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That's my point: people think the rest of the country knows all about their small local/regional hang-out spots or what-not when that's just not the case.
Biloxi is a unique name but it's not this nationwide destination. For both it and Hartford, you'd have to include the state for most people to recognize the place and even when you do, I'm convinced that a few more folks have at least heard "Hartford, Connecticut" than "Biloxi, Mississippi."
The obvious argument for Hartford (and providence) is that they are state capitals (unlike Biloxi and Alexandria)
“It appears from these comments that Hartford is actually overshadowed by NYC”
Also it’s not that heard to infer from looking at google earth
Here's your full statement:
"Alexandria serves as a regional hub for a pretty large area, Hartford does not have that kind of reach and it appears from some of these comments that it is actually over shadowed by NYC, Alexandria doesn't have to compete with metros larger than it while Hartford does."
You are speaking rather forthrightly about a place that you only just heard of and looked up on Google Earth.
Hartford is indeed overshadowed by NYC, just as Philadelphia and Newark are. So are you going to make the argument that Alexandria is semi-major with a larger stature than Philadelphia and Newark?
I've not been to Hartford, but I've been to Stamford which is towards the southwestern edge of the state. I drove there from the northern part of Manhattan some years back and the drive was short enough that you knew you were in the larger orbit of NYC but long enough that you knew Stamford had its own thing going on also. Being that Hartford is further removed from NYC and more inland, it's easy to see why it has its own MSA (largest within the state) and CSA and being the state capital with a central location within its state, I'll put my money on it acting as a much more significant regional hub than Alexandria. Alexandria's urbanized area doesn't even crack 100K, while Hartford's is creeping towards 1M, over 10 times larger.
Also Hartford's true regional peers/competitors are New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, and Springfield, MA which are all of similar size or smaller. It would seem to feel the pull of NYC in a similar way that Alexandria would feel the pull of Baton Rouge or Lafayette, judging by distance.
In the end, Hartford is situated within a more urbanized region with similarly-sized cities not far away and NYC about 100 miles away or so whereas Alexandria is not situated similarly but is located centrally to its state like Hartford. But sheer differences in size, economy, and relationship to their respective states would be what puts Hartford over the top.
Baton Rouge is the much more sensible argument to make for Louisiana as far as a semi-major city goes. Alexandria is just a downright perplexing option IMO. That would be akin to me making the same sort of argument for Florence, SC which is a non-starter. Just because a city acts as a hub within its state doesn't mean it's automatically considered a semi-major/mid-major city from a national perspective.
I could definitely see Hartford as a semi-major city. In fact, I'm going to a Slipknot concert there in just two days. This will be the band's 12th time in the city. Meanwhile, they've never played in Alexandria LA and have only played in Biloxi MS once.
I could definitely see Hartford as a semi-major city. In fact, I'm going to a Slipknot concert there in just two days. This will be the band's 12th time in the city. Meanwhile, they've never played in Alexandria LA and have only played in Biloxi MS once.
There's your definition: a semi-major city is one in which Slipknot has played at least 5 times, but fewer than 20 times.
Maybe I missed it here, are we talking about city population only or the metro area? This is somewhat important when one answers the question.
To me, it's ALWAYS about metro population. Otherwise Jacksonville is considered "larger" than SF
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