If Your City Could Annex Any Adjacent City, Which Would You Choose? (university, legal)

[manitopiaaa]

As a purely hypothetical exercise, if your city were granted the ability to unilaterally annex any city touching its borders, which would you choose and why? How would that affect the rankings in your State? or in the country?

Here are my picks:

Atlanta, GA: Annexes Sandy Springs (105,330 people)
New Population: 569,208
New Land Area: 170.8sqmi
Rationale: At 463,878, Atlanta is one of only two cities to anchor a metro area of 5 million+ while having <500k in the city proper. Annexing Sandy Springs might not be the best political choice (as SP is much Whiter and conservative than Atlanta), but gives the city the biggest population boost possible.

Boston, MA: Annexes Cambridge (110,402 people)
New Population: 777,539
New Land Area: 54.85sqmi
Rationale: Boston has a ton of good choices (Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop, etc) but having Harvard and MIT is the biggest reason for choosing Cambridge. And at 54.85 square miles, this new Boston is still a pygmy compared to the other cities here.

Chicago, IL: Annexes Evanston (75,527 people)
New Population: 2,796,073
New Land Area: 235.08sqmi
Rationale: Frankly, all options are pretty ****ty and small. But this adds more beachfront property and a good University to boot.

Dallas, TX: Annexes Irving (236,607 people)
New Population: 1,536,699
New Land Area: 408.40sqmi
Rationale: Though Garland adds more people, Irving is growing more than 2x faster. More importantly, Irving gives Dallas half of DFW International and corrects some funky Dallas borders around North Lake.

Detroit, MI: Annexes Dearborn (95,171 people)
New Population: 772,287
New Land Area: 163.15sqmi
Rationale: Only word - Ford.

Houston, TX: Annexes Pasadena (153,784 people)
New Population: 2,450,008
New Land Area: 683.3sqmi
Rationale: It adds the most people and, unlike The Woodlands, is incorporated. Other decent options though would fill some of the Houston enclaves.

Los Angeles, CA: Annexes Santa Monica (93,220 people)
New Population: 4,065,103
New Land Area: 477.41sqmi
Rationale: Long Beach adds a TON of people, but Santa Monica is a cultural hotspot that would really help complete LA's beachfront assets (Venice/Muscle Beach). Other options include the nightlife/LGBT hub of West Hollywood, with its Rainbow District and Sunset Strip, Pasadena - with amazing architecture and the Rose Bowl, Beverly Hills - for its Hollywood superstars and Burbank for Disney.

Miami, FL: Annexes Miami Beach (92,312 people)
New Population: 533,315
New Land Area: 42.68sqmi
Rationale: Miami is super tiny! And it doesn't even include the famed South Beach, the best part of the Miami nightlife scene. Add to that Miami Beach's Art Deco and shopping and annexing Miami Beach would be a major boost. Hialeah would add way more people but I don't think it borders Miami city proper. Coral Gables would be a second option for me. And even with 42.68sqmi, Miami would be the smallest city in this group.

New York, NY: Annexes Jersey City (264,290 people)
New Population: 8,814,695
New Land Area: 319.59sqmi
Rationale: Considering cross-state cities are impossible, this would take quite a bit of legal wrangling. But as a thought exercise, it's quite clear Hudson County is the right target for New York. Unfortunately, the whole county can't become Borough #6, so JC will suffice. Outside of JC, Yonkers would be a good #2.

Philadelphia, PA: Annexes Cheltenham Township (37,014 people)
New Population: 1,604,489
New Land Area: 142.10sqmi
Rationale: I don't understand PA's municipality system (home rule municipality, township, boroughs, etc) so I picked this one on a whim.

San Francisco, CA: Annexes Daly City (106,562 people)
New Population: 971,378
New Land Area: 54.53sqmi
Rationale: Geographically, one of only a few decent options.

Washington, DC: Annexes Arlington (229,164 people)
New Population: 901,392
New Land Area: 87.05sqmi
Rationale: The Washington Diamond (DC+Alexandria+Arlington) recently surpassed 1 million. So DC and Arlington joining up (preferably by Washington joining Virginia), would be a good way to re-institute the old DC shape of lore.

[LINative]

Good post Manitoiaaa! I can see you did a lot of work.

If it was possible, for New York, the obvious answer is Hudson County which would also become Hudson Borough. The other possibility for New York is Yonkers and Mount Vernon.

Of all the cities, I think San Francisco has the most justification for expanding (importance of the City and its future growth is undermined by the currently small land base). But I do not know the area so I do not how resistant the suburbs are to being annexed like here in the Northeast. Maybe a weak metropolitan area government combining the communities around the Bay area but still giving them much of their independence would work best.

[boulevardofdef]

Originally Posted by manitopiaaa

San Francisco, CA: Annexes Daly City (106,562 people)
New Population: 971,378
New Land Area: 54.53sqmi
Rationale: Geographically, one of only a few decent options.

Not Oakland? It's where all the kids are moving anyway, and you add way more population, instantly catapulting the city into the U.S. top 10.

[NigerianNightmare]

He said bordering, Oakland isn't close to bordering at all.

[Soonhun]

Why not Plano instead of Irving? Plano has a slower growth rate but is growing more numerically and is geographically larger while being wealthier. I cannot imagine a part of DFW being in Dallas would actually help in any way.

[NigerianNightmare]

I don't think Plano borders Dallas.
EDIT: It does in Collin County actually, keep forgetting Dallas enters Collin County.

[boulevardofdef]

Originally Posted by NigerianNightmare

He said bordering, Oakland isn't close to bordering at all.

Sure it is. It's right over the Bay Bridge. It borders San Francisco just as much as New York borders Jersey City; I'd suggest that it's also on par with DC/Arlington and Miami/Miami Beach, though you can walk between those two pairs.

[aries4118]

Atlanta:

Sandtown
Druid Hills
North Druid Hills
Toco Hills/LaVista Park
Scottdale
Oak Grove/Vista Grove/Briarlake
Brookhaven/Ashford Park
Dunwoody
Sandy Springs/North Springs
Medlock Park
Emory
Sage Hill
Candler-McAfee
Gresham Park
Constitution/Intrenchment Creek
Fulton Industrial
Cliftondale
Campbellton
Wolf Creek/Stonewall-Tell
Chattahoochee Hills/Rico
Six Flags/Riverline
Vinings/Cumberland

[aries4118]

Boston:

Brookline
Cambridge
Somerville
Chelsea
Revere
Winthrop

[aries4118]

Detroit:

All of the Grosse Pointes
Hamtramck
Highland Park
Dearborn
Dearborn Heights