Which small metro feels largest? (bigger, population, development)

[meep]

In terms of commercial development and things to do, which feels the largest and how would you rank them?

[cdw1084]

From largest to smallest (metro feel)
1) Gulfport
2) Columbus
3) Roanoke
4) Hickory
5) Charleston

Having been to all of these cities, this is how I would rank them.

Columbus may be the largest city in the poll but the Gulfport area feels larger. Actually, Roanoke and Columbus were extremely close, but I gave the edge to the latter because the city feels bigger. Hickory actually has a larger metro population than Columbus and Roanoke but it feels the smallest of the three. Charleston felt slightly smaller than Hickory.

[Craziaskowboi]

Gulfport feels the largest, since it's enhanced by Biloxi.

[hickoryfan]

Wow, look at my name: a reference to Hickory, NC. I have only been to Charleston and Roanoke, and between those three, I would rank them:
Roanoke
Hickory
Charleston

[Timothy123]

1) Gulfport
2) Columbus/Charleston (tie)
4) Roanoke
5) Hickory

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Have only been to Charleston out of these. While it feels dense and urban, it also weirdly feels smaller than the MSA's actual population. More like maybe a 170k metro instead of 240k. I think it's because the mountains and pervasive tree cover hide a lot of the sprawl around the city core.

[Turnerbro]

Roanoke feels bigger than I expected.

[Fountain-of-youth]

Columbus metro is only a couple miles away from auburn now. That changes everything.

[Taggerung]

When I first came to Roanoke I was surprised at how built up it was.