Cities that are a lot bigger or smaller than you thought they were

[TheHighwayMan3561]

From the smallest control cities thread, someone posted about Wisconsin Dells. I was going to bring up Tomah because I thought it was only 2-3K, but it's roughly 10K. I actually didn't know Tomah was that large.

[NWI_Irish96]

Worcester, MA now has over 200,000 people for the first time since 1950. It is the second largest city in New England, but because it is so close to Boston its size isn't as noticeable. 

I would have never guessed that Worcester is bigger than Providence.

[Rothman]

Worcester, MA now has over 200,000 people for the first time since 1950. It is the second largest city in New England, but because it is so close to Boston its size isn't as noticeable. 

I would have never guessed that Worcester is bigger than Providence.

Now that the lead levels in Providence's public water supply are well known, perhaps not so much...

[JKRhodes]

I remember when Gilbert, Arizona had 35,000 people. Was back there a month ago and realized the population has since ballooned to almost 300K and there's nothing rural about it anymore aside from a few holdout dairy farms. And to think it's still incorporated under Arizona law as a town...

[JKRhodes]

Drive thru Farmington, New Mexico about 8 years ago and was shocked by the traffic congestion and number of stores and restaurants.

[Road Hog]

Both McKinney and Frisco have now surpassed Little Rock in population. They're only within a few thousand of each other, but I still find it amazing that McKinney manages to have just 3 high schools (one of them still 5A) while Frisco now has 12.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Worcester, MA now has over 200,000 people for the first time since 1950. It is the second largest city in New England, but because it is so close to Boston its size isn't as noticeable. 

I would have never guessed that Worcester is bigger than Providence.

Nor would I until relatively recently. Both cities have grown since 2000, but Worcester seems to have outpaced Providence for reasons that aren't always clear since they're so similar.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Another tidbit I found surprising is that Stamford is now Connecticut's second largest city, edging New Haven by around 1k.

[andrepoiy]

I'm from the fifth-largest metro area in USA/Canada.

When I visit a new place, oftentimes I am in awe about how many times I can fit this city or state inside of the Toronto area, and realize how big this metro area really is. E.g. visiting Vermont, which has a population of just 600k, I was in awe that so few people live in a state with a population less than Toronto's biggest suburb, Mississauga.

[PColumbus73]

Since the development in Myrtle Beach is spread along the coast, it feels bigger than it is. The population within Myrtle Beach city limits is about 37,000.

But, the population of Horry County is around 350,000, including all the cities.

[wriddle082]

Since the development in Myrtle Beach is spread along the coast, it feels bigger than it is. The population within Myrtle Beach city limits is about 37,000.

But, the population of Horry County is around 350,000, including all the cities.

Lots of population living in unincorporated areas.  And the tourist population during peak vacation times makes it feel even bigger.  The road network should be built out to sustain a population at least twice that of Horry County.  Yet they still can't get a groundbreaking on a real interstate.

[webny99]

Worcester, MA now has over 200,000 people for the first time since 1950. It is the second largest city in New England, but because it is so close to Boston its size isn't as noticeable. 

I would have never guessed that Worcester is bigger than Providence.

I would've guessed they were similar in size and certainly in the same "tier" of city. But then I'm baking in some level of outsized recognition of Providence relative to its size, given it's a capital city and dominant in RI, while Boston is dominant in MA.

[dvferyance]

I was amazed when I found out Wilmington DE has only 70,000. I did once have a peak population of 112,000 but I would have guessed more than that. I wonder if there is a lot of unincorporated developed areas around the city that makes it feel bigger than it is.

[Ted$8roadFan]

I was amazed when I found out Wilmington DE has only 70,000. I did once have a peak population of 112,000 but I would have guessed more than that. I wonder if there is a lot of unincorporated developed areas around the city that makes it feel bigger than it is.

I believe that it is. There are a lot of places with Wilmington addresses that aren't part of the incorporated city.

[bing101]

From my multiple trips to the Philippines in recent years:

- the extreme density of the Metro Manila area (with 13 million people in just the metro region) means that some ostensible "suburbs" are pretty large in size:

Caloocan (granted, essentially two non-contiguous areas that border Manila and Quezon City) at 1.6 million
Las Pinas at 600K (just a bit smaller than the actual destination city/financial center of Makati)
Paranaque at 689K (larger than Makati)
Pasay at 440K (though a friend of mine doesn't consider Pasay as a suburb at all)
Malabon at 380K
Marikina at 456K
Muntinlupa at 543K (this city includes the suburban commercial district of Alabang)
Valenzuela at 714K

- My family's hometown in Concepcion, Tarlac was described to me over the years as some sort of small town, when it is more like a Modesto-type big town amidst a farming area.  Current population: 169K

- The largest city in the province of Bulacan (partially rural, partially Manila suburbs) is San Jose Del Monte...at...651K!

- I've known for years that Quezon City is larger than the actual City of Manila, but it's wild that this is by a factor of about 170% (Manila at 1.8 million, Quezon City at nearly 3 million) - it's not obvious that QC has more people than Chicago!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Clark
Metro Clark in the Philippines has the same total Amount of people as the populations of Manhattan, Sacramento County, Philadelphia, Providence at 1 million people.

[Scott5114]

I was recently surprised to find out just how many large cities there are along I-95 in Florida, many of which I had never heard of.

[roadman65]

Boone, NC is bigger than I thought.

[SkyPesos]

I learned recently that Lexington KY's city limits population is larger than Cincinnati. Would've not guessed that at all from how much urban Cincinnati feels in every way, and the metro area population for each shows.

[amroad17]

I learned recently that Lexington KY's city limits population is larger than Cincinnati. Would've not guessed that at all from how much urban Cincinnati feels in every way, and the metro area population for each shows.

Lexington's city limits encompass all of Fayette County.  The city limits area is around 285 square miles verses Cincinnati's 79.5 square miles, giving a population density of 1137/sq mi verses 3970/sq mi, with the totals (using 2020 census figures) of 322,570 residents for Lexington and 309,317 residents for Cincinnati.  However, it is surprising that Lexington's population has surpassed Cincinnati's considering that in 2000, Lexington had ~260,000 residents and Cincinnati had ~331,000 residents.

Most of the increase in Lexington's population seems centered around New Circle Road and Man O' War Blvd between US 68 and I-75 south of the downtown area. 

[wriddle082]

I learned recently that Lexington KY's city limits population is larger than Cincinnati. Would've not guessed that at all from how much urban Cincinnati feels in every way, and the metro area population for each shows.

Lexington's city limits encompass all of Fayette County.  The city limits area is around 285 square miles verses Cincinnati's 79.5 square miles, giving a population density of 1137/sq mi verses 3970/sq mi, with the totals (using 2020 census figures) of 322,570 residents for Lexington and 309,317 residents for Cincinnati.  However, it is surprising that Lexington's population has surpassed Cincinnati's considering that in 2000, Lexington had ~260,000 residents and Cincinnati had ~331,000 residents.

Most of the increase in Lexington's population seems centered around New Circle Road and Man O' War Blvd between US 68 and I-75 south of the downtown area. 

Lexington/Fayette County has two development zones: the Urban Services District and the Rural Services District.  It's like the equivalent of city limits, but mostly for city services.  Within the USD there are street lights, sewers, and the bulk of the commercial and residential development.  Within the RSD, there are the horse farms, many of which are historic and preserved.  The end result has been denser and smarter development within the USD, since it's a very big deal to try to expand the boundaries of it.

There is still room for more development near I-75 and Man O' War and the areas that amroad17 described, but they won't last long.  Jessamine County is starting to see most of the neighboring county growth due to it being the closest to Downtown Lexington, with Scott, Clark, and Madison Counties also seeing some growth though they are flung farther out.  Woodford County has a lot of the preservationist zoning that the Lexington/Fayette RSD has so it's growth has been limited.

[Rothman]

The Nicholasville Bypass certainly seems to have been built to spur development...

[dvferyance]

I learned recently that Lexington KY's city limits population is larger than Cincinnati. Would've not guessed that at all from how much urban Cincinnati feels in every way, and the metro area population for each shows.

Because there is a lot of developed unincorporated territory in Hamilton County that is adjacent to Cincinati but not part of the city itself. If it was Cincy's population would be around 450,000.

[Flint1979]

Cincinnati is 77 square miles compared to Lexington at 283 square miles if you had 283 square miles out of Cincinnati's urban area you'd have a larger population than Lexington does. Cincy is about 750 square miles for urban area with a population of right around 1.7 million compared to Lexington's urban area being 87.5 square miles and 315,000 for a population that right there shows how rural Lexington is since the city limits take up so much land area it does make sense that Lexington proper has more people than Cincy proper.