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.
Boston should be included in the 'Northeast' and not the cultural region of 'New England.'
How do you figure? Boston is the capital of New England...it's a well-defined region. I understand it's a Northeastern city, but I don't see a problem choosing New England as a region...it's rarely ever used on this site and it's interesting to see something new.
Quote:
Chicago clearly is the most important city in the Midwest, being 2nd in GMP in the US, and the largest transit center in the US. With the decline of Detroit and other Midwestern cities Chicago has only grown in regional importance.
Do you have a source supporting this? Isn't LA and maybe even DC ahead of Chicago at this point?
People are underestimating the cultural distinctiveness of New England. It is the only clearly defined region in the United States, and is very much a valid region. Despite it's small size it is a culturally distinct entity and is not the same as carving out a similar sized around immediately around Chicago or Atlanta.
Boston has nearly no competition for being the alpha city in NE
Chicago has much more capable competition but Chicago is still the more obvious dominant city
Atlanta is debatable with Miami, Dallas, Houston, and maybe Charlotte being contenders for the #1 spot.
Boston has nearly no competition for being the alpha city in NE
Chicago has much more capable competition but Chicago is still the more obvious dominant city
Atlanta is debatable with Miami, Dallas, Houston, and maybe Charlotte being contenders for the #1 spot.
People are underestimating the cultural distinctiveness of New England. It is the only clearly defined region in the United States, and is very much a valid region. Despite it's small size it is a culturally distinct entity and is not the same as carving out a similar sized around immediately around Chicago or Atlanta.
That's true and a good point...Unlike the Midwest or the Southeast or Southwest, there isn't any really room for argument about what constitutes New England. The next biggest cities after Boston--Providence, Worcester, Bridgeport---can't really compare in terms of influence or recognition.
We had a friend come to our Wedding (in Maine) and he was from the PA/OH area, and he thought after he got off the plane in Boston, he would drive North to Canada, and from there find Maine.
He thought Boston was the end of the North. That is hilarious to me!!!!
I also laugh when people think New England is a state!
Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
5,509 posts, read 11,875,397 times
Reputation: 2501
If you think about the answer closely.....how can it NOT be Boston in New England? What else is in New England to compete with Boston -- Providence? (nothing against Provy). But Boston is close enough to NYC that it's really more a part of THAT region, to me.
The Southeast in my view (GA, AL, MS, LA, AR, TN, KY, WV, VA, NC, SC, N/Central FL) has 1 metro almost 6 million people, 1 metro almost 3 million people, 5 metros either just above or fast approaching 2 million people, and 8 metros/CSAs between 1 and 1.7 million people. That's a lot of cities, which is why there is a lot of talk of having an official Piedmont Atlantic megaregion and Florida megaregion. Atlanta is literally just glew to hold it all together, but it hardly dominates. I guess we're all coming to that concensus.
New England has Boston MSA at about 4.5 million, Providence MSA at about 1.6 million, Hartford CSA at about 1.3 million people, and that's it over 1 million people. I don't like considering Boston's CSA because it envelopes soooo much (Providence, RI to Manchester, NH on up into Maine and half of MA). If you did look at CSAs, in New England you would literally just have Boston and Hartford, with Boston clearly dominating half the land area and most of the population of the region.
I wouldn't group central Florida with the rest of the Southeast. Central Florida is part of the Tampa/Miami influence. It's Orlando/Tampa/South Florida/Miami mega-region.
Try this again: There is no ATL influence in Ark nor La. Both states lie west of the Miss River and their regional big cities are Houston and Dallas. I never hear a thing about Atlanta in this part of the South. So why do we keep getting put in the "southeast"? US census bureau doesn't know everything, obviously. Ask someone who lives there.
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.
