some people must have never heard of manchester

[pvenne]

"Portland, Maine is the largest New England city North of Boston. It has a long history of fires, riots, scandals, battles, heroes and villains as befits any old Eastern city. These images of Portland landmarks come from..."

original location link

PORTLAND (CUMBERLAND COUNTY). "Greater Portland, Maine, is the largest metropolitan area in northern New England"

original page location (have to scroll down a bit)

[Cotuit]

PORTLAND (CUMBERLAND COUNTY). "Greater Portland, Maine, is the largest metropolitan area in northern New England"

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That is technically correct since Manchester is part of Boston's metropolitan area and Portland is not.

[pvenne]

That is technically correct since Manchester is part of Boston's metropolitan area and Portland is not.

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good point, but it just doesn't sound right. i wonder why manch doesn't have its own metro area, i mean isnt it at least 50 miles outside of boston. i dont think manchesterians would say they are from greater boston like someone from, say, subury mass. would. its just weird to be in another state and still be part of the boston metro, ya know?

[pvenne]

in addition, the first article said portland is the largest CITY north of boston...this one, at least, is wrong.

[M. Brown]

That is technically correct since Manchester is part of Boston's metropolitan area and Portland is not.

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Well Manchester is a city and its north of Boston and its the largest north of Boston so...

[pvenne]

Well Manchester is a city and its north of Boston and its the largest north of Boston so...

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youd be surprised how many times people tell me that portland is the largest city north of boston. i asked my mother how many people she thought manchester had the other day and she was guessing in the 30-40 thousand range. wheni told my dad it had around 110,000 people, he said, whoa...thats way bigger than portland. people dont believe it. when i was a freshman i told my roomate from greater boston that manchester had a 100,000 pop. and he made me look it up on the internet to prove it to him. when i ask some people what they think the pop of portland is, i hear things anywhere from 50,000 to a surprising 150,000. people really have no grasp on this sort of thing unless they are interested in it enough to find out on their own, which clearly everyone on here seems to be themselves. i can understand no one ever hearing of nashua, but of manchester? c'mon. i think it deserves more than it is creditied with by the every day person. i hear people compare it to lewiston and bangor and biddeford, when it is actually nicer than all of those cities (which are all in maine and really gross, for the most part).

[pvenne]

esample of how people just blurt out what they feel the city population is:

>

# University of Southern Maine

1.Public State University located in Portland Maine - Population 75,000

source: http://gouhak.com/category/list/_______%b9...b0/Maine%c1%d6/

[pvenne]

example 2:

>

"Maybe if we'd lived in a major metropolis like Portland, Maine (population over 500,000 -- INTENSE!), but in the quaint saltwater taffy village of York, USA Today home delivery arrives one day late..."

link: http://www.olympianshadowfarm.com/sensational121604.html

[M. Brown]

^ Do you realize you posted three of the same post? Anyway that is crazy. 500,000?!?! What are these people thinking?

[monsoon]

good point, but it just doesn't sound right.  i wonder why manch doesn't have its own metro area, i mean isnt it at least 50 miles outside of boston. ....

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Metropolitan areas are determined by commuting patterns. A significant number of people must commute from Manchester to Boston to work which makes it a part of Boston's metro area. It doesn't matter how far away the city is from Boston and that it is in another state. This is how the US Census does it. If instead most of the people that lived in the area stayed and worked in the Manchester area, then it would be put into its own metro or micropolitian area.

[M. Brown]

^its still the largest city north of Boston though.

[pvenne]

^ Do you realize you posted three of the same post?  Anyway that is crazy. 500,000?!?!  What are these people thinking?

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yeah, sorry about that, my computer was taking forever, so i kept hitting resend, i only count one post now, so the other two must have been deleted or something. i dont know what the hell they are thinking, thats why i thought it would be funny to post. 500,000 would make portland like boston.

[pvenne]

Metropolitan areas are determined by commuting patterns.    A significant number of people must commute from Manchester to Boston to work which makes it a part of Boston's metro area.  It doesn't matter how far away the city is from Boston and that it is in another state.  This is how the US Census does it.    If instead most of the people that lived in the area stayed and worked in the Manchester area, then it would be put into its own metro or micropolitian area.

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good to know! now, what is the difference between a "metro" and a "micro" politian area? also, it seems like manchester residents are starting to commute to boston less and less as manchester becomes more and more developed...so as soon as it is determined (if it is determined) that more people are staying in the city to work, would that mean that manchester would then become separate from boston's MSA? its hard to believe that most manchester residenta commute to boston cause it seems like the height of their buildings would suggest that there is a lot going on right in the city. portland is not a "live-in" city like it used to be up until the 1950's, it is a place primarily for the rich and businesses, and wqe still dont have buildings as tall as manchester, so it just seems like manchester has plenty of commuters of its own. any idea what the population around manchester would be if it WAS classified as its own metro region...i know this might be hard to guess at, but im looking for like, the outer lying towns that boarder manch added to the pop of manch...

[Cotuit]

It's unlikely that Manchester will ever leave Boston's MSA, Providence is currently outside of it, but will likely be sucked in after the 2010 census. Manchester, Providence, and Worcester are all pretty much the same distance from Boston +/- 50 miles. Cape Cod (the Barnstable MSA) is also outside of Boston's CMSA as well (Manchester is closer to Boston than the Cape Cod Canal by 2 miles).

The Manchester PMSA according to 2002 estimates was, 203,590 source. It includes Manchester and 8 surrounding towns (Bedford, Goffstown, Weare, Allenstown, Hooksett, Auburn, Candia, & Londonderry).

The Nashua PMSA and Portsmouth-Rochester PMSA (extends into Southern Maine, but does not reach Portland) are also part of the Boston CMSA.

[pvenne]

It's unlikely that Manchester will ever leave Boston's MSA, Providence is currently outside of it, but will likely be sucked in after the 2010 census. Manchester, Providence, and Worcester are all pretty much the same distance from Boston +/- 50 miles. Cape Cod (the Barnstable MSA) is also outside of Boston's CMSA as well (Manchester is closer to Boston than the Cape Cod Canal by 2 miles).

The Manchester PMSA according to 2002 estimates was, 203,590 source. It includes Manchester and 8 surrounding towns (Bedford, Goffstown, Weare, Allenstown, Hooksett, Auburn, Candia, & Londonderry).

The Nashua PMSA and Portsmouth-Rochester PMSA (extends into Southern Maine, but does not reach Portland) are also part of the Boston CMSA.

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wow. good info, thanks. i read in an article that there were 400,000 people within a 20 miles radius in all directions from manchester. those towns you listed must not be that sizeable if they only tally to 200,000. so any idea where the portland msa ends to the south? and does this mean that people in manchester are from "greater boston"? is that the same as saying the boston msa?

[Cotuit]

i read in an article that there were 400,000 people within a 20 miles radius in all directions from manchester.

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That's probably about right (esp. as of now). It would include Concord and much of the Nashua and Portsmouth areas that are outside of the PMSA.

[pvenne]

does that also mean that providence residents commute to boston more than they stay in providence? that sounds weird too. also, manchesters msa is close to that of burlington...odd, because they feel so much different population wise. burlington is 3X smaller population wise and land wise, so i wonder if you expanded the area around burlington to equal the size of manchester if the populations would be similar??? i wouldnt imagine it to be, but would be interesting to find out..

[pvenne]

one more question: are manchester and nashua distinct communities or are they sorta like shared identity region. they are both quite large communities and very close. it would be like buxton maine being 100,000 people or something like that real close to portland.

[Cotuit]

does that also mean that providence residents commute to boston more than they stay in providence?

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Well it's not just Providence, but the entire Metro Area which includes Bristol County, MA.

[M. Brown]

one more question: are manchester and nashua distinct communities or are they sorta like shared identity region.  they are both quite large communities and very close.  it would be like buxton maine being 100,000 people or something like that real close to portland.

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They are separate communities. Although there are a lot of ppl who live in nashua that work in Manch and vise versa. We live in Manch but my dad works in nashua BAE systems.

[Cotuit]

If Manchester were it's own MSA, then Nashua and Concord (and probably Portsmouth) would almost certainly be part of it (Providence's MSA includes Fall River and New Bedford for example).

[Cotuit]

so any idea where the portland msa ends to the south?

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These are the towns in the Portland MSA:

• Buxton town

• Cape Elizabeth town

• Casco town

• Cumberland town

• Falmouth town

• Freeport town

• Frye Island

• Gorham town

• Gray town

• Hollis town

• Limington town

• Long Island town

• North Yarmouth town

• Old Orchard Beach town

• Portland city

• Raymond town

• Scarborough town

• South Portland city

• Standish town

• Westbrook city

• Windham town

• Yarmouth town

This is Portsmouth-Rochester, NH-ME PMSA

• Barrington town, NH

• Dover city, NH

• Brentwood town, NH

• Durham town, NH

• Berwick town, ME

• Farmington town, NH

• Eliot town, ME

• Lee town, NH

• Madbury town, NH

• Kittery town, ME

• Newmarket town, NH

• Somersworth city, NH

• North Hampton town, NH

• Milton town, NH

• East Kingston town, NH

• Portsmouth city, NH

• Greenland town, NH

• Rye town, NH

• Exeter town, NH

• Rollinsford town, NH

• Newington town, NH

• Epping town, NH

• Rochester city, NH

• South Berwick town, ME

• Stratham town, NH

• Hampton town, NH

• Hampton Falls town, NH

• Kensington town, NH

• New Castle town, NH

• Newfields town, NH

• York town, ME

and does this mean that people in manchester are from "greater boston"?  is that the same as saying the boston msa?

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No, Manchester is not part of Greater Boston. There is no official definition of Greater Boston, it's more of a state-of-mind, but most would define it as the cities and towns within Route 128. I think this is where people get confused (and sometimes upset). Just because Manchester is within the Boston MSA, doesn't mean that it is part of Boston, or that it's identity is intrinsically tied to Boston.

[pvenne]

so this is somewhere that i also get confused a lot...is portlands MSA (of the towns you listed) 230,000 (cumberland county) or is it what emporis.com lists (something like 600,000 people? if you know...thanks

[Cotuit]

Portland's MSA according to 2004 estimates is: 510,791. Cumberland County was: 265,612 as of 2000.

[M. Brown]

No, Manchester is not part of Greater Boston. There is no official definition of Greater Boston, it's more of a state-of-mind, but most would define it as the cities and towns within Route 128. I think this is where people get confused (and sometimes upset). Just because Manchester is within the Boston MSA, doesn't mean that it is part of Boston, or that it's identity is intrinsically tied to Boston.

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Exactly. ppl always ascociate Manchester as being greater Boston or part of Boston. If you were to come here you will see that it is in no way part of Boston. I mean once Providence gets sucked into Boston's msa ppl might start saying that Providence is part of Boston and it most definatley isnt. There is even a commuter rail to Providence but still isnt part of Boston. At least I wouldnt call it that. Manchester is as not part of Boston as Providence and Worcester is.

One funny thing is even though Manchester is 50 +/- mile away It takes 40 to 45 mins to get there...when there is no traffic that is. Most ppl cruise between 70 and 80 who drive to Boston from NH so its pretty quick. Thats prolly how ppl get the idea that Manchester is in the Boston area. But I'd say a place like Salem NH could be called part of Boston only to a certain extent. I find ppl who live in Salem dont really come up to Manch that often unless there are games or concerts going on. Or going to clubs in Manch that are constantly advertised on Jamn 94.5 believe it or not.

This is a good lil discussion btw.