Largest cities without Interstate service

[JCinSummerfield]

It you are going to include Fostoria (which I wouldn't), then you must include Athens & Oxford,OH

[mjb2002]

GA: Athens, Albany, Rome, Waycross
NC: Boone, currently Rockingham, Greenville, Elizabeth City, New Bern, Jacksonville
SC: Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Clemson, Georgetown, Sumter, Beaufort

Your SC list is questionable at best, since Sumter has an interstate in its county (Interstate 95) and part of the City of Clemson is in Anderson County, which would automatically eliminate them from this list, since Anderson County has Interstate 85.

Furthermore, if your method was used, then Aiken would be included, since Interstate 20 is more than a couple of miles north of Aiken. There is a reason why Aiken wasn't included, and why Clemson and Sumter MUST be excluded.

You are correct about Georgetown, Beaufort and Hilton Head Island - I forgot to include these trio of cities in my original post.

[SSOWorld]

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):

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

I disagree on Beaver Dam, Monroe, River Falls, Marinette and Rhinelander.  The last has zero importance whatsoever - if you think that's the case, there 40 other cities with higher populations than Rhinelander (7700).

[bassoon1986]

Louisiana currently has Houma and New Iberia. Although they could eventually be I-49. But I wonder if Houma city limits extend to Us 90 now...

[tdindy88]

IN: Bloomington, Vincennes, Kokomo, Logansport/Peru, Plymouth

One other city for the Indiana list: Muncie. A city of 70,000, Muncie is several miles east of I-69 but never does the interstate pass through the city, hell you barely even notice. Bloomington is the current largest city, but by 2014 it will be connected via I-69 to the south, even if it takes a few more years for the interstate to enter the city limits. Muncie on the otherhand will be the largest city for many years to come, unless an interstate spur is built off of I-69.

[vdeane]

Lake Placid, NY is technically a village.  Ogdensburg, NY is an incorporated city with 6 times the population and is also not serviced by the interstate system; the closest freeway is ON 401, with I-81 being over 30 miles away.

[WichitaRoads]

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.

Admittedly, I forgot about Liberal! Who doesn't?    Anyway, I guess I didn't realize the population was up that high now. And, you're right about traffic there... that's why 54 I think already 4 lane divided from the border, but I could be wrong.

ICTRds

[WichitaRoads]

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

I'll have to contest Ft. Scott, Chanute, Concordia, Atchison, and Pratt in Kansas... just not big enough. And, Farden City? New one on me! 

ICTRds

[mukade]

IN: Bloomington, Vincennes, Kokomo, Logansport/Peru, Plymouth

One other city for the Indiana list: Muncie. A city of 70,000, Muncie is several miles east of I-69 but never does the interstate pass through the city, hell you barely even notice. Bloomington is the current largest city, but by 2014 it will be connected via I-69 to the south, even if it takes a few more years for the interstate to enter the city limits. Muncie on the otherhand will be the largest city for many years to come, unless an interstate spur is built off of I-69.

Muncie is certainly the best bet, but there is an outside chance that Kokomo would be the biggest in Indiana with no Interstate as it has annexed a ton of surrounding land. It remains to be seen what the revised population will be - I will guess around 60-65K.

[mgk920]

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):

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

I disagree on Beaver Dam, Monroe, River Falls, Marinette and Rhinelander.  The last has zero importance whatsoever - if you think that's the case, there 40 other cities with higher populations than Rhinelander (7700).

Heck, Racine, WI does not have an I-route entering its city limits.

I-(41)/94 passes through the City of Kenosha, OTOH.

Also, US/I-41 does not enter the City of Menasha.

Mike

[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.

Admittedly, I forgot about Liberal! Who doesn't?    Anyway, I guess I didn't realize the population was up that high now. And, you're right about traffic there... that's why 54 I think already 4 lane divided from the border, but I could be wrong.

ICTRds

I realize that it was an honest mistake. When the 2012 Census figures are released, I would not be surprised if it is higher than that 20,861 figure. US 54 is four-lanes from Western Ave. in Liberal to the Oklahoma border, about 4 miles west-southwest of town. KDOT has implemented a plan to 4-lane to the Meade-Seward County Line east of Liberal, but it will be a few years until that is completed.

[Takumi]

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.

And I-73 is planned to serve, but not enter, Martinsville. Either way, Lynchburg is bigger than Martinsville and is nowhere close to any interstate, current or planned.

[kphoger]

Of course, if we want to be anal and talk about the most populated incorporated municipalities which don't have an Interstate's interchange within their borders, we'd probably get a huge list of large suburbs.  So let's not do that.

Except southern California, since the concept of "suburb" seems to escape residents from Santa Ana to San Ber'dino to San Fernando.

Admittedly, I forgot about Liberal! Who doesn't?   

If you've ever had to drive all the way through Liberal during a long day of driving, you'll be slow to forget it.  I've always felt like a bull bucking to get out of the chute.  Come on!  Won't this town ever end!

[jwolfer]

Toms River NJ is really nothing more than an 'urb'less suburb... while technically part of the NYC metro area its not really part of NYC or Philadelphia...

Atlantic City has no interstates but in my mind it has 2... it is the eastern terminus of I-76 should be on the ACE and I-87 should be on the GSP( I-287 woudl make more sense too) but lets not get into fiction.  The GSP and ACE is not part of the Interstate System but they serves the same purpose.  Had NJ not built the GSP, ACE and NJTP, there is no doubt in my mind some routing of interstates would have occurred.

[kphoger]

Wow, I just realized that I unknowingly referenced a Frank Zappa song twice in my last post.  15 points to anyone who noticed.

[Milepost61]

Greeley, CO.

I-25 runs about 15 miles to the west and several exits lead to Greeley (including US 34), but the interstate doesn't run through it. Other than that, La Junta, CO is nowhere near an interstate.

Yeah, and neither are Boulder, Durango, Steamboat Springs, Lamar and Cañon City which are all bigger than La Junta.

[Road Hog]

Greeley, CO.

I-25 runs about 15 miles to the west and several exits lead to Greeley (including US 34), but the interstate doesn't run through it. Other than that, La Junta, CO is nowhere near an interstate.

Yeah, and neither are Boulder, Durango, Steamboat Springs, Lamar and Cañon City which are all bigger than La Junta.

Boulder is bigger than Greeley by about 4,500.

[roadman65]

Toms River NJ is really nothing more than an 'urb'less suburb... while technically part of the NYC metro area its not really part of NYC or Philadelphia...

Atlantic City has no interstates but in my mind it has 2... it is the eastern terminus of I-76 should be on the ACE and I-87 should be on the GSP( I-287 woudl make more sense too) but lets not get into fiction.  The GSP and ACE is not part of the Interstate System but they serves the same purpose.  Had NJ not built the GSP, ACE and NJTP, there is no doubt in my mind some routing of interstates would have occurred.

I-87 could never be on the GSP, because of the Truck ban north of Exit 105.   Though, I see your point as the GSP could be an honorary member of the interstate system, just as the ACE.

[PHLBOS]

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):
MA: Plymouth, Barnstable/Hyannis, Gloucester, Pittsfield

If by within a couple miles of an existing Interstate, you literally mean 2 miles; you should include both the Cities City of Salem & Lynn to that list.  Both are more than 2 miles away from I-90 (Lynn) and I-95 (Lynn & Salem).  Note: the Northeast Expressway (current US 1) hasn't been a part of I-95 since 1975.  Salem is more than 2 miles away from I-95.

Edited after realizing & recalling that the City of Lynn's northwestern boundary extends almost as far as Goodwin's Circle (MA 129 w/a connector ramp to I-95 & US 1).  The Lynnfield/Lynn border is located just east of that circle.

[hobsini2]

Wow. You guys either took me too literal (PHLBOS) or completely missed the bit where I said population/importance. Just because a town may not be big in pop does not mean it is not an important town for education, commerce, and/or tourism. For example, everyone has heard of Wisconsin Dells. But the pop of the Dells is less than 3000. But it IS important as one of the major tourist areas in the Midwest, hence why WisDOT uses Wis Dells from places like Madison and La Crosse.  That's the same reason why I chose Lake Placid NY over Ogdensburg NY.

Places like Muncie IN, Rochester MN, and Racine/Kenosha WI I left off because of the closeness of an interstate to that area. While technically they may not be within the city limits, I consider a city that is say 5 miles away to be within the "outskirts" of the city.

Also, a lot of these places that I picked are also important references for some of us who are storm chasers because of the major  junctions, such as Chanute and Pratt KS.

Now with that being said, I hope you guys understand why some cities and towns were picked for the list. Are there some questionable ones? Certainly to some people.  I just want you all to understand the "method behind the madness".

[formulanone]

Dothan, Alabama is fairly large, at 65,000 residents (100,000 in the metropolitan area), but is not served by any type of freeway nor expressway. I-10 is about 30 miles south.

[empirestate]

So we see there's a bit of subjectiveness as to what's "on" an Interstate or not...myself, I reflexively consider Little Rock to be "on" I-40, and Boston to be "on" I-95, yet I consider neither Chicago nor NYC to be "on" I-80. Am I just making pat judgments based on my preconception of how those roads relate to those cities, or are there some underlying criteria that I'm unwittingly applying?

[vdeane]

That's the same reason why I chose Lake Placid NY over Ogdensburg NY.

Lake Placid is NOT city though.  It's a village.  I mentioned Ogdensburg because it's farther from an interstate than any other city in NY; every other city in NY not directly on an interstate is within a 10 minute drive of one.  If we're going to include villages, than you have to include the Canton/Potsdam area because of the four colleges.

[Road Hog]

Texas has a legal differentiation between a city, a town and a village in its local government codes irrespective of population. It depends on how the charter is set up. I think Highland Park is Texas' biggest "town," although Prosper will blow their doors in the next decade.

[empirestate]

That's the same reason why I chose Lake Placid NY over Ogdensburg NY.

Lake Placid is NOT city though.  It's a village.  I mentioned Ogdensburg because it's farther from an interstate than any other city in NY; every other city in NY not directly on an interstate is within a 10 minute drive of one.

Ithaca.