What Smaller U.S Cities Would You Like To See As Bigger Centers

[BigBen12120]

Nashville

[verain]

Thats amazing results i found hear...
I never seen these before now..Its surprisingly for me..

[novaCJ]

I'd like to see Salt Lake become not physically larger, it's already very sprawling, but much denser in the core. The existing downtown is nice, but relatively small. The same goes for Albuquerque. I wouldn't mind seeing Boise, Madison or Spokane grow either. As a whole though, I would rather the population grow into depopulated, abandoned urban areas (the Detroit's of America- Detroit being a place I would like to see grow to prominence beyond the automotive industry) before much more expansion outward happens.

To the OP-I'm glad you like Pennsylvania, It is one of my favorite states as well(along with Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts and Vermont-I like mountains(and the rockier tendency of New England's and the PNW shoreline)). It would be nice if Pittsburgh would play a larger national role again, it definitely has the potential and the added bonus of a stunning natural setting.

[paul3]

I want Dutchess County, New York, because we all know that New York was a great place to enjoy and many actors and actresses lived here.

[tdoger]

i would love to see medford oregon grow in to a big city, around like a million. its about 200k metro. focus on health care and agriculture. Lots of new architecture and near many great outdoor activities.

[ozone]

I am not exactly sure what you are asking. I usually think the problem is larger cities or hubs of larger metropolitan areas being too small. In California for example San Jose's downtown is amazingly small for it's population. The same could be said for Sacramento. I am surprised just how large and urban some of small-to-medium sized cities/metro areas in North America look and feel.

[SkyscraperGuru]

You realize you just called Philadelphia a small town, when it's one of the biggest cities in the world...?

Anyway, Erie is a city with just over 100,000 population. I think it'd be nice if they got a bump in modern architecture.

[Skyliner]

I wouldn't mind seeing the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson (Upstate South Carolina) area become more prominent along the I-85 corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte. Greenville is making significant strides economically — especially downtown and in the city's main suburban areas. I would also like to see better interconnectivity between the Upstate of SC and Western NC. One great advantage to living in Greenville is having the mountains within sight and a short drive during the hot summer.

[trekkerguy]

Originally Posted by novaCJ

I wouldn't mind seeing Boise, Madison or Spokane grow either.

Boise is growing. We've got a lot initiatives to develop the urban core and the downtown is about to hit a boom. The Boise metro area is just over 600,000 and Boise itself is 205,000. Current projections have the Boise metro hitting 1million by 2040, if Boise still holds about a third of the metro's population then we could be sitting at about 340,000(about the size of Tampa currently).

[rampant_jwalker]

I've never been to South Texas, but I'm curious about the cities there. Corpus Christi and Brownsville seem like a great locations, near the ocean with tropical warm winters. I can imagine one of those cities developing into the next Miami someday.

[Hypothalamus]

I have recently requested multiple buildings in Danbury and Bethel, CT. I would love to have all of the taller buildings included in your data base!

[bhammer]

Of course I'm going sound like a homer but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want Birmingham to be a major regional center (again).
I'd also like to see a revived Detroit and another major city in New England besides Boston. Maybe New Haven? Its MSA is roughly the same size as Birmingham's.
I'd also like to see a new major city emerge on the Gulf between Florida and New Orleans. Alabama coastal condo sale were up >14% last month so hopefully something like that will happen. Seems unlikely though.
I'd also like to see something in Kentucky emerge as a major regional city.

[bhammer]

Originally Posted by BigBen12120

Nashville

It's already sizable and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It gained like 20% in population from 2000-2010

[BoiseAirport]

Great thread, definitely stirs the imagination.

-In my perfect world, Boise would be roughly the same size as Austin, TX or Nashville, TN to properly fill that gap between Salt Lake and Seattle/Portland. I'd also like to see a lot of the towns dotted around Idaho, like McCall, Lewiston, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Sun Valley, Salmon and Coeur D'Alene significantly larger than they currently are, ranging from, say, 50,000-300,000.

Here's some more I think would be cool:
-Portland, ME roughly the size of Portland, OR
-Rapid City, SD roughly the size of Des Moines, IA
-Billings and Bozeman, MT roughly the size of Boise and Reno

-I guess technically this is still the U.S. -- it'd be cool if there was another Honolulu-sized metropolis in the middle of the Pacific. I don't know where you'd put it.. maybe a fictional extension of Guam or in the American Samoa.

-This one's kind of weird, but I kind of wish Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Bellvue, and Vancouver (BC) were all merged into one city located either where Vancouver or Seattle currently is. Adding the populations together would make it a city roughly the size of Philadelphia... And just imagine what a combined Vancouver/Seattle skyline would look like.

[PillowTalk4]

While Nashville is considered a mid-major, I'd still like to see it grow to a true major. The city just lacks leaders and developers with a true vision on how to develop it. Nashville has so many underdeveloped areas or areas not being used properly that cause development issues. The entire east bank of the cumberland river for instance is poorly planned and a wasteland for salvage companies, cement factories, brick yards and warehouses that are not worth anything. Yet it is an area that should be treated as prime real estate. If developed properly as the Midtown and Gulch areas have developed, it would transform Nashville's inner core and make the city even more attractive.

Other cities I'd like to see grow... Chattanooga, Clarksville, TN (to a small major), Alexandria, VA, Springfield, VA (most overlooked area of the DC metropolitan area for development).

[Future Mayor]

NYC Rick made a really good point about Salt Lake City, it has a large metro population but it is way to spread out. The trend is very slowly reversing and the nice, but medium sized downtown is starting to reach skyward a bit more all the time. The one benifit SLC has is that it has natural growth boundaries surrounding it (mountains, big ones) and as transportation costs, particulary gas continue to increase it will hopefully make people realize that slighlty more density isn't neccesarily a bad thing. One positive note on SLC proper is that in the 2011 population estimates show have it as the largest it has ever been, it has eclipesed its 1960 census number. The recent investment by Goldman Sacs in SLC, making SLC it's second largest US office after NY/NJ, has really helped to bring SLC up another notch. There is talk that many other investment banks may start making some moves to SLC, and us development and skyscraper geeks love when banks get in a pissing match and ego wars, because that often times means more and taller buildings. "Mine is bigger than yours"

Another forumer mentioned it and I agree 100%, I would love to see some of the rust belt cities make a come back. They are already built to accomodate twice the population they are today without creating new infrastructure, (updating would be needed) I lived in Cleveland for a few years for school, and had never visited it prior to moving there. It has such potential and such a rich past. It has facilities for the performing arts that most other cities across the country would love to have, and places like SLC are starting to build. Cleveland has such potential for future growth and repopulation, I do have to say approving a casino in downtown WILL NOT help Cleveland. I have never visited Detroit, but I would assume it has much of the same potential at Cleveland with repopulation and growth.

I to think Boise has some great potential and as was pointed out, would be a great link between SLC and the NW. Boise has a great vibe and a very engaging downtown. I hope as the city continues to grow that it can continue with that engagment, and grow larger without losing the charm that it has.

[natethegreatforlife]

I would want to see Sandusky Ohio grow into a city of 50,000+. It already has a nice tourist industry with an amusement park, 6 water parks, and being the base for many travellers to the Lake Erie Islands. It's already a city of 25,000+, and the center of Erie and surrounding counties. The city has a lot of potential for growth.

[PHL2FL]

I think this may have been mentioned before, but I've always had a fantasy of a bigger Savannah. It's a sizeable city with a large, popular historic core, and I would like to see it gain some non-tourist-related industries, maybe located in a sort of mini La Defense-style area adjacent to the historic district. That would be amazing!

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by PHL2FL

I think this may have been mentioned before, but I've always had a fantasy of a bigger Savannah. It's a sizeable city with a large, popular historic core, and I would like to see it gain some non-tourist-related industries, maybe located in a sort of mini La Defense-style area adjacent to the historic district. That would be amazing!

Agreed. Atlanta can't just have all the glory.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by PHL2FL

I think this may have been mentioned before, but I've always had a fantasy of a bigger Savannah. It's a sizeable city with a large, popular historic core, and I would like to see it gain some non-tourist-related industries, maybe located in a sort of mini La Defense-style area adjacent to the historic district. That would be amazing!

But then it wouldn't be Savannah.