Is Worcester part of the Boston area? (Springfield, Lowell: living in, manufacturing)

[jks1985]

Originally Posted by Lampert

Southern New England probably has one of the largest concentrations of independent cities over 100k.
(independent not in political terms) I don't consider Cambridge independent from Boston in this case.

Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, Providence, Springfield, Lowell, Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury all over 100k


You can certainly find more cities over 100k in the Los Angeles metro or the Dallas metro.

[BostonBornMassMade]

NECTAs most accurate for New England but they’re not comparable for places outside of New England.

The Dallas area has more 100k person cities than Southern New England? Really?
(worth noting Lynn Brockton and New Bedford all have at least 95k people)

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

NECTAs most accurate for New England but they’re not comparable for places outside of New England.

The Dallas area has more 100k person cities than Southern New England? Really?
(worth noting Lynn Brockton and New Bedford all have at least 95k people)

Yes. It does.

This is an easy one to just look up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas...00_inhabitants

1,000,000+

1. Dallas (1,343,573)
500,000–999,999

2. Fort Worth (909,585)
200,000–499,999

3. Arlington (398,854)
4. Plano (287,677)
5. Garland (239,928)
6. Irving (239,798)
7. Frisco (200,490)
100,000–199,999

8. McKinney (199,177)
9. Grand Prairie (194,543)
10. Denton (141,541)
11. Mesquite (140,937)
12. Carrollton (139,248)
13. Richardson (121,323)
14. Lewisville (109,212)
15. Allen (105,623)

For all of New England:

1. Boston Massachusetts 692,600 617,594 +12.14%
2. Worcester 185,428 184,045 +0.75%
3. Providence Rhode Island 179,883 178,042 +1.03%
4. Springfield Massachusetts 153,606 153,060 +0.36%
5. Bridgeport Connecticut 144,399 144,229 +0.12%
6. New Haven 130,250 129,779 +0.36%
7. Stamford 129,638 122,643 +5.70%
8. Hartford 122,105 124,775 −2.14%
9. Cambridge Massachusetts 118,927 105,162 +13.09%
10. Manchester New Hampshire112,673 109,565 +2.84%
11. Lowell Massachusetts 110,997 106,519 +4.20%
12. Waterbury Connecticut 107,568 110,366 −2.54%
13. Brockton Massachusetts 95,708 93,810 +2.02%
14. New Bedford 95,363 95,072 +0.31%
15. Quincy 94,470 92,271 +2.38%
16. Lynn 94,299 90,329 +4.40%

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

This is an easy one to just look up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas...00_inhabitants

1,000,000+

1. Dallas (1,343,573)
500,000–999,999

2. Fort Worth (909,585)
200,000–499,999

3. Arlington (398,854)
4. Plano (287,677)
5. Garland (239,928)
6. Irving (239,798)
7. Frisco (200,490)
100,000–199,999

8. McKinney (199,177)
9. Grand Prairie (194,543)
10. Denton (141,541)
11. Mesquite (140,937)
12. Carrollton (139,248)
13. Richardson (121,323)
14. Lewisville (109,212)
15. Allen (105,623)

For all of New England:

1. Boston Massachusetts 692,600 617,594 +12.14%
2. Worcester 185,428 184,045 +0.75%
3. Providence Rhode Island 179,883 178,042 +1.03%
4. Springfield Massachusetts 153,606 153,060 +0.36%
5. Bridgeport Connecticut 144,399 144,229 +0.12%
6. New Haven 130,250 129,779 +0.36%
7. Stamford 129,638 122,643 +5.70%
8. Hartford 122,105 124,775 −2.14%
9. Cambridge Massachusetts 118,927 105,162 +13.09%
10. Manchester New Hampshire112,673 109,565 +2.84%
11. Lowell Massachusetts 110,997 106,519 +4.20%
12. Waterbury Connecticut 107,568 110,366 −2.54%
13. Brockton Massachusetts 95,708 93,810 +2.02%
14. New Bedford 95,363 95,072 +0.31%
15. Quincy 94,470 92,271 +2.38%
16. Lynn 94,299 90,329 +4.40%

Have you seen the size of Texas' cty limits? And their density?

TX alo has 2x the population of NE

[bolehboleh]

We all know that Worcester is in a different MSA than Boston (but same CSA) and I think there's a good reason for that.

When you compare Worcester to to Boston MSA satellite cities like Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Framingham and Brockton, you see those cities, while somewhat large, still have a dependence on Boston and the surrounding metro.

If Boston didn't exist, Worcester could survive since it has its own business district, entertainment and other amenities of a central city in an MSA.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Have you seen the size of Texas' cty limits? And their density?

TX alo has 2x the population of NE

Hey look, it's a moving target. Those are much harder to hit. This thing that seemed implausible turns out to be true, so instead of saying "hey, I learned something" the natural reaction is to figure out why something that is objectively true isn't really true. Of course there's a reason Dallas has more 100k cities than New England, but that wasn't the question.

And yes, Texas (29m) is about 2x the population of NE (14m). We weren't looking at 100k+ cities in Texas, though. We were looking at Dallas, which has about half (7m) the population of New England. There are 26 cities in Texas with more 100k people:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population

[johngolf]

As a former MAer, I would have said no way Worcester is part of Boston no matter how someone defines anything. That said, what with property price increases people are moving further and further out so more and more places are "becoming" part of Boston as their residents work in the greater Boston area.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Yes. It does.

This is an easy one to just look up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas...00_inhabitants

1,000,000+

1. Dallas (1,343,573)
500,000–999,999

2. Fort Worth (909,585)
200,000–499,999

3. Arlington (398,854)
4. Plano (287,677)
5. Garland (239,928)
6. Irving (239,798)
7. Frisco (200,490)
100,000–199,999

8. McKinney (199,177)
9. Grand Prairie (194,543)
10. Denton (141,541)
11. Mesquite (140,937)
12. Carrollton (139,248)
13. Richardson (121,323)
14. Lewisville (109,212)
15. Allen (105,623)

For all of New England:

1. Boston Massachusetts 692,600 617,594 +12.14%
2. Worcester 185,428 184,045 +0.75%
3. Providence Rhode Island 179,883 178,042 +1.03%
4. Springfield Massachusetts 153,606 153,060 +0.36%
5. Bridgeport Connecticut 144,399 144,229 +0.12%
6. New Haven 130,250 129,779 +0.36%
7. Stamford 129,638 122,643 +5.70%
8. Hartford 122,105 124,775 −2.14%
9. Cambridge Massachusetts 118,927 105,162 +13.09%
10. Manchester New Hampshire112,673 109,565 +2.84%
11. Lowell Massachusetts 110,997 106,519 +4.20%
12. Waterbury Connecticut 107,568 110,366 −2.54%
13. Brockton Massachusetts 95,708 93,810 +2.02%
14. New Bedford 95,363 95,072 +0.31%
15. Quincy 94,470 92,271 +2.38%
16. Lynn 94,299 90,329 +4.40%

True enough but I know for a fact many of those aren’t “cities” certainly not what I would call independent cities. Like I know For certain Richardson is just considered a large suburban area. That’s what I was told by a college friend from Richardson. But okay-I guess

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

True enough but I know for a fact many of those aren’t “cities” certainly not what I would call independent cities. Like I know For certain Richardson is just considered a large suburban area. That’s what I was told by a college friend from Richardson. But okay-I guess

Yeah except I wouldn't call somewhere Lowell an independent city either. Sure it has the population density, but is it truly self-sufficient??? Absolutely not. Outside of having UMASS, it functions as an urban suburb in the same matter as Brockton, Quincy, Lynn, etc.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by bolehboleh

If Boston didn't exist, Worcester could survive since it has its own business district, entertainment and other amenities of a central city in an MSA.

Eh. It could survive maybe, but it’s had a hard enough time as is with Boston close by. I don’t think an isolated Worcester would be pretty.

Originally Posted by johngolf

As a former MAer, I would have said no way Worcester is part of Boston no matter how someone defines anything.

When did you leave?

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

True enough but I know for a fact many of those aren’t “cities” certainly not what I would call independent cities. Like I know For certain Richardson is just considered a large suburban area. That’s what I was told by a college friend from Richardson. But okay-I guess

It’s all a matter of land area. Saying that Grand Prairie, TX is more populous than Providence is like saying Jacksonville is the country’s 12th most populous city.