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Personally, when i compare cities i go by city proper, i go by jurisdictions. When it comes to population, diversity, poverty rates, etc.. i do a city v.s city basis. I only use metropolitan when it comes to regional markets/economic factors. That's just me though, I've done this for studies and i haven't heard feedback saying to compare a city you have to use the entire metropolitan area.
I was leaning towards U.S. UA but if the United Nations has a definition of UA then I think that is the best option. CSAs can be a bit misleading depending on context.
Atlanta:
- City Proper: 39th
- United States' Urban Area: 9th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 9th
- Global Agglomeration: 11th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 9th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 11th
Boston:
- City Proper: 23rd
- United States' Urban Area: 10th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 11th
- Global Agglomeration: 6th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 10th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 6th
Chicago:
- City Proper: 3rd
- United States' Urban Area: 3rd
- United Nations' Urban Area: 3rd
- Global Agglomeration: 3rd
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 3rd
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 3rd
Dallas:
- City Proper: 9th
- United States' Urban Area: 6th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 4th
- Global Agglomeration: 8th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 4th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 7th
Houston:
- City Proper: 4th
- United States' Urban Area: 7th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 5th
- Global Agglomeration: 9th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 5th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 9th
Los Angeles:
- City Proper: 2nd
- United States' Urban Area: 2nd
- United Nations' Urban Area: 2nd
- Global Agglomeration: 2nd
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 2nd
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 2nd
Miami:
- City Proper: 44th
- United States' Urban Area: 4th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 7th
- Global Agglomeration: 10th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 8th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 10th
New York:
- City Proper: 1st
- United States' Urban Area: 1st
- United Nations' Urban Area: 1st
- Global Agglomeration: 1st
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 1st
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 1st
Philadelphia:
- City Proper: 5th
- United States' Urban Area: 5th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 8th
- Global Agglomeration: 7th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 7th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 8th
San Francisco:
- City Proper: 13th
- United States' Urban Area: 13th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 6th
- Global Agglomeration: 5th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 11th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 5th
Washington D.C.:
- City Proper: 22nd
- United States' Urban Area: 8th
- United Nations' Urban Area: 10th
- Global Agglomeration: 4th
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 6th
- Combined Statistical Area (CSA): 4th
America doesn't appear to have a designated consensus 4th city, or 5th city, or 6th city, or 7th city, or 8th city, or 9th city, or 10th city, so on and so forth. It ranges depending on which metric you use.
Actually, you know what, it is literally just easier to list what cities America definitely does have set in place;
America has a first city (New York), a second city (Los Angeles), and a third city (Chicago). That's it. It has nothing else beyond that, set in place, since from 4th onwards it is like a different city every single time.
I just have to post this CSA map that shows how overinflated the CSA metric really is. I think some people will vote CSA is best just because it might show the highest population for their area. CSA is useless when trying to compare population.
Last edited by pointer212; 09-07-2016 at 07:14 PM..
1) I think it should go without saying that city proper is nearly useless. Atlanta has only the 39th city population, and literally NOBODY will agree that there are 38 American cities larger or "more major" than Atlanta. And Atlanta is just one example, there are scores of size discrepancies using the city proper metric...
2) United States UA seems to be much more accurate, but I have issues with it, too. How is Virginia Beach-Norfolk a larger UA than Charlotte? It certainly doesn't feel larger, not by a long shot, but this metric is more appreciated than city proper...
3) I feel the same way about UN UA that I feel about US UA...
4) Not convinced with agglomeration at all...
5) MSA has been my favorite metric, as I'd always thought it to be the truest reflection of size. However, I don't believe it to be flawless. The San Francisco Bay Area is one metropolitan area. It's large, with three primary cities, but I think the configurations have to change. No reason it, and plenty of others, should not be considered as one metro...
6) CSA? Absolutely not, don't even get me started...
Red John, Demographia is not the same as the United Nations. Demographia uses UN Excel files but adds their own methodology. The UN and Demographia urban areas are distinctly different.
Notice they give LA almost 3 million fewer people than Demographia.
Demographia is from Belleville, Illinois. They do not represent the US in any way.
For me, I prefer CSA but since there are no global CSAs, I use Demographia. I've grown to like Agglomerations more though.
Last edited by Yac; 11-19-2020 at 03:02 AM..
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