What is the perfect size for a city?

[troutman]

20 cities in the world have over 11 Million people (metro).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population

I'm trying to find out how many cities over 1 Million there are . . .

171 "Urban Areas" over 2 Million:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population

[Ro]

Yeah, I'm in agreement with those who suggest 400K-600K. Like London, ON or Cleveland, OH. Have visited both those cities recently, and they have tons of world-class amenities but are easy to navigate compared to bigger cities.

[troutman]

Cleveland is 2.25 M people (metro).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland,_Ohio

[Ford Prefect]

What's the minimum number required to be classified a city ... about 10,000? Whatever the minimum is, that would be my answer. Cities just ain't my mug of beer.

I lived in Calgary for 20 years, all as an adult, and I think Calgary is a great city for the size that it is. I'm just not interested in any place that big.

[Old Yeller]

Calgary's Current population minus Calgary's bad drivers.

That should leave about 300,000.

[Ro]

Originally Posted by troutman

Cleveland is 2.25 M people (metro).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland,_Ohio

From the same article:

As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403, and was then the 33rd largest city in the nation, (now estimated as the 40th largest due to declines in population)[7] and the second largest city in Ohio.

It's like me saying Sudbury (where I live) is 160,000, when in fact the actual city of Sudbury is much smaller than that (about 90,000). Add in all the smaller outlying communities (which one would almost never go to for any other reason except to visit friends/family...certainly not shopping/sporting events/etc.) and you bump up the "greater" or "metro" population.

I know you know all that already, but I guess I don't consider the "metro" population to be very representative of the size of the city when debating a topic like this.

[Ozy_Flame]

I prefer cities with at least 2 million people, and preferably big ones with over 10 million. I don't know why, but I just love the feeling you get being at the absolutely center of an urban metropolis. Maybe that's why I love Tokyo so much.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Ro

From the same article:

As of the 2000 Census, the city proper had a total population of 478,403, and was then the 33rd largest city in the nation, (now estimated as the 40th largest due to declines in population)[7] and the second largest city in Ohio.

It's like me saying Sudbury (where I live) is 160,000, when in fact the actual city of Sudbury is much smaller than that (about 90,000). Add in all the smaller outlying communities (which one would almost never go to for any other reason except to visit friends/family...certainly not shopping/sporting events/etc.) and you bump up the "greater" or "metro" population.

I know you know all that already, but I guess I don't consider the "metro" population to be very representative of the size of the city when debating a topic like this.

I've lived in London (nice city) and have been to Cleveland (not so nice in the late 1980s). I'm surprised you did not find Cleveland to be a real big city compared to London.

[dobbles]

bring the non calgary perspective, i like having between 100k-200k metro area. its big enough to have amenities like minor league sports, small area museums and things, but still small enough to not be a major city packed with all the traffic and crime. i have spent a lot of time in chicago and decided its not the type of lifestyle i prefer. additionally i grew up in a town of 35k people, and it was just a bit too small.

though sometimes i feel i could live in a small town if i still had technology access. (high speed internet and cable, though satellite could replace the cable i guess)

[troutman]

Kelowna seems like a nice size city to me (165 K metro). Penticton is too small (42K metro).

[Cheese]

depends on the day and the city of choice.
I LOVE NYC....great place to be...Boston is great too. Toronto has some good parts and some nasty ones. Montreal is fun and so is Vancouver. San Diego is beautiful and San Fran may be perfect weather wise.
Calgary seems to be struggling with itself...outside of Stampede week.
I love where I live in now in Waterloo region...the tri-cities are about 500,000 or so and close to many larger cities in Canada and the US...perfect.

[Ro]

Originally Posted by troutman

I've lived in London (nice city) and have been to Cleveland (not so nice in the late 1980s). I'm surprised you did not find Cleveland to be a real big city compared to London.

Fair enough. Maybe not the best comparison, and to be honest, we only really explored downtown Cleveland.

We loved Cleveland. Sounds like it must have been cleaned up a bit since the late 80's- trendy bars/restaurants, beautiful sports complexes, some snazzy shopping districts. I was quite surprised, as I was expecting more Buffalo/Detroit/Edmonton instead of something a little more metropolitan. It's not San Fran, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to someone for a sporting event weekend roadie.

[ken0042]

I think part of depends on how close it is to another city. Take Okotoks or Airdrie- I would consider moving there if everything was right because of how close it is to Calgary. But when I lived in Grande Prairie I couldn't stand it, partly because it was 5 hours to a major city; and then that city ended up being Edmonton.

[icarus]

2m+

[icarus]

Originally Posted by troutman

171 "Urban Areas" over 2 Million:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population

That is a fascinating list. Interesting to see Paris bigger than London, and Baghdad and Toronto the same size.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by troutman

Kelowna seems like a nice size city to me (165 K metro). Penticton is too small (42K metro).

I agree. I have never lived in Kelowna, but been there many times. I live in Lethbridge right now, and we have like 85,000 I believe. It is nice to be able to get anywhere in 12 minutes or less, but entertainment is lacking a bit. With double the population, I think we could attract some more "stuff" for entertainment like Kelowna.
I grew up in a town with less than 100 people though..........and boy do I miss it sometimes. We never locked our doors. You didnt have to listen to your neighbors closing doors, starting their cars or fighting. All you could hear was the wind blowing through the grass, and everyone knows everyone! And small town people are skinnier because well.........we have to cook our food instead of heading down the the local McDonalds you know.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I think part of depends on how close it is to another city. Take Okotoks or Airdrie- I would consider moving there if everything was right because of how close it is to Calgary. But when I lived in Grande Prairie I couldn't stand it, partly because it was 5 hours to a major city; and then that city ended up being Edmonton.

High River is only a 20 minute drive to Calgary

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Cheese

I love where I live in now in Waterloo region...the tri-cities are about 500,000 or so and close to many larger cities in Canada and the US...perfect.

The Waterloo region feels like a smaller metro area then it really is because of how it's developed from three separate cities. It's like a big suburb with a couple of small city downtowns mixed in.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

I grew up in a town with less than 100 people though..

What small town?

I've found the 3 - 500,000 range too small for me. I would say ~ 800,000 or so and higher?

[pepper24]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

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.

Agreed, Calgary is very rare to have such a large downtown for its size and population. A buddy that deals with commerical real estate told me that Calgary's downtown has the 3rd most office space in North America behind New York City and Chicago and most in Canada ahead of Toronto and Vancouver. Surprising results.

Beyond New York City and Chicago which are in a class of their own, you could rate Calgary's skyline in the group of Houston, Toronto, LA, SF, Philly, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas and Minneapolis. All these cities have much great populations than Calgary.