Will Oklahoma City become a top 10 city in America?

[Stay Stoked Brah]

Will Oklahoma City with a population 655,000 become a top 10 city in America?

Yes or No and why?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Stay Stoked Brah

Will Oklahoma City with a population 655,000 become a top 10 city in America?

Yes or No and why?

top 10 in terms of city proper?

i suppose there's an outside chance.

but city propers are way less meaningful as a comparison tool than MSA or UA.

on those scores, i'd say the chances of it happening anytime soon are nil.

[Stay Stoked Brah]

ya city proper. it might take a few decades. if Dallas can do it, I'm sure Oklahoma City can. Metro Dallas is working on greater Chicago at this point. Who thought that a hundred years ago.

Just using St. Louis as an example but...

St. Louis City + County:
Land Area = 570 sq. mi.
Population = 1.3 million
Metro Population = 2.8 million

Oklahoma City:
Land Area = 606 sq. mi.
Population = 655 thousand
Metro Population = 1.4 million

...so the answer is no.

[SIGSEGV]

top 10 in vigesimal maybe. But probably not.

[mrnyc]

its already 8th largest city in the usa by area. so by precedent they would probably have no shame in annexing their way to a higher position if the will to do it and the ex-urban growth is there. and not saying that is a bad thing, it might be good to do these days to keep public service resources consolidated.

[homebucket]

No. It will never be a top 10 city.

By city proper:
It's currently 25th in population, and it's only got 64% of the population of the #10 spot which is San Jose. There are also 9 cities in front of it that are currently growing at a faster rate.

By MSA:
It's currently 41st in population, and it's only got 28% of the population of the #10 spot which is Phoenix. There are also 14 MSA's in front of it that are currently growing at a faster rate. There's also another MSA right behind it (Raleigh) that is growing at double the rate OKC is at.

By CSA:
It's currently 39th in population, and it's only got 21% of the population of the #10 spot which is Miami. There are also 14 CSA's in front of it that are currently growing at a faster rate.

[Bikemike]

If sea level rise is as severe as the worst case scenarios predict, then ironically, the fervently climate-change-denying OKC area has a stab at it, sure

[Stay Stoked Brah]

I think the city proper could get into the top 10 in 50 - 80 years from now. a lot of cities are maxed out in terms of annexation and retaining current populations with remote work and zoom. if Texas becomes an unaffordable high tax state, the natural overflow could be Oklahoma City. if fossil fuel fracking and exploration with solar and wind continuing to gain market share, Oklahoma could become more of an economic hub.

[Cashville]

One of the great skylines behind only New York, Chicago, and Jacksonville in my book. The Thunder are right behind the Lakers as best NBA franchise, maybe tops in the country in the amount of vacant land surrounding the downtown core, and I hear Sonic has good tater tots.

Going by those factors I think you have to put it top 10 already, the question is can OKC crack the top 5?

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by Cashville

One of the great skylines behind only New York, Chicago, and Jacksonville in my book. The Thunder are right behind the Lakers as best NBA franchise, maybe tops in the country in the amount of vacant land surrounding the downtown core, and I hear Sonic has good tater tots.

Going by those factors I think you have to put it top 10 already, the question is can OKC crack the top 5?

Stop it! You're killing me, lol!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Unless it becomes the epicenter of some sort of major economic boom a la Silicon Valley, I don't see how it's possible?

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by Stay Stoked Brah

Will Oklahoma City with a population 655,000 become a top 10 city in America?

Yes or No and why?

In terms of population maybe, but not otherwise. OKC is VERY nice, but there are ten very solid cities ahead of it.

1. NY
2. LA
3. SF
4. Chi
5. Boston
6. DC
7. Philly
8. Miami
9. Seattle
10.Dallas
11.Houston
12.Atlanta
13. Denver
14. New Orleans

[chris08876]

10th worst pizza.

See... top 10.

Very easy! Congrats.

Folks be stoked about that fact.

[TWAK]

What's the geography like? I think to crack the top 10 it needs population or geography.

[chris08876]

Was watching CNN at this moment in time, and can you believe it!




Live aerial coverage of OkC.

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

In terms of population maybe, but not otherwise. OKC is VERY nice, but there are ten very solid cities ahead of it.

1. NY
2. LA
3. SF
4. Chi
5. Boston
6. DC
7. Philly
8. Miami
9. Seattle
10.Dallas
11.Houston
12.Atlanta
13. Denver
14. New Orleans

not sure what this means... OKC is nice but we're talking 655K people spread over 600 square miles. any top 10 ranking would be due to favorably drawn boundaries.

[pj3000]

I haven’t been there in 20 years, but I’d have to say that Oklahoma City is easily in the top ten of the least appealing large US cities in which I’ve ever spent time.

However, I dated a hot waitress chick for a few months who worked at the Spaghetti Warehouse by the baseball stadium there. She was very appealing and the loveliest thing about that city by far.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I haven’t been there in 20 years, but I’d have to say that Oklahoma City is easily in the top ten of the least appealing large US cities in which I’ve ever spent time.

However, I dated a hot waitress chick for a few months who worked at the Spaghetti Warehouse by the baseball stadium there. She was very appealing and the loveliest thing about that city by far.

I just did a bit of Google Earth / Streetview exploration and... wow. Wichita plus 3x3 blocks of highrises...

[BG918]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I haven’t been there in 20 years, but I’d have to say that Oklahoma City is easily in the top ten of the least appealing large US cities in which I’ve ever spent time.

However, I dated a hot waitress chick for a few months who worked at the Spaghetti Warehouse by the baseball stadium there. She was very appealing and the loveliest thing about that city by far.

A lot has changed in 20 years. Lots of urban growth has happened since then and continues. Outside of downtown there are some cool neighborhood districts like the Plaza and Paseo. Norman is also nearby and is a great college town.

OKC sits in a good position to capture excess growth from Texas, has a mostly favorable climate (mild winters) and is centrally located. If Oklahoma would invest more in its education system it could be more like Tennessee, and OKC more like Nashville - a fast-growing Inland mid-South Metro near another large metro. Together with Tulsa 90 miles away the combined metro population is 2.5 million