Largest cities without Interstate service

[twinsfan87]

MN: Technically it's Rochester, since I-90 stays fully south of the city limits. If you don't want to count Rochester or any Twin Cities suburbs, it falls to Mankato.

I think we can count Rochester without being technicanal.  Suburban development doesn't come anywhere near I-90, and the mileage signs on I-90 give distance to "Rochester Exit" and not simply Rochester.

We shouldn't count Twin Cities suburbs because they are suburbs of a larger urban area which has several Interstates.

The Rochester airport is within city limits, and it is only 1/2 mile north of the I-90/US 63 exit.

[empirestate]

NY: Poughkeepsie

Ithaca and Auburn are also close contenders, especially if you consider I-84 to be within Poughkeepsie's immediate metro.

How would you handle someplace like Freeport? It's not near I-495 and has over 40,000 population, but it's certainly within the Long Island agglomeration. Are we thinking that any place on Long Island is "on" I-495?

I'm beginning to feel we need a forum-approved definition of what it means to be "on" or "served by" an Interstate...

[Brandon]

NY: Poughkeepsie

Ithaca and Auburn are also close contenders, especially if you consider I-84 to be within Poughkeepsie's immediate metro.

How would you handle someplace like Freeport? It's not near I-495 and has over 40,000 population, but it's certainly within the Long Island agglomeration. Are we thinking that any place on Long Island is "on" I-495?

I'm beginning to feel we need a forum-approved definition of what it means to be "on" or "served by" an Interstate...

And why restrict it to an interstate only?  There are plenty of non-interstate freeways that are just as good and are connected top the main state freeway system.

[Alps]

NY: Poughkeepsie

Ithaca and Auburn are also close contenders, especially if you consider I-84 to be within Poughkeepsie's immediate metro.

How would you handle someplace like Freeport? It's not near I-495 and has over 40,000 population, but it's certainly within the Long Island agglomeration. Are we thinking that any place on Long Island is "on" I-495?

I'm beginning to feel we need a forum-approved definition of what it means to be "on" or "served by" an Interstate...

And why restrict it to an interstate only?  There are plenty of non-interstate freeways that are just as good and are connected top the main state freeway system.

Separate topic!

[mgk920]

MN: Technically it's Rochester, since I-90 stays fully south of the city limits. If you don't want to count Rochester or any Twin Cities suburbs, it falls to Mankato.

Rochester stops just short of I-90 along US 63, too.  One small annexation and it's in.

http://goo.gl/maps/FbKQ1

Mike

[sandiaman]

 Somebody  listed  Brigham  City  UT,  but  that  shouldn't  qualify  since   I 84  & I 15  are  only   a  few miles  from  the  city center.
No  interstates  close  by:
Durango, CO
Farmington,NM
Lewiston,ID
Key West,FL
Selma,AL
Roswell,NM
Santa Rosa,CA
Salinas, CA

[vtk]

Separate topic!

I imagine you pulling your hair out as you frantically make that suggestion.  Would that be inaccurate?

PS – That might be my new sig...

[rarnold]

In Kansas, let's see:

Towns over 15,000 in population - approx. populations:

Manhattan (52,000) (close connections to I-70 by way of K-177 and K-18, but still 10-15 miles from an Interstate)
Hutchinson (41,000) (K-96 is freeway to US 50, and 50 is being "upgraded" a little)
Dodge City (25,000) and Garden City (24,000) (served by US 400 - which will most likely never see an upgrade to Interstate)
Pittsburg (21,000) (served by 69 and 400, close to Joplin and I-44)
Great Bend (15,000) (served by 281 and 56)

If I go any further, I'll be lisiting more burgs of little to no consequence outside of the regions of Kansas they sit in, or cities that are really just suburbs of KCK, like Overland Park or Olathe. (Besides, most of these are served by a 3di).

Most cities of consequence are served by either a mainline Interstate, or by a 3di - Wichita (375,000), KCK (145,000), Topeka (125,000), Lawrence (85,000), even Salina (47,000), Emporia (25,000), and Hays (20,000).

ICTRds

Liberal (pop. 20,861) would have just as much "consequence outside of its region" as Dodge City or Garden City. Plus, US 54 carries a lot more traffic than US 400, and I would guess more truck traffic than US 50, but I have no support for that assumption.

[Kacie Jane]

Walla Walla, WA

Wenatchee was the first one I thought of, which is extremely close in population, but Bremerton beats both by about 7,000. source

Oh hell, I just wanted to type Walla Walla, WA.

Can't blame you there.

wallawallawallawallawallawallawallawallawallawallawalla

[hbelkins]

Kentucky's would be Owensboro, although it's on the parkway system and will eventually get I-x69.

[Charles2]

Biggest city in Alabama: Dothan.
Biggest metro area in Alabama: Florence/Muscle Shoals

[Mr. Matté]

For NJ, if you're going solely by municipal boundaries, Trenton is the largest city (10th largest in state) in the state without an Interstate crossing into city limits (195 and 295 intersect in neighboring Hamilton Township) though Lakewood Township is the largest municipality without an Interstate (7th overall). AC and Vineland may be in the largest regions without an I but they are 55th and 24th largest overall respectively.

[roadman65]

For NJ, if you're going solely by municipal boundaries, Trenton is the largest city (10th largest in state) in the state without an Interstate crossing into city limits (195 and 295 intersect in neighboring Hamilton Township) though Lakewood Township is the largest municipality without an Interstate (7th overall). AC and Vineland may be in the largest regions without an I but they are 55th and 24th largest overall respectively.

Its really hard in New Jersey to tell which cities are larger than others unless you have the facts.   True, Trenton is even larger than Camden.  Heck Edison is larger than Camden, and even AC.  Woodbridge and Edison are both in the top five cities in New Jersey and  they are only townships not incorporated cities like Newark and Jersey City are.

I think for the sake of this topic, the word largest cities, is broad.  You cannot really compare to other municipalities in its own state, or else Burlington, VT (that is Vermont's largest city) if in New York State would not even make the top 50 or Cheyenne, WY if in Florida would be the size of Ocala, one of Florida's smaller cities as it is  in the shadow of many bigger ones with in its own state is Wyoming's largest community.

Vineland may not be in the top ten in New Jersey, but it qualifies, I think, as a large city without an interstate for this topic.  It does stand out alone on a map, with only nearby Millville as a companion and other townships surrounding the rest even if those townships have more people than Vineland itself.

[InterstateNG]

In Michigan:
If separate cities within major metro areas counted (all of these within Metro Detroit):
Sterling Heights (129,699)
Rochester Hills (70,995)
Pontiac (59,515)
Dearborn Heights (57,774)

I-75 runs no more than 2 miles away from the city limits of the first three (and much closer to Pontiac/Rochester Hills) and I-94 runs maybe a 1/4 mile from Dearborn Heights.  696 is 3 miles from Sterling Heights.  I'd agree with whomever said suburbs shouldn't be counted.  In the above quartet, all of those are served by an interstate.  Certainly compared with, say, Keego Harbor.

An interesting experiment, obviously its own thread, would be to see which suburb in a given metro area is the least served by the respective freeway network.

[hobsini2]

While excluding ones that are within a couple miles of an existing Interstate, these are cities of population/importance that I would consider for this list (lower 48 only):
AL: Dothan, Selma, Florence/Muscle Shoals
AZ:Douglas, Sierra Vista, Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City
AR: currently Jonesboro, Hot Springs
CA: Fresno, Bakersfield, Modesto, Santa Rosa, Salinas/Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, South Lake Tahoe, Lancaster/Palmdale, Visalia, Eureka, Yuba City, Chico
CO: Durango, La Junta, Lamar, Boulder, Greeley, Aspen, Cortez, Steamboat Springs
CT: Storrs, Torrington
DE: Dover, Lewes
FL: Key West, Sebring/Avon Park/Winter Haven, Homestead, Spring Hill, Panama City, Ft Walton Beach
GA: Athens, Albany, Rome, Waycross
ID: Moscow, Lewiston
IL: Carbondale, Monmouth, Macomb, Freeport, Steator, Charleston, Alton
IN: Bloomington, Vincennes, Kokomo, Logansport/Peru, Plymouth
IA: Ft Madison, Keokuk, Muscatine, Clinton, Dubuque, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Ft Dodge
KS: Pittsburg, Ft Scott, Liberal, Dodge City, Farden City, Hutchinson, Chanute, Atchison, Great bend, Concordia, Pratt
KY: Owensboro, Henderson? (I know I-69 will go by it but is it signed yet?), Ft Knox, Pikeville
LA: currently Houma
ME: Bath, Ellsworth, Bar Harbor, Presque Isle/Caribou
MD: Salisbury, Ocean City, Cambridge
MA: Plymouth, Barsntable/Hyannis, Gloucester, Pittsfield
MI: Traverse City, Marquette, Ludington, Escanaba, Mt Pleasant, Midland
MN: Mankato, Willmar, Int'l Falls, Winona, Red Wing, Brainerd, Bemidji, Detroit Lakes, Grand Rapids
MS: Natchez, currently Tupelo, Greenwood, currently Tunica, Columbus/Starkville, currently Greenville, Oxford, currently Clarksdale
MO: Poplar Bluff, Kirksville, Jefferson City, Branson, Chillicothe
MT: Kalispell, Havre
NE: Scottsbluff, Valentine, O'Neill, Norfolk, Fremont, Beatrice, Hastings, McCook, Alliance, Chadron, Columbus
NV: currently unsigned Carson City, Ely, Fallon, Laughlin
NH: Rochester, Laconia, Keene, Nashua
NJ: Atlantic City, Toms River, Cape May, Vineland/Millville, Red Bank/Asbury Park
NM: Roswell, Carlsbad, Hobbs, Clovis/Portales, Farmington, Silver City, Alamogordo, Artesia, Taos
NY: Lake Placid, Ithaca, Oswego
NC: Boone, currently Rockingham, Greenville, Elizabeth City, New Bern, Jacksonville
ND: Minot, Devils Lake, Williston
OH: Portsmouth. Stuebenville, Bucyrus, Lancaster, Cillicothe, currently Marion, Defiance
OK: McAlester, Enid, Woodward, Durant, Hugo, Bartlesville, Muskogee, Altus
OR: Bend, Coos Bay, Brookings, Astoria, Lincoln City, Newport, Klamath Falls, Florence
PA: Johnstown, Gettysburg, Lancaster, Indiana
RI: Newport, iffy with Woonsocket (pretty close to I-295 but some may feel different)
SC: Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Clemson, Georgetown, Sumter, Beaufort
SD: Aberdeen, Huron, Pierre, Yankton, Vermillion
TN: Oak Ridge, McMinnville, Gallatin, currently Union City
TX: San Angelo, Brownsville, McAllen, Harlingen, College Station/Bryan, Killeen, currently Victoria, currently Lufkin, currently Nacogdoches, Paris, Sherman, Port Arthur, Freeport/Lake Jackson, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Presidio, Childress, Dumas
UT: Logan, Price, Moab
VT: Bennington, Rutland
VA: Lynchburg, Martinsville, Danville, Suffolk
WA: Walla Walla, Port Angeles, Aberdeen, Wenatchee, Pullman, Bremerton
WV: Weirton, Elkins
WI: currently Fond du Lac, currently Oshkosh, currently Appleton/Neenah/Menasha, Sturgeon Bay, Beaver Dam, Monroe, River Falls, Marshfield, West Bend, Wisconsin Rapids, Marinette, Rhinelander
WY: Riverton, Jackson, Cody

[Rover_0]

Brigham City, UT

I'll see your Brigham City and raise you Logan.

[Kacie Jane]

While excluding ones that are within a couple miles of an existing Interstate, these are cities of population/importance that I would consider for this list (lower 48 only):

I'm kind of curious as to your use of slashes.  Florence/Muscle Shoals is obvious, but Winter Haven is far closer to I-4 than it is to Sebring.  The one that confused me the most (as a former Monmouth County resident) was "Red Bank/Asbury Park".  The two are quite distant from each other by New Jersey standards (although not as distant as that Florida example), and you ignore cities of perhaps greater importance in between: Long Branch, Eatontown... or not in between but the largest in the county, Middletown.

[hobsini2]

Kacie, the reason why I had Red Bank/Asbury Park is because as someone who is from out of state trying to have a general area instead of picking every city within that area, I picked two that have a bit more cache with out of towners, towns people HAVE heard of even if they might not be the largest cities in population. Give you an example of what I mean.  You are more likely to have heard of Wisconsin Dells instead of Baraboo even though Baraboo is bigger.

As to Sebring/Avon Park/Winter Haven, again another area that has a group of cities that are significant even though Winter Haven is closer to I-4 than closer to Sebring. Sebring is the southern part of the area and Winter Haven is the northern part.

[Kacie Jane]

Fair enough, I see your logic now.  But I hasten to point out that the topic is largest cities, not cities with the most pop culture cache.  We devolved into merely large long before your post, so I'd say Red Bank definitely qualifies, but Asbury Park isn't really the center of anything other than the music scene in the early 70s as Springsteen was ascending.  But of course, it has 4,000 more people than Red Bank, so what do I know?

But I definitely would have included Long Branch.

[jp the roadgeek]

CT: Storrs, Torrington

Bristol has a larger population than Torrington, and is more centrally located.  Torrington has CT 8, which is pretty much up to interstate standards.  Bristol has 4 undivided 2 and 4 lane roads that serve it: US 6 (major traffic nightmare), CT 72 (slightly improved, but an expressway from I-84 in Plainviille to CT 8 in Thomaston would have been better), CT 229 (2-4 lanes) , and CT 69 (rural arterial).  As far as Storrs, I can make a technical argument that it is served by a road that was supposed to be an interstate.  Storrs is part of the town of Mansfield, which a small piece of the US 6 bypass that was supposed to be I-84 to Providence passes through.  But in reality, it's a harrowing experience going to games at Gampel; one road in and out.

[NE2]

NV: currently unsigned Carson City

I-580 has been signed for months.

[vtk]

OH: Portsmouth. Stuebenville, Bucyrus, Lancaster, Cillicothe, currently Marion, Defiance

• That's Chillicothe.
• What do you mean by "currently" Marion?
• Defiance?  I didn't think it was that big.  But it does remind me of Van Wert, which I think can stand with the others listed.

[Kacie Jane]

• What do you mean by "currently" Marion?

I'm assuming that's a reference to I-73.  I suppose no one's informed him that it has a snowball's chance in hell.

[amroad17]

For Virginia, I-664 does go through the city limits of Suffolk though far (12-15 miles) from the downtown area and Danville, in the future, will have I-785.

Many cities on the list by hobsini2 will have interstate access in the future and quite a few should have interstate access planned for them (state capitals like Dover, DE, Jefferson City, MO, and even Pierre, SD--although Dover is served by a limited access toll highway).

[vtk]

• What do you mean by "currently" Marion?

I'm assuming that's a reference to I-73.  I suppose no one's informed him that it has a snowball's chance in hell.

That would affect Chillicothe and Portsmouth, too.  Ooh, I just remebered Fostoria!