What is the perfect size for a city?

[flamesdyehard]

Everyone who has lived in Calgary for a long period of time can probably remember when Calgary was nicer city than it is now. The economic growth has taken it's toll on our infrastructure and city as a whole. I personally think Calgary was at it's finest in the early '90's when the population was between 700 and 800,000. I just wanted to see what everyone thought the ideal size for a city is. Some people may say 10million others may say 1000. Personally I think a nice size for a city is around 750,000 or so.

[Gozer]

420,000

[Boblobla]

648369 roughly.

[Dion]

Calgary as it is now is too big for my liking and is a major reason why i moved to a small town. The infrastructure can''t handle the present population. Everywhere you drive it's slow going as the roads are clogged or busy. I can remember a time when driving around Calgary wasn't so stressful. Nobody in a hurry to get somehwere fast and you got from point A to poit B in a timely fashion.

600,000

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

36C.


Oh, wait--a CITY? No idea.

[FlamesAddiction]

I think around 250 to 500k. Something like Kelowna or Victoria.

[Table 5]

Depends what you think "nice" is.

If it's friendly people and a quite solitude, than definitely right now is probably not Calgary's peak. If it's having more of the things that big cities tend to have (ie. more life in the inner city, more events and things to do), then there is no doubt that Calgary is as good as it's ever been.

[flamesdyehard]

Originally Posted by Dion

Calgary as it is now is too big for my liking and is a major reason why i moved to a small town. The infrastructure can''t handle the present population. Everywhere you drive it's slow going as the roads are clogged or busy. I can remember a time when driving around Calgary wasn't so stressful. Nobody in a hurry to get somehwere fast and you got from point A to poit B in a timely fashion.

I can also remember when Calgary was like this. I don't think a whole lot of people actually realize how nice of a city Calgary used to be back in the day. It is still a nice city but now with some big city problems that we hadn't seen until around the late 90's.

Does anyone know of a city bigger than Calgary that is less busy and hectic?

[flamesdyehard]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Depends what you think "nice" is.

If it's friendly people and a quite solitude, than definitely right now is probably not Calgary's peak. If it's having more of the things that big cities tend to have (ie. more life in the inner city, more events and things to do), then there is no doubt that Calgary is as good as it's ever been.

A very good point. I eluded to this in my first post. I guess it depends what each person values. You are right, Calgary has more things to do and way more culture than it ever has, but it also way more expensive, dangerous and busy than ever as well.

[Table 5]

Yep, there are definitely pro's and con's to growing up. Not really sure you can ever go back though, unless there is some sort of economic meltdown that kills a city (ie, what happened to Winnipeg a century ago).

[driveway]

I like cities of 1 000 000+. I agree that these numbers have put a strain on our infrastructure, but the rapidity of growth here has been absurd. Had Calgary continued to grow at the rate it did between say 1988 - 1995 it would eventually have hit a million, but the infrastructure would have been able to 'keep up' with the rate of growth.

Anyone else notice that as soon as the city hit one million we started seeing more, bigger music acts coming to town, more designer stores, more choice in consumer goods? That million threshold puts a city on a lot of maps that it just wasn't before, because it isn't economically feasible for a lot of higher-end manufacturers and entertainment providers to enter the market in smaller cities.

Conversely I think the worst size for a city is under the 250 000 mark and over 20 000. To big to have the community of a small town, but not large enough for there to be anything to do.

[Rathji]

Depends which version of Sim City God is playing today.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by driveway

Conversely I think the worst size for a city is under the 250 000 mark and over 20 000. To big to have the community of a small town, but not large enough for there to be anything to do.

Yeah, like Airdrie. A place that doesn't have the beauty and solitude of the countryside, nor the the culture and ammenities of a real city either.

[flamesdyehard]

Originally Posted by driveway

I like cities of 1 000 000+. I agree that these numbers have put a strain on our infrastructure, but the rapidity of growth here has been absurd. Had Calgary continued to grow at the rate it did between say 1988 - 1995 it would eventually have hit a million, but the infrastructure would have been able to 'keep up' with the rate of growth.

Anyone else notice that as soon as the city hit one million we started seeing more, bigger music acts coming to town, more designer stores, more choice in consumer goods? That million threshold puts a city on a lot of maps that it just wasn't before, because it isn't economically feasible for a lot of higher-end manufacturers and entertainment providers to enter the market in smaller cities.

Conversely I think the worst size for a city is under the 250 000 mark and over 20 000. To big to have the community of a small town, but not large enough for there to be anything to do.

Interesting perspective... Never thought of it that way.

[flamesdyehard]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Yeah, like Airdrie. A place that doesn't have the beauty and solitude of the countryside, nor the the culture and ammenities of a real city either.

Airdrie is basically Calgary though, you are close enough to have everyhing Calgary has to offer.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

it was the guy in the brown jacket...

[You Need a Thneed]

89 million, not a soul less.

[Machiavelli]

However big Winnipeg is now

[BlackEleven]

1. Get the hell outta my city!

Seriously, I like big cities. 1M+.

[Bill Bumface]

1,000,000 to 3,000,000

Calgary is pretty rare for having a downtown as big as it is for 1 million. It's getting quite a bit more lively too. Most cities under a million really lack that. They are like big Red Deers.

The infrastructure will catch up. It'd be nice to live in a place big enough to have a decent subway system.