Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
And both measures include ~8 billion square miles of corn fields.
Not that it moves the needle a ton, because farmland doesn't have a lot of people to begin with, but going by the far more meaningful UA definition, Chicagoland was at 8.6M in 2010.
We still don't have 2020 UA figures yet, but perhaps Chicagoland inched up to 8.7 - 8.8M on that score?
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I think we can grandfather Chicago into the Xlarge/world alpha city rank even though metro is a bit under 10 mil. Skyline alone & corporate headquarters gets them in. Chicago will always be important. Capital of the heartland. Global warming and access to water will cement importance.
Alphas in N.Am: NYC, L.A., Chicago, S.F. /bay area, Toronto, Mexico City.
Near alphas: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Boston, Wash. D.C., Philly, D-FW, Seattle, M-SP, Montreal. Houston & Atlanta & DFW may be close to alpha status, prob. Miami too. Boston &DC also close.
Important betas: San Diego, Detroit, St.Louis, KC, Cincy, Denver, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Raleigh-Durham- Chapel Hill, Vancouver, Las Vegas, Portland, Tampa-St.Pete, Baltimore, Columbus, Indianapolis, SanAntonio/Austin area (almost near alpha), Calgary, Monterrey & Guadalajara & Puebla MX. Maybe SLC & Winnipeg?
I may have forgotten a city or 2.