Most balanced state in terms of population centers: Ohio, North Carolina, or Tennessee (better, largest)
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These three are all pretty balanced states in terms of having their population spread out among multiple population centers, although that isn't unique by any means necessary as CA, TX, FL, NY and others have the same thing, BUT in the case of these three, the many population centers are within the same range or close to the same range as one another (often separated by just a bit over a million at most between the largest to smallest). Making them on par with one another whereas in CA, TX, FL, NY and others there is often a really big city (or two really big ones in some cases) and then the next set there is a massive drop off from the size of the large ones to other notable areas over 1 million people.
In Tennessee for example, there are 4 places that standout as "large" in the state and by places I mean their respective metropolitan areas/PCSAs. Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga in that same order in terms of size.
In North Carolina there are 3 places that are standouts in the state; Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Greensboro/Winston-Salem.
In Ohio there are also 3 places that are standouts in the state; Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus (Ohio's 3 Cs).
These are each state's respective population centers. I'd like to encourage everyone to view Chattanooga as a place with 1 million people, even though it technically isn't, its growing and is close enough to that benchmark that we can give it the extra push early on.
Make your case here on which state you think is most balanced and which one offers a social environment where each of the state's large cities have parity with the other large cities in the state.
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Awesome thread idea, Red John. You're on a roll lately
As far as population parity, I believe Tennessee technically has the least amount of difference between its most and least populous metros. That said, I think Ohio has more parity in terms of social and economic power between its three C's. Cleveland has 3 pro sports teams, Cincy has 2, and Columbus has 1 (and an NCAA team that is pretty much semi-pro), and each metro anchors its own region of the state. All three are nationally on the map. TN seems to be more split between Nashville and Memphis in that respect, with the other two metros not really a factor nationally. And NC really seems to be the Charlotte show, with the Triangle and Greensboro coming in distant second and third, respectively (Carolinians, correct me if I'm wrong, but outside of college basketball, education, and *maybe* hockey, what do the other metros bring to the table that Charlotte doesn't?).
Edit: NC actually has the least difference between first and last, but TN is close behind, and has a close cluster between metros 2-4. The fact that TN has 4 metros as opposed to NC and OH really helps that case, as far as pure population balance. It's the other factors, though, that tilt towards Ohio (imo).
I have to go with Ohio here - the three major cities/metros are all quite comparable in size and stature. Although Cleveland's CSA is significantly larger than Cincinnati's or Columbus', the MSAs are very close.
In North Carolina and Tennessee (in particular) there is a bit of a drop off in the significance of the population centers after the top 2.
Btw, it amazes me that the CSAs of Knoxville and Chattanooga are in the 1 million range. They certainly don't feel nearly as large as the secondary cities in my home state of New York -- Buffalo (1,214,960), Rochester (1,177,439), Albany (1,173,518), or even Syracuse (740,301). These cities just have bigger bones due to the time period in which they grew... but aside from maybe Rochester, they're all experiencing meager if any population growth at this time and will probably be surpassed in CSA population soon by Knoxville and maybe even Chattanooga.
I have to go with Ohio here - the three major cities/metros are all quite comparable in size and stature. Although Cleveland's CSA is significantly larger than Cincinnati's or Columbus', the MSAs are very close.
In North Carolina and Tennessee (in particular) there is a bit of a drop off in the significance of the population centers after the top 2.
Btw, it amazes me that the CSAs of Knoxville and Chattanooga are in the 1 million range. They certainly don't feel nearly as large as the secondary cities in my home state of New York -- Buffalo (1,214,960), Rochester (1,177,439), Albany (1,173,518), or even Syracuse (740,301). These cities just have bigger bones due to the time period in which they grew... but aside from maybe Rochester, they're all experiencing meager if any population growth at this time and will probably be surpassed in CSA population soon by Knoxville and maybe even Chattanooga.
Albany is also growing a steady clip and Syracuse has the Utica-Rome and Ithaca metros within the same region...
As for the topic I'll also say Ohio not only due to the cities/areas mentioned there, but you also have areas like Toledo, Dayton and even Youngstown-Warren that also have quite a few people. I think that is what North 42 was referring to. With the other states, they are pretty much tapped out in terms of sizable areas.
Ohio After the large three. You have Youngstown, Canton, Akron, Toledo and Dayton. Which covers all parts of the state except SE in decent population. Tennessee is good as it has metros on 4 corners of the state but after that suffers with 2 or three really small metros such as Bristol-Johnson City-Kingsport, Clarksville and Jackson. While North Carolina fairs a little better with Fayetteville, Wilmington, Asheville and a few small metros scattered around. I especially love how close the two Triangular metros are. If they were for example Houston and Dalla ssized they would have grown into each other quite easily then we would have our own Bonn-Koln-Dortmund region in the U.S.
Off-topic: New York doesn't really seem spread out to be honest. I mean, it's really NYC, then Buffalo.
Anyways, I think it's Ohio, NC, then Tennessee.
Rochester and Albany-Schenectady-Troy both have a similar CSA population as Buffalo. Syracuse has a smaller CSA(about 740,000), but shares the Central (Upstate)NY region with the Utica-Rome MSA(about 300,000) and the Ithaca CSA(about 150,000), as they all are continuous. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown is a former MSA(670,000) within the NYC MSA/CSA as of 2013. So, I guess it is better to say NY State north of NYC is more spread out.
CT and SC could also be viewed as states with a more balanced population.
Awesome thread idea, Red John. You're on a roll lately
As far as population parity, I believe Tennessee technically has the least amount of difference between its most and least populous metros. That said, I think Ohio has more parity in terms of social and economic power between its three C's. Cleveland has 3 pro sports teams, Cincy has 2, and Columbus has 1 (and an NCAA team that is pretty much semi-pro), and each metro anchors its own region of the state. All three are nationally on the map. TN seems to be more split between Nashville and Memphis in that respect, with the other two metros not really a factor nationally. And NC really seems to be the Charlotte show, with the Triangle and Greensboro coming in distant second and third, respectively (Carolinians, correct me if I'm wrong, but outside of college basketball, education, and *maybe* hockey, what do the other metros bring to the table that Charlotte doesn't?).
Edit: NC actually has the least difference between first and last, but TN is close behind, and has a close cluster between metros 2-4. The fact that TN has 4 metros as opposed to NC and OH really helps that case, as far as pure population balance. It's the other factors, though, that tilt towards Ohio (imo).
Lol, The Charlotte Show
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