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metro population estimates


tocoto

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The Providence Metro will continue to grow, which will feed Boston's growth when they are officially merged. Providence has a lot of room to grow, and has really only begun it's recovery from decades of stagnation. New Bedford and Fall River (which are currently in Providence's metro) will also start a slow recovery, which will be sped up if Commuter Rail to Boston is ever built.

The Barnstable County Metro (which is the Cape and Islands) will start to see a leveling off in growth, the Cape is almost built-out. If we see new zoning practices to allow for denser urban centres on the Cape (such as in Hyannis, and at Mashpee Commons, and perhaps a few other areas of the Mid and Upper-Cape) we could see the growth there continue for another 10 or 15 years before it levels out. I see no problem with The Boston Metro (if it includes Providence and the Cape) topping out around 10 million in 20-25 years.

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Well by 2050, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Galveston and San Antonio- Austin will not be Seperate Metros but could be one. which would put it right behind New York Metro as number three. Since everyone wants to put Charlotte-Atlanta-Birmingham as one.

Frankly, I don't see any of that happening. And if it did, New York's metro would stretch from Richmond, VA to Portland, ME and stomp all the southern upstarts back down. :P

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Guest donaltopablo

It will be a long time before Atlanta-Birmingham-Charlotte even touch, much less be considered one metro area. I think most of these metros will go the way of Philly and NYC. Still two different metros, even though they touch with almost continious development between them. Just because two large metros touch, doesn't mean they are always merged into one.

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Guest donaltopablo

Tell that to the people in D.C. Baltimore, NYC and Conn. and Boston-Providence

Did they ever merge Providence into Bostons CSA? I know Manchester is.

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Did they ever merge Providence into Bostons CSA? I know Manchester is.

Not yet. Though there is a lot of commuting between the 2. And Bristol County, Massachusetts which is part of the Providence Metro is very divided between the 2. Before New England was switched to County Metros Bristol was divided between the 2 by town/city.

People in other parts of the country may not realize how close the 2 metros are. I took the commuter rail from Providence to Boston today and back. It's a 45 minute ride on an express, and an hour on a local. There are trips within Massachusetts on the commuter rail that are longer than that. The possibility (inevitablity?) of Boston and Providence being merged is much more realistic (and makes much more sense) than say Charlotte and Atlanta merging.

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Guest donaltopablo

I remember on my most recent road trip to Boston I drove through Providence, and I thought I had a couple of hours more of driving to go to get to the hotel. About 45 minutes later I realized I knew where I was and the hotel was right around the corner. They are very close.

I also know there is a lot of commuting between the two, I was just trying to point out that just because two metros are nearby and share a lot in common, they aren't always consolidated into a single CSA.

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Isn't Dallas 300+ miles from Houston? Both metros are not that centalized now. Most western cities and metros are like regions or even states in New England. The entire state of RI has a pop density near 1000 pp/sqmi. MA is like 750 to 800 ppl/sqmi.

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That's true, because they say that the City of Houston, which is only smaller than Jacksonville when it comes to City land mass in the continuous 48, is larger thatn the State of Rhode Island.

Honestly, I think the Houston Metro, according to the 1st post, will past Chicago in Metro because those numbers don't include the Golden Triangle which is Beaumont, Port Author, and Orange. It represents about a million that is not included in Houstons Metro right now. Right now Beauomont is about a 45 minute drive from Houston. Very soon it will not just be Houston-Gal metro but Hou-Beau-Gal metro.

The way these suberbs are poping up is crasy. The City of Houston is about 4 hours from Dallas but the metros are only about 45 minutes or less. I just wish we were a little less dense.

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...I was just trying to point out that just because two metros are nearby and share a lot in common, they aren't always consolidated into a single CSA.

I agree. I was speaking more to the idea that if Boston and Providence merged (which they haven't yet) then why shouldn't Atlanta-Birmingham-Charlotte. Other people seem to have a weird sense of geography.

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For some perspective:

Boston is:

about 190 miles from NYC

about 40 miles from Providence

90 miles from hartford/springfield

50 miles from manchester

290 miles form philly

Ny is about 180 miles from DC.

I really doubt Houston will merge wih beaumont anytime soon. They are like 90 miles apart with mostly rural land between. A metro like that would have a lower pop density than entire states in the east.

MA is 8000 sqmi and 6.5 million people

CT is 5000 sqmi and 3.5 million people

RI is 1000 sqmi and 1.1 million people

Southern new england has a population of 11 million in 14,000 sqmi. This is an area less than half the size of the LA metro, and it borders NYC which is not included in the population figures. You can see why people from the northeast have a hard time believing that the metros in the south and west aren't overblown already.

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The reason why I said they might merge is because is because of the influence that Houston has over the Golden Triangle and the fact that the outer most region of the Houston metro ging towards Beaumont Metro is about 20 or so miles. Baytown is in the Houston Metro and Winnie is part of the Beaumont metro.

Just like Athens is becoming part of the Atlanta Metro and there is nothing but Rural space between them.

What I'm saying is not that Beaumont will not be called the Houston Metro but the Hou-Beam-Galv-braz CMA. In Galveston, there is a sign that saids Port Author 32 miles from Galveston and there are two Port Cities between them and these ports are linked. So that can be another reason for it.

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Guest donaltopablo

I believe that Beaumont could easily become part of Houston CSA, just like I believe Athens will be part of Atlanta CSA in the next decade or two. My comment was more directed at the people who think cities like Bham-Atlanta-Greenville will all be one CSA.

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Gotch Donal, my reply was more directed at Tocato who doesn't think they will be one. Do you think that Dallas- Fw and Miami-Dade Cnty-Ft. Laud are the only mega metros in the South. basically where there is a lot of ongoing development for miles and Dense population like up in New England.

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I think americans should waste less energy and water if they want healthy city's and the environment be able to support big metros like this in the futur. It's already proved that air pollution causes astma with children and that the world faces big water and climat problems. I think sprawl also is a big problem in the US. It's not only a big waste of energy caused by the big commute distances but also taking alot of good rural lands.

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Certainly can't argue with that logic! There are many Americans on this board but the overwhelming majority preach exactly what you've mentioned. Most believe that density and urbanism are preferable to sprawl but in many western states the population is growing rapidly. If I up and decide to move to a warmer climate should the government be able to say I can't? So the issue is more complex than just traditional ways of looking at conservation.

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Birmingham-Atlanta-Charlotte?

Maybe so. The concept is a fascinating one. The actual idea that i could happen is a frightening reality. The Greenville/Spartanburg Metros are only one or two GA counties away from touching echother creating a continuous set of separate metros from Charlotte to Atlanta.

To whoever said the comment about SC becoming like NJ:

I don't see that happening. Greenville and Spartanburg are both very distinct areas with distinct identities. Long before the time comes thatthese areas become one massive metro, Greenville and Spartanburg will likely have many of their own transit systems and other things that would make them more distinct cities (especially when compared to Northern NJ).

There is alot of empty space between Gaffney/Blacksburg and Kings Mounatin/Gastnia. And there is even more empty space between Anderson and the farthest easter reaches of Athens/Atlanta.

I realize 50 years is a long time, but I see the areas becoming more distinct over time, and not as homogeneous like NYC and the Megalopolis.

Those are intersting stats though.

GSP- 2,010,859

CLT- 5,102,862

ATL- 21,282,479

BHM- ?

Total:28,396,200 + BHM

-that's a lot of people.

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