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Offshoot of the thread of "states that hate their primary city." I decided to calculate what each state's population would look like with their largest CSA/MSA.
For the 2nd part of the subject line, an example would be New Jersey: the largest metro in NJ is NYC metro (or 6.8 million of NJ's population).
Interesting results. Illinois drops out of the top ten altogether, proving how much of a driver Chicagoland truly is to the state and weirdly Georgia without Atlanta is basically what Illinois is without Chicago.
Although neither of them have anything on the influence and power Greater Boston has over it's host states. Rhode Island is nothing (literally) without Greater Boston. New Hampshire becomes the second least populated state (after Rhode Island) with a forgettable population, and Massachusetts for all it's name and fame looks pretty destroyed without Greater Boston.
Interesting results. Illinois drops out of the top ten altogether, proving how much of a driver Chicagoland truly is to the state and weirdly Georgia without Atlanta is basically what Illinois is without Chicago.
Although neither of them have anything on the influence and power Greater Boston has over it's host states. Rhode Island is nothing (literally) without Greater Boston. New Hampshire becomes the second least populated state (after Rhode Island) with a forgettable population, and Massachusetts for all it's name and fame looks pretty destroyed without Greater Boston.
I'm surprised how much of PA actually lives outside of Philadelphia metro.
And through my research, I found out that the DC area suburb in Virginia outnumber the Tidewater region of VA by nearly 1 million people.
Well PA like Texas and Ohio has more than one major metro. Not to mention a portion of Phillies metro is in adjacent states, it makes sense it's absence wouldn't be that overwhelming.
Yeah, there are several states in a similar situation, such as Minnesota, Washington, Massachusetts, Arizona, etc. Even New York shows a pretty precipitous drop, as does New Jersey.
Well PA like Texas and Ohio has more than one major metro. Not to mention a portion of Phillies metro is in adjacent states, it makes sense it's absence wouldn't be that overwhelming.
Well, the other major metro is Pittsburgh, but that only has 3 million people. I didn't realize that 5 million people live outside of BOTH Philly metro and Pittsburgh metro
Philadelphia metro in PA only makes up around 4-4.5 million people.
Both Illinois and Georgia have 4 million people that aren't in Greater Chicago or Greater Atlanta, 4 million is a lot. I know that Rockford has like 450,000 people and that's basically a bedroom community of Chicago more increasingly in the present day, as it's labor market has declined and job growth has been stagnant, making the region more "commuter zone Chicago" than anything else. I know in Georgia that Savannah has like 500,000 people and is the second city of the state, for all intents and purposes.
Still, 3.5 million people in each state. When you look at the bigger picture, they are both hella agricultural states outside their one major urban center, and what isn't agriculture is a string of small-towns, college-towns, in Illinois' case small government-towns.
Eh.
They're both examples of states that have put all of their resources into one place really.
The polarity of places like CA, TX, FL, OH, PA, NY, NC, MI, TN, so on is sort of what makes them more appealing as states. They are host to several large cities (over one million metrowide) that serve different economical, and at times, social and cultural purposes. In Illinois and Georgia, you're essentially stuck with Chicago and Atlanta. If you cant make it work in either, then you have to leave IL and GA for another place, and that's not good news for a state that's trying to keep it's tax base increasing and maintain it's electorate representation in Congress. Other states like IL and GA are WA, OR, MA, KY, IN, CO, UT, NM, so on.
Eh, Wisconsin/Illinois/Michigan/Indiana/Missouri are all around 4-4.5 mill outside their major cities, not sure why you'd think Illinois would be the only exception in the region?
Also, Rockford is solidly a part of the Rock River cities (Janesville/Beloit/Rockford), which is its own thing, and not part of the Chicago metro, unless you have data to prove otherwise. It'd be around a 2 1/2 hour commute in typical traffic from Rockford to the Loop; even if you worked in the furthest western suburbs, say Elgin, you're talking over an hour one way on an average sunny day sans major accidents. I'm just not seeing it. Rockford is pretty much a pit, so why would anyone with a job good enough to commute 1-2 hours both ways stay there in the first place? The amenities? No better than being in the northern/western 'burbs. Safety? Not even close, Rockford is dangerous for its size, and the 'burbs are much safer.
Both Illinois and Georgia have 4 million people that aren't in Greater Chicago or Greater Atlanta, 4 million is a lot. I know that Rockford has like 450,000 people and that's basically a bedroom community of Chicago more increasingly in the present day, as it's labor market has declined and job growth has been stagnant, making the region more "commuter zone Chicago" than anything else. I know in Georgia that Savannah has like 500,000 people and is the second city of the state, for all intents and purposes.
Still, 3.5 million people in each state. When you look at the bigger picture, they are both hella agricultural states outside their one major urban center, and what isn't agriculture is a string of small-towns, college-towns, in Illinois' case small government-towns.
Eh.
They're both examples of states that have put all of their resources into one place really.
The polarity of places like CA, TX, FL, OH, PA, NY, NC, MI, TN, so on is sort of what makes them more appealing as states. They are host to several large cities (over one million metrowide) that serve different economical, and at times, social and cultural purposes. In Illinois and Georgia, you're essentially stuck with Chicago and Atlanta. If you cant make it work in either, then you have to leave IL and GA for another place, and that's not good news for a state that's trying to keep it's tax base increasing and maintain it's electorate representation in Congress. Other states like IL and GA are WA, OR, MA, KY, IN, CO, UT, NM, so on.
I don't quite see this argument, at least for Illinois. There are at least 8 metro areas >150,000 people and there's the Metro East, which is the second-largest MSA in Illinois that is growing pretty well. The StL metro defines a good portion of the area downstate outside of central Illinois (easily over 1 million people). At least three areas (Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, and Bloomington-Normal, combined ~ 600,000 people) have generally lower unemployment than the Chicago area, low COL, steady increases in population, and easy and quick access to Chicago. If you can't make it work in Chicago and still want to be in Illinois, these places can be attractive for a number of people because these areas offer good, stable jobs in government, universities, health care, and insurance, and there are also agriculture jobs. It just doesn't seem at all surprising to me that there should be ~ 4 million people in the state outside of the Chicago area.
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