# Exagerrating the Population of Metro's in North America



## Somnifor (Sep 6, 2005)

I would venture a guess that outside of this forum almost nobody cares about the relative metro population of US cities vs how they compare to the rest of the world and what machinations go into those computations. It seems like a lot of these computations are culturally specific and vary from country to country based on how people live, travel to work, and identify themselves as a self declared part of any larger urban culture. For normal people these numbers are just a guide for how the national government appropriates money to it's various urban areas. As long as it is consistent within a country why should it matter much? 

I can pretty much guarentee you that neither the US Census bureau nor the UN care one way or the other about the pissing matches that go on in internet forums about skyscrapers.


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## stochikov (Dec 2, 2005)

The information seems very accurate....Why did yo say it is exagerated??


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## NovaWolverine (Dec 28, 2004)

Exactly, it's really dumb that this thread was created, as if saying a Metro Area is the same as Urbanized Area.


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## Mastodon Goard (Dec 1, 2005)

Personally, I like the UN method. It drives me crazy seeing some of the exaggeration that occurs...like when I read about greater Boston having more population than the entire state of Massachussetts.


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## hudkina (Oct 28, 2003)

Uh, Greater Boston doesn't have more people than the entire state of Massachusetts, but even if it did, it would only be because the metro would extend into Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and even Maine. It's like saying it's crazy that the New York metro is larger than New York state, simply because parts of the metro extend into New Jersey and Connecticut.


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

dave8721 said:


> Cutting Miami from Fort Lauderdale seems pretty silly to me. Kind of like making the north side of Chicago one urbanized area and the South side another.


Now you know why torontonians complain. Toronto is surrounded by other metropolitan areas but statscan doesn't not merge metro areas like american metros.

I like this list for comparing the size of NA cities because all the cities are compared with the same standard, unlike the inflated numbers the US uses for domestic purposes.

I remember when the expos were about to movie many american broadcaster would say montreal is a small market, when it would be the 8th largest city in the US.


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## pottebaum (Sep 11, 2004)

^That's the very reason this list means nothing; it uses the same standard. _Commuting standards, sprawl, etc. differ from region to region. _


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## TheKansan (Jun 22, 2004)

So Norfolk suddenly gains 500,000 people for international standards, making it larger than Denver, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Also Denver suddenly loses a million residents!!!!!!!

WTF!?!?!

I knew something was wrong with this list when I saw that Calgary was supposedly larger than Indianapolis.


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

TheKansan said:


> So Norfolk suddenly gains 500,000 people for international standards, making it larger than Denver, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Also Denver suddenly loses a million residents!!!!!!!
> 
> WTF!?!?!
> 
> I knew something was wrong with this list when I saw that Calgary was supposedly larger than Indianapolis.



^ Just think of it this way if those US cities were in canada the population listed would be their population as counted by statscan.


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## brooklynprospect (Apr 27, 2005)

I lived in the UK (Cambridge U.) for one year, and noticed that over there, people tend not to travel very far. Going 50km is a big deal over there. I figure (through my travels and through my foreign friends) that most countries are like that. America (and perhaps places like Australia, Canada) is different. When I lived in NJ, Rhode Island, or LA, driving 100km was absolutely no big deal. My father commutes 150-200 km every day... and it takes about 2 hrs round-trip. So if American metros cover a larger area, it's because Americans travel more. It's a cultural difference. 100km outside of NYC or LA is still - in a meaningful way - part of the metro. But that's just not true about London, Calcutta, Istanbul, etc.


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## hudkina (Oct 28, 2003)

You are to blame said:


> ^ Just think of it this way if those US cities were in canada the population listed would be their population as counted by statscan.


Not really. I used the StatCan method to see what Detroit would look like as a Canadian CMA, and it's population was 4.5 million (4.8 million including Windsor).


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

hudkina said:


> Not really. I used the StatCan method to see what Detroit would look like as a Canadian CMA, and it's population was 4.5 million (4.8 million including Windsor).


windsor wouldn't be part of detroits CMA, because you can't merge CMA's look at oshawa and hamilton beside toronto, or abbotsford in vancouver.


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## hudkina (Oct 28, 2003)

Not true. Windsor and Detroit would be the same urban area. It would be like not including Mississauga with Toronto.


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2005)

Can someone please explain to me the "international standard"?


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## Jaye101 (Feb 16, 2005)

hudkina said:


> Not true. Windsor and Detroit would be the same urban area. It would be like not including Mississauga with Toronto.


Mississauga was originally in Toronto's CMA, and is adjacent. No point there.

WINDSOR AND DETROIT ARE NOT EVEN IN THE SAME COUNTRY.


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## addisonwesley (Jun 19, 2005)

I don't understand why you would merge two cities from two different countries into one CMA. There's even a body of water seperating the two. Not to mention, both are entirely different from each other.


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## streetscapeer (Apr 30, 2004)

You are to blame said:


> Now you know why torontonians complain. Toronto is surrounded by other metropolitan areas but statscan doesn't not merge metro areas like american metros.



umm..miami and ft lauderdale are not two merged metros....they are the same metro


but this list is bullcrap imo because they split them up (it's like spliting up Brooklyn and Queens :sleepy: )


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

streetscapeer said:


> umm..miami and ft lauderdale are not two merged metros....they are the same metro
> 
> 
> but this list is bullcrap imo because they split them up (it's like spliting up Brooklyn and Queens :sleepy: )


thats my point, in canada they would not be part of the same metro they would be seperated, just like hamilton, barrie, oshawa, etc that surrond toronto


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## Jaye101 (Feb 16, 2005)

^^ Not just in Canada... In most other countries aswell.


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## oceanmdx (Dec 18, 2004)

You are to blame said:


> windsor wouldn't be part of detroits CMA, because you can't merge CMA's look at oshawa and hamilton beside toronto, or abbotsford in vancouver.


Exactly!


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