Major cities that are weirdly overlooked and nobody seems to care about

[ThePhun1]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Rio feels like a combination of the best parts of NY and LA. SP feels like a combination of the worst parts of NY and LA.

The city that popularized the favela is a good combo of LA and New York? And yes I know SP has some.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

In this rendering, I can't make out the skyline across the water. What city is that?

[Buckeye Native 001]

Possibly Akron, or some sort of composite nonsense?

Or maybe Massillon went through some sort of insane growth spurt that was kept under wraps...

[Shawn]

Quahogs make the best clam strips and steamers. Not the best for chowder though. Quahog from Family Guy is actually Cranston in real life, a city of 80,000 just south of Providence. Which is actually 180,000 in 18 sq miles of land. The metro is pushing 1.7 million and includes all of Bristol County Mass (the whaling cities of Fall River and New Bedford are 15 minutes down I-195 from Downcity). It’s quite comparable to Milwaukee, in terms of metro population, relationship with its much larger neighbor, and metro GDP. But without a doubt, Milwaukee has a higher profile thanks to pro sports. Providence is 100% Boston sports. If you follow NCAA hockey, PC is a powerhouse Hockey East team, but college hockey just ain't the same as football or basketball when it comes to national brand building.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Fresh

Almaty, Tashkent, Baku, Ashgabat.

For obvious reasons been historically overlooked but not even well-travelled people seem to go there.

I'm sure they hold many surprised, for instance, who knew that Uzbekistan has high speed rail?

i did! i rode it. samarkand to tashkent. very nice ride.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by craigs

In this rendering, I can't make out the skyline across the water. What city is that?

hmm, its looking west, south west.

so no canton downtown or akron.

the foreground lake is real. its called meyers lake.

the building in the background that stands out i think is canton central catholic maybe?

and on the far horizon could only be clouds or massillon?

seems rather fanciful or vague beyond the foreground pro football hof project renders.




edit -- have a different render

[dc_denizen]

Originally Posted by 0214685226

The entire state of Rhode Island has a population of about 1 million. Newport RI doesn't really have much to do with Providence when you scale it down to the real world. I happen to think that coastal RI is some of the most scenic areas along the east coast, btw.

ok, agreed that the 1 million is a pretty expansive definition, but just to take the immediately adjacent cities and towns - probably missing some unincorporated areas --

Pawtucket 72k
North Providence 32k
East Providence 47k
Cranston 81k
Providence 179k
Johnston 29k
Central Falls 19k
Warwick 80k
West Warwick 29k
Seekonk 14k

Total population 582k

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Shawn

It’s quite comparable to Milwaukee, in terms of metro population, relationship with its much larger neighbor, and metro GDP. But without a doubt, Milwaukee has a higher profile thanks to pro sports.

Disregarding the silliness of the MSA/CSA county mash-up game, Providence and Milwaukee are pretty comparable by the UA measure as well, 1.2M vs. 1.4M respectively, as of 2010.

The relationships of the two cities to their much larger neighbors are similar, but there are also two key differences:

1. As has already been mentioned, sports. Milwaukee having its own MLB, NBA, & NFL teams, along with the fierce rivalries they have with their Chicago counterparts, means that milwaukeans and chicagoans will forever be diametrically opposed to each other on the athletic field. It wedges the two peoples apart from each other into their two polarized camps in a way that I don't think you find in the Providence/Boston dynamic.

2. Distance. According to Google maps, Boston is only a 51 mile drive from Providence, whereas Chicago is 93 mile drive from Milwaukee. So again, Milwaukee has more separation/independence from its big brother.

[Crawford]

I find Providence quite historic, and interesting, but don't really think it's "weirdly overlooked". The Northeast has a crapload of vibrant, historic cores, so Providence doesn't really stand out regionally. And one would expect a strong core, given there are three high profile urban colleges (Brown, Providence and RISD). Providence was a top 10 U.S. city in the first decades of the republic, so one would expect good bones. And naturally Providence will be overshadowed by Boston.

I'd say the closest U.S. analogues to Providence would be Albany and Hartford. Maybe Richmond too. Providence has the most vibrant core of the three, but is also the least economically vibrant of the three.

[dc_denizen]

Newport draws tourists away from Providence, probably impacts the vitality of the core a bit

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

In what sense SP gets the “worst”? The fact of being much safer or having tons of job opportunities or a much better governance?

I was being a little facetious. What I meant is that SP has more of a Los Angeles car culture plus New York's finance industry economy. Rio has L.A.'s beaches with an urban core than is built more like New York's.

[RC14]

In the US I think El Paso/Juarez is overlooked. Internationally, most of the large South American cities are overlooked. Especially Santiago and Buenos Aires. I think the main reason for all three of those is there remote locations. They are not only far from other major cities but they are also out of the way.

[edale]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

for ohio its probably canton, but that may change because developers and the nfl are building it up around the pro football hof into some kind of disney-esque football resort ... or mess ... we’ll see.

Oh please. I totally disagree. Canton is a mess, and that pro football HOF project has been languishing for years. I laughed when I saw the initial plans for a 5 star hotel, giant conference center, etc. Anyone who's ever been to Canton (and who doesn't have the local booster blinders on) knew that those plans were completely crazy. I mean the HOF itself is OK, but it's located between a freeway and very plain looking little neighborhood. There's no commercial around it, no hotels or other tourist industries, but suddenly a 5 star hotel was going to open? Yeah, completely not surprised that the project has been "stalled" for years.

Canton is given more attention than it deserves, if anything. I was truly shocked by how crappy it was when I visited. It felt very down and out and had very little in the way of economic activity downtown. If you had to pick an Ohio city that's overlooked within the state, I'd say Dayton. They actually have some cool urban neighborhoods, first-rate museums (US Airforce Museum is actually amazing), some nice suburbs and cool small towns in its orbit (Oakwood, Yellow Springs).

[Twin Citian]

Originally Posted by ue

In the US
- Minneapolis (Denver and Portland get more attention)

Nah. Denver and Portland might get more attention from white people, but that's about it. Minneapolis is the epicenter of today's new "Revolution." Unfortunate events in Minneapolis (and St. Paul) set off protests nationwide and throughout over 60 countries throughout the world. The city is probably the most well known mid-size city from the US now. One can go anywhere in the US and several countries and be like "I'm from Minneapolis " and everybody will know where s/he is from. The city was already known in other circles - business, education, sports, music, etc.

[edale]

Originally Posted by Twin Citian

Nah. Denver and Portland might get more attention from white people, but that's about it. Minneapolis is the epicenter of today's new "Revolution." Unfortunate events in Minneapolis (and St. Paul) set off protests nationwide and throughout over 60 countries throughout the world. The city is probably the most well known mid-size city from the US now. One can go anywhere in the US and several countries and be like "I'm from Minneapolis " and everybody will know where s/he is from. The city was already known in other circles - business, education, sports, music, etc.

The Twin Cities/Minnesota are pretty white-centric, too. The area has a much smaller black population than basically any other major Midwestern metro. Given the small black population, it's interesting that Minneapolis is the city that set off the recent round of protests, but there is a deep history of racism in Minnesota like there is basically everywhere in the US.

I view Minneapolis as a progressive city. Certainly in planning circles, the city has made a name for itself by the 'ban' on SFH zoning, its embrace of light rail and TOD, and investment in bike lanes and infrastructure. To the average American, though, I think the city does fly under the radar. It's geographically isolated and not really near any other big cities (a trait it shares with Denver) which I think helps keep it relatively out of mind.

[Twin Citian]

Originally Posted by edale

The Twin Cities/Minnesota are pretty white-centric, too. The area has a much smaller black population than basically any other major Midwestern metro.

It has a much smaller black population than three other Midwest metros. It also has one of the fastest growing black populations in the US.

Black or African American alone population (2018 Census Estimates)
Chicago MSA - 1,521,747
Detroit MSA - 958,145
St. Louis MSA - 507,749
Cleveland MSA - 397,105
Columbus MSA - 326,562
Indianapolis MSA 314,932
Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA - 310,575
Cincinnati MSA - 263,056
Kansas City MSA - 257,316
Milwaukee MSA - 255,331

Denver's MSA - 156,980
Portland MSA - 69,682

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Twin Citian

It has a much smaller black population than three other Midwest metros. It also has one of the fastest growing black populations in the US.

Black or African American alone population (2018 Census Estimates)
Chicago MSA - 1,521,747
Detroit MSA - 958,145
St. Louis MSA - 507,749
Cleveland MSA - 397,105
Columbus MSA - 326,562
Indianapolis MSA 314,932
Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA - 310,575
Kansas City MSA - 257,316
Cincinnati MSA - 263,056
Milwaukee MSA - 255,331

Denver's MSA - 156,980
Portland MSA - 69,682

Re-ranked by % (2010 census):
Detroit MSA - 22.8%
Cleveland MSA - 20.1%
St. Louis MSA - 18.4%
Chicago MSA - 17.4%
Milwaukee MSA - 16.8%
Indianapolis MSA - 15.0%
Columbus MSA - 14.9%
Kansas City MSA - 12.5%
Cincinnati MSA - 12.0%
Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA - 7.4%

Denver's MSA - 5.1%
Portland MSA - 2.9%

It looks like by percentage, Minneapolis has a much smaller black population than any other Midwest metro, but way more than Denver or Portland.

[edale]

Originally Posted by Twin Citian

It has a much smaller black population than three other Midwest metros. It also has one of the fastest growing black populations in the US.

Black or African American alone population (2018 Census Estimates)
Chicago MSA - 1,521,747
Detroit MSA - 958,145
St. Louis MSA - 507,749
Cleveland MSA - 397,105
Columbus MSA - 326,562
Indianapolis MSA 314,932
Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA - 310,575
Cincinnati MSA - 263,056
Kansas City MSA - 257,316
Milwaukee MSA - 255,331

Denver's MSA - 156,980
Portland MSA - 69,682

I mean, even using your own list, it's 7th. But the percentage is more what I was referring to. At the city level, Minneapolis, and especially St. Paul, are even less similar than the other midwestern cities' demographics.

In terms of feel, I think MSP is more like Denver than Chicago St. Louis. It's like 1/3 midwest, 1/3 Canada, 1/3 Portland/Denver.

[Twin Citian]

Originally Posted by edale

I mean, even using your own list, it's 7th. But the percentage is more what I was referring to. At the city level, it's even less similar than the other midwestern cities. In terms of feel, I think MSP is more like Denver than Chicago St. Louis. It's like 1/3 midwest, 1/3 Canada, 1/3 Portland.

It's 7th but you stated it has a much smaller black population than basically any other major Midwestern metro. It's already surpassed Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Milwaukee since 2010. No reason it can't / won't pass one or two others in numbers. Whatever the case, I didn't know you were referring to percentages.

I don't disagree with your view of it from a city level.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by edale

Oh please. I totally disagree. Canton is a mess, and that pro football HOF project has been languishing for years. I laughed when I saw the initial plans for a 5 star hotel, giant conference center, etc. Anyone who's ever been to Canton (and who doesn't have the local booster blinders on) knew that those plans were completely crazy. I mean the HOF itself is OK, but it's located between a freeway and very plain looking little neighborhood. There's no commercial around it, no hotels or other tourist industries, but suddenly a 5 star hotel was going to open? Yeah, completely not surprised that the project has been "stalled" for years.

Canton is given more attention than it deserves, if anything. I was truly shocked by how crappy it was when I visited. It felt very down and out and had very little in the way of economic activity downtown. If you had to pick an Ohio city that's overlooked within the state, I'd say Dayton. They actually have some cool urban neighborhoods, first-rate museums (US Airforce Museum is actually amazing), some nice suburbs and cool small towns in its orbit (Oakwood, Yellow Springs).

lol welcome to the rustbelt. canton isnt a mess, its just emptied out.

why do you think the nfl and whoever wants to build up around the hof? that hof area is the epitome of being overlooked -- at least alledgedly until now.

regardless, there is no way any one of the 'ol three red headed step sisters of ohio is in any way more overlooked. come on now. i mean why dayton and not akron or toledo? is tony packos and the mudhens that well known or something? if anything, even though its the smallest of them, dayton is probably a bit more well known than toledo or akron.

at least for overlooked ohio up your game and give me a portsmouth or a zanesville y bridge. or with something unusual for tourists like sugar creek. or even lower your game with some bland 'burb like reynoldsburg, miamisburg or brunswick that are totally worth being overlooked. ha.