2017 Estimates for the United States Urban Areas

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

No, no, I DO get that. What I'm saying is that in the case of Concord or Rock Hill, there isn't an absolute merger, so I can understand not including them in Charlotte's UA.

There is an absolute merger in the case of Concord; it is fully connected to Charlotte's UA with the line of division being the arbitrary Mecklenburg/Cabarrus county line. Rock Hill's is less connected (due, in part, to green space like the Anne Springs Close Greenway) but is as connected as Huntersville/Mooresville which is part of Charlotte's UA. Gastonia's is about as connected as it will be; I know one of the gaps between it and Charlotte is the airport.

The issue is that even if they were are all even more connected to/absorbed by Charlotte's UA, they would still be considered separate UAs because of the restrictive rules governing the combining/consolidation of UAs.

All this is very true, however, I still feel UA gives an idea of how big a city feels vs the much more arbitrary city pop figures or metro pop figures which often include and exclude far too much for certain metros. It does seem CLT gets the short end of the stick given your explanation.

I agree that UA is a better metric to use in determining the true size of a place, but even it doesn't tell the whole story. I'd say that the real number for most places lies somewhere between the UA and MSA figures. For Charlotte, it would be about 2M according to the latest stats available.

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

There is an absolute merger in the case of Concord

I'm assuming you mean that the connection is basically how I've drawn it in the map below, and no offense, but that is some PATCHY exurban sprawl linking Charlotte and Concord. It may be enough for an official designation like you said, but let's be honest, this linkage of which you speak is anything but "urbanized."

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

I agree that UA is a better metric to use in determining the true size of a place, but even it doesn't tell the whole story. I'd say that the real number for most places lies somewhere between the UA and MSA figures. For Charlotte, it would be about 2M according to the latest stats available.

Close thread!!!

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

I'm assuming you mean that the connection is basically how I've drawn it in the map below, and no offense, but that is some PATCHY exurban sprawl linking Charlotte and Concord. It may be enough for an official designation like you said, but let's be honest, this linkage of which you speak is anything but "urbanized."

Again, the density threshold for what the CB defines as urbanized areas is low: 500-1,000 ppm. Nobody is arguing that the area is full of rowhouses situated on a grid with walkable commercial corridors and multiple transit lines, but it *is* a developed area with commercial areas and SFH neighborhoods (which is basically the technical definition of 'urbanized'). Also, you can find patchy sprawling areas like that within the city of Charlotte itself along the fringes but they are still within Charlotte's UA. That's just how it is in much of the South, particularly in the Piedmont cities. I know that Florida can be a bit different with denser suburban development due to geographical constraints, especially south Florida.

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