Not a complete list (you don't have to rank EVERY city)
MA (probably completely wrong):
Boston
Springfield
Worcester
Cambridge
Lowell
New Bedford
Fall River
Lawrence
Brockton
Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:
1. Chicago.
2. All others.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:19:08 PM
Fall River/New Bedford
Residents of both cities would object to your treating two different cities as if they were interchangeable.
Quote from: 1 on June 03, 2020, 07:21:31 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:19:08 PM
Fall River/New Bedford
Residents of both cities would object to you treating two different cities as if they were interchangeable.
I couldn't decide which one was more important, they are both similar sized cities on the south coast.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:22:21 PM
Quote from: 1 on June 03, 2020, 07:21:31 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:19:08 PM
Fall River/New Bedford
Residents of both cities would object to you treating two different cities as if they were interchangeable.
I couldn't decide which one was more important, they are both slimier sized cities on the south coast.
That doesn't make them the same city, nor does it make them slimy.
Quote from: 1 on June 03, 2020, 07:24:05 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:22:21 PM
Quote from: 1 on June 03, 2020, 07:21:31 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:19:08 PM
Fall River/New Bedford
Residents of both cities would object to you treating two different cities as if they were interchangeable.
I couldn't decide which one was more important, they are both slimier sized cities on the south coast.
That doesn't make them the same city, nor does it make them slimy.
Fine, I put New Bedford first because it has more people.
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 07:19:08 PM
Not a complete list (you don't have to rank EVERY city)
MA (probably completely wrong):
Boston
Springfield
Worcester
Cambridge
Lowell
Fall River/New Bedford
Lawrence
Brockton
In California, there are a number of cities in the southern part of the state that live in the shadow of Los Angeles despite being more populous than other cities in the state often aren't considered as highly. Fresno, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and even Bakersfield get noticed when Long Beach, Riverside, Anaheim do not. But, what do you expect when the top 70 (Wiki says 74) cities are over 100K population.
Tier 1. The Missouri River- Big- KC, St. Louis
Tier 2. MO River-Small- Columbia, Jeff City, St Joseph
Tier 3: Ozark (Big)- Springfield, Joplin
Tier 4: Ozark (small)- Branson, Rolla, Farmington
Tier 5: Mississippi Delta- Poplar Bluff, Cape Giradeau, Sikeston
Tier 6: Decently sized towns in Northern MO (basically Iowa)-Kirksville, Hannibal, Moberly
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 03, 2020, 07:20:32 PM
Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:
1. Chicago.
2. All others.
I'd change that a bit.
1) Chicago
2) Springfield
3) what other cities?
New York:
Tier 1a: The Big Apple
Tier 1b: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany
Tier 2: Schenectady, Utica, Binghamton, Watertown, Niagara Falls
Tier 3a: Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Middletown
Tier 3b: Rome, Ithaca, Auburn, Elmira, Jamestown
Tier 4: Everything else. (All cities not listed above are suburbs, defacto suburbs, and/or under 25K in population).
Indiana
Here's some for Indiana as I've always seen them.
Tier 1: Capital metro area, the biggest and most dominant of them all, important statewide except for a few counties along the borders
-Indianapolis metro area
Tier 2a: Super regional centers, carry a large influence over their hinterlands, have their own TV/radio markets
-Fort Wayne
-Evansville
Tier 2b: Similar to the super regional centers, only their region of influence is a little smaller, large enough to have TV markets (or close)
-South Bend-Mishawaka
-Northwest Indiana suburbs (Lake and Porter Counties)
Tier 3: Large regional centers, large enough to carry influence over several counties with all, large enough for their own radio markets
-Lafayette-West Lafayette
-Terre Haute
-Bloomington
-Muncie
-Falls City area (Jeffersonville/Clarksville/New Albany)
Tier 4: Small regional centers, usually have to share influence with the larger regional centers and part of their radio markets
-Elkhart-Goshen
-Kokomo
-Anderson
-Columbus
-Richmond
-Michigan City-LaPorte
Tier 5: Micro regional centers, not too dominant but with a little more than most of their surrounding fellow county seats/large cities
-Warsaw
-Vincennes
-Jasper
-Bedford
-Seymour
-Marion
-Angola
-Logansport
-Crawfordsville
Tier 6: Everything else, mind you Tier 5 is quite subjective so there's room for moving cities around
Michigan
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Rest of state
Quote from: tdindy88 on June 03, 2020, 08:53:26 PM
Indiana
Here's some for Indiana as I've always seen them.
Tier 1: Capital metro area, the biggest and most dominant of them all, important statewide except for a few counties along the borders
-Indianapolis metro area
Tier 2a: Super regional centers, carry a large influence over their hinterlands, have their own TV/radio markets
-Fort Wayne
-Evansville
Tier 2b: Similar to the super regional centers, only their region of influence is a little smaller, large enough to have TV markets (or close)
-South Bend-Mishawaka
-Northwest Indiana suburbs (Lake and Porter Counties)
Tier 3: Large regional centers, large enough to carry influence over several counties with all, large enough for their own radio markets
-Lafayette-West Lafayette
-Terre Haute
-Bloomington
-Muncie
-Falls City area (Jeffersonville/Clarksville/New Albany)
Tier 4: Small regional centers, usually have to share influence with the larger regional centers and part of their radio markets
-Elkhart-Goshen
-Kokomo
-Anderson
-Columbus
-Richmond
-Michigan City-LaPorte
Tier 5: Micro regional centers, not too dominant but with a little more than most of their surrounding fellow county seats/large cities
-Warsaw
-Vincennes
-Jasper
-Bedford
-Seymour
-Marion
-Angola
-Logansport
-Crawfordsville
Tier 6: Everything else, mind you Tier 5 is quite subjective so there's room for moving cities around
Nothing in Northwest Indiana?
Florida
Miami- Fort Lauderdale (all considered to be South Florida as a whole)
West Palm Beach
Jacksonville
Orlando
Tampa- St. Pete (known as one big combination called The Tampa Bay Area)
Bradenton- Sarasota- Venice (are now linked together with Sprawl)
Fort Myers- Cape Coral- Naples (another big area known as SW Florida)
Then smaller cities by themselves without being in a regional area.
Tallahassee
Gainesville
Panama City
Quote from: roadman65 on June 03, 2020, 10:03:26 PM
Florida
Miami- Fort Lauderdale (all considered to be South Florida as a whole)
West Palm Beach
Jacksonville
Orlando
Tampa- St. Pete (known as one big combination called The Tampa Bay Area)
Bradenton- Sarasota- Venice (are now linked together with Sprawl)
Fort Myers- Cape Coral- Naples (another big area known as SW Florida)
Then smaller cities by themselves without being in a regional area.
Tallahassee
Gainesville
Panama City
West Palm Beach and Jacksonville over Orlando and Tampa?
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 03, 2020, 07:49:58 PM
Tier 1. The Missouri River- Big- KC, St. Louis
Tier 2. MO River-Small- Columbia, Jeff City, St Joseph
Tier 3: Ozark (Big)- Springfield, Joplin
Tier 4: Ozark (small)- Branson, Rolla, Farmington
Tier 5: Mississippi Delta- Poplar Bluff, Cape Giradeau, Sikeston
Tier 6: Decently sized towns in Northern MO (basically Iowa)-Kirksville, Hannibal, Moberly
I'd put Springfield in a tier just below KC-STL. Far more people out of state know of it than they do St. Joseph, and nobody'd care about Columbia or Jeff City if they weren't home of Mizzou and the state capitol respectively. (Hell, Columbia can't even manage to pull off being a control city, unlike most of the other cities named.) I'd also move Branson up a few tiers, because as lame as it is, people have heard of it, whereas multiple times when I was on the road to Oklahoma and told someone I was in Joplin, I'd get the reply "What's that?"
I'll throw in my opinion for MA
Tier 1a: Boston
Tier 1b: Worcester, Springfield
Tier 2: Taunton, Lowell, Pittsfield, Barnstable, Fall River, New Bedford, Fitchburg, Greenfield
Tier 3: Lawrence, Haverhill, Quincy
Tier 4: Methuen, Lynn, Leominster
Tier 5: every other city
Edit 11:14 pm: Changed a little bit.
Quote from: Ben114 on June 03, 2020, 10:54:29 PM
I'll throw in my opinion for MA
Tier 1: Boston, Worcester, Springfield
Tier 2: Taunton, Lowell, Pittsfield, Barnstable, Fall River, New Bedford, Fitchburg, Greenfield
Tier 3: Lawrence, Haverhill, Quincy
Tier 4: Methuen, Brockton, Lynn, Cambridge, Leominster
Tier 5: every other city
Boston needs to be in a tier of it's own. Taunton is too high, same with Greenfield. Cambridge should be higher.
MN:
Tier 1: Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester
Tier 3: Bemidji, Brainerd, Moorhead, St. Cloud
Let's see, I'll do Utah. Not including suburbs.
Tier 1: Major metropolitan area of statewide or greater significance
- Salt Lake City
Tier 2: Large regional center, would be more significant on their own if not sprawled into a tier 1 metro
- Ogden
- Provo
Tier 3: major regional center. Big enough for a Costco or Sam's Club.
- Logan
- St George
Tier 4: significant regional centers, sometimes on their own and sometimes in outlying areas of a greater urban corridor
- Brigham City
- Cedar City
- Heber City
- Park City/Summit Park
- Tooele
Tier 5: smaller regional centers. Basically, this is the level at which you get a Walmart.
- Price
- Richfield
- Vernal
Tier 6: larger small towns
- Ephraim
- Grantsville (starting to grow into Tooele)
- Hurricane (growing into St George)
- Kanab
- Manti
- Moab
- Morgan
- Nephi
- Stansbury Park (starting to grow into Grantsville/Tooele areas)
Tier 7: midsize small towns, typically big enough for a McDonalds or something similar
- Beaver
- Delta
- Roosevelt
- Tremonton
Tier 8: small towns, often not much more than pit stops along a highway. May or may not even have a traffic light.
- Blanding
- Castle Dale
- Duchesne
- Fillmore
- Green River
- Gunnison
- Huntington
- Kamas
- Milford
- Monticello
- Mt Pleasant
- Parowan
- Panguitch
- Salina
- Wendover
Tier 9: any remaining towns with a functioning gas station
Tier 10: everything else
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 03, 2020, 10:59:43 PM
MN:
Tier 1: Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester
Tier 3: Bemidji, Brainerd, Moorhead, St. Cloud
I would add Mankato to your tier 3, but my real question is how is Bemidji on the same level as St. Cloud? And Shouldn't St. Cloud be Tier 2?
Quote from: DandyDan on June 04, 2020, 05:39:33 AM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 03, 2020, 10:59:43 PM
MN:
Tier 1: Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester
Tier 3: Bemidji, Brainerd, Moorhead, St. Cloud
...
And Shouldn't St. Cloud be Tier 2?
That's what I was thinking as well, but a few thoughts:
-Rochester is #3 statewide and Duluth is #4; St. Cloud is all the way down at #10.
-About 20,000 people separate Rochester and Duluth, with
no other cities in between.
-About 20,000 people
also separate Duluth and St. Cloud, but there's 5 Twin Cities suburbs in between, so St. Cloud is pretty unlucky in this regard.
-Would not surprise me if Bloomington surpasses Duluth to take the #4 spot, possibly even as soon as the 2020 census.
-Duluth still "feels" bigger than Rochester, because it has more historical significance and is regionally distinct.
Quote from: DandyDan on June 04, 2020, 05:39:33 AM
I would add Mankato to your tier 3
...
If population is the metric, Mankato makes sense. It's similar in size to Moorhead, and is still in the top 10 of non-suburbs.
Red Wing, Albert Lea, and Winona, among others, are also bigger than Bemidji.
Quote from: tdindy88 on June 03, 2020, 08:53:26 PM
Indiana
Here's some for Indiana as I've always seen them.
Tier 1: Capital metro area, the biggest and most dominant of them all, important statewide except for a few counties along the borders
-Indianapolis metro area
Tier 2a: Super regional centers, carry a large influence over their hinterlands, have their own TV/radio markets
-Fort Wayne
-Evansville
Tier 2b: Similar to the super regional centers, only their region of influence is a little smaller, large enough to have TV markets (or close)
-South Bend-Mishawaka
-Northwest Indiana suburbs (Lake and Porter Counties)
Tier 3: Large regional centers, large enough to carry influence over several counties with all, large enough for their own radio markets
-Lafayette-West Lafayette
-Terre Haute
-Bloomington
-Muncie
-Falls City area (Jeffersonville/Clarksville/New Albany)
Tier 4: Small regional centers, usually have to share influence with the larger regional centers and part of their radio markets
-Elkhart-Goshen
-Kokomo
-Anderson
-Columbus
-Richmond
-Michigan City-LaPorte
Tier 5: Micro regional centers, not too dominant but with a little more than most of their surrounding fellow county seats/large cities
-Warsaw
-Vincennes
-Jasper
-Bedford
-Seymour
-Marion
-Angola
-Logansport
-Crawfordsville
Tier 6: Everything else, mind you Tier 5 is quite subjective so there's room for moving cities around
I would do it a little bit different:
1) Indianapolis clearly stands by itself
Have Commercial Airports
2) Fort Wayne
3) Evansville
4) South Bend
Have network TV stations
5) Terre Haute
6) Lafayette
Have major universities
7) Bloomington
8) Muncie
NWI Cities
9) Hammond
10) Gary
Large but Suburban
11) Carmel
12) Fishers
13) Noblesville
Principal Shopping and Highway Centers
14) Kokomo
15) Anderson
16) Columbus
17) Richmond
18) Valparaiso
19) Warsaw
Smaller suburbs/near bigger cities
20) Greenwood
21) Elkhart
22) Mishawaka
23) Jeffersonville
24) Portage
25) New Albany
1. Milwaukee
2. Madison
3. Green Bay
Next Tier - center of larger population areas
-Appleton
-Wausau
-Eau Claire
Larger Cities within other metropolitan areas
-Kenosha
-Racine
-Waukesha
-Oshkosh
-Stevens Point
-Superior
Other Significant Cities
-LaCrosse
-Sheboygan
-Fond du Lac
-Janesville
-Beloit
-Manitowoc
Quote from: DandyDan on June 04, 2020, 05:39:33 AM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 03, 2020, 10:59:43 PM
MN:
Tier 1: Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester
Tier 3: Bemidji, Brainerd, Moorhead, St. Cloud
I would add Mankato to your tier 3, but my real question is how is Bemidji on the same level as St. Cloud? And Shouldn't St. Cloud be Tier 2?
St. Cloud was the one city I had trouble deciding which slot it should go into. My list wasn't based on any metric other than observation about how people here seem to regard these cities. If we were going by population alone it would be a clear tier 2 city, but as the metro"˜s outreach has expanded to the point where some consider St. Cloud to have become an exoburban outpost of the Twin Cities, I think that may have hurt its standing somewhat. Other than SCSU, it also doesn't really have anything of importance. It's just...there.
(And yeah, Tier 3 has quite a few more cities that fit, I just didn't feel like continuing at that point I guess)
This would be my perception, based mainly on economic and social/cultural influence. The first part is pretty close to population order (in parentheses).
1. Los Angeles (1)
2. San Francisco (4)
3. San Diego (2)
4. San Jose (3)
5. Sacramento (6)
6. Oakland (8)
7. Long Beach (7)
8. Fresno (5)
9. Anaheim (10)
10. Bakersfield (9)
Next tier, no particular order. Secondary urban centers with significant business/retail districts, and anchor cities of medium metropolitan areas:
Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, Glendale, Irvine, Stockton, Modesto, Berkeley, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa
Quote from: inkyatari on June 03, 2020, 08:18:20 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 03, 2020, 07:20:32 PM
Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:
1. Chicago.
2. All others.
I'd change that a bit.
1) Chicago
2) Springfield
3) what other cities?
How does this look?
I. Chicago
II. Springfield
II. suburban Saint Louis
III. Champaign—Urbana
III. Rockford
III. Peoria
III. Bloomington—Normal
IV. Decatur
IV. Moline
V. Carbondale
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 03, 2020, 09:56:45 PM
Michigan
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Rest of state
Mine (suburban cities "belong" to their central city), with cities within the tiers in no particular order:
Tier 1: Detroit
Tier 2: GR and Lansing
Tier 3: Kalamazoo, Flint, Ann Arbor
Tier 4: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland (either separately or as Tri-Cities), Battle Creek, Jackson
Tier 5: Benton Harbor/St Joseph, Holland, Muskegon, Port Huron
Tier 6: Included because of their regional importance) Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant, Big Rapids, Marquette
Tier 7: Important to smaller regions: Escanaba, Alpena, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Ludington
Nevada:
1. Nationally important:
Las Vegas with adjacent cities in the valley
2. Biggest little city and has significant airline service:
Reno/Sparks
3. Employment center (state govt.) and big enough for two Walmarts:
Carson City
4. Big enough for one Walmart:
Boulder City
Elko
Fallon
Fernley
Mesquite
Minden/Gardnerville*
Pahrump* (I try to forget that place exists, and succeeded this morning when I was making this list)
5. Highway pit stops with enough food and motel (and casino) options that you could spend a night:
Ely
Tonopah*
West Wendover
Winnemucca
6. The rest aren't much more than a few gas station/mini-marts and the inevitable sawdust joint casino.
*Bigger than Tier 6 so they should be listed, but they aren't incorporated cities.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 09:57:47 PM
Quote from: tdindy88 on June 03, 2020, 08:53:26 PM
Indiana
Tier 2b: Similar to the super regional centers, only their region of influence is a little smaller, large enough to have TV markets (or close)
-South Bend-Mishawaka
-Northwest Indiana suburbs (Lake and Porter Counties)
Nothing in Northwest Indiana?
Read again.
Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.
For Kentucky:
1. Lexington
2. Cincinnati urban area on the south side of the river
3. Bowling Green
4. Ashland
5. Owensboro
6. Frankfort
7. Richmond
8. Paducah
9. Somerset
10. Hopkinsville
For West Virginia:
1. Charleston
2. Huntington
3. Morgantown
4. Wheeling
5. Beckley
6. Clarksburg-Fairmont
7. Parkersburg
8. Weirton
9. Lewisburg
10. Elkins
For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville :D :-D :bigass: :rofl:
For Ohio, I'd say
Tier 1 - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati
Tier 2 - Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Youngstown
Tier 3 - Hamilton, Middletown, Springfield, Warren
Tier 4 - Zanesville, Findlay, Chillicothe, Lancaster, Delaware, Marion, Sandusky, Mansfield, Lorain, maybe a couple others??
Tier 5 - any county seat not listed above, plus Oxford & Kent
Quote from: hbelkins on June 04, 2020, 01:43:01 PM
Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.
For Kentucky:
1. Lexington
2. Cincinnati urban area on the south side of the river
3. Bowling Green
4. Ashland
5. Owensboro
6. Frankfort
7. Richmond
8. Paducah
9. Somerset
10. Hopkinsville
For West Virginia:
1. Charleston
2. Huntington
3. Morgantown
4. Wheeling
5. Beckley
6. Clarksburg-Fairmont
7. Parkersburg
8. Weirton
9. Lewisburg
10. Elkins
For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville :D :-D :bigass: :rofl:
Did Indiana invade Kentucky or something?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 04, 2020, 02:58:37 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 04, 2020, 01:43:01 PM
Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.
For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville :D :-D :bigass: :rofl:
Did Indiana invade Kentucky or something?
I'm pretty sure this is joke related to the disdain hbelkins feels toward Louisville, as expressed in his avatar.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 04, 2020, 03:26:56 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 04, 2020, 02:58:37 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 04, 2020, 01:43:01 PM
Not going on just population, but on a number of other factors.
For Indiana:
1. Indianapolis
2. Louisville :D :-D :bigass: :rofl:
Did Indiana invade Kentucky or something?
I'm pretty sure this is joke related to the disdain hbelkins feels toward Louisville, as expressed in his avatar.
I was actually going to comment that he excluded Louisville... before I saw the bottom of the post.
Quote from: kphoger on June 04, 2020, 10:56:12 AM
Quote from: inkyatari on June 03, 2020, 08:18:20 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 03, 2020, 07:20:32 PM
Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:
1. Chicago.
2. All others.
I'd change that a bit.
1) Chicago
2) Springfield
3) what other cities?
How does this look?
I. Chicago
II. Springfield
II. suburban Saint Louis
III. Champaign–Urbana
III. Rockford
III. Peoria
III. Bloomington–Normal
IV. Decatur
IV. Moline
V. Carbondale
How dare you make me think about this for real! :-D
Anyway, this is what I’ve come up with. With multistate regions, consider only that part in Illinois.
1.
Chicago
2.
Saint Louis
3.
Rockford
Peoria
4.
Springfield
Urbana-Champaign
Bloomington-Normal
Quad Cities
5.
Carbondale
Kankakee
Decatur
DeKalb
Haven't been here all that long, but:
1. Phoenix and its suburbs
2. Tucson
3. Flagstaff
4. Yuma
5. Prescott/Sedona
6. Casa Grande
7. Cochise County (Mostly Sierra Vista, but Bisbee and Douglas as well)
8. Lake Havasu City
9. Nogales
10. Kingman
Over 80% of Arizona's population resides in either the Phoenix Tucson metro areas.
Quote from: GaryV on June 04, 2020, 11:12:19 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 03, 2020, 09:56:45 PM
Michigan
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Rest of state
Mine (suburban cities "belong" to their central city), with cities within the tiers in no particular order:
Tier 1: Detroit
Tier 2: GR and Lansing
Tier 3: Kalamazoo, Flint, Ann Arbor
Tier 4: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland (either separately or as Tri-Cities), Battle Creek, Jackson
Tier 5: Benton Harbor/St Joseph, Holland, Muskegon, Port Huron
Tier 6: Included because of their regional importance) Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant, Big Rapids, Marquette
Tier 7: Important to smaller regions: Escanaba, Alpena, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Ludington
Arguably Traverse City could fall into tier 4 or 5 (Traverse City has a Costco while none of the other cities listed under Tier 5 have one AFAIK)
Quote from: Konza on June 04, 2020, 06:45:46 PM
Haven't been here all that long, but:
1. Phoenix and its suburbs
2. Tucson
3. Flagstaff
4. Yuma
5. Prescott/Sedona
6. Casa Grande
7. Cochise County (Mostly Sierra Vista, but Bisbee and Douglas as well)
8. Lake Havasu City
9. Nogales
10. Kingman
Over 80% of Arizona's population resides in either the Phoenix Tucson metro areas.
As one who's lived here for close to 30 years and has had family here for 60:
1. Phoenix
2. Scottsdale/Paradise Valley (Wealthiest Phoenix suburbs)
3. Other Phoenix suburbs (Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, etc.)
4. Tucson
5. Flagstaff
6. Prescott/Prescott Valley
7. Pinal County (Casa Grande, Maricopa, Florence, Coolidge, Eloy, Apache Jct)
8. Yuma
9. Everywhere else, except...
10. ... Mohave County (Kingman, Bullhead City, Golden Valley), aka the World's Largest Trailer Park
I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
Tier 1: Minneapolis and St. Paul
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester, Bloomington (being the most populous suburb and also the location of the airport and MOA)
Tier 3: St. Cloud, Mankato, and other populous suburbs (Woodbury, Maple Grove, Plymouth, etc.)
Tier 4: Brainerd, Bemidji, Moorhead
Tier 5: Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Willmar, Virginia, Hibbing (the latter two pretty much just for historical purposes)
In some ways I feel like St. Cloud could be Tier 2 given how relatively urbanized the area is and how populous some of its suburbs are in relation to surrounding areas (heck, the five core cities that surround St. Cloud have a combined population almost as high as the city itself). Similarly you could argue that Mankato's population in relation to the surrounding area and overall prominence statewide is worthy of Tier 2 status. Moorhead could easily be Tier 3 or possibly even Tier 2 if you wanted to take into account the entire Fargo-Moorhead area given Fargo's presence on a national scale. The rest of them seem pretty self-explanatory and not too controversial :D.
Quote from: frankenroad on June 04, 2020, 02:55:13 PM
For Ohio, I'd say
Tier 1 - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati
Tier 2 - Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Youngstown
Tier 3 - Hamilton, Middletown, Springfield, Warren
Tier 4 - Zanesville, Findlay, Chillicothe, Lancaster, Delaware, Marion, Sandusky, Mansfield, Lorain, maybe a couple others??
Tier 5 - any county seat not listed above, plus Oxford & Kent
How would you like to tier the 500 largest population centers in Ohio?
https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/ohio-population/cities/
Quote from: EpicRoadways on June 04, 2020, 11:37:11 PM
I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
Tier 1: Minneapolis and St. Paul
Tier 2: Duluth, Rochester, Bloomington (being the most populous suburb and also the location of the airport and MOA)
Tier 3: St. Cloud, Mankato, and other populous suburbs (Woodbury, Maple Grove, Plymouth, etc.)
Tier 4: Brainerd, Bemidji, Moorhead
Tier 5: Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Willmar, Virginia, Hibbing (the latter two pretty much just for historical purposes)
In some ways I feel like St. Cloud could be Tier 2 given how relatively urbanized the area is and how populous some of its suburbs are in relation to surrounding areas (heck, the five core cities that surround St. Cloud have a combined population almost as high as the city itself). Similarly you could argue that Mankato's population in relation to the surrounding area and overall prominence statewide is worthy of Tier 2 status. Moorhead could easily be Tier 3 or possibly even Tier 2 if you wanted to take into account the entire Fargo-Moorhead area given Fargo's presence on a national scale. The rest of them seem pretty self-explanatory and not too controversial :D.
Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?
I'll give Texas a shot:
Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)
Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston
Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree)
San Antonio
Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)
Austin
El Paso
Tier 3 (regionally relevant)
Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls
Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)
Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco
Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville
Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn
Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas, and just about every city (that I didn't already mention) with a loop around it)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 05, 2020, 12:13:42 AM
I'll give Texas a shot:
Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)
Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston
Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree
San Antonio
Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)
Austin
El Paso
Tier 3 (regionally relevant)
Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls
Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)
Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco
Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville
Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn
Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford
I would put Austin with San Antonio.
South Carolina is a tough one.
Tier 1: Important cities within their regions, all with influence outside of the state of SC
Columbia
Charleston
Greenville
All pretty much equal within South Carolina. Give very small edge to Columbia since it's the state capital and has the state university, but Charleston is the largest city; and both Charleston and Greenville are way easier to get to and have more out of state influence. Columbia only has air non-stops to 10 cities on 4 airlines, while Greenville has 8 and Charleston had 13 including a seasonal non-stop to London pre-pandemic.
Tier 1b: Vacation towns which people think of nationwide
Myrtle Beach
Hilton Head Island
Tier 2: Cities that have statewide influence
Mount Pleasant
North Charleston
Spartanburg
Rock Hill
North Charleston alone has 115,000+ population, Mt. Pleasant 95K. Place those towns in another part of SC and they'd be very decent size towns.
Tier 3: Regionally influential towns
Summerville
Sumter
Florence
Goose Creek
Aiken
Beaufort
Anderson
Orangeburg
Summerville will probably be Tier 2 very soon with its population growth. 54,000+ already there. Sumter and Florence are mostly retail hubs for several counties around it. Goose Creek is a Charleston suburb.
Tier 4: Locally influential towns
Greer
Greenwood
Clemson
Conway
North Augusta
Lexington
Fort Mill
West Columbia
North Myrtle Beach
Moncks Corner
A bunch of 10-20K towns in here. All influential within their metro areas, while Orangeburg, Greenwood and Clemson are separate.
Tier 5: towns that have fast food choices and a Walmart
Mauldin
Hanahan
Gaffney
Clinton
Newberry
Lancaster
Laurens
Georgetown
York
Union
Camden
Bennettsville
Hartsville
Darlington
Lake City
Dillon
Manning
Walterboro
Abbeville
South Carolina has a LOT of these type of towns. County seats with 5,000-10,000 population that are the center of a couple of counties around it and have the basic services needed. 2-4 fast food places, a Walmart, a couple grocery stores, and multiple types of churches.
Tier 6: Struggling towns mostly losing population
Kingstree
Edgefield
Chester
Cheraw
Woodruff
Barnwell
Allendale
Mullins
Saluda
Bamberg
Pickens
Winnsboro
Loris
St. George
Most of these places have declining industries and businesses which have closed. They do have chain stores and a couple fast-food places plus grocery stores.
Tier 7: Towns with one stoplight
Landrum
Ware Shoals
Walhalla
St. Matthews
St. Stephen
Chapin
Johnsonville
Latta
Andrews
Swansea
Yemassee
McBee
Most towns in SC of any size above 500 have at least a chain dollar store and convenience store (most a Subway as well), but these towns have a couple more things than those with industry in these towns.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 04, 2020, 11:55:58 PM
Quote from: EpicRoadways on June 04, 2020, 11:37:11 PM
I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...
Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?
Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.
(Forum Post# 800,000! :awesomeface:)
Quote from: webny99 on June 05, 2020, 10:37:10 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 04, 2020, 11:55:58 PM
Quote from: EpicRoadways on June 04, 2020, 11:37:11 PM
I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...
Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?
Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.
(Forum Post# 800,000! :awesomeface:)
Yes, that was part of the reason why I included it. I based a lot of my rankings on how well-known the city is on a regional/state/national/international level. I figure with Albert Lea as the control city for I-35 in the metro most people have at least some idea of what/where Albert Lea is. Plus the area has a lot of truck stops/hotels and a decent freeway presence for a city of its size that would make the area better known to long-distance truckers and travelers. I used the same rationale for choosing Owatonna as a Tier 5 city for SE MN since Owatonna has the US-14 junction and a lot more of a presence along the highway then say Fairbault or Northfield. Bemidji and Brainerd are only in Tier 3 because of their focus on tourism and relative isolation to other cities of their size; if I were going solely off of year-round populations they wouldn't even be ranked.
Quote from: webny99 on June 05, 2020, 10:37:10 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 04, 2020, 11:55:58 PM
Quote from: EpicRoadways on June 04, 2020, 11:37:11 PM
I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...
Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?
Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.
When you mention Bemidji or Brainerd to a Twin Cities resident, many of them will have the pleasant thoughts of cabin life, lakes, fishing, and associated getaways and vacations. Albert Lea generates no such pleasant thoughts. That's why Albert Lea is in a lower tier than those other cities.
I'll give Oregon a shot. Unless I list them separately, it includes suburbs in the MSA, eg. Portland includes Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, etc. The cities in the same tiers aren't really ordered in any way either.
Tier 1: Portland
Tier 2: Salem, Eugene, Bend, Medford (you could argue Salem and Eugene are 2a, Bend and Medford 2b, but I think they're close enough to stay)
Tier 3: Albany, Corvallis, Klamath Falls, Coos Bay*, Astoria*
Tier 4: Grants Pass, Ashland, Pendleton, Hermiston, Redmond, Newport, La Grande, Ontario, McMinnville, The Dalles, Roseburg
Tier 5: Lincoln City, Madras, Prineville, Florence, Baker City, Seaside, Hood River, Brookings
*These are tier 3 instead of 4 despite their populations due to being the primary city for a larger region, as opposed to something like Redmond which takes a back seat to nearby Bend
I probably missed some, but that covers most of the major ones. Not going to list any smaller than that.
Idaho is a bit simpler, again combining them by metro area (eg. Nampa and Meridian are part of Boise for this list).
Tier 1: Boise
Tier 2: Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Coeur d'Alene
Tier 3: Lewiston, Mountain Home, Moscow
Tier 4: Rexburg, Burley, Payette, Weiser, Blackfoot, Sandpoint, Ketchum/Sun Valley/Hailey, McCall (almost didn't put this here but I think it qualifies due to high tourist traffic)
I think that covers most of the noteworthy cities.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 05, 2020, 01:46:46 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 05, 2020, 10:37:10 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 04, 2020, 11:55:58 PM
Quote from: EpicRoadways on June 04, 2020, 11:37:11 PM
I know it's already been discussed, but here's my Minnesota take:
...
Is Albert Lea only on here because of the interstate junction?
Albert Lea has a population of about 18,000. That's bigger than Bemidji, which he has in a higher tier, and Hibbing, which is in the same tier. It's not very big compared to most cities with 2di junctions, but it's not a total nothingburger.
When you mention Bemidji or Brainerd to a Twin Cities resident, many of them will have the pleasant thoughts of cabin life, lakes, fishing, and associated getaways and vacations. Albert Lea generates no such pleasant thoughts. That's why Albert Lea is in a lower tier than those other cities.
Pleasant thoughts = importance?
Seems legit. I was thinking that the strategic location vs. the popularity with tourists probably cancelled each other out, but maybe not.
It's just one of those things you'd probably have to live here to understand. Cabin country has a pretty strong pull on us.
It'd be like if I said Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Utica were of roughly identical importance in my mind and you would say they're four very different places with different levels of meaning to your region, but that's because you live there.
Is Albert Lea really "strategically located" because its where two interstates meet? It's pretty much a nothing town in the middle of the crappy part of Minnesota.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 05, 2020, 04:31:47 PM
It's just one of those things you'd probably have to live here to understand. Cabin country has a pretty strong pull on us.
It'd be like if I said Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Utica were of roughly identical importance in my mind and you would say they're four very different places with different levels of meaning to your region, but that's because you live there.
OK, I can get that. That type of thing happens here too, and probably in every state.
For example, Auburn and Watertown, NY are almost identical in population, both around 27K, but Watertown unambiguously belongs in a higher tier. It's a control city on I-81, a major regional center for Tug Hill and the Thousand Islands, and the only real waypoint for travelers between Canada/the North Country and Syracuse. Auburn, on the other hand, feels completely forgotten. Overshadowed by Syracuse, not very charming among Finger Lakes towns, no renowned college or any claim to fame (except the Harriet Tubman home..) and an absolute slog to get to with zero freeway access.
With regards to your example specifically, I have no problem with Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse being in the same tier. They're all the clear center of their respective regions and similar enough in population. Utica does belong in a separate (lower) tier, but that's evident enough just from the population figures.
Quote from: SEWIGuy on June 05, 2020, 04:57:47 PM
Is Albert Lea really "strategically located" because its where two interstates meet? It's pretty much a nothing town in the middle of the crappy part of Minnesota.
It's only a few miles down the road from the Spam museum.
Quote from: webny99 on June 05, 2020, 05:12:06 PM
Utica does belong in a separate (lower) tier, but that's evident enough just from the population figures.
And that I think is the underlying point of the discussion and what makes it more interesting - these lists go beyond just population. Brooklyn Park has the sixth largest population in Minnesota, but no one put it on a list in this thread or is arguing it belongs on one, because it doesn't.
Maine is pretty easy:
1- Portland
2- Bangor
3- The twin cities of Auburn and Lewiston. There was a vote in the past to combine the two. It failed, as expected.
As for Connecticut? Hmmm...
1- New Haven for Yale University
2- Groton and New London for sub boat industry and the Mystic section of Stonington not too far away
3- Hartford and the insurance industry
4- Stamford with its proximity to New York City, home to WWE, a couple daytime "talk" shows and NBC Sports productions
New Britain was once the Hardware capitol of the world. Stanley Tools, anyone?
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 07, 2020, 09:12:49 AM
Maine is pretty easy:
1- Portland
2- Bangor
3- The twin cities of Auburn and Lewiston. There was a vote in the past to combine the two. It failed, as expected.
As for Connecticut? Hmmm...
1- New Haven for Yale University
2- Groton and New London for sub boat industry and the Mystic section of Stonington not too far away
3- Hartford and the insurance industry
4- Stamford with its proximity to New York City, home to WWE, a couple daytime "talk" shows and NBC Sports productions
New Britain was once the Hardware capitol of the world. Stanley Tools, anyone?
No Bridgeport? The largest city in the state?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 07, 2020, 11:00:24 AM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 07, 2020, 09:12:49 AM
Maine is pretty easy:
1- Portland
2- Bangor
3- The twin cities of Auburn and Lewiston. There was a vote in the past to combine the two. It failed, as expected.
As for Connecticut? Hmmm...
1- New Haven for Yale University
2- Groton and New London for sub boat industry and the Mystic section of Stonington not too far away
3- Hartford and the insurance industry
4- Stamford with its proximity to New York City, home to WWE, a couple daytime "talk" shows and NBC Sports productions
New Britain was once the Hardware capitol of the world. Stanley Tools, anyone?
No Bridgeport? The largest city in the state?
Bridgeport being the largest city in Connecticut seems like it'd be a great trivia question because I feel like the average person wouldn't get it. It's also only 20,000 bigger than Stamford, Hartford and New Haven. Connecticut's "big" cities tend to all be around the same size. I don't know enough about CT to make a ranking but it has amazing parity in size among its cities.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on June 07, 2020, 11:58:25 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 07, 2020, 11:00:24 AM
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 07, 2020, 09:12:49 AM
Maine is pretty easy:
1- Portland
2- Bangor
3- The twin cities of Auburn and Lewiston. There was a vote in the past to combine the two. It failed, as expected.
As for Connecticut? Hmmm...
1- New Haven for Yale University
2- Groton and New London for sub boat industry and the Mystic section of Stonington not too far away
3- Hartford and the insurance industry
4- Stamford with its proximity to New York City, home to WWE, a couple daytime "talk" shows and NBC Sports productions
New Britain was once the Hardware capitol of the world. Stanley Tools, anyone?
No Bridgeport? The largest city in the state?
Bridgeport being the largest city in Connecticut seems like it'd be a great trivia question because I feel like the average person wouldn't get it. It's also only 20,000 bigger than Stamford, Hartford and New Haven. Connecticut's "big" cities tend to all be around the same size. I don't know enough about CT to make a ranking but it has amazing parity in size among its cities.
I've received it as a trivia question before.
I'll try Mississippi:
Jackson (largest city and metro)
Mississippi Gulf Coast
College towns (Hattiesburg, Oxford, Starkville)
Desoto County (booming Memphis suburban county)
Mississippi River cities (casinos, blues music and Civil War history)
Tupelo (Elvis' birthplace)
Pennsylvania:
1a. Philly
1b. Pittsburgh
2. Reading, Lehigh Valley, Capital Region
3. Wyoming Valley, Lebanon, Lancaster, York, Williamsport, Happy Valley
4. All other cities and boroughs over 10,000 people (except St. Marys)
5. Everything else
Quote from: Hwy 61 Revisited on June 08, 2020, 12:24:02 PM
Pennsylvania:
1a. Philly
1b. Pittsburgh
2. Reading, Lehigh Valley, Capital Region
3. Wyoming Valley, Lebanon, Lancaster, York, Williamsport, Happy Valley
4. All other cities and boroughs over 10,000 people (except St. Marys)
5. Everything else
I would put Philly above Pittsburgh.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 03, 2020, 10:16:17 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on June 03, 2020, 10:03:26 PM
Florida
Miami- Fort Lauderdale (all considered to be South Florida as a whole)
West Palm Beach
Jacksonville
Orlando
Tampa- St. Pete (known as one big combination called The Tampa Bay Area)
Bradenton- Sarasota- Venice (are now linked together with Sprawl)
Fort Myers- Cape Coral- Naples (another big area known as SW Florida)
Then smaller cities by themselves without being in a regional area.
Tallahassee
Gainesville
Panama City
West Palm Beach and Jacksonville over Orlando and Tampa?
Honestly, I have no problem with that, as Jacksonville has always been THE place where you must decide where to head off for next, and in fact has more railroad history (to say the least) as a result. I have evidence of this via a Florida Memory-hosted 1887 map of Jacksonville Annexation (including the now-S Line rail trail which was part of the Jacksonville Belt Line, a former Seaboard Air Line, though the Belt Line appears to pre-date the Seaboard!). West Palm Beach ain't terribly far as a result of Henry M. Flagler agreeing to extend the Florida East Coast Railway there. Same with both Fort Lauderdale and (intended as a destination mostly due to the availability of citrus there, in the aftermath of the Great Freeze of the 1890s) Miami.
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 05, 2020, 12:13:42 AM
I'll give Texas a shot:
Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)
Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston
Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree)
San Antonio
Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)
Austin
El Paso
Tier 3 (regionally relevant)
Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls
Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)
Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco
Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville
Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn
Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas, and just about every city (that I didn't already mention) with a loop around it)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford
I would add a tier 5a to this list: small cities that are part of a larger metropolitan area, but are important enough locally to count as their own tier.
New Braunfels
Brazosport area
Ennis/Waxahatchie
Fredericksburg
Columbus
Huntsville
Quote from: frankenroad on June 04, 2020, 02:55:13 PM
For Ohio, I'd say
Tier 1 - Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati
Tier 2 - Dayton, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Youngstown
Tier 3 - Hamilton, Middletown, Springfield, Warren
Tier 4 - Zanesville, Findlay, Chillicothe, Lancaster, Delaware, Marion, Sandusky, Mansfield, Lorain, maybe a couple others??
Tier 5 - any county seat not listed above, plus Oxford & Kent
On further reflection, I would add Lima to either Tier 3 or 4, and Athens to Tier 4.
Quote from: DTComposer on June 04, 2020, 10:13:55 AM
This would be my perception, based mainly on economic and social/cultural influence. The first part is pretty close to population order (in parentheses).
1. Los Angeles (1)
2. San Francisco (4)
3. San Diego (2)
4. San Jose (3)
5. Sacramento (6)
6. Oakland (8)
7. Long Beach (7)
8. Fresno (5)
9. Anaheim (10)
10. Bakersfield (9)
Next tier, no particular order. Secondary urban centers with significant business/retail districts, and anchor cities of medium metropolitan areas:
Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, Glendale, Irvine, Stockton, Modesto, Berkeley, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa
It's hard to know how best to classify areas that are likely considered suburbs of bigger cities. I largely agree with your hierarchy, but I would downplay immediate suburbs and add in a few more mid-sized cities around the state.
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco, San Diego
3. San Jose, Sacramento
4. Fresno, Bakersfield
5. Riverside, San Bernardino, Stockton, Modesto
6. Monterrey, Santa Barbara, Indio, Redding, Santa Rosa
Quote from: ftballfan on June 04, 2020, 09:03:27 PM
Quote from: GaryV on June 04, 2020, 11:12:19 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 03, 2020, 09:56:45 PM
Michigan
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Rest of state
Mine (suburban cities "belong" to their central city), with cities within the tiers in no particular order:
Tier 1: Detroit
Tier 2: GR and Lansing
Tier 3: Kalamazoo, Flint, Ann Arbor
Tier 4: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland (either separately or as Tri-Cities), Battle Creek, Jackson
Tier 5: Benton Harbor/St Joseph, Holland, Muskegon, Port Huron
Tier 6: Included because of their regional importance) Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant, Big Rapids, Marquette
Tier 7: Important to smaller regions: Escanaba, Alpena, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, Ludington
Arguably Traverse City could fall into tier 4 or 5 (Traverse City has a Costco while none of the other cities listed under Tier 5 have one AFAIK)
None that I know of either as far as Costco goes. Midland is getting one I know though.
Quote from: mrsman on June 11, 2020, 06:19:25 PM
Quote from: DTComposer on June 04, 2020, 10:13:55 AM
This would be my perception, based mainly on economic and social/cultural influence. The first part is pretty close to population order (in parentheses).
1. Los Angeles (1)
2. San Francisco (4)
3. San Diego (2)
4. San Jose (3)
5. Sacramento (6)
6. Oakland (8)
7. Long Beach (7)
8. Fresno (5)
9. Anaheim (10)
10. Bakersfield (9)
Next tier, no particular order. Secondary urban centers with significant business/retail districts, and anchor cities of medium metropolitan areas:
Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, Glendale, Irvine, Stockton, Modesto, Berkeley, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa
It's hard to know how best to classify areas that are likely considered suburbs of bigger cities. I largely agree with your hierarchy, but I would downplay immediate suburbs and add in a few more mid-sized cities around the state.
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco, San Diego
3. San Jose, Sacramento
4. Fresno, Bakersfield
5. Riverside, San Bernardino, Stockton, Modesto
6. Monterrey, Santa Barbara, Indio, Redding, Santa Rosa
Your logic about downplaying suburbs makes sense, but Oakland and Long Beach do not function as suburbs in the traditional sense - they are both secondary anchor cities (the Census Bureau calls the CSA Los Angeles-Long Beach, not Los Angeles-Riverside or Los Angeles-San Bernardino). Both have significant and historic downtown cores, headquarters for nationally prominent companies, major airports (OAK more so than LGB), major ports (LB being 2nd in the nation behind LA and Oakland being 10th), significant cultural and social institutions, and both are well north of 400,000 people. Riverside and San Bernardino have none of those.
The cities in your sixth tier would all be next on my list had I continued it. If I were to do a second version using the tier system, and focusing only on metropolitan or urban anchors:
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. San Diego
4. San Jose, Sacramento
5. Oakland, Fresno, Long Beach
6. Anaheim, Bakersfield, Stockton, Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Modesto
7. Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Santa Rosa, Monterey
8. Redding, Napa, Santa Cruz, Salinas, San Luis Obispo, Ventura
9. Eureka, Chico, Merced, Visalia, Santa Maria
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 06, 2020, 04:22:59 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 05, 2020, 05:12:06 PM
Utica does belong in a separate (lower) tier, but that's evident enough just from the population figures.
And that I think is the underlying point of the discussion and what makes it more interesting - these lists go beyond just population. Brooklyn Park has the sixth largest population in Minnesota, but no one put it on a list in this thread or is arguing it belongs on one, because it doesn't.
Well, right, but population is still an important part of it. There's really two different things going on here:
(1) Should the city even be included in the rankings to begin with? For a lot of suburbs, the answer is probably "no".
(2) For cities that
are worthy of being ranked, are they ranked where you'd expect based on population? And if not, why?
I agree these local and subjective factors are what makes it interesting, but not necessarily in every tier. Generally, the smaller the city, the more subjectivity comes into play. As I mentioned above, for Rochester-Buffalo-Syracuse, I would say that similar population = similar ranking. This is probably the case for most of the top tiers in most states, but the lower tiers is where you get more variance.
Wisconsin
Tier 1:
Milwaukee
Tier 2:
Madison
Tier 3:
Green Bay
Tier 4:
Appleton, Kenosha, Racine, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Wausau, La Crosse
Tier 5:
Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, Superior
^^ Are Janesville and Beloit out of the picture?
Quote from: thspfc on June 12, 2020, 04:32:04 PM
Wisconsin
Tier 1:
Milwaukee
Tier 2:
Madison
Tier 3:
Green Bay
Tier 4:
Appleton, Kenosha, Racine, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Wausau, La Crosse
Tier 5:
Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, Superior
I did Wisconsin up above. We were close.
1. Milwaukee
2. Madison
3. Green Bay
Next Tier - center of larger population areas
-Appleton
-Wausau
-Eau Claire
Larger Cities within other metropolitan areas
-Kenosha
-Racine
-Waukesha
-Oshkosh
-Stevens Point
-Superior
Other Significant Cities
-LaCrosse
-Sheboygan
-Fond du Lac
-Janesville
-Beloit
-Manitowoc
Louisiana simplified:
1. New Orleans.
2. Baton Rouge
3. Shreveport/ Bossier City
4. Lafayette
5. Alexandria
6. Lake Charles
7. Monroe
8. Ruston
After Ruston would several other parish seats. I base my list on which cities I think have the most political clout in Baton Rouge.
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:55:38 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
But Richmond's the capital.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 27, 2020, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:55:38 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
But Richmond's the capital.
It's kinda been reduced to an afterthought with the re-emergence of Hampton Roads
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 12:21:05 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 27, 2020, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:55:38 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
But Richmond's the capital.
It's kinda been reduced to an afterthought with the re-emergence of Hampton Roads
Wait, what re-emergence? Richmond seems plenty big enough to rank.
Quote from: webny99 on July 27, 2020, 02:11:20 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 12:21:05 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 27, 2020, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:55:38 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
But Richmond's the capital.
It's kinda been reduced to an afterthought with the re-emergence of Hampton Roads
Wait, what re-emergence? Richmond seems plenty big enough to rank.
Only if you mean its history as a political hotbed. Hampton Roads is more important due to mass transit.
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 12:21:05 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 27, 2020, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:55:38 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
But Richmond's the capital.
It's kinda been reduced to an afterthought with the re-emergence of Hampton Roads
But it's still clearly above, say, Roanoke.
Not when it comes to road projects. Been on I-295 south of 64 lately? It's 10 miles of bumpiness down to the bridge over the James River, badly in need of rehab, but do you know what they did? Put up some "rough road next 10 miles" signs at the off ramps from 64 and 895. Not the temporary orange ones. Nope, these are regular yellow, which means they're planned to be around awhile. (The bridge itself is undergoing rehab, for obvious reasons.)
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:14:19 PM
Not when it comes to road projects. Been on I-295 south of 64 lately? It's 10 miles of bumpiness down to the bridge over the James River, badly in need of rehab, but do you know what they did? Put up some "rough road next 10 miles" signs at the off ramps from 64 and 895. Not the temporary orange ones. Nope, these are regular yellow, which means they're planned to be around awhile. (The bridge itself is undergoing rehab, for obvious reasons.)
I don't think I would be able to put up with that, but I digress, as I live by another 295 myself (and I once lived not too far from another one that is to the far north and east of Richmond).
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:14:19 PM
Not when it comes to road projects. Been on I-295 south of 64 lately? It's 10 miles of bumpiness down to the bridge over the James River, badly in need of rehab, but do you know what they did? Put up some "rough road next 10 miles" signs at the off ramps from 64 and 895. Not the temporary orange ones. Nope, these are regular yellow, which means they're planned to be around awhile. (The bridge itself is undergoing rehab, for obvious reasons.)
Not south of I-64, but north of I-64 between there and I-95 just a few weeks ago. I thought it was a very nice road: plenty wide enough (both the road and the median), very smooth, and since it was twilight, I appreciated the reflective markings between the lanes. And every interchange is a cloverleaf! No complaints from me about that section.
Obviously, it sounds like things change on the other side of I-64.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 27, 2020, 02:29:18 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 12:21:05 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on July 27, 2020, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:55:38 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on June 03, 2020, 07:28:37 PM
Virginia (?) -
1-97. Northern Virginia
98. Hampton Roads
99. Richmond
100. Everything else
I'd be tempted to lump Richmond with the "everything else" part, honestly, and add another one to Nova.
But Richmond's the capital.
It's kinda been reduced to an afterthought with the re-emergence of Hampton Roads
But it's still clearly above, say, Roanoke.
Yeah, well, Roanoke would like a word or two with you.
Quote from: webny99 on July 27, 2020, 09:25:06 PM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 07:14:19 PM
Not when it comes to road projects. Been on I-295 south of 64 lately? It's 10 miles of bumpiness down to the bridge over the James River, badly in need of rehab, but do you know what they did? Put up some "rough road next 10 miles" signs at the off ramps from 64 and 895. Not the temporary orange ones. Nope, these are regular yellow, which means they're planned to be around awhile. (The bridge itself is undergoing rehab, for obvious reasons.)
Not south of I-64, but north of I-64 between there and I-95 just a few weeks ago. I thought it was a very nice road: plenty wide enough (both the road and the median), very smooth, and since it was twilight, I appreciated the reflective markings between the lanes. And every interchange is a cloverleaf! No complaints from me about that section.
Obviously, it sounds like things change on the other side of I-64.
Well sure, 295 north of 64 is how you get to Northern VA from Hampton Roads :-D
(Although to be fair the section of 295 between 64E and 95N has been fixed over the past 15 years)
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 09:56:55 PM
Quote from: webny99 on July 27, 2020, 09:25:06 PM
Not south of I-64, but north of I-64 between there and I-95 just a few weeks ago. I thought it was a very nice road: plenty wide enough (both the road and the median), very smooth, and since it was twilight, I appreciated the reflective markings between the lanes. And every interchange is a cloverleaf! No complaints from me about that section.
Well sure, 295 north of 64 is how you get to Northern VA from Hampton Roads :-D
Yep, that's exactly what I was doing... and I sure wish all of I-95 was as nice as that section of I-295.
But, that aside, I still think Richmond ranks. It serves the same sort of role as Albany does for New York. In addition to being the state capital, it's the third largest metro area in the state with over a million people.
Quote from: webny99 on July 27, 2020, 10:17:24 PM
Quote from: Takumi on July 27, 2020, 09:56:55 PM
Quote from: webny99 on July 27, 2020, 09:25:06 PM
Not south of I-64, but north of I-64 between there and I-95 just a few weeks ago. I thought it was a very nice road: plenty wide enough (both the road and the median), very smooth, and since it was twilight, I appreciated the reflective markings between the lanes. And every interchange is a cloverleaf! No complaints from me about that section.
Well sure, 295 north of 64 is how you get to Northern VA from Hampton Roads :-D
Yep, that's exactly what I was doing... and I sure wish all of I-95 was as nice as that section of I-295.
But, that aside, I still think Richmond ranks. It serves the same sort of role as Albany does for New York. In addition to being the state capital, it's the third largest metro area in the state with over a million people.
Which isn't meager by most means. Especially when they have the oldest TV station south of DC!
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 02:25:09 PM
Hampton Roads is more important due to mass transit.
How does mass transit make a city more important than another?
Quote from: kphoger on July 28, 2020, 02:20:45 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 02:25:09 PM
Hampton Roads is more important due to mass transit.
How does mass transit make a city more important than another?
It does for airports, at least (thinking of Newark, NJ specifically).
Quote from: kphoger on July 28, 2020, 02:20:45 PM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on July 27, 2020, 02:25:09 PM
Hampton Roads is more important due to mass transit.
How does mass transit make a city more important than another?
Norfolk has a light rail system, but Hampton Roads' real importance is its abundance of military installations.
Quote from: Big John on June 13, 2020, 12:04:51 AM
^^ Are Janesville and Beloit out of the picture?
Oops yeah lol. Sometimes I forget about those ones. I'd put Janesville in tier 5, just because of its proximity to Madison. And I'd be generous to put Beloit in tier 5. If we gave Beloit to Illinois, nobody would be too sad.
In AR, it's pretty much prioritized in the order of metroplex size. But always keep in mind that in AR, almost all roads lead to Little Rock.
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 05, 2020, 12:13:42 AM
I'll give Texas a shot:
Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)
Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston
Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree)
San Antonio
Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)
Austin
El Paso
Tier 3 (regionally relevant)
Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls
Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)
Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco
Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville
Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn
Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas, and just about every city (that I didn't already mention) with a loop around it)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford
Austin is 1a, as is Fort Worth (the Metroplex's national profile is from Dallas and nearby suburbs, Ft. Worth gets to do its own thing).
The Valley is in the same tier as El Paso.
Waco is definitely Tier 3 now owing to its national profile thanks to Chip and Jo.
Quote from: TXtoNJ on August 03, 2020, 01:12:22 PM
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 05, 2020, 12:13:42 AM
I'll give Texas a shot:
Tier 1 (nationally relevant & major population centers, including metro areas)
Dallas/Fort Worth
Houston
Tier 1a (nationally relevant, but to a slightly - just a little bit - lesser degree)
San Antonio
Tier 2 (regionally to nationally relevant)
Austin
El Paso
Tier 3 (regionally relevant)
Amarillo
Brownsville/Harlingen/McAllen
Corpus Christi
Laredo
Lubbock
Wichita Falls
Tier 4 (influence over a few counties, typically with their own radio market, or large suburbs)
Abilene
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Bryan/College Station
Galveston
Georgetown
Killeen/Temple
Lufkin/Nacogdoches
Midland/Odessa
Plano
Round Rock
San Angelo
Texarkana
Tyler/Longview
Victoria (on the edge)
Waco
Tier 5 (of significance in their local area)
Brownwood
Corsicana
Denison/Sherman
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Paris
Stephenville
Tier 6 - outposts of civilization (West Texas)
Alpine/Marfa
Brady
Childress
Dalhart
Del Rio
Iraan
Junction
Llano
Van Horn
Tier 6a (equivalent - small cities in East/South Texas, and just about every city (that I didn't already mention) with a loop around it)
Alice
Athens
Fairfield
Jasper
Orange
San Augustine
Palestine
Weatherford
Austin is 1a, as is Fort Worth (the Metroplex's national profile is from Dallas and nearby suburbs, Ft. Worth gets to do its own thing).
The Valley is in the same tier as El Paso.
Waco is definitely Tier 3 now owing to its national profile thanks to Chip and Jo.
Waco will always be Koresh Kountry.
All right, I'll play.
New Jersey
Tier 1 - You probably will be shot. Newark, Paterson, Camden
Tier 2 - You mayyy be shot. Maybe not. Gentrification might be a factor here. Trenton, Jersey City, Hoboken, Atlantic City, Elizabeth
Tier 3 - You probably wont be shot. Vineland, Toms River, Edison, New Brunswick, Woodbridge
Tier 4 - Oh, right, I guess these prissy places are in NJ, too - Princeton, Morristown, Cape May, Montclair, Cherry Hill
Tier 1: Baltimore
Tier 2: Annapolis, Cumberland, Frederick, Hagerstown and Salisbury (basically, every other city in the state with insets on atlases)
Tier 3: Bethesda, Bowie, Columbia, Gaithersburg, Glen Burnie, Ocean City, Silver Spring and Towson
Tier 4: California, Dundalk, Easton, Rockville and Waldorf
Tier 5: Aberdeen, Cambridge, College Park, Ellicott City, Germantown, Laurel and Westminster
Tier 6: Bel Air, Chestertown, Denton, Elkton, Oakland, Prince Frederick, Timonium and Upper Marlboro
Tier 7: Centreville, Edgewood, Frostburg, La Plata, Leonardtown, Princess Anne, Snow Hill and Thurmont
Tier 8: Everything else
Massachusetts:
Decaying Town Tiers.
S. of Boston
I. New Bedford
II. Fall River
III. Attleboro
IV. Brockton
V. Taunton
N. of Boston (not including Merrimack Valley)
I. Lynn
II. Salem
III. Gloucester
IV. Revere
V. Everett
VI. Chelsea
Merrimack Valley
I. Lowell
II. Newburyport
III. Lawrence
IV. Haverhill
Central MA
I. Worcester
II. Fitchburg
III. Leominster
IV. Gardner
Pioneer Valley
I. Springfield
II. Westfield
III. Holyoke
IV. Greenfield
V. Chicopee
Berkshires
I. Pittsfield
II. Great Barrington
III. N. Adams
IV. Adams
Quote from: kphoger on June 04, 2020, 10:56:12 AM
Quote from: inkyatari on June 03, 2020, 08:18:20 PM
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on June 03, 2020, 07:20:32 PM
Well, for better or worse, in Illinois the hierarchy is fairly straightforward:
1. Chicago.
2. All others.
I'd change that a bit.
1) Chicago
2) Springfield
3) what other cities?
How does this look?
I. Chicago
II. Springfield
II. suburban Saint Louis
III. Champaign—Urbana
III. Rockford
III. Peoria
III. Bloomington—Normal
IV. Decatur
IV. Moline
V. Carbondale
Using population, traveling importance, education centers, history as criteria...
I would go:
1. Chicago
2. Chicago Suburbs, Springfield, Champaign/Urbana
3. Moline/Rock Island, Peoria, Bloomington/Normal, Rockford, Waukegan
4. St Louis Suburbs, Decatur, Carbondale, Macomb, DeKalb, Charleston
5. Galesburg, Kankakee & Vicinity, Mattoon, Danville, Quincy
6. Mt Vernon, LaSalle/Peru, Belvidere, Freeport, Effingham, Jacksonville
7. Galena, Vandalia, Kaskaskia, Cairo, Dixon, Lincoln
Quote from: SEWIGuy on June 13, 2020, 08:12:10 AM
Quote from: thspfc on June 12, 2020, 04:32:04 PM
Wisconsin
Tier 1:
Milwaukee
Tier 2:
Madison
Tier 3:
Green Bay
Tier 4:
Appleton, Kenosha, Racine, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Wausau, La Crosse
Tier 5:
Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, Superior
I did Wisconsin up above. We were close.
1. Milwaukee
2. Madison
3. Green Bay
Next Tier - center of larger population areas
-Appleton
-Wausau
-Eau Claire
Larger Cities within other metropolitan areas
-Kenosha
-Racine
-Waukesha
-Oshkosh
-Stevens Point
-Superior
Other Significant Cities
-LaCrosse
-Sheboygan
-Fond du Lac
-Janesville
-Beloit
-Manitowoc
Based of population, education centers, history and traveling importance/destinations...
1. Milwaukee & Vicinity
2. Madison & Vicinity, Green Bay & Vicinity
3. Appleton/Neenah & Fox Cities, Racine/Kenosha & Vicinity, Waukesha & Vicinity
4. Janesville/Beloit, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Wausau, Superior, Eau Claire, Hudson/River Falls & Vicinity, Wausau & Vicinity
5. Fond du Lac, Manitowoc/Two Rivers, Sheboygan, Wisconsin Dells/Baraboo, Lake Geneva, Stevens Point
6. Tomah, Dodgeville, Platteville, Whitewater, Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, Prairie du Chien, Portage, West Bend, Marinette, Rhinelander, Ashland, Sturgeon Bay
Quote from: DTComposer on June 04, 2020, 10:13:55 AM
This would be my perception, based mainly on economic and social/cultural influence. The first part is pretty close to population order (in parentheses).
1. Los Angeles (1)
2. San Francisco (4)
3. San Diego (2)
4. San Jose (3)
5. Sacramento (6)
6. Oakland (8)
7. Long Beach (7)
8. Fresno (5)
9. Anaheim (10)
10. Bakersfield (9).
Next tier, no particular order. Secondary urban centers with significant business/retail districts, and anchor cities of medium metropolitan areas:
Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, Glendale, Irvine, Stockton, Modesto, Berkeley, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa...and Palm Springs.
San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, once was the state and west coast's largest city, historically the whole western US although Denver and Seattle were in the next tier of large size in the early half of the 20th century, then came Los Angeles in the 1920s-30s surpassed San Francisco, then San Diego in the 1960s-70s, and 50 miles away, San Jose in the 1980s-90s.
The list of 21 CA's largest cities in population (and adding a city-county like San Francisco, at 22). I can list 58 county seats in CA, although Indio in Riverside county and Victorville in San Bernardino county geographically separated by mountain ranges are treated as co-county seats, thus there are 60 "principal cities in political importance" in CA. Irvine is the youngest, founded in the late 1960s and incorporated in the early 1970s, ideally located between the city of L.A. and San Diego city area limits.
Historically, Santa Barbara was on the list in the Central coast between San Jose and Los Angeles. Monterey which was the Spanish-Mexican era colonial capital, Benicia and Vallejo in Solano County, along with San Jose were the first CA state capitals until Sacramento became the permanent one in 1854. I added Palm Springs when it has a doubled winter season population.
(continued from page 4 with a previous post on the top 10 largest cities in CA)
Long Beach CA along with Fresno and Bakersfield don't have a Major League sports team (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLS) in their respective cities. In the past, Long Beach had what one calls professional sports: 1940-41 Bulldogs (American football) with their rival the Los Angeles Dons, 1950s Chicago Cubs spring training and exhibition games including the polo grounds in Avalon on Santa Catalina island, 1962-63 Chiefs (basketball) and 1967-69 Kings (named for Los Angeles, ice hockey). It is the largest suburb in the US with half a million people, closely ties with Mesa AZ near Phoenix (not sure seasonal or year-round).
Quote from: Desert Man on October 22, 2020, 11:30:30 PM
(continued from page 4 ...)
FYI, not all of us have our settings the same.
What is page 4 for you isn't necessarily page 4 for other members. Some people's settings display a different number of posts per page from your settings.
My settings display newest posts at the top, rather than at the bottom. I'm guessing you think we're on page 5 right now, but on my computer we're still on page 1. :thumbsup:
Quote from: kphoger on October 23, 2020, 01:26:44 PM
Quote from: Desert Man on October 22, 2020, 11:30:30 PM
(continued from page 4 ...)
FYI, not all of us have our settings the same.
...
I'm guessing you think we're on page 5 right now, but on my computer we're still on page 1.
... and for me it's the first post of page
3, since I display the maximum 50 posts per page.
In the southern region of CA made up of 10 counties and here are it's important towns and cities.
Imperial: County seat - El Centro, Largest in local population - Calexico (faces Mexicali on the border, although it doesn't have over 100k people nor does El Centro). There is a town called Imperial in the so-called Imperial valley.
Kern: County seat - Bakersfield (the "Dubai of America" due to many rich people from its oil industry), Famous town - Delano (the straight county line from the Nevada state line to the Pacific ocean crosses the town, which isn't over 100k people). There is a Kern City close to Bakersfield and is unincorporated.
Los Angeles: County seat-L.A., Example of its 100 suburbs - Pomona (has the LA county fairgrounds).
Orange: County seat - Santa Ana, Example of its suburbs - (City of) Orange (my half-sis grew up there).
Riverside: County seat - Riverside, 2nd Largest cities: Corona (my half-sis lives there) and Moreno Valley (once the fastest growing city in the US in the 1980s).
San Bernardino: County seat - San Bernardino, 2nd Largest cities: Fontana (I was born in their hospital) and Ontario (it's commercial airport).
San Diego: County seat - San Diego, 2nd Largest cities: Chula Vista (close to Tijuana) and Oceanside (Camp Pendleton USMC base).
San Luis Obispo: County seat - San Luis Obispo (it has Polytech state university), 2nd Largest city: Paso Robles (has SLO fairgrounds, both cities don't have over 100k people). There are the famous four cities of the "key" Pismo Beach area.
Santa Barbara: County seat - Santa Barbara, Largest in local population: Santa Maria (known for its delicious barbeque style). And Solvang is a Danish town in America with architecture and culture to remind you of Denmark.
Ventura: County seat - Ventura (San Buenaventura), Largest in local population: Oxnard (strawberry fields - like the Beatles song). And Thousand Oaks is said to have one of the largest concentration of wealthy residents in the state and nation.
Yuma, AZ (closest big city within the US to Imperial Valley with 100k people) and Las Vegas, NV (that state's largest city within 50 miles from the CA state line).