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To me it's small. It's all relative. I grew up in the Phila. metro to NYC parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. My childhood was spent in those two cities. Then I lived in DC for 20+ years. Compared to what I'm used to, Greensboro is small. LOL
The city itself is considered small if comparing to a major city however the overall metro (CSA) population would rank as mid-size at 1.6 million. Much like the Triangle, if the Triad cities were to combine into one city you'd have cities in the Triangle and Triad on the levels of Charlotte and Nashville. Greensboro has a ton of potential and needs leaders with better vision to boost downtown vibrancy because the city has a nice collection of historic buildings.
Having lived in DC, I know several people from NYC who think DC is relatively small and kind of slow.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Aristotle
The city itself is considered small if comparing to a major city however the overall metro (CSA) population would rank as mid-size at 1.6 million. Much like the Triangle, if the Triad cities were to combine into one city you'd have cities in the Triangle and Triad on the levels of Charlotte and Nashville. Greensboro has a ton of potential and needs leaders with better vision to boost downtown vibrancy because the city has a nice collection of historic buildings.
Having lived in DC, I know several people from NYC who think DC is relatively small and kind of slow.
Yes, I agree that it's all relative. When I was about to visit Greensboro, I thought it might be a potential nice, small city for me to live in. To me, having only lived in the Phila. and DC metros and having spent a lot of time in the NYC metro, Greensboro is a small city. Durham is small, too.
To a born and bred NYCer, almost any city in the US is going to seem small. And yes, DC is not nearly as exciting. Many find it stuffy. I don't know why someone has to be defensive that I think Greensboro is small. I'm sure people who live on a ranch in North Dakota think Bismarck is a big city. Doesn't mean that I do. And size doesn't mean everything. There are great small cities and awful large ones. I happen to not find Greensboro very enticing, regardless of its size label. That's why we didn't choose to live there, even though my husband's job transfer was to Burlington.
Having said all that, and back to the OP's question, I'd still probably consider Greensboro North Carolina's 3rd city, as Durham gets lumped in with Raleigh, and Greensboro represents a third metro area after Charlotte and the Triangle.
Yes, I agree that it's all relative. When I was about to visit Greensboro, I thought it might be a potential nice, small city for me to live in. To me, having only lived in the Phila. and DC metros and having spent a lot of time in the NYC metro, Greensboro is a small city. Durham is small, too.
To a born and bred NYCer, almost any city in the US is going to seem small. And yes, DC is not nearly as exciting. Many find it stuffy. I don't know why someone has to be defensive that I think Greensboro is small. I'm sure people who live on a ranch in North Dakota think Bismarck is a big city. Doesn't mean that I do. And size doesn't mean everything. There are great small cities and awful large ones. I happen to not find Greensboro very enticing, regardless of its size label. That's why we didn't choose to live there, even though my husband's job transfer was to Burlington.
Having said all that, and back to the OP's question, I'd still probably consider Greensboro North Carolina's 3rd city, as Durham gets lumped in with Raleigh, and Greensboro represents a third metro area after Charlotte and the Triangle.
Yep, Greensboro the largest city in the Triad and Durham is the middle-sized city of the Triangle.
I agree. And Greensboro would be considered a mid size city. Greensboro's population is actually bigger than Orlando and Birmingham, Al. Now Orlando does have a much larger metro population. Its like the Charlotte/Atlanta comparison. Charlotte is bigger than Atlanta but Atlanta's metro is much larger than Charlotte's in population. To me a small city is between 10,000 and 200,000. A mid size city is between 200,000 and 400,000. A large city is 400,000 and higher.
U. S. sources say a mid size city is between 100,000 and 300,000.
It's all relative. For a lot of people, the smallest you can get and still be called a city is around the size of Greensboro, so calling it a small city isn't preposterous.
I agree. And Greensboro would be considered a mid size city. Greensboro's population is actually bigger than Orlando and Birmingham, Al. Now Orlando does have a much larger metro population. Its like the Charlotte/Atlanta comparison. Charlotte is bigger than Atlanta but Atlanta's metro is much larger than Charlotte's in population. To me a small city is between 10,000 and 200,000. A mid size city is between 200,000 and 400,000. A large city is 400,000 and higher.
U. S. sources say a mid size city is between 100,000 and 300,000.
I think urbanized area is a better judge for the feel of the size of a city. This is why places like Orlando and Birmingham feel larger than Greensboro (city) although the overall population numbers don't reflect that delta since annexation laws aren't created equal.
Orlando: 1.5 million (32)
Birmingham: 749k (55)
Greensboro: 311K (120)
Greensboro is a "small" city but resides in a larger CSA (1.6 million) than a city like Birmingham (1.3 million). Both metros could be classified as mid-size metros but Birmingham city does indeed feel larger than Greensboro city. Urbanized area population isn't the only consideration when assessing the size of city but does give better insight than solely relying on city population. Of course, Greensboro and High Point are in the same county and are basically joined at the hip. So, you have to dig a deeper because urbanized areas within close proximity like these two cities function as a unit so the population story isn't restricted to urbanized area.
Last edited by Big Aristotle; 01-06-2017 at 07:22 AM..
I'm originally from NY, and I don't consider Charlotte to be a real city (or Atlanta) for that matter. They're small, not dense, have no real cultural institutions, etc.
Nonetheless, they're cheap and offer an easy life.
In any event, Greensboro and Durham are both tiny. I think that Greensboro is way better than Durham though.
I'm originally from NY, and I don't consider Charlotte to be a real city (or Atlanta) for that matter. They're small, not dense, have no real cultural institutions, etc.
Nonetheless, they're cheap and offer an easy life.
In any event, Greensboro and Durham are both tiny. I think that Greensboro is way better than Durham though.
I'm just saying. NYC isn't all that great neither. It's sad when everyone I know from São Paulo comments how dirty it is. NYC isn't the end all. There's an entire world filled with much more culture. Even cities a fraction of the size have more culture than NYC could dream of. Billboards of McDonalds in Time Square isn't that cultural to me.
Also, considering the sea of apartments over $10m in NYC, there's clearly an enormous international demand to be there.
Lastly, I've spent a lot of time in São Paulo, and it's horrible. Your friends are either lying or crazy.
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