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Meh - you missed the point. It's not simply that there are more people living in the suburbs than in DC, but that there are also more people living within Baltimore. As a result, information about CSAs doesn't provide a basis to make comparisons between different cities in different CSAs. BigCityDreamer clarified this in his later post, in which he noted that CSAs allow for comparisons between different "urban conglomerations," which can include multiple cities, small towns and suburbs.
As for suggesting that Baltimore is the Oakland to DC's San Francisco, I think that's a very poor analogy to suggest. At one point Baltimore was the second largest city in the United States. It still has a larger population than DC, private industry that does not exist in DC, and many cultural and educational institutions.
Washington D.C. now in 2012 has a larger population than the city of Baltimore.
Meh - you missed the point. It's not simply that there are more people living in the suburbs than in DC, but that there are also more people living within Baltimore. As a result, information about CSAs doesn't provide a basis to make comparisons between different cities in different CSAs. BigCityDreamer clarified this in his later post, in which he noted that CSAs allow for comparisons between different "urban conglomerations," which can include multiple cities, small towns and suburbs.
CSAs are always about the overall region, never just about the central city (or cities).
Quote:
As for suggesting that Baltimore is the Oakland to DC's San Francisco, I think that's a very poor analogy to suggest. At one point Baltimore was the second largest city in the United States. It still has a larger population than DC, private industry that does not exist in DC, and many cultural and educational institutions.
And DC used to be sleepy backwater while Baltimore boomed during the industrial revolution. Regardless of different histories, I'm certainly not the only one to notice that, in the 21st century, DC plays a role similar to San Francisco in its region while Baltimore loosely plays a role similar to Oakland. One could expand the comparison to include the role San Jose / Silicon Valley plays as similar to what Tysons Corner / Dulles Corridor does here. I'm just talking in broad generalities here.
Fair enough. I was just saying that there's significant overlap and commuting between the two areas, but you're right that it means just pushing that line further and further out, then no one knows where to stop. Similarly, I think it's absurd to include any part of West Virginia just because some fringe people with a lot of time on their hands commute in everyday from there.
You used the term "exurb" recently and it's long been understood that the eastern panhandle of West Virginia includes many people who commute to jobs in NoVa and DC:
Accordingly, your comment is best understood not as a rational observation as to how the boundaries of CSAs should be determined, but instead as an example of the extreme condescension that pgtitans recently observed. You really live up to the worst possible stereotype of a DC resident to refer to these folks as "fringe people with a lot of time on their hands."
Washington D.C. now in 2012 has a larger population than the city of Baltimore.
It does indeed appear that DC will overtake Baltimore in population this year. Meanwhile SF continues to have over twice the population of Oakland, rendering comparisons of the DC/Baltimore and SF/Oakland relationships shaky at best.
I don't think it's fair to include Baltimore in those stats when no one that actually lives around here considers Baltimore part of the area. They're two distinct cities, and there is very little intermingling of the two.
They're loosely connected through commuting patterns.
It does indeed appear that DC will overtake Baltimore in population this year. Meanwhile SF continues to have over twice the population of Oakland, rendering comparisons of the DC/Baltimore and SF/Oakland relationships shaky at best.
Baltimore is closer to the San Jose in this scenario, but that's also a stretch.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Washington DC MSA alone, can hold it's own in almost any category and often is considered right behind NY, LA, Chi, without adding Baltimore to anything. So it's no need to stretch numbers beyond that, but with that said as a CSA Baltimore-Washington is much stronger than most regions in the country when combined in most categories (GDP, Wealth, Jobs, Diversity, Transit).
It is IMO undoubtedly the most unique MSA-CSA metropolis area in the US. No where else do you have 2 seperate top 20 MSA's within the same CSA that are 35 miles or less apart and are of relative size of each other. Which are stand alone cities/metros but still share suburbs and have some type of connection.
Last edited by the resident09; 07-07-2012 at 09:05 PM..
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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In fact LA-Long Beach MSA and Riverside San Bernadino is the only other CSA in the country where the population of both are in the top 20 MSA's in the country, but they are not two separate spheres of influence with dominating markets as SoCal is dominated by Los Angeles. The two MSA's are nowhere close to equal in size LA at 13 million it's 3 times the size of the Inland Empire at 4.3 million, not comparable. There is no central core of influence in Inland Empire like a Downtown Baltimore or Downtown Washington DC, each of which have their own separate major professional sports arenas, public transit systems etc.
What makes Baltimore-Washington unique is you will not find a situation similar to this from major cities within 35 miles of each other (That are a part of 2 separate MSA's) in the entire country.
Last edited by the resident09; 07-07-2012 at 09:10 PM..
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