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And for the folks who live in suburban ethnic enclaves, they obviously prefer that setup so that's not really saying much.
I am a bit confused, because we are talking about "big city amenities" listed as criteria in the OP/thread title. Suburban ethnic enclaves would be... suburban amenities.
You can get many of those things in smaller urban/niche cities too, but typically they aren't going to have (as many of) the things that *I* truly consider to be big city amenities like major league professional sports, a wide variety of high-end shopping and dining options, major concerts/special events (and the types of venues that host them), a major airport, etc. As a point of comparison, while a city like New Orleans obviously has big city amenities--more than most cities its size in fact--it doesn't have more than Houston but according to your criteria, it seems like you'd argue the opposite.
They don't have the things that I consider to be big city amenities, for which I have already listed some criteria.
I am a bit confused, because we are talking about "big city amenities" listed as criteria in the OP/thread title. Suburban ethnic enclaves would be... suburban amenities.
Big city amenities can be located in the suburbs. You don't think of KOP as a big city amenity???
Lifestyle is a big factor. If you typically walk from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned car, then 93° is tolerable. If you’re active outdoors, 85+ is oppressively hot.
To each his or her own. I'm often working out in my yard when it's in the 90s. Yes, it's hot but so what - that's what iced tea and AC is for when I'm done!
I just don't consider it to be oppressively hot unless it's above about 95 degrees or so. YMMV.
That's not an exhaustive list though. You couldn't find KOP in anything but a big city.
KoP is in a big metro. The city of KoP has a population of about 20K. My argument is that to qualify as a "big city amenity," it has to be a feature or facility exclusive to, well, a big city. The features and facilities in the types of neighborhoods I described qualify as big city amenities, because they are exclusive to big cities. For other amenities, you could call them names such as "mid-sized city amenities," "small city amenities," "suburban amenities" or just "amenities."
KoP is in a big metro. The city of KoP has a population of about 20K. My argument is that to qualify as a "big city amenity," it has to be a feature or facility exclusive to, well, a big city. The features and facilities in the types of neighborhoods I described qualify as big city amenities, because they are exclusive to big cities. For other amenities, you could call them names such as "mid-sized city amenities," "small city amenities," "suburban amenities" or just "amenities."
Big city or big metro amenity is basically saying the same thing. All big city amenities are not within the big city proper. It's not 1900 anymore; we live in a metropolitan society now. That's why I used the word "arbitrary" in my first response to you in this thread.
It could also be argued that what you're referring to are urban amenities and not necessarily big city amenities since big cities can be mostly urban (pedestrian friendly) or mostly suburban (automobile friendly) in terms of their built environment. But I feel like we've beat that dead horse enough times on this forum.
The list of US cities with “big city amenities” is pretty short. Not sure if Miami and Atlanta really make the cut, but definitely not Phoenix or Detroit. I guess we all have different definitions of the term.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
What "big city amenities" are Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Detroit missing? I feel as though your list is probably quite arbitrary in this regard.
Yep ... here in Phoenix we have a small Walmart, a couple of diners, and two grocery stores, but in the nation's 5th largest city with a metro area of about 5 million people we somehow just make it work. Although, I have heard rumors that sometime next month the Internet may finally get installed within the metro area.
Despite all that, we have been growing at a pretty fast clip adding around 200 people per day to the population ... we may just need to step it up and get us some of those "big city amenities" everyone on here talks about.
Big city or big metro amenity is basically saying the same thing. All big city amenities are not within the big city proper. It's not 1900 anymore; we live in a metropolitan society now. That's why I used the word "arbitrary" in my first response to you in this thread.
It could also be argued that what you're referring to are urban amenities and not necessarily big city amenities since big cities can be mostly urban (pedestrian friendly) or mostly suburban (automobile friendly) in terms of their built environment. But I feel like we've beat that dead horse enough times on this forum.
It actually does matter and is not arbitrary. Many people in my own city live carless and have no interest in venturing to the suburbs. The distinction between city proper and metro is a big deal in many levels here.
At this point we are just debating nomenclature which gets really old. Point is, I was surprised by what people were counting as “big city amenities.” In my view these should be amenities specific to big cities, not something you can find in most mid-sized or small cities. For example, Destiny USA and Mall of America are both in smaller/mid-sized cities, and KoP is in a big metro. And some of the suggested cities like Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, as much as I like them, definitely qualify as having mid sized city amenities. I personally think Miami and Atlanta are kind of in an inbetween in approaching big city status, Miami in particular feeling big due to its skyline, but I will admit I am biased toward urban cities. I think the distinction between urban amenities and big city amenities you draw is useful, because I would never call LA mid sized although it lacks some urban amenities.
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