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On every other San Jose comparison, OP brings the entire Bay Area into it. If comparing just city to city, I'd take Charlotte, but not in a runaway victory as they both win certain categories. If comparing broader metro areas, no contest- San Jose takes it.
Specifically to the criteria listed of just city to city?
Population: San Jose
Economy: Tie
Diversity: San Jose
Downtown: Charlotte
Scenery: San Jose
Airport: Charlotte
Shopping: Charlotte
Weather: Tie (subjective)
I think Charlotte's city and metro population are a little misleading since NC's annexation laws allow CLT to absorb surrounding communities. It has a compact but somewhat impressive skyline, but a relatively small amount of the metro would be considered "urban" by any stretch of the imagination. But Charlotte overperforms in some regards- to some degree- by having a very centralized location on the middle of the eastern seaboard.
On the flip side, San Jose is a bigger city than most people realize in a 7-8 million metro. It seems to have a lot more going on in the last decade, but has underperformed, not even getting top billing in the area despite having a population of more than a million.
How do NC's annexation laws (which aren't as liberal as they used to be) make Charlotte's metro population misleading?
My guess is that municipal population was probably being cited.
As for annexation in NC, it's been several years since cities in the state were allowed to annex basically at will. However, it's not like Charlotte needs any more land; it's already huge.
How do NC's annexation laws (which aren't as liberal as they used to be) make Charlotte's metro population misleading?
Yeah it would be the city proper population. But the metro would be the same no matter the annexation laws. Modcut: Please keep this thread about just San Jose and Charlotte.
How do NC's annexation laws (which aren't as liberal as they used to be) make Charlotte's metro population misleading?
Modcut: Please keep this thread about just San Jose and Charlotte.
Regarding the metro population- the Charlotte area covers a large amount of land but only a relatively small amount of it is regarded as "urban." And overall, IMHO it feels smaller the official 2.5 million number suggests.
Modcut: Please keep this thread about just San Jose and Charlotte.
Regarding the metro population- the Charlotte area covers a large amount of land but only a relatively small amount of it is regarded as "urban." And overall, IMHO it feels smaller the official 2.5 million number suggests.
That's the case for most Sunbelt metros, especially those that revolve around one primary city. I fail to see the relevance of annexation laws here.
Of course Charlotte itself isn't going to feel like it has 2.5M people. The urbanized area population is a better gauge for how big a place feels.
[quote=Mutiny77;52509380]That's the case for most Sunbelt metros, especially those that revolve around one primary city. I fail to see the relevance of annexation laws here.
Modcut: Discussing moderator actions is against the TOS.
Mutiny 77, I realize that's a common thing in the Sunbelt- I was just saying that the local policies and strategies regarding annexation can contribute heavily to a city's official population. And I agree, urbanized population is a better gauge for how big a place feels, which is why I mentioned it. The number of people categorized as living in an "urban area" is quite low in Charlotte compared to other metro areas. For example, the CLT metro is listed as around the 22nd most populous in the US, while it's #38 by urban area. Conversely, San Jose is the 35th biggest metro by population, but 29th by urban area.
Last edited by JMT; 07-16-2018 at 02:32 PM..
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