AARoads Forum

Non-Road Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Road Hog on December 19, 2021, 03:54:37 AM

Title: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: Road Hog on December 19, 2021, 03:54:37 AM
I was thinking of Fort Worth and how much it has grown in the last 30 years. The core city was about 300K in 1990 and now it's probably triple that through aggressive annexations. Just about all that growth is due to expansion in neighborhoods that could be called "suburban" in nature but are in actuality part of the central city.

Are there any comps nationally? Orlando seems one to me.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: tolbs17 on December 19, 2021, 04:18:08 AM
Raleigh, North Carolina as well as Fayetteville can classify as one. When I go there, it doesn't feel like a real city compared to cities like Charlotte or Atlanta.

Winston-Salem and Greensboro were more populated than Raleigh back in the 1960s but now are behind.

Cary too... A lot of urban sprawl happened there and their downtown looks like a town with 30,000 people.

Richmond, Virginia looks more like a real city to me.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2021, 09:39:55 AM
I wonder if they have a treatment for Urban nowadays:



Oh wait, they do:

https://www.espn.com/blog/jacksonville-jaguars/post/_/id/29784/jacksonville-jaguars-owner-shad-khan-fixed-his-biggest-mistake-he-cant-afford-to-make-another-one
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: Takumi on December 19, 2021, 12:16:09 PM
Virginia Beach is the largest city in Virginia, and Chesapeake is up there as well, but are both almost entirely suburban and still have some rural parts.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: Scott5114 on December 19, 2021, 01:41:36 PM
The vast majority of Oklahoma City's land area is either suburban or rural in character.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: SkyPesos on December 19, 2021, 02:18:54 PM
How do we differentiate between urban and suburban here, especially with single family homes residential areas? Do streets laid out in a grid count as urban, and windy streets/cul de sacs count as suburban?
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: Bruce on December 20, 2021, 01:13:19 AM
Most American cities probably fit the bill.

For example, 69% of Seattle's residential land is zoned exclusively for single-family homes.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: Road Hog on December 20, 2021, 01:38:22 AM
Quote from: SkyPesos on December 19, 2021, 02:18:54 PM
How do we differentiate between urban and suburban here, especially with single family homes residential areas? Do streets laid out in a grid count as urban, and windy streets/cul de sacs count as suburban?
I'd say any type of themed subdivision or planned development consisting mostly of single-family homes (especially those new within the last 15 to 20 years) would classify as "suburban" in style.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: KCRoadFan on December 20, 2021, 11:07:29 AM
Kansas City, where I live, comes to mind - to me, the central part in Jackson County is the "real"  city, whereas the Northland (Clay and Platte Counties) - as well as the areas of the Jackson County portion east of 435 out by the stadiums, along with south KC - feel like a bunch of suburbs, even though it's all within city limits.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: KCRoadFan on December 20, 2021, 11:09:27 AM
Quote from: Road Hog on December 19, 2021, 03:54:37 AM
I was thinking of Fort Worth and how much it has grown in the last 30 years. The core city was about 300K in 1990 and now it's probably triple that through aggressive annexations. Just about all that growth is due to expansion in neighborhoods that could be called "suburban" in nature but are in actuality part of the central city.

Are there any comps nationally? Orlando seems one to me.

Looking at the maps of Dallas and Houston, it appears that those cities are like that too. Seems to be common in Texas.
Title: Re: Urbs that are mostly suburban
Post by: webny99 on December 20, 2021, 03:22:07 PM
Quote from: SkyPesos on December 19, 2021, 02:18:54 PM
How do we differentiate between urban and suburban here, especially with single family homes residential areas? Do streets laid out in a grid count as urban, and windy streets/cul de sacs count as suburban?

"Windy" threw me off for a minute!  :D

It's a good question, though. Is this (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1654943,-77.5595233,3a,75y,88.66h,86.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s874h0qM-i1OVYoQEnKAD3w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1), for example, considered suburban? I would personally call it urban since it's with city limits. Yet I understand this doesn't work for cities in the South and West that annex all their suburbs, which is another reason I dislike that practice.