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The U.S. Office of Management and Budget refers to the Phoenix metro area as the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale MSA. I don't know if this means anything in terms of importance of suburbs.
Theoretically with the build of the Phoenix metro
Phoenix would anchor the area, Mesa would anchor the East Valley and Glendale should anchor the West Valley, using that name sort of blankets the entire region.
But as for the 2nd most important, I'd put it as a tie between Tempe and Scottsdale. Mesa SHOULD be, but in reality it's just a large sprawl of housing and maybe 2 tall buildings, nothing really significant to add to the area it's considered one of the largest suburbs in the US.
Tempe, Phoenix and ASU have been key in moving Phoenix into a more dense and urban area. Scottsdale has the most tourism and notoriety for the area.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RH3Flatlander
Chicagoland is an interesting case for this question because greater downtown Chicago acts as such a central hub for the region both economically and culturally. It always irritates me when people that live in Oswego or Lake in the Hills or some other peripheral suburb tell people that they are from Chicago when they live somewhere 50 miles from the Loop. But to their defense, this is partly because outside of Chicago (and to people that don't post regularly on boards like this one) there are very few common reference points for people not from the Chicago area.
Anyway, to answer the original question for Chicagoland, I don't believe that there is any one city/suburb that embodies all of the qualities the OP was probably looking for in naming a true "Second City for the Second City". Categorically, I would break it out the following way:
Economic 2nd: Joliet (National logistics and manufacturing powerhouse)
Quality of Life/Name Recognition outside of Chicago: Naperville
Most Developed CBD: Evanston
Largest Corporate Presence: (Tie) Deerfield/Schaumburg/Oak Brook/Rosemont/Naperville
Population: Aurora
Own Identity: Joliet
Nightlife/Dining: Naperville (Although I hate that half of the restaurants in downtown Naperville are just offshoot Chicago restaurants)
Most potential going forward: 1a - Joliet, 1b - Gary
I've definitely heard of all these places, but aside from Evanston I could never put a finger on what the rest of the Chicagoland suburbs were like other than the affluence along the lake shore north of the city. Good synopsis here.
Most potential going forward: 1a - Joliet, 1b - Gary
That ship sailed a long time ago and it doesn't look like it's coming back anytime soon.
My parents are from there and it's been a downhill slide for as long as I have been alive.
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