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Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 975,507 times
Reputation: 1406
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After over two years of research and updates, below is my list of the Top 200 Most Influential Urban Areas in the USA. Now that we have updated 2020 US Census Data for Urban Areas, this list has been greatly enhanced. Here is what urban area definition means https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...es_urban_areas
Please feel free to message/DM me your suggestions on ways to improve my list!
Obviously there are difficulties defining urban areas such as San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tampa Bay, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Raleigh-Durham, and Norfolk-VA Beach, because these cities have such strong and nearby secondary cities. Other cities such as Newark, Jersey City, Oakland, Long Beach, Riverside, San Bernardino are other examples.
Please do keep in mind that the list is entirely subjective and becomes increasingly so the further down the list you go.
I would greatly appreciate anyone's feedback on my list!
Current Ranking
Internationally Influential
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Washington
5. San Francisco
6. Boston
7. Philadelphia
8. Houston
9. Atlanta
10. Miami
11. Dallas
12. Seattle
Nationally Influential
13. Detroit
14. Minneapolis
15. Phoenix
16. Denver
17. San Diego
18. Baltimore
19. Portland
20. St. Louis
21. Pittsburgh
22. Cleveland
23. Kansas City
24. Cincinnati
25. Las Vegas
26. Austin
27. Sacramento
28. Milwaukee
29. Columbus
30. Indianapolis
31. Tampa
32. Orlando
33. Charlotte
34. Nashville
35. Raleigh
36. San Antonio
37. New Orleans
38. Richmond
39. Honolulu
40. Salt Lake City
Statewide/Regionally Influential
61. Colorado Springs
62. Fresno
63. Madison
64. New Haven
65. Worcester
66. Wilmington, DE
67. Savannah
68. Portland, ME
69. Boise
70. Santa Barbara
91. Tallahassee
92. Asheville
93. Harrisburg, PA
94. Columbia, SC
95. Greenville, SC
96. Montgomery
97. Jackson, MS
98. Little Rock
99. Winston-Salem
100. Augusta, GA
101. Roanoke, VA
102. Flint, MI
103. Gary, IN
104. Lexington, KY
105. Lincoln, NE
106. Santa Cruz, CA
107. Eugene, OR
108. Fort Wayne, IN
109. South Bend, IN
110. Palm Springs, CA
111. Greensboro, NC
112. Melbourne, FL
113. Daytona Beach, FL
114. Scranton, PA
115. Columbus, GA
116. Lancaster, PA
117. Charleston, WV
118. Wilmington, NC
119. Green Bay, WI
120. Fayetteville, NC
121. Lubbock, TX
122. Galveston, TX
123. Chattanooga, TN
124. Springfield, IL
125. Fayetteville, AR
126. Santa Fe, NM
127. Corpus Christi, TX
128. Davenport, IA
129. Fargo, ND
130. Sioux Falls, SD
131. Pensacola, FL
132. McAllen, TX
133. Atlantic City, NJ
134. Monterey, CA
135. Topeka, KS
136. Stockton, CA
137. Kalamazoo, MI
138. Springfield, MO
139. Erie, PA
140. Reading, PA
141. Duluth, MN
142. Charlottesville, VA
143. Gainesville, FL
144. York, PA
145. Frederick, MD
146. Lynchburg, VA
147. Peoria, IL
148. Rockford, IL
149. Burlington, VT
150. Dover, DE
151. Concord, NH
152. Myrtle Beach, SC
153. Cedar Rapids, IA
154. Modesto, CA
155. Rochester, MN
156. Saginaw, MI
157. Canton, OH
158. Shreveport, LA
159. New Bedford, MA
160. New London, CT
161. Poughkeepsie, NY
162. Salem, OR
163. Ithaca, NY
164. Brownsville, TX
165. Youngstown, OH
166. Waco, TX
167. Kenosha, WI
168. Olympia, WA
169. Palmdale, CA
170. Amarillo, TX
171. Fredericksburg, VA
172. Sioux City, IA
173. College Station, TX
174. Newport, RI
175. Utica, NY
176. Billings, MY
177. Greenville, NC
178. Champaign, IL
179. Hagerstown, MD
180. Carson City, NV
181. Beaumont, TX
182. Fort Collins, CO
183. Bellingham, WA
184. Athens, GA
185. Midland, TX
186. Macon, GA
187. Evansville, IN
188. Bloomington, IN
189. Santa Rosa, CA
190. Binghamton, NY
191. Tyler, TX
192. Visalia, CA
193. Bloomington, IL
194. Destin, FL
195. Las Cruces, NM
196. Redding, CA
197. Panama City, FL
198. St. Cloud, MN
199. Flagstaff, AZ
200. State College, PA
Runner-ups (not necessarily in order):
San Clemente, CA
Temecula, CA
Victorville, CA
Chico, CA
El Centro, CA
Hemet, CA
Napa, CA
San Luis Obispo, CA
Vacaville, CA
Fairfield, CA
Yuba City, CA
Medford, OR
Bend, OR
Kennewick, WA
Bellingham, WA
Yakima, WA
Bremerton, WA
Idaho Falls, ID
Helena, MT
Missoula, MT
Bozeman, MT
Bismarck, ND
Grand Forks, ND
Rapid City, SD
Aberdeen, SD
Cheyenne, WY
Provo, UT
Ogden, UT
St. George, UT
Logan, UT
Yuma, AZ
Prescott, AZ
Los Lunas, NM
Pueblo, CO
Manhattan, KS
Lawton, OK
Odessa, TX
Laredo, TX
Killeen, TX
Abilene, TX
Wichita Falls, TX
San Angelo, TX
Fort Smith, AR
Jonesboro, AR
Texarkana, AR
Lafayette, LA
Lake Charles, LA
Monroe, LA
Alexandria, LA
Biloxi, MS
Hattiesburg, MS
Tupelo, MS
Tuscaloosa, AL
Dothan, AL
Muscle Shoals, AL
Lakeland, FL
Destin, FL
Port St. Lucie, FL
Ocala, FL
Vero Beach, FL
Port Charlotte, FL
Leesburg, FL
Warner Robins, GA
Gainesville, GA
Valdosta, GA
Albany, GA
Rome, GA
Florence, SC
Hickory, NC
Jacksonville, NC
Burlington, NC
Columbia, MO
Waterloo, IA
Dubuque, IA
La Crosse, WI
Eau Claire, WI
Oshkosh, WI
Wausau, WI
Sheboygan, WI
Decatur, IL
Lafayette, IN
Muncie, IN
Terre Haute, IN
Anderson, IN
Kokomo, IN
Muskegon, MI
Jackson, MI
Holland, MI
Traverse City, MI
Newark, OH
Mansfield, OH
Lima, OH
Owensboro, KY
Bowling Green, KY
Paducah, KY
Williamsburg, VA
Winchester, VA
Morgantown, WV
Huntington, WV
Wheeling, WV
Altoona, PA
Johnstown, PA
Williamsport, PA
Vineland, NJ
Elmira, NY
Danbury, CT
Waterbury, CT
Pittsfield, MA
Barnstable, MA
Leominster, MA
Portsmouth, NH
Bangor, ME
Lewiston, ME
Fairbanks, AK
Combined:
Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Edison, Parsippany, New Brunswick, Toms River, Lakewood, Asbury Park, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Stamford, Norwalk with New York
Riverside, San Bernardino, Ontario, Long Beach, Anaheim, Irvine, Santa Ana, Oxnard, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Lake Forest, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo with Los Angeles
Aurora, Joliet, Elgin, McHenry, Waukegan, Naperville, Hammond with Chicago
Arlington, Alexandria, Rockville, Tysons, Bethesda, College Park, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Laurel, Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Leesburg, Reston, Manassas, Woodbridge with Washington DC
Salem, Quincy, Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Framingham, Marlborough, Brockton with Boston
San Jose, Oakland, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Concord, Antioch, Vallejo, Livermore with San Francisco
Camden, Chester, Cherry Hill, Deptford, Malvern, Downingtown, King of Prussia, Pottstown, Phoenixville, Doylestown, Perkasie, Lansdale, West Chester with Philadelphia
Arlington, Plano, McKinney, Fort Worth with Dallas
Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach with Miami
The Woodlands with Houston
Tacoma with Seattle
St. Paul with Minneapolis
Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Warren, Livonia with Detroit
Boulder, Aurora, Golden, Lakewood, Englewood, Littleton, Longmont, Lafayette CO, Erie CO, Louisville CO with Denver
Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria AZ with Phoenix
Carlsbad, Vista with San Diego (SD city limits extend quite far north)
Annapolis with Baltimore
Lawrence with Kansas City
St. Petersburg with Tampa
Kissimmee, Sanford, Four Corners with Orlando
Round Rock with Austin
Henderson with Las Vegas
Elyria, Lorain, Parma with Cleveland
Newark, OH with Columbus, OH
Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill with Raleigh
Virginia Beach, Newport News, Chesapeake with Norfolk
Norman with Oklahoma City
Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Estero with Fort Myers
Bradenton with Sarasota
Denton with Fort Worth
Bethlehem, Easton with Allentown
Iowa City with Cedar Rapids
Nashua with Manchester, NH
High Point with Greensboro
Madera with Fresno
Schenectady with Albany
Murrieta with Temecula
Hershey, Carlisle with Harrisburg
Davis with Sacramento
Layton with Salt Lake City
Appleton with Green Bay
Kailua with Honolulu
Marco Island with Naples
Easley, Greer, Simpsonville, Anderson, Spartanburg with Greenville, SC
Newburgh with Poughkeepsie
Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers with Fayetteville, AR
Tracy, Manteca, and Lodi with Stockton
Indio with Palm Springs
Wilkes-Barre with Scranton
Elkhart with South Bend
Daphne with Mobile
Bay City with Saginaw
Palm Bay, Cocoa, Cape Canaveral with Melbourne
Gulfport with Biloxi
Nampa with Boise
Greeley, Loveland with Fort Collins
Corning with Elmira
Turlock with Modesto
Nicholasville with Lexington
Milton with Pensacola
Hendersonville with Asheville
Coeur d'Alene with Spokane
Springfield, OH with Dayton
Middletown with Cincinnati
Yarmouth, Gorham, Biddeford with Portland, ME
Fall River with Providence
Waukesha, Racine with Milwaukee
Lititz, Ephrata, Columbia with Lancaster, PA
Enfield, Suffield, Granby, Windsor Locks with Hartford
Winter Haven with Lakeland
Salinas with Monterey
Decatur, AL with Huntsville
The Villages with Ocala
Watsonville with Santa Cruz
Battle Creek with Kalamazoo
Temple with Killeen
Port Arthur with Beaumont
Separated:
Bridgeport from New York
Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Indio, Victorville, Lancaster CA, from Los Angeles
Gary from Chicago
Baltimore from Washington
Wilmington DE and Trenton from Philadelphia
Providence from Boston
Galveston from Houston
Tampa from Orlando
Akron, Canton, Cleveland are all separate
Dayton from Cincinnati
Austin from San Antonio
Kenosha from Milwaukee
Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield MA are all separate
Stockton, Woodland, Dixon from Sacramento
Murfreesboro, Clarksville from Nashville
Winston-Salem from Greensboro
Vero Beach from Port St. Lucie
Midland from Saginaw
Kuna from Boise
Palm Coast, Deltona from Daytona Beach
Punta Gorda from Fort Myers
North Port from Sarasota
Hermitage, Sharon from Youngstown
Vacaville from Fairfield
Napa from Vallejo
Beloit from Rockford
Warner Robins from Macon
Odessa from Midland
Titusville from Melbourne
Holland, Muskegon from Grand Rapids
Waterbury from New Haven
I feel Dallas shouldn’t be separated from the front pack. I don’t know if I agree with putting Philly above Houston.
Boston probably doesn’t belong in #6 if you take away PVD, Manch, Worcester, and Barnstable. Same might be true of DC: it might not be #4 without Baltimore, especially if SF does include SJ.
Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 975,507 times
Reputation: 1406
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meridian12345
I think the take that most people would disagree with would be putting the two North Carolina metros so low. I’m curious about your reasoning there.
Well for some reason the US Census still has Charlotte broken apart into multiple urban areas. Charlotte by itself only has 1.38 million urban area population per the US Census. Also Raleigh and Durham are still separate entities (which I don't really understand at this point). I guess I was trying to somewhat balance the Census with reality, since I do not strictly follow the Census definition, but there must be some merit there...?
I ultimately felt North Carolina was being treated unfairly overall on my list (yes, I took into account the states’ relative positions in my list), so I tried boosting its other cities higher up on the list (Asheville, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Greensboro, Fayetteville) as much as I could. Keep in mind, North Carolina does have the second largest rural population of any state in the USA (second only to Texas).
I guess. The problem is most people do rank Raleigh (by itself) below the likes of Richmond and New Orleans. I have done many polls on this (not just on City Data Forum but on different websites too) and that is at least the layman's opinion (even though I ask and specify importance/influence based on economy, commerce, history, politics, logistics, culture, media, tourism, many of these polls are ultimately reduced to a popularity/notoriety contest - case in point, most people also think Las Vegas is a Top 10 most important city in the USA, which I absolutely will not concede at this time). At least I did not do that. Idk I guess Raleigh is still somewhat plauged by "twin city-itis" it seems.
Raleigh and Charlotte do not have as much legacy city infrastructure either, which also slightly affects their positions.
They both seem like they could be higher, I will admit. My list is not perfect and I definitely appreciate your input!
Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 975,507 times
Reputation: 1406
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118
Pretty good. But this is a better, updated, more accurate order:
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Washington
5. San Francisco
6. Boston
7. Atlanta
8. Miami
9. Philadelphia
10. Houston
11. Dallas
12. Seattle
Good suggestion. I actually am not a huge fan of my list having Houston at #8 and Dallas at #11. That is the biggest split I would allow. Only way I can find to justify it is to say Dallas is less focal than Houston as a metro area. I tried to rectify that by splitting Fort Worth off as a separate urban area entity and putting it at ~#44 on a list that I never published. But, the problem was then that opened up a whole can of worms because now San Jose, now Riverside, now San Bernardino, now a whole bunch of others need broken off. Even Durham too.
My only argument is that 8-11 on my list are a very tight pack. I actually give the nod to Philadelphia for its urban form and history. So all things the same, I feel like it is Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami that are essentially peers and locked in a tight 4-way race.
Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 975,507 times
Reputation: 1406
Another thing I would like to add. I also feel like New Orleans might be way too low on my list at #37. It is a royal pain in the butt to rank New Orleans because it could never sprawl like the other American metros due to geographic reasons. It is also located in the worst run and most corrupt state in the nation (or top 3 worst). And yet, New Orleans has unparalleled history, urban form, and incredibly important logistics given its strategic location. So, is New Orleans a Top 20 or a Top 40 city? I really cannot decide.
If you made a list based on city propers alone, New Orleans would be much, much higher than #37. But based on urban area, it does not do as well because it does not have the size/scale due to being unable to sprawl or expand (swampy marshlands, and hemmed in by the mighty Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartran)
Miami and Houston are the 4th and 5th largest UA's and are more international with more cosmopolitan populations.
I know you are not going strictly by UA, but at this point Houston and DFW is bigger than Philly on every metric.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joakim3
By UA Population over 1 million
New York 19,426,449 *Los Angeles-Riverside - 14,515,079
Los Angeles 12,237,376
Chicago - 8,671,746
*DC-Baltimore - 7,386,797
Miami 6,077,522
Houston - 5,853,575
Dallas-Fort Worth - 5,732,354
Philadelphia - 5,696,125
DC - 5,174,759 *San Franciso-Oakland-San Jose - 5,106,831
Atlanta - 4,999,259
Boston - 4,382,009
Phoenix - 3,976,313
Detroit - 3,776,890
Seattle - 3,544,011
San Francisco-Oakland - 3,269,385
San Diego - 3,070,300
Minneapolis-St.Paul - 2,914,866
Denver - 2,686,147
Riverside - 2,276,703
Tampa - 2,783,045
Baltimore - 2,212,038
Las Vegas - 2,196,623
Saint Louis - 2,156,323
Portland - 2,104,238
Sacramento - 1,946,618
San Antonio - 1,992,689
Orlando - 1,853,896
San Jose - 1,837,446
Austin - 1,809,888
Pittsburgh - 1,745,039
Cleveland - 1,712,178
Indianapolis 1,699,881
Cincinnati - 1,686,744
Kansas City 1,674,218
Columbus - 1,567,254
Virginia Beach-Norfolk 1,451,578
Charlotte - 1,379,873
Metropolitan Statistical Area(MSA) GDP 2021:
1 New York-Newark-Jersey City $1,992,779,274
2 Los Angeles-Long Beach $1,124,682,354
3 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin $764,583,227
4 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley $668,677,573
5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria $607,628,505
6 Dallas-Fort Worth Arlington $598,333,263
7 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land $537,066,232
8 Boston-Cambridge-Newton $531,671,846
9 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue $479,966,484
10 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington $477,580,629
11 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta $473,823,474
12 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach $417,147,866
I really don't see how Philly would rank at 7. What puts it there?
Your original list is better :
Quote:
Originally Posted by g500
I want to make the ultimate Top 200 City Data Forum Influence List, but I need your input!
1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Washington
5. San Francisco
6. Boston
7. Houston
8. Philadelphia
9. Atlanta
10. Dallas
11. Seattle
12. Miami
13. Minneapolis
14. Detroit
15. Denver
16. San Diego
17. San Jose
18. Phoenix
19. Baltimore
20. Charlotte
In 2023, I'd prefer to follow this list. It seems more inclined to what determines "influential." There's no way that Philadelphia is more influential than Houston, Atlanta, or Miami, especially internationally. Dallas' GDP is too large to be #11.
US Metros:
1) New York
2) Los Angeles
3) San Francisco (Bay Area)
4) Chicago
5) Washington
6) Boston
7) Dallas
8) Houston
9) Atlanta
10) Miami
11) Philadelphia
12) Seattle
13) Phoenix
14) Detroit
15) San Diego
16) Denver
17) Minneapolis
18) Baltimore
19) Orlando
20) Charlotte
21) Las Vegas
22) Austin
23) Tampa
24) Portland
25) Cleveland
26) St. Louis
27) Salt Lake City
28) Raleigh
29) Pittsburgh
30) Cincinnati
31) Sacramento
32) Nashville
33) Columbus
34) Indianapolis
35) San Antonio
36) Kansas City
37) San Juan*
38) Milwaukee
39) Honolulu
40) New Orleans
41) Providence
42) Hampton Roads
43) Jacksonville
44) Hartford
Status:
"See My Blog Entries for my Top 500 Most Important USA Cities"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
1,051 posts, read 975,507 times
Reputation: 1406
Atadytic19 - in my view Philadelphia grabs the #7 spot based on its history, legacy, and urban form. Since Philadelphia would easily defeat all 4 southern metros on a city proper basis (Houston would be the only contender), I imagine this means it has a slight leg up in the Urban Area arena where it only lags behind a bit. Keep in mind, Houston’s metro area is larger than the state of New Jersey, which is kind of absurd in some ways. Dallas is essentially the same size
Houston 10,062 sq mi
New Jersey 8,722 sq mi
Dallas 8,675 sq mi
Philadelphia 4,603 sq mi
Keep in mind I did break off Wilmington Delaware as a separate entity on my list (maybe I *should not* have done that in all honesty in order to justify Philadelphia at #7- I only did it because Wilmington has a banger downtown and is in a separate state, but then wouldn’t that same argument apply to separating Newark and Jersey City from NYC?). I mean, I guess maybe Fort Worth should be separated off too? Dallas would keep its #11 spot in that case.
I mean, how do I rank McKinney, Denton, The Woodlands, Katy… they are suburb satellites. So idk if they should really be separated off.
Anyway, I think what would be fair would be give Fort Worth a brand new position of say #45 on the list, and keep Dallas at #11? See then that starts causing other problems then. So should Tacoma be separate? Should San Jose, should Riverside, so on and so forth…
OR I should take Wilmington DE off the list entirely and assume it was lumped with Philadelphia to push Philadelphia across the line for the #7 position? Should Worcester be removed from the list then too?
Idk I’m pretty happy with the top 12. I’ve shuffled 7-12 around endlessly. There is no perfect answer. You definitely are not wrong with your analysis.
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