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People talk about how in some smaller cities like Cleveland or New Orleans they cities general persona is of a city that is larger than it.
What about cities that act smaller than they are.
I can think of a few
I think Boston still carries a small provincial feel, and sometimes people from there even consider Boston a small or mid sized city. When its not. I would attribute that to the fact that Montreal, Toronto, NYC, Philly, and DC are all a days drive away and are all among the largest cities in North America so having a city the size of Boston around seems pretty normal.
I think lots of Northeastern cities have that trait. Hartford, Providence and Rochester folks would basically laugh in your face if you called their city a major city. While someone from OKC, Omaha or Memphis would not.
Boston is a good pick probably more so due to it's relatively restricted land mass. I think a better example is Philadelphia which exemplifies the provincial persona as a big city and the tendency of inadequacy expressed relentlessly by many of it's residents in terms of comparison to other big cities, given CD's City vs City Forum seems to reinforce that often.
El Paso -- 682k city, 838k metro, but feels like a smaller city of maybe 200k
San Jose -- 1,020,000 city, 1.95 million metro, but overshadowed by San Fran, despite the large amount of high tech, high paying jobs
Phoenix -- 1,620,000 city, 4.7 million metro, but due to its sprawl over miles and miles, the density not there and feels like a city of 500k
San Antonio -- 1,490,000 city, 2.5 million metro. For its population, it feels more like a city half its size.
Jacksonville -- 910,000 city, 1.5 million metro. Due to large city limit size, the large city population spread out for miles. Feels like maybe 200k
Detroit fits this. I think most believe Detroit is this abandoned shell, and while it did lose 65% of its population, we're still talking about a city with nearly 700,000 people, in a metro of 4.5 million people. That's a pretty massive city/metro that has a ton of influence and contributes in a major way to not only the regional economy, but the national economy too, and even international economy given its status as a border city.
But if you were to ask the news, or someone from not-the-Midwest, it's mostly abandoned houses and some hipsters (admittedly there is a disproportionate number of both of those things).
El Paso -- 682k city, 838k metro, but feels like a smaller city of maybe 200k
San Jose -- 1,020,000 city, 1.95 million metro, but overshadowed by San Fran, despite the large amount of high tech, high paying jobs
Phoenix -- 1,620,000 city, 4.7 million metro, but due to its sprawl over miles and miles, the density not there and feels like a city of 500k
San Antonio -- 1,490,000 city, 2.5 million metro. For its population, it feels more like a city half its size.
Jacksonville -- 910,000 city, 1.5 million metro. Due to large city limit size, the large city population spread out for miles. Feels like maybe 200k
Hmm...
I've never heard any visitors of mine say that they thought the Phoenix city or metro felt like a city of only 500,000. In any case, I'm glad Phoenix is building up its core - it's needed and has quite a bit of catching up to do, but I like the progress it and Tempe are making. Regarding the sprawl and density you stated, I'm a little confused. The Phoenix metro has a dense sprawl compared to many other metros. Doesn't Atlanta sprawl more than most other metros with a lower density?
I would also nominate Philadelphia. Philly tends to get overshadowed by New York, and to a lesser extent, DC; which I’ve found to result in a lot of Philadelphians displaying a sense of apathy and deficiency. Many native Philadelphians also consider their city a lot smaller than what it is, and not one of the largest cities in the U.S.
Philly has a high percentage of people who were born and raised there, which manifests itself into a provincial feeling city. It was surprising to hear people in a city the size of Philadelphia asking what high school someone attended or if they knew so and so. It was one of several parallels I’ve found between Philadelphia and Cincinnati.
The pace of life in Philly also isn’t as rushed or hurried as one would expect from a large, densely populated northeastern city.
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