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The thing about New York, is that the part of New Jersey that is contingous is all infill, all urban, not even as much as grass being planted. When it isn't there are wetlands and marsh. So that sort of is. Not sure about the side that is connected to Connecticut though. The Megalopis designation doesn't really mean anything because there is plenty of space inbetween New York to Boston and again from New York to Washington DC, particularly in states like Delaware. The Megalopis designation gives the impression that it is completely urban from Boston to DC but that is not necessarily the case.
I lived in Connecticut. Virtually the whole state is considered NYC metro, but a lot of it is truly rural so it is misleading. Of course, there are farmers who hold onto their land 20 miles from The City because they simply refuse to sell out and change their way of life. There are whole cities built up around them. It is an amazing thing to see.
The whole thing is misleading when it comes to census designations. In cases like you find in northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and western Maryland you really have one "metro" area running into another... they overlap, although their rather arbitrary designations do not take that into account. There is a whole lot of economic interplay between Morgantown and Uniontown, Morgantown and Fairmont and Clarksburg, even Morgantown and Washington (PA) but that is not reflected in any of their assignments. I think the thing is, they have to have some method of assigning relationships so they use that one even though it has obvious flaws. The recent Marcellus activity is adding even more to the interplay.
If they could do it, it would be interesting to see the difference between what happens when that occurs in WV as opposed to the Independent City form of government here in VA.
We'd be a lot better off with more local control here. We've had our problems with pork barreling bozos in the past, but I have a feeling the guy who is taking over for Photo Op Joe will set a whole new standard for it.
There has never been a lot of sense to the Census Bureau. I've seen plenty of places called urban that were not. New Jersey is considered 100% urban, but the northwestern third of the state isn't any different than West Virginia: rural communities by rivers.
This merger of Charleston and Huntington has been far too long in coming, really. It could have helped get the much needed airport built, instead of having two that fluctuate with the tides. Having only the capital as its identity, Charleston sees itself as Atlanta to Huntington's Macon, rather than the true relationship of Helena to Huntington's Butte. The two cities didn't argue over the airport. Charleston did what they do, which is fight to get all the marbles, and Huntington did what they do, which is play Hamlet and think about action for so long that other forces made the decision for them.
I have lived in both, and they could learn from each other.
Charleston is much more on the ball as a business destination, but suffers delusions of grandeur. Has anyone been reading the Charleston papers' stories about the Chase building downtown? It is referred to as a "skyscraper." A skyscraper? Really? Charleston has no parks, no nightlife, no nice neighborhoods for more than a couple of blocks at a time, and the worst cluster of a city design ever.
On the flip side, Huntington is much more livable, but has no business sense, no real business community, lets old money ruin it with all the outdated decision making, and hasn't the least bit of sense of modernity.
Since their populations are almost identical....continually...I would like to see 25,000 people from each city forced to trade places with each other. Perhaps in a few years Charleston could get parks and neighborhoods that don't look like hillbillies bought a mansion, and Huntington could get a business community that is proactive instead of contemplating its navel.
That's a pretty fair assessment. I'd add though that Huntington undersells itself quite often. In addition to contemplating things too long, we often don't realize our full potential because people frequently start out with the mindset of "that will never work here" rather than "we can make it happen here." I feel that mindset starting to change though.
We also have to get beyond the whole "we lost the mall and the interstate went around us" complaint. That was all 30+ years ago. I think having the mall outside of the city was actually a plus for the area because they built it bigger and due to that, we have the largest mall in the state. The only problem with it was that too many people have spent so much time moping about it that they haven't moved forward. Pullman Square was a big step in that direction. With planned growth around the city along with planned growth at Marshall and the city actually instituting a comprehensive plan, things look pretty good for the future of Huntington.
So... the new Urbanized Areas were released recently. The Census Bureau DID NOT combine Charleston and Huntington. Instead, they transferred Teays Valley / Hurricane from Charleston's UA to Huntington's UA... despite the fact Putnam County is part of Charleston's MSA due to stronger commuting linkages that direction. That means Huntington's UA grew by about 30k (now the largest of any WV city) while Charleston's UA shrank by about 30k (which would look like a massive, historic population decline if you were not aware of the rather arbitrary territory transfer devised by the Bureau).
Essentially, the Teays Valley, Hurricane, Milton, etc. form a rather continuous urbanized strip from Huntington to Charleston... but the Bureau found a rather undeveloped hill just west of Nitro... which is where they are now stopping the Charleston UA... despite that area's proximity and relationship to the capital city.
So... the new Urbanized Areas were released recently. The Census Bureau DID NOT combine Charleston and Huntington. Instead, they transferred Teays Valley / Hurricane from Charleston's UA to Huntington's UA... despite the fact Putnam County is part of Charleston's MSA due to stronger commuting linkages that direction. That means Huntington's UA grew by about 30k (now the largest of any WV city) while Charleston's UA shrank by about 30k (which would look like a massive, historic population decline if you were not aware of the rather arbitrary territory transfer devised by the Bureau).
Essentially, the Teays Valley, Hurricane, Milton, etc. form a rather continuous urbanized strip from Huntington to Charleston... but the Bureau found a rather undeveloped hill just west of Nitro... which is where they are now stopping the Charleston UA... despite that area's proximity and relationship to the capital city.
As I have been saying, the way population is counted in WV, and probably the US as a whole, does not reflect the actual population leaving in a area. Bureaucrats arbitrarily include and exclude areas based off no consistent criteria.
In actuality Morgantown and Huntington are bigger than Charleston when you include the students from their schools. Also Morgantown and Huntington have a lot more people in a smaller area than Charleston and Charleston is 2x the size of Huntington and 3x the size of Morgantown in land area. If Morgantown and Huntington had as much land area as Charleston they would both be MUCH bigger.
I would say Morgantown and Huntington are approx the same size in actual population, except perhaps during the summer, where Huntington is probably a little bigger. However, the Morgantown MSA is MUCH bigger since it should include populated parts of the Pittsburgh MSA. Still the biggest MSA is Martinsburg/Charles Town since they are part of the DC metro area.
Hurricane could go either way, but giving Teays Valley to Huntington is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Almost all of the people that live in that area commute to Charleston to work, so why they'd give it to Huntington (which is farther away) I have no clue. This is just another example of how the federal government has made a mistake.
As I have been saying, the way population is counted in WV, and probably the US as a whole, does not reflect the actual population leaving in a area. Bureaucrats arbitrarily include and exclude areas based off no consistent criteria.
In actuality Morgantown and Huntington are bigger than Charleston when you include the students from their schools. Also Morgantown and Huntington have a lot more people in a smaller area than Charleston and Charleston is 2x the size of Huntington and 3x the size of Morgantown in land area. If Morgantown and Huntington had as much land area as Charleston they would both be MUCH bigger.
I would say Morgantown and Huntington are approx the same size in actual population, except perhaps during the summer, where Huntington is probably a little bigger. However, the Morgantown MSA is MUCH bigger since it should include populated parts of the Pittsburgh MSA. Still the biggest MSA is Martinsburg/Charles Town since they are part of the DC metro area.
Most of Huntington's (metro population) is in Ohio and Kentucky. Only about 100k actually live in the Huntington area in WV. And you can't count students as population because they are temporary residents that are counted as residents in some other part of the state/country. You can't count people twice.
Most of Huntington's (metro population) is in Ohio and Kentucky. Only about 100k actually live in the Huntington area in WV. And you can't count students as population because they are temporary residents that are counted as residents in some other part of the state/country. You can't count people twice.
They live there. That is what I am talking about. Actual people in an area. Morgantown has the most. They might not be counted but they are there. So by stupid government measures you are right, but by actual population I am right.
For instance let's say there is a town that is 1 mile and has 2 people. Its total population is 2 and it has 2 people per square mile. Now assume that 11 million illegal immigrants and 9 million students all move into the town. Now there would be 20 million people actually living in there, and it would have 20 million people per square mile. It is now the biggest city in the US, one of the biggest in the world, and by far the most dense.
However, since the government wont count officially it would have a population of 2 people, and 2 people per square mile. This of course ignores all the people actually living there.
They live there. That is what I am talking about. Actual people in an area. Morgantown has the most. They might not be counted but they are there. So by stupid government measures you are right, but by actual population I am right.
For instance let's say there is a town that is 1 mile and has 2 people. Its total population is 2 and it has 2 people per square mile. Now assume that 11 million illegal immigrants and 9 million students all move into the town. Now there would be 20 million people actually living in there, and it would have 20 million people per square mile. It is now the biggest city in the US, one of the biggest in the world, and by far the most dense.
However, since the government wont count officially it would have a population of 2 people, and 2 people per square mile. This of course ignores all the people actually living there.
Wow what a great example of real situations
But seriously, Morgantown still wouldn't be bigger than Charleston because a good chuck of the student population lives outside city limits. And also some are all ready counted because they are actually from Morgantown. So its not 28,000 residents plus 30,000 students, its less. Morgantown might have about the same as Charleston after that.
Of course back to metro talk, It is general knowledge that Teays Valley/Hurricane is part of Charleston's metro, and giving it to Huntington is really retarded.
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Charleston-Huntington MSA--it's about time!
