Inland Cities VS Costal Cities

[EastSideMKE]

Question for the OP, how would you classify Great Lakes cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo? The Great Lakes are giant freshwater seas, not just some regular old lakes. They contain 20% of the Earth's freshwater. You could fit the Great Salt Lake inside of Lake Michigan, 20x over. Due to the curvature of the Earth, the human eye can only see 30 miles out, and Lake Michigan is roughly 60 miles wide, so you don't even come close to seeing the other side of it. The Great Lakes also connect with the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway. So, are they inland cities, coastal cities, or somewhere in between? Technically, neither Seattle nor Portland are located on the Pacific Ocean, but they're often regarded as being coastal cities.

[stefansanity]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Question for the OP, how would you classify Great Lakes cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo? The Great Lakes are giant freshwater seas, not just some regular old lakes. They contain 20% of the Earth's freshwater. You could fit the Great Salt Lake inside of Lake Michigan, 20x over. Due to the curvature of the Earth, the human eye can only see 30 miles out, and Lake Michigan is roughly 60 miles wide, so you don't even come close to seeing the other side of it. The Great Lakes also connect with the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway. So, are they inland cities, coastal cities, or somewhere in between? Technically, neither Seattle nor Portland are located on the Pacific Ocean, but they're often regarded as being coastal cities.

Yes I would consider them although they are not on a "Coast" coast consisting of salt water it is a significant Lake so yes, I would consider them a coastal city. They work(ed) on the same principles as other coastal cities with ports and such.

[Lifeshadower]

I think what needs to be remembered by a lot of Americans is that the reason why cities were established on the coast earlier in colonial history and not further inland is because coastal cities are much much easier to defend from attack than inland cities are. It's relatively easy to siege a city from land, but its relatively more difficult trying to have a coordinated blockade on land and sea. Also, resupplying coastal cities from the sea was a lot quicker than supplying them by sea then having it go over land.

That's why most of our oldest settlements and thriving cities now are coastal cities. However, in most of the world, cities were established usually near a water-source but could be inland (London, Paris, Moscow, Berlin, Beijing, New Delhi, etc.).

As for my own personal preference, I like coastal cities more because it feels less isolating than being too far inland. However, living in the San Fernando Valley part of LA, I rarely ever got to go to the beach, so it had really little affect on my life. That's not to say I don't like really inland cities, because they have their own unappreciated charms as well since humans live on land anyways. Some of my best experiences (for personal reasons) were in Phoenix.

[aaron4040]

Personally, I prefer coastal cities (I may be a fat guy but I love me some beach!) but I've only lived in one "inland" city as defined for this discussion, so I can only speak to one side of the debate. Coastal cities have historically been the first to get social, cultural, and economic imports, making them inherently more cosmopolitan and therefore more what I personally prefer. Also they are easier to defend. And I know, since Rochester will be the front line thwarting any Canadian attempt to overrun America.

Originally Posted by Lifeshadower

coastal cities are much much easier to defend from attack than inland cities are.

[djmario_88]

I would consider Chicago a coastal city as well. It is not landlocked for sure especially the way Daniel Burnham designed the city around the shores of the lake. Chicago has beaches and has its skyline built along the shores of Lake Michigan. Like someone said before, since you can't see the other side of the lake it definetely feels like an ocean with fresh water.