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 personally think the urban area is the way to go.
This specific metric is measured specifically on city/state governance so it's a city proper metric. Urban areas typically spill into several municipalities so they could technically have several different scores for something like the HRC MEI. In fact I believe some of them do as suburbs in certain metro's are big enough to be counted on their own.
I agree with BBMM, this is purely a city proper measurement.
I personally think the urban area is the way to go.
The urban area for a lot of places is like 85- 95% of the MSA. Its not a significant difference most of the time.
For matters of culture, and politics... cities should be looked at as separate from their suburbs. Because as you're alluding to here- often times the City and the Suburbs can have drastically different cultures. Which often times is due to demography, but sometimes due to history.
If you wanna talk economy and infrastructure then I think that's a very good time to rope in the Urban area ..or MSA.
Why on C-D do we act like the city proper matter sometimes and the other times it doesn't matter?
This isn't aimed at any poster but its a little frustrating to me. Like Ive been told 100 times the culture of a city is dependent on the MSA as a whole because those people come into the city. Then were told to focus on he city proper at other times. I'm always a city proper guy, I just get peeved by the lack of consistency here.
I think it depends on what's being discussed.
Since this index measures municipal government laws and policies, then there's no way to talk about this other than in terms of the city proper — and as the examples of Kansas City and next-door Independence make clear, policies can vary widely among municipalities in the same metro area.
But when it comes to things like the economy, media, transportation, and even arts and culture, it makes more sense to talk about things at the metropolitan level, because people cross municipal boundaries all the time to work, shop, get entertained, watch or play sports, and so on.
Edited to add: Was working on this while you posted our most recent response, BostonBornMassMade. I think we may be talking about "culture" in two different senses here. In terms of attitudes and behaviors, I think you have a point. In terms of things like the performing and visual arts, it's less particular: institutions range from the neighborhood to the metropolitan level, and even some "local" institutions (e.g., the Haddonfield Symphony in New Jersey) draw from more than their own municipalities.
Since this index measures municipal government laws and policies, then there's no way to talk about this other than in terms of the city proper — and as the examples of Kansas City and next-door Independence make clear, policies can vary widely among municipalities in the same metro area.
But when it comes to things like the economy, media, transportation, and even arts and culture, it makes more sense to talk about things at the metropolitan level, because people cross municipal boundaries all the time to work, shop, get entertained, watch or play sports, and so on.
Was about to type something similar... City propers are political boundaries. If the topic is municipal politics, then one certainly must consider city propers.
The dilemma of American cities is that if your boundaries are too small your are vulnerable to "white flight" and declining tax base. On the other hand if your boundaries are large then that means suburbanites get increased control over what happens in the urban parts of city and you tend to see more suburban favoring policies.
The urban area for a lot of places is like 85- 95% of the MSA. Its not a significant difference most of the time.
For matters of culture, and politics... cities should be looked at as separate from their suburbs. Because as you're alluding to here- often times the City and the Suburbs can have drastically different cultures. Which often times is due to demography, but sometimes due to history.
If you wanna talk economy and infrastructure then I think that's a very good time to rope in the Urban area ..or MSA.
I know it’s the case for Boston and some northern metros but it isn’t for sunbelt ones sans Miami.
Where I would say I disagree as well is that when you have a city as geographically big as Houston, the culture and politics within the city are not that similar as you would get in Boston or Baltimore.
Last edited by As Above So Below...; 12-13-2022 at 03:30 PM..
I know it’s the case for Boston and some northern metros but it isn’t for sunbelt ones sans Miami.
I guess... but Boston, Miami, Philly...these are some of our most important cities. Does it even work for the midwest? Its off topic though and beaten to a pulp. I digress.
Minneapolis is 100, St. Paul is 100. No surprises here.
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.
