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Raleigh doesn’t feel big at all to me. If doesn’t feel small either and suburban Raleigh certainly feels bigger than suburban Richmond (my home, for example). My measure for a large metro area is wether roads are laid atop geographic features or carved into them. If there’s a gentle hill in Raleigh (or Richmond, or Columbia or Charlotte) the road will follow the hill. In large cities the road will be cut through the hill. Of course all of these cities have examples of how land has been cleared and reengineered to accommodate roadways but in big cities, even exurban roads are carved out of the land, not simply built upon it. I noticed this years ago 30 miles outside of DC and now I can’t unsee it lol. Every time I come home from Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Denver etc I’m saddened by how small town our suburban roads look (downtown Richmond has elevated highways, elevated trains, large bridges).
Hmmm, that's an interesting qualifier. Much of the roads in suburban Atlanta actually follow the lay of the land which is why they do a lot of winding and curving and lack any semblance of grid.
Good points about the infrastructure in Hampton Roads though. The geography of the region calls for much of it but it does have a visual impact on the landscape and the same isn't really true of the Triangle at large.
I don’t understand the qualifier. San Francisco would feel bigger if they had flattened Telegraph Hill?
This is the problem with all of these "feels like" or "seems" topics; there are so many individual, subjective ways to look at something.
That said, and as far as roads slicing through hills, etc., those decisions are made on a case by case basis and can vary wildly depending on specific geography, budget, road purpose, etc. Sometimes you want to calm traffic, and winding/hilly roads are natural traffic calmers. Good luck making a wide, flat road and slapping a 35MPH speed limit on it.
I voted New Orleans because I think it feels far and away the largest of those listed if you're in or around the city center. But Hampton Roads is an interesting choice because it's the polar opposite of New Orleans. NOLA is fairly urban and condensed. That's why, to me, it feels bigger when you're in or around the city center. Hampton Roads doesn't have a city center (not even Norfolk) that feels nearly as big or as urban as NOLA. But because it's a sprawling suburban area with multiple city centers you could make the case that it feels larger, just in a different way. It's a lot easier/faster to get from peak urban in downtown NOLA to seemingly the middle of nowhere than it is in Hampton Roads.
Take busy suburban intersections for example.
In small and midsized cities usually a few dedicated turn lanes and traffic lights will suffice (and that new X pattern interchange that’s so popular now). In a large city the through lanes may be below grade with flyovers and bridges to accommodate turning and cross traffic. Even small cities have this type of infrastructure in their downtown areas but to me what “feels” like a “big” city is where this type of design is prevalent in the suburbs (and exurbs too in very large cities).
In a big city people drive 35 mph on 6 lane roads because of congestion. Roads are straightened and hills are alleviated to handle congestion. Places where large intersections appear to be sitting on top of the ground don’t feel very “big” to me even when I “know” that they are.
Our Pediment cities are nice because of the tree cover and rolling hills, both those things lend a country, small town feel to most of our metros.
Its a SE city so why was it not on the list OP gave. Without a rule for the cities under consideration I respond with a like kind city that feels bigger and more urban than those listed.
Its a SE city so why was it not on the list OP gave. Without a rule for the cities under consideration I respond with a like kind city that feels bigger and more urban than those listed.
I'm thinking Nashville was excluded for the same reason the OP gave for excluding Austin, namely that rapid growth will move it out of the tier of Southern MSAs under 2.5M faster than most others on the list.
Mainly downtown. I mean with a Casino, Madigras, all the events in the core, diverse food, and culture found there its on a different level than mostly anything on that list. The metro feels fairly urban aswell, more so than Birmingham, and about on par with Memphis. Jacksonville has better suburbs however and a reasonably nice downtown but I didn't see the core area to be a major happening place, the beaches are okay however. Hampton Roads area just felt like a plethora of sprawl to me. The rest werent really worth mentioning in terms of urbanity.
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