Are most US cities actually suburban?

[Cave Savage]

Growing up in New York, I've always thought of urban areas as being like NYC (most of it at least). But then I realized that in most of the country, the cities are filled with neighborhoods where everyone lives in a detached house with a driveway and has a car. Basically a very similar lifestyle as somewhere like Levittown, NY. Low public transit use, strip malls, bars with parking lots, etc. Even most of LA seems to be like this and it's the 2nd largest city in the country.

I guess that these cities were mostly built after WWII, when the public largely wanted a suburban atmosphere.

I'm not counting the downtown areas in this, just the residential ones.

 

[murksiderock]

You're "foamposite" on another site? @Cave Savage

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

Most southern cities are really suburban. The hoods ain't concrete jungles like on the east coast. You got trees and grass.

Good chart at the bottom showing the most suburban cities. NY is dead last at 46% suburban. The only US city that is more urban than suburban.

America's Most Suburbanized Cities | Newgeography.com

 

[murksiderock]

The answer to your question is yes and no...

Yes, most American cities are mostly suburban------>but "urban" isn't limited to looking like New York City only. You already know there are a myriad of factors that contribute to urbanity. I feel like you and I had this conversation on another website, but your mistake would be assuming places that aren't like NY are suburban...

NY is the only city here that really does what it does to the degree that it does it....but there are a bunch of other urban places around the nation...

 

[Cave Savage]

The answer to your question is yes and no...

Yes, most American cities are mostly suburban------>but "urban" isn't limited to looking like New York City only. You already know there are a myriad of factors that contribute to urbanity. I feel like you and I had this conversation on another website, but your mistake would be assuming places that aren't like NY are suburban...

NY is the only city here that really does what it does to the degree that it does it....but there are a bunch of other urban places around the nation...

I recognize your name from there

I don't think an area has to look like NYC to be urban, I consider the Jersey cities, Philly, Baltimore, and others to be largely urban.

But I think an area that looks like Levittown can't be urban even if it's in a major city.

Most southern cities are really suburban. The hoods ain't concrete jungles like on the east coast. You got trees and grass.

Good chart at the bottom showing the most suburban cities. NY is dead last at 46% suburban. The only US city that is more urban than suburban.

America's Most Suburbanized Cities | Newgeography.com

NYC started going quasi-suburban in the 50s so I'm not surprised it's that high. Manhattan is 100% urban, but the postwar neighborhoods in the outer boroughs are not purely urban and cater a lot to drivers.

 

[murksiderock]

Most southern cities are really suburban. The hoods ain't concrete jungles like on the east coast. You got trees and grass.

Good chart at the bottom showing the most suburban cities. NY is dead last at 46% suburban. The only US city that is more urban than suburban.

America's Most Suburbanized Cities | Newgeography.com

That list is a good share! Couple disagreements, though...

Raleigh is the most suburban city in the nation that has a metro of over a million. It and Charlotte have a lot in common, but there is no way that Charlotte should be ranked as more suburban. Center City Charlotte is the urban core of the city and includes neighborhoods like NoDa, South End, Midtown, Plaza-Midwood, Elizabeth, 4th Ward, etc. Raleigh doesn't have much of a core, there's Downtown Raleigh and nothing else remotely urban in the entirety of the rest of the city...

Hampton Roads is strongly suburban but it isn't more suburban than Atlanta. The urban parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach are more urban than Atlanta...

A number of other disagreements with that list too but it's an interesting bit of info!

 

[Formerly Black Trash]

Wish every city was like NY

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

That list is a good share! Couple disagreements, though...

Raleigh is the most suburban city in the nation that has a metro of over a million. It and Charlotte have a lot in common, but there is no way that Charlotte should be ranked as more suburban. Center City Charlotte is the urban core of the city and includes neighborhoods like NoDa, South End, Midtown, Plaza-Midwood, Elizabeth, 4th Ward, etc. Raleigh doesn't have much of a core, there's Downtown Raleigh and nothing else remotely urban in the entirety of the rest of the city...

Hampton Roads is strongly suburban but it isn't more suburban than Atlanta. The urban parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach are more urban than Atlanta...

A number of other disagreements with that list too but it's an interesting bit of info!

The top 10 were basically a tie so they ranked them based on this criteria.

"As it turns out, 10 metropolitan areas have virtually no urban core population by this definition. To rank these metropolitan areas by their extent of suburbanization, we broke the 10 way tie by ranking the metropolitan areas by the extent of their exurban population. Exurban areas have very low population densities (250 per square mile or less) and are generally outside the urban area, which includes all contiguous built up area, surrounded by rural territory."

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

Wish every city was like NY

Hell naw. Most people don't want to raise a family in apartment buildings or a rowhouse with someone right next to them with no space.

 

[jerniebert]

San Francisco feels urban.

 

[Based Lord Zedd]

Most southern cities are really suburban. The hoods ain't concrete jungles like on the east coast. You got trees and grass.

Good chart at the bottom showing the most suburban cities. NY is dead last at 46% suburban. The only US city that is more urban than suburban.

America's Most Suburbanized Cities | Newgeography.com

Houston deserves to be at almost 100% on this list.
I wouldn't even want to live downtown and I also wouldn't want to live here without a car.

You got people saying they live in Houston when they're way out in places like Katy and our metro area covers a huge amount of land.

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

Houston deserves to be at almost 100% on this list.
I wouldn't even want to live downtown and I also wouldn't want to live here without a car.

You got people saying they live in Houston when they're way out in places like Katy and our metro area covers a huge amount of land.

shyt just round 99.6 to 100 then lol. Yeah H-Tawn got a lot of sprawl.

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

San Francisco feels urban.

And it is compared to most major cities. Only NY, Boston and Buffalo are more urban.

 

[Cave Savage]

Houston deserves to be at almost 100% on this list.
I wouldn't even want to live downtown and I also wouldn't want to live here without a car.

You got people saying they live in Houston when they're way out in places like Katy and our metro area covers a huge amount of land.

There seems to be zero demarcation between ATL and its suburbs

 

[Doomsday]

San Francisco feels urban.

San Francisco is p*ssy. Fakest "urban" city in America.