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Needed: One Geography Refresher Course
Sep. 12th, 2008 09:16 pmOr maybe a dozen....
A few moments ago I found myself wondering "Just when did Houston get so big?" I had no idea it's the 4th largest city in the US and has been for all of this millennium.
I knew that NYC, LA, and Chicago were in the top three spots respectively, and of the shift to the sunbelt during my adulthood, but the rest of the top 50 list held several surprises for me. Not only is Houston about 65% bigger (in terms of population) than Dallas, Portland's population is 94% that of Seattle's. Huh? That so doesn't match my memories of those cities.
Okay. The major metropolitan areas is a much closer reflection of the population picture in my head. Dallas-Fort Worth is in the #4 spot there, but I still wouldn't have expected Greater Houston to come in at #6. The Portland/Seattle comparison makes more sense, with metro Portland being two-thirds the size of metro-Seattle. Portland is still larger than it feels. Austin is in the much more sensible #37 spot than the #16 spot it earns on city population. Likewise Atlanta -- #9 on the metro list, but only #37 on the cities list.
Wales, of course, isn't on any of the lists. It is, however, raining here in sympathy with Houston and the Texas coast. Not as hard, and I'm thankful for that.
I send strength, courage, and endurance to everyone in the path of Hurricane Ike's destructiveness. May tomorrow find you both safe and well.
Oh, the wind and rain...oh, the dreadful wind and rain.
A few moments ago I found myself wondering "Just when did Houston get so big?" I had no idea it's the 4th largest city in the US and has been for all of this millennium.
I knew that NYC, LA, and Chicago were in the top three spots respectively, and of the shift to the sunbelt during my adulthood, but the rest of the top 50 list held several surprises for me. Not only is Houston about 65% bigger (in terms of population) than Dallas, Portland's population is 94% that of Seattle's. Huh? That so doesn't match my memories of those cities.
Okay. The major metropolitan areas is a much closer reflection of the population picture in my head. Dallas-Fort Worth is in the #4 spot there, but I still wouldn't have expected Greater Houston to come in at #6. The Portland/Seattle comparison makes more sense, with metro Portland being two-thirds the size of metro-Seattle. Portland is still larger than it feels. Austin is in the much more sensible #37 spot than the #16 spot it earns on city population. Likewise Atlanta -- #9 on the metro list, but only #37 on the cities list.
Wales, of course, isn't on any of the lists. It is, however, raining here in sympathy with Houston and the Texas coast. Not as hard, and I'm thankful for that.
I send strength, courage, and endurance to everyone in the path of Hurricane Ike's destructiveness. May tomorrow find you both safe and well.
Oh, the wind and rain...oh, the dreadful wind and rain.
