Largest city without a U.S. highway (besides Honolulu or Anchorage)

[Road Hog]

(or Fresno or Bakersfield)

California will lead this topic, so let's give them the trophy and throw it open to others.

[NE2]

Rochester, NY? [edit]oops - Seattle. Has to be Seattle if you ignore California.

Largest city that never had one is a more interesting topic, since it doesn't "penalize" cities for being on major routes that became Interstates. I wouldn't know where to start - Lake Havasu City? Keene, NH (for an older city)? Something on Long Island?

[oscar]

Assuming you're not counting Interstates, just has to be San Diego.  Used to have US 80, US 101, and US 395, before the first was decommissioned in California, and the other two were truncated.

[jp the roadgeek]

In the northeast: Waterbury, New Britain, Middletown, and Norwich, CT; Lawrence, MA; Newport, RI; all of LI (Hempstead, Islip,); Vineland, NJ; Rockville/Gaithersburg, MD. 

[Alps]

I like the idea of "largest city never served by a US highway" better.

[hbelkins]

I can't think of a city in Kentucky bigger than Hazard that doesn't have a US route.

[wriddle082]

In Tennessee it's definitely Oak Ridge.

[Duke87]

I like the idea of "largest city never served by a US highway" better.

Well, Honolulu and Anchorage are #1 and #2 on that list.

Outside of Hawaii and Alaska the answer appears to be Chandler, AZ (reading down this list).

Now, tougher question is, what if we exclude cities that are suburbs of other cities from consideration?

[NE2]

Outside of Hawaii and Alaska the answer appears to be Chandler, AZ (reading down this list).

Now, tougher question is, what if we exclude cities that are suburbs of other cities from consideration?

Yeah, Chandler's BS. Got a list of only main cities in MSAs (those in the name) by population?

[Duke87]

Continuing down the same list, the answer seems to be Waterbury, CT.

[tdindy88]

Well, in Indiana it's Bloomington. And unlike the interstates thread where B-Town will get itself a new interstate in a few years, there will be no U.S. highways there ever.

[mgk920]

In Wisconsin, the most populous municipality to have never had a US highway enter its corporate limits is the City of Racine.

Mike

[mapman1071]

Tucson, AZ
Yuma, AZ

[roadfro]

In Nevada, this would have to be Pahrump. (Although Pahrump is technically an unincorporated town, not a city.)

It's the only major populated area in Nevada that has never been served by a US highway.

[JREwing78]

The largest I've found in Michigan so far (excepting suburbs of larger cities) that's never had a US Highway is Owosso, MI. (pop. 15,024).

[oscar]

Tucson, AZ
Yuma, AZ

Didn't US 80 once run through both?

[corco]

and US 89 through Tucson.

And US 95 currently goes through Yuma.

[dgolub]

In the northeast: Waterbury, New Britain, Middletown, and Norwich, CT; Lawrence, MA; Newport, RI; all of LI (Hempstead, Islip,); Vineland, NJ; Rockville/Gaithersburg, MD.

Hempstead and Islip are towns, not cities.  The only cities on Long Island are Glen Cove and Long Beach.  The latter doesn't even have a state route passing through it, much less a US route or interstate, although the proposed but unbuilt I-878 would have passed through it.

[dgolub]

How about the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island in New York City?  True, they're boroughs, not separate cities, but in terms of both population and area they're substantially larger than many places that are considered to be cities.

[hbelkins]

Different states define "city" in different ways. Any incorporated place in Kentucky is a "city." Such isn't the case in, for example, New York.

[NE2]

New York's towns are more like townships in other states.

[pianocello]

In Iowa, at least the eastern half, the largest would have to be Washington, population 7000 or so. The only other town I could think of is Williamsburg (I-80 passes right next to it, but US-6 always veered north towards Marengo), but I guess that only seems bigger than it is (pop. 3000) because of the outlet mall.

[KEK Inc.]

San Diego wins.  Seattle is 2nd and wins non-California (as NE said).  I don't see why these threads grow so big since there's only one answer. 

Fresno, Honolulu, Anchorage, and Bakersfield are nowhere near as big as San Diego and Seattle.

[corco]

I don't see why these threads grow so big since there's only one answer. 

Stop being so judgemental and follow the evolution of the thread and name the biggest city that never had a US highway

[KEK Inc.]

I don't see why these threads grow so big since there's only one answer. 

Stop being so judgemental and follow the evolution of the thread and name the biggest city that never had a US highway

Long Beach, CA?  (Fresno had US-99.  I believe US-101 was east of Long Beach, and I don't think Long Beach was as big as it is now when US-91 was a thing.)  I have no idea how big Long Beach was in the early 60s, though.