a hospital I know of is my last city I lived in and it has 8,000 population and technically it wasn't a city.
I think with cities of 100,000 population you more commonly see malls. I think cities with 20,000 population you at least see a big box store like Target, Wal-Mart, or Home Depot. Populations 20,000 and less you just have a chain grocery store.
Smallest city I've seen with a movie theater had a population of 5,000.
I know of cities big and small with four year universities. However, only cites with 40,000 population I know to have colleges of 18,000 students + and cities with 500,000 pop+ I know to have colleges with 30,000+ students.
I know certain retailers require certain population requirements and the ICSC has determined new malls with department stores require 150,000 population within a 20 mile radius.
I also know some interesting things happen when a city develops like some college towns prefer to keep out big retailers, so neighboring smaller cities will have all the retail.
I also have seen cities split into two. Monterey divided into East Monterey and Monterey.
I've also seen census designated places with 50,000 population like Goleta, CA and when Goleta incorporated some population went into Santa Barbara and some areas didn't incorporate and only 30,000 population becomes the actual city.
I've also seen interesting things happen like cities losing population and having residential areas turned into businesses or other uses.
I still do think some amenities only go in larger cities-subways, major airports, large colleges, certain retailers like Sak's
Where as I think some amenities like small colleges, malls, community colleges, and certain retailers have been going into smaller cities more often than they used to. However, I know certain community colleges in rural locations sometimes struggle financially.
Regionally, I think 500,000 population between two or more cities should be considered a metropolitan region.
The whole MSA and MicroSA thing just confuses people and I don't think calling an area with 50,000 population is a metropolitan region as I think metro refers to an actual "big city"
I know this is old, but I personally know of plenty of cities with 1200-7000 people with hospitals, theaters, big box stores, etc...
I know this is old, but I personally know of plenty of cities with 1200-7000 people with hospitals, theaters, big box stores, etc...
I think it mostly depends on where the city is. If it's in a very rural area, it might still act as a small regional hub despite being so small, so you see that in Northern Ontario, or the Great Plains. Probably Maine, Nova Scotia, Vermont, New Brunswick, Newfoundland too. If it's near a big city it might not have much.
Brampton is a big suburb of Toronto, despite having over 500,000 people it has only one hospital whereas a city that size might have half a dozen.
I think it mostly depends on where the city is. If it's in a very rural area, it might still act as a small regional hub despite being so small, so you see that in Northern Ontario, or the Great Plains. Probably Maine, Nova Scotia, Vermont, New Brunswick, Newfoundland too. If it's near a big city it might not have much.
Brampton is a big suburb of Toronto, despite having over 500,000 people it has only one hospital whereas a city that size might have half a dozen.
Of course it depends, but still, it ISN'T dependent on population, it is dependent on whether or not the immediate area already has hospitals and such.
I grew up in southwest Iowa, and almost every town above 1000 people had a hospital, CC, theaters, etc... The only places that lack things like that tend to be suburbs.
I don't think population plays any real role at all, it is more the function of the "town", is it a real town? Or just a suburb? Real towns have the services mentioned.
Ho big would a town need to be though so it doesn't rely on Augusta or Boston for it's cultural, commercial, and other urban amenities?
One other example I am thinking of is that I know a county with a million people, and only one of the cities with 100,000 population has a mini golf course.
I also tend to see cities with 40,000 population have their own hospital.
I know two towns with 30,000 population and a small un-incorporated community with only one hospital. So the small community houses the only hospital for a region of 70,000 population.
On the other hand, I know several cities with 40,000 pop. and the nearby towns and small communities with 10,000 pop. will go to the hospital as a regional need.
My city of 40,000 has its own hospital and a smaller town of just 4,000 18 miles away has its own small hospital, as well as a town of 3,500 in the other direction with its own hospital. There is an air force base and small army base here and they have their own hospital on base. However, these smaller hospital often have limited services and people still have to end up going to the larger hospital for certain things. We used to have three movie theaters but I believe the one large chain with 10 screens put them out of business.
Of course it depends, but still, it ISN'T dependent on population, it is dependent on whether or not the immediate area already has hospitals and such.
I grew up in southwest Iowa, and almost every town above 1000 people had a hospital, CC, theaters, etc... The only places that lack things like that tend to be suburbs.
I don't think population plays any real role at all, it is more the function of the "town", is it a real town? Or just a suburb? Real towns have the services mentioned.
I still think small towns close to other cities or towns with hospitals aren't necessarily going to have hospitals of their own. Around here, these have around 2,000-10,000 but there's usually another town, or bigger city within 10-15 miles with a hospital.
I still think small towns close to other cities or towns with hospitals aren't necessarily going to have hospitals of their own. Around here, these have around 2,000-10,000 but there's usually another town, or bigger city within 10-15 miles with a hospital.
The population doesn't matter, again.... which was my point.
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