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Due to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and their THOUSANDS of flights everywhere gives Atlanta a leg up here, in my opinion.
LOL. Lots of cities have airports, my guy. Atlanta is actually sort of isolated, with no major city within a three hour drive, and only Charlotte and Nashville within four hours (and most times of day, it will take more than four).
DFW no doubt. That is why it is a major distribution hub, has a large international airport, transcontinental highways and railways and has nearly 8 million people in its CSA.
DFW also has numerous sizeable metro areas within a 5 hour drive:
Houston
OKC
Tulsa
Austin
Waco
Killeen-Temple-Belton
San Antonio
Shreveport
Little Rock
Lubbock
Wichita
Midland-Odessa
Although cities like Denver are geographically central, the history and population of the US is very Eastern stacked which is why I would've voted for Philadelphia as being the most "centrally located" smack dab in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic region along the East Coast.
For example, Philadelphia is within a days drive of 40% of the entire US population. 60% of the population of US and Canada is less than a 2 hour flight from Philadelphia. Besides Philadelphia International Airport, there are 5 International Airports within a 1.5 hour drive. A 150 mile radius from Philly City Hall has a population of nearly 40 Million, and much of that radius is in the Atlantic Ocean.
Due to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and their THOUSANDS of flights everywhere gives Atlanta a leg up here, in my opinion.
Atlanta gets more passengers due to larger plane loads, but Chicago still comes in #1 in the country (#4 in the world) when it comes to connectivity and number of direct destinations. Atlanta though is #2 in the country (#8 in the world).
Just pointing that statistic out as it seems to be in the spirit of what the OP is asking in the thread.
This is ridiculous that this is even a discussion beyond Chicago.
Not only is it centrally located geographically, but it also:
- Is the third-largest intermodal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore
- Has direct connections to Great Lakes/Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico
- Has one of the top 5 busiest airports in the world
- Has (short) direct flights to almost every city in the US
- Has links to six of the seven Class I railroads as well as nine interstate highways
- Has 25% of all U.S. freight traffic move through it
- Is being considered as major hub for multiple high-speed rail lines
The only city that could give it a run for its money is DFW, but it's still a distant second...
Definitely has to be a midwestern city and of this list it’s chicago. But I can see it being an Ohio city instead as they’re closer to both east coast and sunbelt cities.
DFW no doubt. That is why it is a major distribution hub, has a large international airport, transcontinental highways and railways and has nearly 8 million people in its CSA.
DFW also has numerous sizeable metro areas within a 5 hour drive:
Houston
OKC
Tulsa
Austin
Waco
Killeen-Temple-Belton
San Antonio
Shreveport
Little Rock
Lubbock
Wichita
Midland-Odessa
Dallas is centrally located if you’re flying. If you’re driving it’s very far from major cities outside of Texas. It feels isolated with lots of nothing surrounding it.
So, we have the literal meaning of "centrally located" (geographic center) and the more practical meaning (flights, commerce, rail lines, etc.). Since every place I've ever been to claims to have the best location, I thought this might be a good poll.
Which city is the most centrally located as in linking all parts of the country through its location and infrastructure? Only U.S. travel/commerce etc. counts.
I suppose I would actually say Chicago.
It's the #1 most "connected" airport in the country regarding destinations and nonstop flights. It's always head to head with Atlanta on the sheer number of flights.
O'hare has the 4th largest amount of air cargo after Memphis (FedEx), Anchorage (Asia imports) and Louisville (UPS).
Chicago is right at the top with the number of mainline (two digit) interstate highways. 55, 80, 94, 90, 65, 57. There's also 88, but I wouldn't call that a main trunk line.
Chicago is the freight capital of the country with 6 of the 7 main freight railroad companies coming through Chicago. Looking at a rail map of the country it's fairly obvious.
Chicago is a huge hub on the passenger rail service for the USA. Outside the northeast, most lines converge on Chicago for transfers.
Ports of Chicago and Indiana are one of the larger port complexes in the USA, able to move goods from the Gulf to the Atlantic via the Mississippi Rivers and Great Lakes connections.
The city has around 50,000,000 people within 300 miles.
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