What urban area is the largest
I was bored on Sunday, and was looking at Google maps, I was scanning all the urban areas, represented in gray, and I noticed that the largest urban foot print of any city appears to be wrapped along the bottom of Lake Michigan, the Chicago region, second looks like NY then maybe Dallas, this is interesting since the largest US city doesn't have the largest urban footprint, based on Google Maps
__________________
No one place is better han the next
I know most of Anchorage Alaska is mostly not urban but that is probably the largest footprint of city limits in the USA that I know of on a per capita basis.
it is Alaska's most populous city and contains 39.37% of the state's population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 396,317 in 2019, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 square miles (4,420 km2) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has 1,212 square miles (3,140 km2)
The city limits span 1,961.1 square miles (5,079.2 km2),
I'm surprised Atlanta sprawled so much honestly for not being that really a big of a city. I know it has like a thousand counties but really More than LA or DWF or Chicagoland?
Being so high and elevated I see water problems there.
From suburb to suburb 160 or more. Ventura/Oxnard to whatever.
I'd say 115 north to south.
Its basically a state.
Having the biggest footprint (sprawl) is not something to aspire to and even though LA is identified as sprawling so many other cities are worse especially when you factor in population and density.
Having the biggest footprint (sprawl) is not something to aspire to and even though LA is identified as sprawling so many other cities are worse especially when you factor in population and density.
A good example of "now *that's* sprawling" is the Houston area, from Willis to Galveston along the last 94 miles of I-45. The largest gap in that stretch is a swampy stretch between Dickinson and League City that is filling in -- with an outlet mall smack in the middle.
ETA: Playing the same eyeball game with Atlanta, I'm seeing 85 miles of built-up continuity along I-75, from the north edge of Cartersville to Locust Grove. Atlanta is trickier though.
Dallas-Fort Worth is pretty clear-cut: 76 miles along I-30 from Royce City to the west edge of Fort Worth, right before meeting I-20. However, that gap before reaching the Willow Park-Hudson Oaks-Weatherford tangle seems to be closing, and the west edge of Weatherford is an impressive thicket of exurbia. Once the Weatherford cluster is connected (~25 miles), DFW is a good 105 miles, if not more, of unending development.
here are the top 10 largest US Urban Areas by land area:
1. New York - 3,450.2 sq. miles
2. Atlanta - 2,645.4 sq. miles
3. Chicago - 2,442.8 sq. miles
4. Philadelphia - 1,981.4 sq. miles
5. Boston - 1,873.5 sq. miles
6. Dallas - 1,779.1 sq. miles
7. Los Angeles - 1,736.0 sq. miles
8. Houston - 1,660.0 sq. miles
9. Detroit - 1,337.2 sq. miles
10. Washington - 1,321.7 sq. miles
here are the top 10 largest US Urban Areas by land area:
1. New York - 3,450.2 sq. miles
2. Atlanta - 2,645.4 sq. miles
3. Chicago - 2,442.8 sq. miles
4. Philadelphia - 1,981.4 sq. miles
5. Boston - 1,873.5 sq. miles
6. Dallas - 1,779.1 sq. miles
7. Los Angeles - 1,736.0 sq. miles
8. Houston - 1,660.0 sq. miles
9. Detroit - 1,337.2 sq. miles
10. Washington - 1,321.7 sq. miles
This makes no sense.
What are they counting as urban? A subdivision?
In general, the US census bureau defines Urban Areas as contiguous census tracts with at least 1,000 ppsm.
There are some exceptions and finer points to that, but that's the general gist.
Because eastern cities tend to have much "softer" edges, they tend to encompass more land area.
And there is some quirkiness in Cali where the LA/IE & SF/SJ UA's are split from each other because of geography.
Anyway, here's a map of US Urban Areas and Urban Clusters (urban Clusters are the same thing as urban areas, they just fall below the 50,000 people threshold)
Source: wikipedia
__________________ "Missing middle" housing can be a great middle ground for many middle class families.
here are the top 10 largest US Urban Areas by land area:
1. New York - 3,450.2 sq. miles
2. Atlanta - 2,645.4 sq. miles
3. Chicago - 2,442.8 sq. miles
4. Philadelphia - 1,981.4 sq. miles
5. Boston - 1,873.5 sq. miles
6. Dallas - 1,779.1 sq. miles
7. Los Angeles - 1,736.0 sq. miles
8. Houston - 1,660.0 sq. miles
9. Detroit - 1,337.2 sq. miles
10. Washington - 1,321.7 sq. miles
What urban area is the largest
I was bored on Sunday, and was looking at Google maps, I was scanning all the urban areas, represented in gray, and I noticed that the largest urban foot print of any city appears to be wrapped along the bottom of Lake Michigan, the Chicago region, second looks like NY then maybe Dallas, this is interesting since the largest US city doesn't have the largest urban footprint, based on Google Maps
How in the world do you think Dallas is larger than LA.
^^^ Maybe the longest, but it's not that large compared to its peers.
It's really the continuous part about southeast coastal Florida that I'm talking about.
Zoom out to 100 or 200 miles on Google Maps -- I don't think anywhere will show up as a bigger continuous stretch of gray than the south Florida concrete artificiality. Other mega-regions with even a bit of actual topography to speak of at least have hills, mountains, forested land, etc. to break it up at least a little bit.
The Atlantic Coast of Florida is pretty much the world's longest strip mall.
Thiis type of mapping displaying more "urbanized area" versus fully developed urban footprint.
Even within the massive sprawl of a SoCal, NYC area, etc., there exists significant portions of undeveloped land, be it forested areas and/or mountainous areas, both publicly and privately-owned.
In this representation, the red areas don't fully equal "concrete"... except for south Florida. Except for a handful of relatively small parks along near the shoreline, it's pretty accurate to say that the long stretch of red down the south Florida coast is concrete... and kinda depressing to think how fully man-made the environment along the Florida coast is.
It's really the continuous part about southeast coastal Florida that I'm talking about.
Zoom out to 100 or 200 miles on Google Maps -- I don't think anywhere will show up as a bigger continuous stretch of gray than the south Florida concrete artificiality. Other mega-regions with even a bit of actual topography to speak of at least have hills, mountains, forested land, etc. to break it up at least a little bit.
The Atlantic Coast of Florida is pretty much the world's longest strip mall.
LA's string doesnt break up with the mountains. On the 10 and the 101 to Ventura, its all development. Then From Santa Clarita to San Clemente on the 5.
It's really the continuous part about southeast coastal Florida that I'm talking about.
Zoom out to 100 or 200 miles on Google Maps -- I don't think anywhere will show up as a bigger continuous stretch of gray than the south Florida concrete artificiality. Other mega-regions with even a bit of actual topography to speak of at least have hills, mountains, forested land, etc. to break it up at least a little bit.
The Atlantic Coast of Florida is pretty much the world's longest strip mall.
Yeah, it’s that’s long but it isn’t all that large compared to the masses that exist for NYC, LA, Chicago, etc. It’s at its widest in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and even that’s a shrivel of density.
Despite the continuous density, it makes up for it by have decent tree cover, a protected swamp/ wetland on the west, tropical islands to the south, and still very beautiful beaches and warm ocean water on the East.
__________________
Working towards making American cities walkable again!
Prev
Except for a handful of relatively small parks along near the shoreline, it's pretty accurate to say that the long stretch of red down the south Florida coast is concrete... and kinda depressing to think how fully man-made the environment along the Florida coast is.
Hybrid Mode