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Raleigh, USA - Big City?


RALNATIVE

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Usually, I tune into CNN for the latest news and updates, and I have recently began to notice that Raleigh is one of a select number of US cities that is displayed on the main weather map during the weather segments. There are only a few other southeastern cities on that map. Now this may or may not be indicitive of anything, but it does lead me to wonder why Raleigh was selected and more importantly how it is perceived by the media and by viewers across the country.

The question has been asked many times by Raleighans---Are we really a big city yet?

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Usually, I tune into CNN for the latest news and updates, and I have recently began to notice that Raleigh is one of a select number of US cities that is displayed on the main weather map during the weather segments. There are only a few other southeastern cities on that map. Now this may or may not be indicitive of anything, but it does lead me to wonder why Raleigh was selected and more importantly how it is perceived by the media and by viewers across the country.

The question has been asked many times by Raleighans---Are we really a big city yet?

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I wouldn't say its a good measure of size, more of what fits on the map, and looks even. Out west a lot of small cities make it because there just isn't much else. As far as north carolina goes there is room on the map for more than just Charlotte, so it makes since to put Raleigh on.
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Um, big city???

No, I don't think so. I don't think NC has any big cities for that matter. The closest "big cities" would be either ATL or DC. I'd say cities/regions like CLT, RDU, Portland, Austin, etc would be Tier 2 cities, while NYC, Chi, LA, SF, Hou, DC, ATL, Philly, etc would be tier 1 "big cities."

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Actually Charlotte is bigger than Atlanta. According to the US Census in 2005, Atlanta had around 483,108 people while Charlotte had 610,949. I admit Raleigh isn't a big city, because well, it ain't. However Charlotte is a fairly big city with a lot to do. In 2005 it was the 20th largest in the nation. It is also a major banking city, the second largest "...ranked banking center in terms of assets, surpassing San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles, indeed all superstar cities except New York."
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Those numbers are misleading. I judge city size based on MSA numbers. Charlotte's Metro area has over 2 million people whereas Atlanta's has close to 5 million people. That would explain why Atlanta's skyline blows Charlotte's away and why they have 16 lane highways. Chalotte has no highways even close to that width. That's like saying Charlotte and Baltimore are the same size. If you go by actual city population, then yeah. But Baltimore has well over a million more people in it's metro. Such statements simply aren't true.

There was an article in the News Observer a while back that stated Raleigh was larger than Tampa, St. Louis, etc. But look at the big picture. Those cities have way more people in their respective metro areas.

City limits are arbitrary. Depending on how much land the city is able to annex, and where, it influences that city's "in city" population.

Say if Cary, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Morrisville Apex, etc (all of which are seamless suburbs) were unincorporated and Raleigh was able to annex them, Raleigh would then have a population of about 560,000.... coming really close to Charlotte. See the point I'm trying to make?

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Those numbers are misleading. I judge city size based on MSA numbers. Charlotte's Metro area has over 2 million people whereas Atlanta's has close to 5 million people. That would explain why Atlanta's skyline blows Charlotte's away and why they have 16 lane highways. Chalotte has no highways even close to that width. That's like saying Charlotte and Baltimore are the same size. If you go by actual city population, then yeah. But Baltimore has well over a million more people in it's metro. Such statements simply aren't true.

There was an article in the News Observer a while back that stated Raleigh was larger than Tampa, St. Louis, etc. But look at the big picture. Those cities have way more people in their respective metro areas.

City limits are arbitrary. Depending on how much land the city is able to annex, and where, it influences that city's "in city" population.

Say if Cary, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Morrisville Apex, etc (all of which are seamless suburbs) were unincorporated and Raleigh was able to annex them, Raleigh would then have a population of about 560,000.... coming really close to Charlotte. See the point I'm trying to make?

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A few of things:

- I believe we are actually Raleighites, not Raleighans.

- The Triangle metro area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, as it used to be defined by the MSA) has over 1 million people.

- Based on Census numbers, Wake County has about 750,000 people.

- With an estimated population of 341,000, Raleigh is the 53rd largest city in the country.

- I would say we're a city of significant size, but not a "big city". I would probably only use that term for the top 10 most populous cities in the country.

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A few of things:

- I believe we are actually Raleighites, not Raleighans.

- The Triangle metro area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, as it used to be defined by the MSA) has over 1 million people.

- Based on Census numbers, Wake County has about 750,000 people.

- With an estimated population of 341,000, Raleigh is the 53rd largest city in the country.

- I would say we're a city of significant size, but not a "big city". I would probably only use that term for the top 10 most populous cities in the country.

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A subjective question brings a subjective answer. Economic activity isn't everything, but as well as Charlotte and the Triangle are doing, there is not a city in NC I would classify as a "big city" in the traditional sense.

The list of world cities, which we have discussed before, gets at the other metrics and intangibles of what a World City is.

In the US, the world cities list includes the usual suspects: NYC, Chicago, LA, San Fran, Boston, Dallas, Washington, etc.

I think some of the cities listed as "having some world city attributes" would be "big cities" in the traditional sense: Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Philly, etc. Other "big cities" missing from this list might be places like Portland, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Denver.

Charlotte is as close as NC has to a big city, and that probably will be the case going forward, but I don't think Charlotte is on par in terms of the significance of these other cities, at least not yet, anyway.

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Usually, I tune into CNN for the latest news and updates, and I have recently began to notice that Raleigh is one of a select number of US cities that is displayed on the main weather map during the weather segments. There are only a few other southeastern cities on that map. Now this may or may not be indicitive of anything, but it does lead me to wonder why Raleigh was selected and more importantly how it is perceived by the media and by viewers across the country.

The question has been asked many times by Raleighans---Are we really a big city yet?

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I have said it on this site before, I have been in Asia before sitting in a hotel room waching international BBC and they roll the World wide weather and the cities come across like Amsterdam, Berlin, LA, NYC and they will have Raleigh in there.

Just brings a smile to my face.

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i believe somewhere in the Triangle area, maybe RTP, there is a branch of the U.S. Meterology Center or somehting like that, which is why Raleigh appears on the screen for the Weather on many international news stations. Or it could be the lone fact that many international companies are located in RTP.

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i believe somewhere in the Triangle area, maybe RTP, there is a branch of the U.S. Meterology Center or somehting like that, which is why Raleigh appears on the screen for the Weather on many international news stations. Or it could be the lone fact that many international companies are located in RTP.
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RTP has many international companies. I think this is why you see it on international news stations. Granted, Raleigh is not huge, but it a pretty decent sized place and has become quite the place to do business. Look at all of its accolades in recent years. All of this adds up to its interest.

According to the FAA in 2006, RDU was the 40th busiest commercial airport in the US. It doesn't seem high, but it is ranked higher than Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Jose, Indianapolis, San Antonio and Austin. Some of the ones at the top of the list are hubs. I was looking for info on where RDU stacked up as a place of final destination with no avail.

http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/busiest_ai...l&year=2006

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