# What are the differences between large cities and midsize cities? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485 "2018-04-16T04:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/41 "2018-04-18T15:04:38Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Large cities have professional sports teams, midsize cities do not. > > Large cities have skyscrapers, midsize generally do not. > > Large cities have ethnic districts, midsize cities do not. > > Large cities have vaguely esoteric specialty stores (Ikea, american girl) that smaller cities do not. > > Large cities are more democratic in their politics than midsize cities. > > On an unrelated note, I’ve always wondered what anemities tend to go up roughly in line with population. > > Example: In my experience if a city has more than 1,000 people it usually has a family dollar or dollar general. More than 5,000 people and it has a walmart. More than 30,000 and it has a mall. Unlike the aforementioned Buffalo, New York, Green Bay, Wisconsin puts lie to most of your points, with the exception of the skyscraper point. And Green Bay is at the smaller end of “midsize;” our metropolitan area is about 250,000. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/42 "2018-04-18T16:58:04Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Unlike the aforementioned Buffalo, New York, Green Bay, Wisconsin puts lie to most of your points, with the exception of the skyscraper point. And Green Bay is at the smaller end of “midsize;” our metropolitan area is about 250,000. Whats all this ‘puts lie to’ talk? Why can’t my points just be general rules of thumb rather than 100% true in 100% of situations? My points are reasonable in my view. You guys don’t have to say I’m lying because my points are 90-95% correct instead of 100% correct. There are 32 NFL teams. Of them, most are either based in a large city (Chicago bears, Indianapolis colts, Los angeles chargers, etc) or they are based on a state or region and their stadium is based in a large city or the metro area of a large city. The only exceptions are maybe the buffalo bills and green bay. But again even the bills are part of a metro area of over 1 million. If you count the metro area, then every stadium or team is based in a large city or the suburb of a large city other than green bay. Also Green Bay is a republican area, as I mentioned. Also what esoteric specialty stores do they have, and where are the ethnic districts? Other than the NFL team, they fit every criteria I made for a midsize city and they are the only NFL team based in a midsize city. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/43 "2018-04-18T17:19:59Z")
Having grown up in Green Bay in the 1970s and 1980s, and visiting it still regularly (my family is still there): It’s not as homogeneous as it used to be, demographically; when I was growing up there, the population was easily 90+% white, and largely Catholic. The change looks to be largely driven by Hispanics (who are now 13% of the population). There may well now be neighborhoods in Green Bay that are predominantly Hispanic, but I don’t know this for certain. I do know that there are more ethnic restaurants in the area than there were 20 or 30 years ago. But, that said, for being a mid-sized city, it still feels more likely a smaller city. That’s part of its charm, I suppose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/44 "2018-04-18T17:41:39Z")
We do have two ethnic districts, though not institutionally named on a map. We never formally segregated the city into “here’s where the Asians live” and called it a Chinatown. We have a very large Hmong part of town and a large Hispanic part of town. We also have an growing North African population that is primarily centered on the northwest side of town. As far as “esoteric” shops, we have bead shops, specialty food stores (such as an oilerie), decor shops, comic book & specialty game stores, etc. And I’m not sure if I’d qualify American Girl as any more “esoteric” as a comic book store or hand-blown glass and gift boutique. I’m not saying you’re outright lying. I’m just providing an example to the contrary. Perhaps “puts lie to” wasn’t the best choice of words; I was mirroring the style put forth by the user who named Buffalo as an example. The differences between “midsized” and “big” are not so clearly delineated. ---
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/45 "2018-04-18T18:22:21Z")
I take it that in small to midsize cities you won’t have any retail within walking distance, and you also won’t have many restaurants that are not massive chains like McDonalds. Small chains are mostly absent. People will be very nosy, and everyone knows where you go, where you’ve been, who you hang out with and etc. However big cities have major traffic congestion with stop & go traffic for miles on both freeways and surface streets. Bigger cities also have higher rates of unemployment and homelessness. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/46 "2018-04-18T19:43:34Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > I take it that in small to midsize cities you won’t have any retail within walking distance, and you also won’t have many restaurants that are not massive chains like McDonalds. Small chains are mostly absent. On the restaurant topic: that may be true specifically of chain restaurants (i.e., you may have an Applebee’s, but not a TGI Fridays or Outback; you’ll have a McDonalds and a Subway, but maybe not a Wendy’s or a Chipotle). But, IME, small-to-midsized cities have plenty of local (independent) restaurants, and may have smaller regional chain restaurants, as well. I’m hypothesizing, but it could be that independent restaurants have a small advantage in smaller cities, as they don’t necessarily have to face competition from as many different chains. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/47 "2018-04-18T20:30:34Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > I take it that in small to midsize cities you won’t have any retail within walking distance, Depends on where, within the city, you live, but certainly true for some areas > [@](#): > > and you also won’t have many restaurants that are not massive chains like McDonalds. Small chains are mostly absent. Not true at all, except that some specific chains will be absent, and residents will get very excited when they finally move in (“Oooh, we’re getting a Chik-fil-a!”). > [@](#): > > People will be very nosy, and everyone knows where you go, where you’ve been, who you hang out with and etc. You can still be pretty anonymous in a small city, but it might depend on things like what neighborhood you live in. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/48 "2018-04-18T21:48:28Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah, I admit I’m always a little irked when someone tells me they’re from DC too and it turns out they live somewhere out in Virginia, or Maryland. I realize that I’m in the minority on this. I usually say I’m from the DC area. I could probably get in the car and be at your door in 15 mintutes, though. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/49 "2018-04-18T23:29:52Z")
You’re a large town, a small city, or a midsize city if you have a Barnes and Noble. You’re a large city if you have more than one Barnes and Noble. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/50 "2018-04-19T00:36:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’re a large town, a small city, or a midsize city if you have a Barnes and Noble. You’re a large city if you have more than one Barnes and Noble. DC doesn’t have a Barnes and Noble anymore. It has a ton of independent bookstores, though. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485/51 "2018-04-19T17:55:55Z")
Take this outside US borders and things change to some degree. Large cities are more likely to be national capitals, seats of national governments and agencies, sites of international headquarters, places where the influencers find important to be located. Yes they have mass transit systems, will have close links to major international transport hubs, may well have significant influence on world financial and investment markets. They will attract the highest end of government paid work, have many cities within them, and in smaller nations may actually require different governmental policies to the rest of the country, policy making may well be such that beneficial programs for the large city might even be detrimental for many other regions of the rest of the country. The most importation and largest cities are almost separate countries in their own right, and are highly likely to have a presence that comes up on world political stage. Mid size cities might have some of these aspects, but usually in a smaller capacity, or in order to provide services to the main headquarters in the truly large cities. I can think of some largish cities that have their own mass transit systems but nothing at all like on the scale of London underground. Truly large cities are capable of organising and hosting several world level events at any one time - whereas mid size cities will only be able to run one world level event every so often. Personally I think it is less about population size, its more about the capability of the city, some cities have huge populations but are not really capable of operating on the world stage - they do not have the resources and infrastructure. A large population does not necessarily mean large wealth, power or influence. Of course you may feel that what I am describing is the difference between a great city and a large city, but I can think of cities whose populations exceed London, yet are not especially influential except to the nation in which they are located. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-differences-between-large-cities-and-midsize-cities/812485.md?page=2)