# Largest U.S. city you don't know the location of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468 "2013-10-28T18:12:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/41 "2013-10-28T23:23:52Z")
**Chronos** -Actually it’s actually never been determined where the most important Springfield is. ;)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/42 "2013-10-28T23:31:09Z")
# 71 Henderson, Nevada was the first one on the list I didn’t know. I did know quite a few of the ones past it though. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/43 "2013-10-29T00:02:36Z")
Non-American here, I covered up the state column, first one I got wrong was Charlotte, but I guessed the North bit correctly. Next wrong was Albuquerque. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/44 "2013-10-29T00:07:18Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > If I heard Portland in a national broadcast, I would assume Oregon. In a local broadcast, I would assume Maine. > > The biggest one that I need clarification on is Arlington. I know of the existence of Arlington, Texas, but without any other clue I would assume they were talking about the one in Virginia. > > The biggest one that I don’t recall hearing about at all is Fremont, CA (96) That shows how this is one of those questions where one’s personal situation can make a difference. As it happens, I live only five minutes from Fremont, CA, and I pass through it just about every day. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/45 "2013-10-29T00:11:00Z")
I’ll be honest and say #7 San Antonio. I don’t know why but I’ve never bothered to learn anything about the geography of Texas. I only know Houston is on the Gulf because of weather and oil spills. Any other city, including Dallas (#8), I am not quite sure where it is. Well, now I am. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/46 "2013-10-29T00:29:49Z")
Garland Texas no. 86 is the first I didn’t know off the top of my head. I’ve actually slept in 35 of the top 50. Some of the others are places right next to places I’ve slept in. I have slept in Mesa - friends of ours used to live there and we visited them once. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/47 "2013-10-29T00:39:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Only because Columbus assimilated all of its suburbs, and Cleveland didn’t. Columbus did do some aggressive annexation in the mid-20th century, and it was able to do it in every direction because it’s not up against water or another state, but it never came close to assimilating all of its suburbs. There are lots of other cities (and unincorporated townships) in Franklin County. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/48 "2013-10-29T01:06:23Z")
North Carolina leaves me in doubt. If you asked me what state is Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem in, I’d know it was North Carolina. But if you asked me one city at a time, I’d start second-guessing myself and thinking, _“They can’t all be in North Carolina. I must be remembering it wrong. One or two of them must be in South Carolina.”_ It doesn’t help any that they both have a city named Greenville. Nor does it help that so many of the cities in the Carolinas have names that are also cities in other states. Charleston? That’s in West Virginia. Fayetteville? That’s in Arkansas. Jacksonville? That’s in Florida. Wilmington? That’s in Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/49 "2013-10-29T01:35:01Z")
The first one for which I could not identify the state was Oklahoma City. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/50 "2013-10-29T02:08:13Z")
As a foreigner, I can only zoom-in instantly on NY, LA, and Chi on the map. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/51 "2013-10-29T02:26:38Z")
Never heard of Riverside, CA before. I am a little surprised that more people don’t know Mesa, Arizona. > [@Lord Feldon](#): > > Columbus did do some aggressive annexation in the mid-20th century, and it was able to do it in every direction because it’s not up against water or another state, but it never came close to assimilating all of its suburbs. There are lots of other cities (and unincorporated townships) in Franklin County. Near the neighborhood we used to live in (here in C’bus), there were two grocery stores situated no more than a quarter-mile away from each other. One sold liquor and the other didn’t, because the second one was located in a little bubble of township inside Franklin County, and that township had dry laws. ---
**Author:** ![Jammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@Jammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/52 "2013-10-29T03:08:27Z")
Grand Prairie stumped me. Sorry Texas. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/53 "2013-10-29T03:16:08Z")
I’d never heard of Chula Vista before, though if you’d thrown the name at me I’d have assumed it was a suburban city in California, which is in fact exactly what it is. There are a lot of those in California. I’d never heard of Oxnard or Moreno County, either. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/54 "2013-10-29T03:55:50Z")
#56 Aurora. If only because I assume it was the Illinois one, which I’m surprised more of you didn’t think of (Party on Wayne! Party on Garth!). I don’t specifically know the Colorado one, but I’d bet I’d have at least a 60% chance of guessing the state if you said it wasn’t Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/55 "2013-10-29T06:30:03Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > The first one for which I could not identify the state was Oklahoma City. This has to be a whoosh, right? The first one I didn’t know was 71. Henderson, Nevada. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/56 "2013-10-29T06:59:23Z")
How many get Kansas City wrong? (I’d never heard of Virginia Beach, but guess right. Does that count?) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/57 "2013-10-29T08:46:21Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > How many get Kansas City wrong? > > (I’d never heard of Virginia Beach, but guess right. Does that count?) I have met at least one Kansan who didn’t know. Kansas City, Kansas exists. But it’s 31% the size of the Missouri one. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/58 "2013-10-29T14:21:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m a bit surprised by Mesa, but maybe that’s because I grew up a Cubs fan, and the spring training games were down in Mesa. > > For me, it was #58, Aurora, CO. But it depends on how much “slop” you’re allowing. There’s a few, like Jacksonville, that I didn’t quite place correctly in their respective state. Aurora I would have placed more-or-less right, but only at a guess. I had never heard of it before, that I know of. I would have said Aurora too, but that’s where the mass movie theater shooting took place, I think. So I went down to #80 – Chandler, Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/59 "2013-10-29T14:46:37Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I would have said Aurora too, but that’s where the mass movie theater shooting took place, I think. Oh, that’s right. That explains why I was thinking Colorado (even though the Illinois one is the one I deal with all the time). Like I said, I would’ve placed it more-or-less in the right place in the state (near Denver), but I counted it against me, as it was a complete guess. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468/60 "2013-10-29T15:05:39Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > How many get Kansas City wrong? In fairness, KC, KS and KC, MO are pretty much the same city in a lot of ways. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-u-s-city-you-dont-know-the-location-of/672468.md?page=4)