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NYC by far, then Chicago, then Boston, then Philly (Philly only has small pull up to Lehigh Valley on one way over to Trenton then to South Jersey and I guess Dover, DE). Even Central PA mostly looks to Baltimore (Harrisburg, York, Lancaster kinda split between Baltimore & Philly)
For pretty much all of New England except for Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven County's in CT and a few counties in Upstate New York near the Addks, Boston is the major pull city.
For about the Northern half of NJ and the NJ Shore, Long Island, most of Upstate of New York, and parts of NE PA, including the Easton and Allentown (And Scranton/Wilkes Barre), New York City is the city.
Philadelphia is the pull for Southern NJ, SE and parts of Central PA, the North Eastern sliver of MD, all of Delaware.
Chicago I would assume would be about 2/3 of land area of IL, most of IN, SW MI, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
On a larger scale, Chicago probably is the dominant pull in most of the Midwest while NYC is 'the city' to most of the East Coast, SE and perhaps even out to Texas.
Yea that pull down to Texas was Caterpillar Inc. moving their HQ from IL to Dallas-Fort Worth this summer lol
It is a good question. NYC has the biggest population wise because of how crowded the tri-state is, but Boston is the anchor to New England, and Philly kind of breaks up some of NYC’s pull in the mid Atlantic (southern portion of the NE). So if you look at it from a geographic standpoint (not raw population numbers), I’m inclined to say Chicago may have the biggest pull. Because in most of the Midwest (especially the Upper Midwest), almost all metros kind of view Chicago as their “NYC.” I think by Boston and Philly each being such major big cities to the north and south of NYC, it kind of breaks up NYC’s gravitational pull. Chicago doesn’t really have any neighboring cities equivalent to a Philly/Boston.
Sir, you are incorrect. It's the opposite. The Tri-state is the biggest population because of how crowded NYC is.
Sir, you are incorrect. It's the opposite. The Tri-state is the biggest population because of how crowded NYC is.
That’s not what I meant. Yes, the tri state is is biggest population because of how crowded NYC is, obviously. That is my point. If 90% of a population in an area is due to NYC, then it doesn’t have much left to pull.
There are probably more people from the like of Houston or DFW that moves to Austin than Californian anyway. Actually for Austin itself the "big city" is probably DFW? Even though Houston is closer...
Even if the ratio is 1000 Texans to 1 Californian (which it probably is) relocating to Austin, you'll never hear it that way.
The desired effect of invoking California ex-pats over all other states-, "whoa, we're so unique and desirable that people are just up and leaving these famous coastal cities to come here."
"Many Texans from smaller cities and some from Dallas or Houston have relocated to Austin for a slightly different lifestyle" just doesn't have the same ring to it, however true it may be.
NYC by far, then Chicago, then Boston, then Philly (Philly only has small pull up to Lehigh Valley on one way over to Trenton then to South Jersey and I guess Dover, DE). Even Central PA mostly looks to Baltimore (Harrisburg, York, Lancaster kinda split between Baltimore & Philly)
I've never heard of Philly having any pull outside of its metro area. In Pittsburgh the only time they ever came up was if someone went off to school there.
NYC by far, then Chicago, then Boston, then Philly (Philly only has small pull up to Lehigh Valley on one way over to Trenton then to South Jersey and I guess Dover, DE). Even Central PA mostly looks to Baltimore (Harrisburg, York, Lancaster kinda split between Baltimore & Philly)
I'd go one further and put Boston even with Chicago.
As explained earlier, Chicago's pull outside of Chicagoland is the lesser cities in the region.
Boston seems like it could get those impulse long distance relocations at the same or higher rate than Chicago.
I'd go one further and put Boston even with Chicago.
As explained earlier, Chicago's pull outside of Chicagoland is the lesser cities in the region.
Boston seems like it could get those impulse long distance relocations at the same or higher rate than Chicago.
Boston gets a lot of people moving long distances to attend its colleges. Harvard and MIT in particular draw students to the city* from all over the country, and some of those students stick around after they graduate.
But some of the smaller schools in the area also have reputations that stretch well beyond Boston's own hinterlands or even New England: Wellesley College for women, Emerson College for students interested in broadcast media, Berklee College of Music for would-be jazz musicians, the New England Conservatory of Music for would-be classical musicians.
*Yes, I know that both are in next-door Cambridge. I attended one of them. But in terms of regional pull, suburbs, satellite cities and the core city are one.
I live in Harrisburg, PA, and I feel we are in Philadelphia's orbit. And then (*Trigger Warning*) Philadelphia itself orbits NYC.
Philadelphia is New York's largest planet.
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Originally Posted by g500
York, PA is also in Philadelphia's orbit, but does have some connection to Baltimore. But it is still in the Philadelphia orbit.
York itself is firmly in Philadelphia's orbit, but some of the towns in southern York County, such as Hanover and Shrewsbury, seem to be becoming exurbs of Baltimore.
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Originally Posted by g500
Williamsport, PA is in the Philadelphia orbit, though only a few residents would begrudgigly admit that. The Williamsport area is a very rural setting, and they are not too fond of big cities.
State College, PA is probably in the Philadelphia orbit, but is probably the dividing line. Anywhere west is in Pittsburgh's gravity well (Altoona, Johnstown, Erie).
The Allegheny Front is a major dividing line in Pennsylvania, and Altoona, State College and Williamsport are all situated along it. Williamsport gravitates slightly more toward Philadelphia, and Altoona gravitates slightly more toward Pittsburgh, but State College seems to be evenly split.
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Originally Posted by g500
Pittsburgh itself orbits... well... probably NYC distantly (just has a wide/long orbit like Uranus does, hehe).
Pittsburgh has larger gross migration flows with New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC than it does with Chicago, and this is not true of any similarly-sized metropolitan area to its west. It's also closer to New York than Chicago, both by crow and by car. Pittsburgh is basically New York's most distant planet.
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Originally Posted by g500
No city in Pennsylvania (outside of Philadelphia or Pittsburgh) is large enough to have any overreaching gravitational pull. This is due to their small size, small town/city identities, and the provinciality of their local governments.
You could have ended it with their small size, because that's really all it is. Quite frankly, I don't see how Allentown is any more "provincial" than Albany or Akron, or how Scranton is any more "provincial" than Syracuse, Springfield or South Bend.
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Originally Posted by NDFan
Even Central PA mostly looks to Baltimore (Harrisburg, York, Lancaster kinda split between Baltimore & Philly)
This is not true at all. The pull from Washington DC and Baltimore in Pennsylvania is south of U.S. 30 from Sideling Hill to the Susquehanna River. Harrisburg and Lancaster are not part of it, and York only marginally is. You want Baltimore del Norte? Look at Hanover and Shrewsbury.
I'd still say they now function more like twin stars than like the sun and a planet, but okay.
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You could have ended it with their small size, because that's really all it is. Quite frankly, I don't see how Allentown is any more "provincial" than Albany or Akron, or how Scranton is any more "provincial" than Syracuse, Springfield or South Bend.
Size, IMO, may have nothing to do with it. I find plenty of evidence of parochialism in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They just have a cosmopolitan overlay on top.
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