UDS siad:
I can not find any authoritative referance to any actual numbers. Do you have any such referance. And as for other languages not distinguishing between “town” and “city,” I thank you for making my point. If the question is “what is the snowiest city in the world,” then we should employ the standard used by as much of the world as is possible. And as I pointed out in my last post, most of the world, and most of the states in the United States, make no real distinction (legally) between a city and a town EXCEPTING that in many places, a “town” is an unincorperated entity. Valdez, Alaska IS incorperated and therefore is LEGALLY a city.
As a “general rule” this may apply, yet without any firm demarcation for the actual number of people it takes to be a “city” your statement is inexact and you have applied it in an arbitrary manner.
As for the relative importance of Valdez: It is the regional capital of this region of Alaska; it is one of the largest suppliers of salmon (canned and fresh) in the world; it is a major supplier of domestic oil to the United States; It is the northernmost year-round port in the United States and is therefore an essential part of the Homeland Security Department’s national defense system; and is home to the first, largest, and most heli-skiing operations in the entire world.
Valdez has all of these things {see my last post}. I’ll add that Valdez has has several world-class museums centered on the Oil Pipeline, the fishing industry, and the Yupik (native alaskan) culture. We have a modern civic center, convention center (which hosts an anual meeting of most of the major, world-wide, oil producing industrial companies). 3-D movie theater and post office. The college hosts annual playwritting and and film making festivals attended by industry leaders from across the globe.
I think I have covered most of this part of your post previously. however, let me add that Valdez was the epicenter of the largest earthquake in US history and one of the largest events ever recorded anywhere in the world. As such, geologists from all over the world come to Valdez to study the area…of course they have to work around all of the other specialists, luminaries, tourists, skiers, fishermen, oilmen, film makers, engineers, doctors, playwrites and others from around the world. 
Oh, and the Russians. Valdez is one of the most popular places for eastern Russians to vacation and work during the summer months.
Um, I think that I have established that legally, in most of the world and in most of the US, Valdez IS a city. Every single thing that makes a “city” a “city,” by your own testimony, is satisfied by Valdez except for the “size” arguement which is specious arbitrary (as I have shown).
Ah, on this we can agree.
However, not ALL “settlements” are “cities” - not legally anyway. That is why although Paradise Washington gets more snow than Vladez; and there is a full-time settlement there (a hotel); it is NOT a city, town, village, or anything else you want to call a municipality.
