Boston vs Detroit vs Phoenix vs Atlanta, which city feels the largest? (live, place)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I’ve said this a million times but Boston’s city density is 4x larger than Atlanta’s..I think it is reasonable to say that if you are walking around Boston’s urban core or using the subways you would think Boston feels larger. If you are driving through each city on the highway you may think Atlanta feels larger...I’d think this is how most unbiased people would feel
I think this is a reasonable assessment.
Notice, in an earlier post, how I said that when driving into Atlanta, it feels huge. When "DRIVING" into. This is a similar sentiment to driving into Miami. It FEELS huge when experienced from the road. inside the city, it lacks the urban compactness and street level activity of older cities up North, namely places like NYC (obviously), Boston, Montreal, DC, Philly, etc. (Although Downtown and Midtown Atlanta -- Midtown especially -- are FAR from being non-vibrant. There is plenty of street level activity.
It's hard to say which one feels bigger, as an argument can be made for both cities, depending on the perspective.
The Boston metro doesn’t include providence but the csa does. Boston’s csa is over one million people larger than Atlanta in less square mileage. Providence is on the Boston commuter rail line an hour south so I’d think it should be included into the metro but a lot of this stuff is random and arbitrary.
Boston csa - 8.2 million in 9700 sq miles
Atlanta csa - 6.5 million in 10500 sq miles
Atlanta is the larger MSA that has over a million more inhabitants than the Boston MSA.
That's the thing, although my bio doesn't say it, i'm a college student at UT Austin, you could walk around
West Campus, Southern half of Downtown and on Campus itself and easily come o the conclusion Austin is a more happening city than Houston... But that's ignoring the rest of Austin which is as sleepy s Katy, my hometown. Their are many neighborhoods in Houston while never reaching the density or vibrancy of South Downtown or West Campus, feel several times more big city infrastructure wise, and you can't walk to these places. I have been in small towns/cities where at street level the town has somewhere between 20,000 ppsm and 40,000 ppsm, but these cities only maintain that density for literally less than a 6-10 square mile area, walking around meandering the streets, you'll think your in a city as dense as NYC (ignoring Manhattan and other skyscraper districts). Vibrancy on the street level mean nothing, like I said previously any city that has 500,000+ if built right could pull of Times Square, heck going to parts of Disney World which is suburbia xtreme the crowd is much more than I have seen in 99% of U.S cities. Cities if their large means you shouldn't be able to walk and see everything. This is why the concept of walking and seeing the city makes no sense, a large city should be able to feel large because you can't experience everything the city has to offer just by walking around a couple of neighborhoods. The fact that Boston sprawls to the point where you felt like you left the city then picks up in Lowell, Lawrence, Fall River, Providence and New Bedford hurts that expansive feeling a ton. It makes the city feel like's it ended when you cross west of I-95.
I said walk the urban core not intending to mean walk the entire core...Boston’s red line travels 13 miles from
Alewife to Quincy..it’s commuter rail network travels more than 60 miles..you aren’t walking Boston’s urban core..there are plenty of active areas outside of downtown..city limits are arbitrary as Boston couldn’t annex as other cities did..as I’ve said before its 700000 in 48 sq miles and 1.4 mill in 130 sq miles...Boston is not Austin..it’s much larger
Atlanta is the larger MSA that has over a million more inhabitants than the Boston MSA.
But (as I mentioned like 3 posts ago) the Boston MSA includes Epping, NH but not Taunton, MA. It’s not a great representation of the area and it leaves out some of the biggest nearby urban centers.
But (as I mentioned like 3 posts ago) the Boston MSA includes Epping, NH but not Taunton, MA. It’s not a great representation of the area and it leaves out some of the biggest nearby urban centers.
It's a terrible measure. It include parts of NH THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH Boston. New Bedford could make a case for being boston MSA before any where in New Hampshire. Many large MA cities of 80-110k 20+ miles from Boston. Lowell Lawrence New Bedford and Fall River are the first that come to mund
But (as I mentioned like 3 posts ago) the Boston MSA includes Epping, NH but not Taunton, MA. It’s not a great representation of the area and it leaves out some of the biggest nearby urban centers.
Boston csa is 2 million bigger and city with a larger population and 4 x denser...you have to twist yourself in a pretzel to say Boston isn’t the bigger city
Sure you can find similar stuff for Atlanta but this gives some different vantages of city from west https://youtu.be/femXOcymOCk
But (as I mentioned like 3 posts ago) the Boston MSA includes Epping, NH but not Taunton, MA. It’s not a great representation of the area and it leaves out some of the biggest nearby urban centers.
Boston csa is 2 million bigger and city with a larger population and 4 x denser...you have to twist yourself in a pretzel to say Boston isn’t the bigger city
Sure you can find similar stuff for Atlanta but this gives some different vantages of city from west https://youtu.be/femXOcymOCk
The Boston MSA is still smaller than Atlanta's. A city 50 miles away from is supposed to make Boston feel like the larger city? Does that make Providence feel like a larger city than Atlanta as well?
This isn't about raw numbers as we all know that Boston is the larger city, but this is city "Feels" larger.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
